Winter's Kiss (Ursus Peregrinus & Candy_demon21)

A crimson blush colored her cheeks the moment the Castellan had said he had heard her shouting. Had she really been that loud? Of course she had been! She had been throwing a temper tantrum like a spoiled little child. It was evident from the look that the great bear of a man gave her, he was not lying, “It was an insult about your comment sir, about a meal would do me well. I am plenty healthy and I certainly don’t need you tell me otherwise, thank you.” Her reply came out weak, watered down, not how she had intended it. With a defeated sigh, Odette tugged at the ends of a stray tendril of raven hair nervously.

When he looked down at her with those eyes of his, the sadness that danced behind them made her blink, confused, “Why should the cost of my words burden anyone else besides me? They are mine, if the prince has a problem with what I say, than perhaps he should take his anger out on me and not others.” But she knew that the man was right. The prince had the right to do as he pleased, she was his guest, perhaps was the reason why he didn’t take his anger out of her.

There was a falter in their walking when Ivan froze and looked back. “No I cannot, I suppose coming here was the first real choice that I had as well.” And then the prince began again about how the prince was not a kind man. What was the first indication? The warm welcome, or perhaps his sparkling personality? What he said next struck a chord, she was acting like a child, and she hated herself for it. She wanted to prove the prince wrong, wanted to prove Ivan wrong, to show them, even if it was more for herself, that she wasn’t a child. “I r-“ but that was the extent that she was able to get out before she was introduced into the main hall again.

It no longer looked like it had the night before. It was bathed in warm light instead of the harsh blue white glow of the witch light, it actually looked welcoming. But from across the room, Odette could see the prince, even before he stood or moved across the room like fog.

He stood and gave a slight bow, fine, she would behave, for the time being. Grabbing the folder of her dress, the raven haired girl curtsied and bowed her head lower than prince did his. When she had pulled herself erect again, the prince beckoned her forward. Odette wanted to roll her eyes, but she did, she simply took a deep breath and stepped forward. She stopped for a moment, looking the prince up and down.

Moving towards his right hand side, the young woman did not wait for him to pull out her chair, surly he was bound not to. Taking her seat, she sighed heavily, “Good morrow your highness.” His comment made her nod, “And I will do as such.” Better to say less with the prince, “Can we continue on with our business, I am here as an ambassador, and my being here is strictly business.” Small talk was on the lower portion of her to do list, and the prince was not one of the few people she did not want to small talk with.

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~~Prince Nikolai Ilyich Kostchei~~

Ivan merely gave her a look as he closed the door behind her and left her in his master's presence. For a moment he had been about to lecture her on the unfairness of life, but she would learn all on her own soon enough. Closing the door, Ivan leaned back against it and sighed. This was going to be a difficult time, but at least it would be over quickly.

Kolya watched as Odette approached. She looked so much like her mother at that age. The way she moved was so naturally graceful, and her dark hair only made those green eyes shine brighter.
"My thanks, and not least for your willingness to grant me a second chance." The Prince closed his eyes and took a breath. "I spend much of my time alone. By choice, as much as by necessity. Even my servants can go days without seeing me. They are here more to care for the castle than to cater to my own needs." He looked down at the empty space before him where hers was set for breakfast. "I have very few needs, anymore."

Lifting the silver cover from her plate, he revealed a dish of apple pancakes, thin slices of ham and a carefully prepared and elegantly folded omelet filled with onions, peppers and cheese. Another silver cover hid a fruit salad that must have come from a hothouse somewhere in the castle or in Eisengrad. Fresh tea steamed in a samovar inlaid with golden unicorns, and Kolya poured her a cup, careful not to touch any part but the handle lest he freeze it solid. There were dishes of jams and jellies as well as a pot of fresh butter and a basket holding a freshly sliced loaf of bread that was still warm from the oven. Not the dark bread most of the valley folk were used to, but a fine white loaf.

Kolya ate nothing, drank nothing. Odette saw him breathe in and close his eyes as he looked at the steaming loaf of bread. Was that a wistful expression on his face? It passed too quickly to be sure, and the Prince nodded again.
"Regarding our business, I have begun making my decisions." He opened the ledger and flipped through to the current year. "The taxes from Mecklenburg were half what they should be, but there was flooding in that portion of the valley at planting time. The spring runoff was worse than it should have been, the farmers were late with their planting. I will forgive the lapse, but they will repay one tenth of what is missing for the next ten years to make up the shortfall. That tenth-part will be used by the mayor to pay for dams and dikes to help control the problem in future." Kolya turned the page to check the next entry. A disagreement over water rights between two farmers that had been going on for more than a century now. "Mueller's Stream will revert to MY property. The Muellers and the Balagans have fought over it for long enough. Both may water their livestock in the water, but only below the forest. Neither may build irrigation canals or divert it." He shrugged. "Let them both be angry with me, perhaps they will forget how much they hate one another if I give them a different target."

