Chapter II.
Set in Stone
There were days in Ravka when the sun would shine so brightly, coating the Grand Palace and its gardens in sunbeams making it look like a golden egg. The winds would be still and the temperature would be warm. Those were the days when all the nobles preferred to stay inside and eat candied fruits. Indulge themselves with shredded ice, covered in sugared syrup.
In those days, Irina would venture from the palace and go out to the nearby towns. Most of the time, she would bring bread and food for the farmers who worked all day in the fields. None of them seemed to mind her presence much, not when she brought them such gifts and helped out with the simple chores. They all assumed that she was the daughter of the merchant residing in Ryevost.
No one batted an eyelash when she would don plain clothes and go out riding. They all probably thought that the princess had lost her mind in the heat.
Her father was too sick to go against anything she did and Oleg probably prays for her demise every single day, which meant there was no one to truly stop her.
Although one always tried.
"Princess Irina, I do not think it is safe to go out now. There are more and more attacks being reported every single day." Dimitri called out from her sitting room as she readied herself in her private chambers.
Irina let out an amused huff of breath, tying her hair back with a line of cloth. "Oh Dima, when have I ever been swayed by your fears before?"
He released a loud sigh. "Not in all of the years I have known you, Your Highness."
Dimitri, or as she liked to call him, Dima was her guard. She never went anywhere without him, per her father's orders. If he cannot provide her with a caretaker, the least he could do was provide her with a guard who could defend both her and himself.
Dima had been the shadow always following her around. When she was too distracted to fend off unwanted attention, Dima was the one doing it for her. In a sense, he was the brother she wished she had.
"And yet you still try." She said, entering the sitting room with a fresh face.
Dima looked up at her from his perch on one of her chairs. "And yet I still try. I do not know why I even bother."
"Come. The day is bright and we still have lots to do." Irina beckoned, pulling him up to a standing position before dragging him out of the door.
They walked out the door, princess and her guard, with a clear mission in mind.
"Have you ever thought that maybe this isn't the right example to set for Prince Igor?" Dima asked as they walked past the servants and their judgemental stares.
It was as if they liked the other demanding nobles more. Pity.
She laughed. "Who would set a better example? Me or Oleg?"
"Both of you are terrible choices." He grunted. "Little Prince Igor would be better off not idolizing either one of you."
"Rude," Irina answered, grinning as they exited through the grand doors of the palace. "I like to think that spending time with the people of Ravka to help them credits a good example."
"Your Highness, you are constantly putting yourself in harm's way. If Prince Igor were to follow you, he would be dead by sundown." Dima raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well, Saints. No one is perfect."
//
His eyes scoured over the maps spread out on his wooden table. The bumps in the surface constantly dig into the parchment, making it impossible for the map to lie flat.
He had just returned from Fjerda where he had posed as a seer's apprentice.
It was a memorable experience, to say the least. Meeting the most interesting people. Perhaps, he merely enjoyed it as a breath of fresh air from his mother who had chosen to travel with some Suli company.
He had returned to Ravka, feeling within himself that he simply had to. He did not know what was calling him to return, he only felt it in his bones. It was an unexplainable thing really.
He had long since stopped questioning intuition as it was what had led him to where he is now. He still had much he had to do.
He still had plenty of wars to fight and lives to live. He could not do that if he were far away from his home.
He heard laughter coming from outside, making him turn his attention to the glass window to try to fathom what was occurring.
The day was going on as it usually did. With the fathers and sons going off to the fields, and the mothers, daughters, and young children staying at home to do housework.
He was just about to turn back to his plans when he heard soft tinkling laughter. His eyes darted from each figure outside the window before it landed exactly where the laughter emerged from.
At first glance, he noticed that the woman was beautiful. Tall, lithe, pale with golden hair. But at second glance, he saw within. The exhaustion in her form, the bags underneath her blue eyes covered in a thin layer of powder, the sickly pallor of her skin that could be passed off as paleness.
It would not have been seen by anyone else. But he saw it.
He saw her.
The young children crowded around at her legs as she carried a basket full of clothes.
Odd, for he was sure he had never seen her before today. He would have remembered her.
He watched as the children pulled at her skirt, hindering her from taking another step yet she did not seem bothered. Instead, she only laughed at their efforts, handing the basket to the man following them.
Her eyes seemed to flicker to where he was, their gazes meeting in the middle like the clash of the waves among the rocks.
Her eyebrows seemed to furrow in confusion, before looking away. She saw him, he was sure. Perhaps she felt that thing he was feeling within himself as well.
He forced himself out of such thoughts. He did not have time for starry-eyed maidens. He had plans to put into place.
Just when he was about to push the thought of her out of his mind and focus all his attention back on the maps and plans he had drawn out, a piece of accessory on the girl's wrist glinted under the sun's glow.
His eyes widened in apprehension. Surely, it could not be.
The girl was wearing one of the Imperial Lantsov gems on her wrist, specifically the onyx bracelet that the wife of King Anastas used to flash around at parties.
He smiled then. Maps and prior plans be damned. He had now found another way to the Grand Palace, another way to be in the king's good graces, another way to bring glory to Ravka.
Her name lingered at the tip of his tongue. He had heard of her name before. The eldest daughter of King Andrei, the sole princess of Ravka.
"Irina Lantsov."
~ 𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓮 ~
Teeheehee! Sooo, 'he' is the Darling btw, don't be confused. I just didn't want to throw in 'Aleksander' too early since, in the books, his name was only mentioned in the last part of Ruin and Rising so I wanted to make his name important in this one too. This book will be a combination of book canon and show canon sooo don't worry everyoneee hehehe!
Also, the Darkling in Fjerda storyline came from one of the stories in 'Language of Thorns', you know when the Darkling had a cameo hehehe. We will be seeing more of devious, sneaky, charming Darkling with Ben Barnes because why not? Also, clue clue clue, Irina and Aleksander (Darkling, *he has too many names*) will be meeting in the next chapter because of....well, you'll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned and lots of love!!