Calla
Mrs. Montoria came beside me, perching near the railing that bordered the vineyard gates, joining Oslo and me as we sat in the fields of the orchards. We had taken solace under the shade of the tall trees, just beneath their dense leaves.
"No sign of him?" She sighs, dusting the end of her skirt with annoyance. Some dirt had gotten into its seams.
"No..." I fussed, busying myself with a lone leaf.
"He will not even talk to me" Oslo shrugged, fumbling with a wrinkled scroll of some kind.
"I don't know why he's so upset. I told him the truth. I admitted my wrong." I grumbled, still upset he had rebuffed me for a minor inconvenience such as pregnancy.
"I think he's more embarrassed than upset. He thought you were gone Calla..in a sense dead?" Oslo reveals. His words sounded sane, but I did not wish to hear them.
All I could do was remain silent...
"Although he is upset at you. Donatello took his banishment from Genovia very hard" his mother frowns, looking over at me.
"Donatello was banished?"
_____
A few moments later in Donatello's art house
"He would never forgive me if he knew I was showing you this" she smiles, lifting yet another hand-painted portrait of me. I had counted 36 so far and the pile seemed to never cease.
"After you had amnesia, Leonardo escorted him out of Genovia"
"Escorted?" I pondered. She knew how crazy the emperor was.
"More like coerced" Oslo huffed, lifting up another portrait. Ms. Montonia proceeded to tell me everything. (basically the flashback from 2 chapters ago)
"I didn't know....Of course, he would be upset! He had no clue if I was sane or even alive... I--"
"He did not expect you to know empress." She excuses my guilt, grabbing my palms into hers.
"I just which I could tell him...I want to, ever so much! But he won't even listen to me" I place my palm against my stomach, leading her hand against it. "I felt the baby today," I whispered, trying my hardest to hide my glee. Mrs. Montonia leaped with joy, feeling the roundest part of my stomach.
"Tell him what?" Oslo asks blindly, still counting the pile of portraits.
"Nothing...." I mutter looking to Mrs. Montonia for help. She nodded, understanding the occasion at hand.
"Come Oslo, I'll teach you to make fresh pan Leche. It's a sweet treat for the summer heat"
"Thank you, but I much rather read these letters Donatello has scattered all over the workshop"
"I wasn't asking Oslo. Now come," she says rather sternly. Oslo listened of course not wanting to seem rude. He was so boring reading all the time, stashed away in his room. I had barely seen Oslo since our arrival.
"Empress, you stay and finish sorting through these paintings and then join us" Mrs. Montonia winks before leaving with Oslo by her side.
——
After admiring a bounty of portraits and letters from Donatello, I join Oslo and Mrs. Montonia in the kitchen.
We take the fruits of our labor and go to the small table in the garden, conversing about the city of Espana. Oslo was excited to speak about any country besides Genovia.
My attention was only so limited as Oslo expressed his fifth manifesto to incorporate autonomy into the infrastructure of Genovia's government.
My eyes quickly averted to Donatello as he carried three vines over his sweaty shoulders. Effortlessly, he swung them near the well before dropping the bucket to scoop some water from its base.
He didn't see us in the shade of the garden until Mrs. Montonia called out for him. "DONATELLO! Come join us for Dulce Lécha Fresca!" She signals him with an eager hand.
He nodded, walking over for the treat but quickly frowns once he sees me. His mother pours him the drink but he stands at a distance, staring at the ice in his drink.
Lazily, he lifts his eyes and watches me. Both us were eyeing each other but barely speaking.
It was the strangest thing. We were usually so in tune with our thoughts, but for some reason, I could hit read him. Before I could open my mouth to speak, he sighs and turns away.
"Donatello!" his mother calls out, trying to plead with him but he ignores her and continues onto the vineyard.
—-
"Thank you Ms. Montania, the food is delightful and this arroz con bistec is delicious"
"Ahh muy bien" she beamed. I looked over at Donatello but he refused to watch me, paying attention only to his food.
"You should be proud of your son. He paints beautifully" I try to break the air of uncomfortableness.
"Funny? You were not too fond of them earlier empress? Remember at the museum? You said it was not your cup of tea?"