Flipping through several more pages, he considered various decisions that needed to be made. Most of them were routine. Most of them should have been handled by the town magistrates, but they seemed to prefer to leave it to him, not wanting to take any responsibility.
"Hmmph. Eisengrad is growing too quickly. There's fertile land in the forests but no one wants to clear land. The town is too crowded and the Mayor doesn't know what to do. What do you think, Odette?" The Prince fixed his gaze on her, those dark eyes intent as he stared into her pale jade orbs.

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(100 posts up, this being the hundredth!)


Odette had caught the look that Ivan gave before the door slowly closed behind him, leaving the two alone, again. The same uneasy feeling was bubbling up in her stomach, leaving that familiar and foul taste in her mouth. This taste had to be the disdain she had for him. When he spoke, her skin prickled and those emerald eyes darted to him, a bitter coldness in their brilliant color.
Just as she was about to open her mouth and say something smart, she snapped it shut and listened to him continue. His comment about living alone made her want to snort, that was event from the liveliness of the castle, it was as silent as the grave!

Crossing the distance between them, Odette sank down into that empty spot the prince continued to glance at, 'I have very few needs anymore,' another comment that made want to retort with something smart. But Ivan's words continued to chide her, reminding her that instead of acting like a spoiled child, she might perhaps benefit more if she acted like a young woman, the young woman that she was. With a quick shake of her head, she dislodged the thought.

When she had taken her place and everything was uncovered, Odette nearly gasped at the spread before it. There was so much to eat, and in that instead, her belly reminded her that she was hungry. Absentmindedly she began to gnaw at her bottom lip, feeling a bit overwhelmed with what to devour first. Reaching out she took a hold of the bowl of fruit, bringing it forward. She took a small spoonful and brought it to her lips, the moment the sweet taste touched her tongue, she almost wanted to cry. As she ate, she noted that he did not, perhaps this was one of those needs he no longer had. The look that he gave the bread made her swallow hard and raise a curious eyebrow. The look that crossed his face made her almost gasp if he wanted a slice, it looked sad. But it left as quickly as it had come. Perhaps this so called monster did feel something after all?

The prince began to speak again, making fill her mouth with another spoonful of the sweet fruit, in response to his comment, she nodded. What else could she really do? She was here to simply say if she agreed to disagreed, if even that. Odette, being as poor as she was, was not educated like the prince was. She had been taught to read, write and do simple arithmetic but politics had been one of the few lessons her mother decided to skip over. What he said did seem reasonable, not that any of the town's people would disagree, they were too frightened to ever argue.

The two feuding families were sure to have a common enemy now, but she again nodded her head that it was far, "A common enemy." She commented after finishing off the fruit and taking a slow, deep drink of the warm tea, "You do certainly realize that they will begin to ask questions as per our nature." She murmured, setting her tea cup down and flicking a long, stray lock of raven hair over her shoulder. He was going to retort with something along the lines of he didn't care and they would surly learn to accept his terms.

Odette had begun to work on the pancakes when the prince had asked what she thought. She jumped slightly, "Hm?" But she quickly recovered, "Oh, the towns." What did she think of the growing population? "Surly clearing out the forest would cause the animals that we often hunt to draw back further from us, making food more scarce. Perhaps build apartment buildings, or as you said, clear part of the forest." Why did he honestly care what she thought? She was no one to him.

His staring didn't help either. The onyx eyes sent chilling shivers down her spine, causing her skin to prickle in either fright or perhaps cold, even a combination of the both. "What do you think mi'lord?" Leave the ball in his court, ultimately he was going to choose what he wanted to do, rather than listen to anything she had to say, that had been evident from the previous night's quarrel.

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~~Prince Nikolai Ilyich Kostchei~~

Watching Odette eat reminded Kolya of his own hunger, a hunger that the deer he had consumed had only blunted. The faint, faded memories of the taste of food still lingered in his mind, tinged with regret that such pleasures were denied him now. All the worldly pleasures were denied him, leaving him to find what little satisfaction he could in other things, but he could still long for the taste of fruit or fresh pastry. The scent of food was almost a torment now, and little wonder he so rarely went near the kitchens anymore.

The prince could not help but smile at Odette's words when he settled the matter of the two quarrelling neighbours.
"They can ask all the questions they wish, but the only answers they will get will be that it is my decision and my stream. Their bitterness with one another has been gnawing at them both long enough, perhaps now they can learn to get along and both complain about me instead. Besides, their children would make a good match, they were dancing at the Midsummer festival. With their fathers busy being angry with me perhaps they'll have a chance to bring the two families together." Kolya smirked at that, remembering. He often watched the celebrations of his people, whether in person or simply sending his ravens to view them. It was good to see that his people were content, and to hear what they had to say when they were at ease.