I fumed, furrowing my brows and trying to tell him to knock it off.
"Guess the memory escapes you..." he mutters, loud enough so everyone at the table could hear.
I look at Oslo but he is too preoccupied with the food. I turn my attention to Mrs. Montonia but she looked just as confused as me. She didn't know what she could say to help the situation. She had already been trying her hardest.
"I am going to go. Excuse me" Donatello snatched the napkin from his neck and threw it above the table before storming out.
"Wow!" Picazzo smirks, cutting into his food before looking at me. "I have never seen him that angry. What did you do to him?"
"Nothing!" I cursed, throwing my own napkin on my plate. I cross my shoulders and looked at the floor, trying my hardest not to cry. I missed Donatello so much. I had finally told him my truth but he was wedging an ever greater distance between us.
"Look...I am not one to insert myself into personal affairs such as these"
"Hmmffff" Mrs. Montonia scoffed, already clocking his lie.
"Donatello is not that complex empress. Just talk to him"
"He will not let me talk to him" I answered.
"Then you must force him to hear you. You know where he is."
——-
I sneak to his painting wing, situated on the outskirts of his mansion.
I didn't care if he hated me. He should at least give me the opportunity to explain.
I see him painting another portrait in the distance. I couldn't see what the subject was but I had a feeling it was me.
He makes a couple of more strokes on the canvas before lifting his gaze.
"I want a portrait"
"It's late empress" he mutters, "go to sleep" he dismisses me.
"So? I once knew a painter who bragged he could never sleep?"
He continued painting ignore me once more.
I walk over to him, pressing a palm against his chest. "Donatello ...please. Let me—-"
"Go to bed empress ..." he cursed, standing up to wipe his hands clean of his paints. I go over to his side, pushing my arms against him.
"Calla"
"You call me empress when you are trying to be formal but Calla when you are informal. I am wearing you down" I smirked.
He pulled me away, returning to his stool to paint. I follow his heel, straddling his lap before pushing his hair away. He would not get rid of me so quickly.
"I want you, Donatello." I kiss his lips tenderly. The edge of his palm lingered against my back but he snapped back to reality before pulling away and returning to his canvas.
Good.
I could feel him weakening.
"Make love to me Donatello. I've been so gone without you."
He sighed, gently leading me off his lap and pushing me towards the door.
"Good night empress," he says, focusing again on that stupid portrait! It wasn't even a picture of me, only a bowl of grapes. How boring!
My anger was lethal at this point.
"That's it? That's it! I come here on a trip from Germany, finally excited to reveal my truth and you dismiss me?"
"Of course I do! How could you do this to me!" He shouted.
"How dare I? What about you! Leaving Genovia! Getting engaged to that insignificant pebble! You could have stayed Donatello! You abandoned me in Genovia!"
"Stay and be killed? I was BANISHED Calla!"
"Since when have you been scared of Leo!" I returned, the anger inside me brewing.
"I am not scared of him!" he corrected my false assumption.
"Oh? Then what are you scared of?"
"I am scared of ceasing to exist in a world where you are still alive!" He yells making the room silent.
I step backward, taken aback by the sting of his confession. Did he deem me that weak? That I couldn't function in a world where he no longer existed. Although I was in denial, his words held some truth.
"That is not true..."
"Isn't it Calla?" He whispered, staring at me with question.
"You think I am weak? Spineless?" I accused him.
"I didn't say that Calla" he sighs, pushing his fingers to his temple.
"Well F*CK you! I didn't ask you to be scared for me." I fume pushing past him to make my exit. "This was a mistake! I should have pretended to have amnesia and live my happily ever after in Genovia"
"And you think pretending not to know me is moral Calla?"
"FUC*K you Donatello! You don't understand the hurdles I had to jump through to get here. Imagine thé slap on my face when I see you engaged to that stupid oaf who can barely tell Picazzo from Mozart!
At least pick a suitor who rivals me!"
I was not done ripping into him. I run over to a wooden cabinet, making all the portraits of me fall to the ground.
"May 3rd.
May 5th.
May 7th"
I pick up each portrait, showing him and dropping it to the floor again.
"You were obsessed with me for three months. You perfected my lines. You loved every curve. But the real empress of Genovia comes here, the very muse in your portrait who you have been enamored with, and what do you do?"
"Calla..." he grumbles.
"Ignore her.
Shun her.
Treat her like a PEST"
He grabbed my neck pushing me to the wall.
"You should have stayed there in Genovia. I heard he's a changed emperor. Your stomach is budding with his kin" he looks down to my stomach and smirks.
"FUC*k you! FU*CK you Donatello!" I fumed, pushing his chest away.
"Tell me FUC*k you one more time Calla" he whispers, gently lifting his finger against my lip. He looked more turned on of anything.
I pouted, grabbing his jaw and bringing his ear to my lips.
"FUC*K you Donatello," I whispered.
It was a threat I was desperate for him to follow through with.
—————
"I am so in love with you Calla..." he curses recklessly.
"We should fight more often" I whisper against his neck, pushing my lips against its surface.
Donatello was a beast and showed our good sis why they call him Donatello from Espana. I scrapped the smut. Sorry 🤧
He smirks before pushing my curls back, pressing his lips along the ridges of my jawline. His soft but desperate kisses trailed against my glistening skin. We stare at each other affectionately, his fingers brushing against my cheek, taking in every part of my features.
"So why did you get engaged to Isabel Laura" I insulted. He chuckled, sitting up but looking away. He knew I would bring her up, it was only a matter of time. He better have a pleasing answer.
We kissed again, this time smacking more violently than before. He pulls me into his chest before tracing his thumb over my back.
"She was my only commitment to the future. I knew if I didn't propose I would never move on from you. In my heart, I wanted to wait for you Calla. One month passed and I was still obsessed. I painted you every night, I read books trying to forget you. I wrote love letters to you. Leo banned me from ever stepping foot in Genovia. Two months passed and I was crazier than before. Month three.... and my mother couldn't take it. Picazzo couldn't take it and my health was dwindling. I did not want to, but I had to move on; for my sanity."
"Were you an item before you traveled to Genovia to paint me for the first time?" I knew his mother had already informed me of their betrothal but I wanted to hear it from his mouth.
"Yes, Calla" he breathed, hesitant to reveal the truth. I pouted and looked away.
"I truly thought the trip to Genovia was a normal one. I was called to paint dignitaries and empresses before. Why should it be different? Then I met Leo" he shrugged.
I giggled at the blow to Leo. He was as looney as the rumors suggested.
"And then? I saw you and from the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew my love for Laura dissipated. I hadn't even thought of her the moment I looked into your eyes" He looked at me with the warmest regard, lifting my chin up to watch me. I cried but buried my head into his chest.
"I am not upset at you or her Donatello, but please tell me it is not too late"
"Too late?"
"To reclaim your heart?"
"Calla" he whispered, wiping my tears away, "I told you in the museum when you asked me. I never stopped loving that woman in the portrait; that woman is you."
My heart leaped at his confession but I still had some unresolved questions.
"Did you and her ..." I looked at us in the bed and frowned. He nodded calmly.
"Despite what ideas you think of me, I am still a man Calla" My heart shattered but I was not upset. I was more jealous that he got to share that experience with someone else rather than me.
"Did you... enjoy it?" I knew I was pushing my peace but my curiousness was getting the best of me.
"Does it matter if I did or did not?" he frowned.
"I am just... curious." I whispered.
"You saw me today with you? Pent up is the word I would use to describe our...interactions" I frowned but he looked into my eyes, gently grabbing my jaw. "She means nothing. She's a friend I have known since young and that is it."
I nodded kissing his lips again. "Will you break it off with her"
"I have already ended it."
"When?"
"Before you even revealed your truth to me. The day we came back from the fair. She understood but admitted that she knew from the moment you arrived that my feelings were not idle. Why put her through a ceremony that is one sided"
"She hates me" I frowned, looking away to the distance.
"And I will love you enough for the both of us" he assures me. I sink my chin into his chest and kiss it.
"How bad was it in Genovia since I've been gone," he asked, curious to know my experience.