Odette had a point regarding the problem of Eisengrad, but the thought of sprawling tenement buildings was distasteful.
"The hunters would have to go further afield, it's true," Kolya allowed thoughtfully. "Still, it's a long time since any but the richest or poorest of my people have relied on hunting to fill their bellies. For the richest, let them buy livestock or pay a higher price for MY game. For the poorest... a chance to own a parcel of land of their own is a better way to feed their families than chasing birds or coneys I think. After breakfast, I think we will adjourn to the library and examine a few maps. There are a few likely places to build a new town."

Pushing back his chair, he waved at Odette to continue her meal as he paced to the nearby window and gazed out. Hands clasped behind him, he looked up at the clear blue sky and thought.
"I think a new community is the answer. We'll offer loans, generational loans at fair rates, to young families and individuals who are ambitious enough to want a place of their own. Preference to those who need the loans over those who have funds already, and preference to those with funds over those who already hold land of their own. Groundbreaking to begin in the spring, once the ground has thawed, that will give time to make the other arrangements."

Touching the window with his fingertips, frost began to creep along the glass around those four points of contact, softening the bright morning sunlight.
"Are there so many hungry mouths in my lands? I'll admit, that is a concern I can all too easily forget. It has been a long time since food passed my lips." Turning back to look at her, he sighed and found himself examining every feature of her face for the hundredth time. The echoes of her Mother were so plain, touches of her Father's strength. A faint spark of bitter hatred threatened to overwhelm him but he quenched it back to icy calm.
"I want only the best for my people. Prosperity, health, safety and room to grow in peace. I meant it when I told you that they are like children to me. They are the only children I will ever have, Odette. If there is suffering, then I am failing them."

Children, he thought to himself with an inner laugh. So small and venal and self-centered and petty. Caught up in their little conflicts and rivalries and so unwilling to think and reason. He looked at Odette and once more the thought struck him that she could have been HIS daughter, if things had gone differently. If her mother and father had not betrayed him.

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Absentmindedly, Odette had been eating, her eyes locked on the bowl of fruit, but her skin prickling with the feel of the prince's eyes. Surly he wasn't watching her eat, couldn't he? Perhaps that comment about not needing much anymore had included eating. Then how in the world did he survive? The life he was living wasn't living, rather it was just being...

The words she spoke registered something within the prince, a smile? Those pearly white teeth glittered dangerously, god how she hated when he smiled, even if it was in kindness. "I suppose everything in this land is." She responded to his comment, though she found herself a little awestruck that the prince had seen the two children dancing together happily, surly he didn't grace the public with his presence unless it was absolutely mandatory; a dance didn't seem the occasion. Odette longed to have said she knew that the two had feelings for one another, let alone know their faces, but she had been kept from that outing as well; no surprise there of course! "Forgive me in advance highness, but I did not think you the monarch to grace the common people with your presence, especially at a petty dance." There was no sharp edge to her voice, but more of an unspoken question.

"You surly are a kind prince,"she murmured, finding that her gaze had flicked up to his for a momentary glance before it returned down to one of the pastries she had half devoured. "Yes your highness, though I have never looked at a map and do not know how to read them." In that instant there was a heat that rushed through Odette's ivory skin as she admitted her short coming. Her mother had found it unnecessary to teach her only child to read such things, she had been determined to keep her daughter under her watchful gaze.

Though when the prince stood, the raven haired youth stopped and began to raise from her seat; but her formalities were waved aside by the prince's gesture, alright she would continue. Looking back down to her emptying plate, her emerald gaze flicked up to the prince, watching him as he paced over to the window. "There are many men in our town that wish to marry but do not have the funds to do so, surly these loans will help these young lovers?" Odette knew not to hold her breath for such childish things, the prince didn't seem the kindly monarch to help those in love.

His next question caught her a little off guard, "Yes your Highness, there are starving families. Many are hard working, but this is just word of mouth. I personally know none." The prince's gaze had returned to her, Odette could not bear to look at him whilst he perused her features, "Why do you gaze at me so?" She murmured, "It is not the first time I have felt your gaze on me." Mustering up the courage, Odette turned her emerald gaze towards the prince to look at his features. "Or perhaps you have no reason and simply do so because it is your 'right'?" This comment was not meant to offend, but it easily could have been. Catching herself, she nibbled at her full bottom lip before she opened her mouth again, "I mean no disrespect but have a hard time understanding why you watch me so."

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