"I had to read The Brave Pussycat to him."
"No" He chuckles, failing to sympathize with my torture.
"Pretending to be dumb is so strenuous." I sighed connecting to his lips again. We kissed again before breaking.
"It was that bad?"
"Horrendous, but I will admit, I had my fun."
"What did you do?" He chuckled, already knowing my antics.
"I made him cut his hair? Blocked him from eating meat and hunting. Oh! I painted his room pink."
He looked into my eyes before exploding into a fit of laughter. "The yellow and green furniture is hideous"
"I bet Lizabeth had a hand in this?" Donatello teases.
"She surely did" I chuckled. "The furniture was her idea. She misses you by the way."
"Does she? I thought she always hated me" He nodded, relishing in the good news. They had become good friends, no matter how much Lizabeth rejected it.
"He must have fumed seeing the bright colors and pink walls."
"Surprisingly? He did not."
"Call me a painter" he sighed, shocked at the revelation.
"Leonardo is a changed man Donatello.
He prays. He reads. But I must be honest."
He furrowed his brows, waiting to hear my truth.
"I.. slept with him.... a lot."
"A lot? How much is a lot?"
"Well, he housed us in the same bed and in the same room, and one thing led to another." I felt his core tighten but he looked away.
"I guess it is my turn to ask if you enjoyed it?" he scoffed, somewhat teasing the confession.
I was silent.
"Honestly? Yes? No? I enjoyed the physical aspect but I didn't connect with him... I couldn't connect because, in the back of my mind, I only thought of you..."
"And look at where that led you?" He fumed, gently pulling me off. He bent to grab his pants, forcing them off.
"Donatello, the child..."
"I know...it is for the betterment of Genovia" He scoffed, dismissing the explanation.
"It's not his" I revealed. He pauses, looking behind him and walking words me. Gently, he lifted my jaw, looking in my eyes to confirm my confession.
"The baby? It's yours Donatello"
He cursed trying to hide his tears. "I am carrying the heir to Genovia...your child. Our child"
Donatello kisses me proudly, falling to his knees to feel my bump.
"I made a promise to myself that you would be the only father of my child. I will tell Leo that I am pregnant with his child. He will belive it. We have been fuc*ing for a good while"
Donatello turns rigid but I kiss his forehead again. "Donatello, believe me when I say this. He means nothing to me. Our sessions were nothing. Even when I did them, I felt guilt... I knew I was betraying you.
Don't you think I would have stayed in Genovia if I cared about him? I came here for you Donatello"
He sighs but nods, taking my palm into his. "I trust you, Calla," he says, kissing my stomach.
"But what happens when he sees that the baby looks too much like me?"
"We will worry about that later. For now? We wait and plan. I still plan to kill him."
Donatella pulled me over before laying down beside me. "My child.My son"
"Or daughter" I corrected him. He kissed my barely showing stomach, pressing his soft lips upon it.
"What is a fitting name for a king?" he breathes.
"Hmm? Donatello the third?"
"No. Way too cliche" He shook his head, thinking of another fitting title. And all night we discussed potential names for our child until Donatello quieted. We intertwined hands with each other, smiling and taking turns kissing each other's palms.
"Come on." He smiles, running to help me find my dress.
"Where are we going?"
"I am going to make you my wife Calla"
"And who says I want to be your wife Sir Donatello?" I hold his, jaw caressing his beard with care. He chuckled but kisses my wrist.
"Maybe I want to social climb? Marrying the empress to Genovia looks prosperous. Imagine the rise of demand for my paintings?" he teases.
"Ahhh so that is why you like me. It makes sense" I teased. I buttoned up my dress, bending low to fix my hair in the mirror. He pulled my waist in, kissing my forehead with care before looking into my eyes.
"I lost you once Calla. I refuse to lose you again. I want to make mine tonight if it's the last thing I do." he promises, staring into my eyes.
My heart was with him, forever and we started our journey to join our union.
Author Note:
Whewwww! So...... ya'll think the babe is Donatello's? or Leo's?
It's gonna be messy in the next chapter so get ready! It only goes downhill from here. Sorry.