Who: Princess Louisa & Princess Cordelia What: Husband shopping A Business Holiday with Queen Mumsy Where: All over Europe, but currently in Wizarding Istanbul! When: Sunday afternoon Status: Complete Rating: Low
The near constant traveling should’ve been the source of Cory’s exhaustion, or maybe it was staying up a little too late the night before, but in her estimation it was the near constant arse kissing that had her requesting a coffee from one of their guards as they toured the 8th royal palace of their business holiday--this time, in sunny Wizarding Istanbul. Their mother bade them farewell in the palace entryway to meet privately with the King and Queen, and Cory followed Louisa and their guards (plus two Turkish guards) through the opulently decorated halls toward the rear terrace, where they were scheduled to have tea with Crown Prince Ahmet and his younger sister, Princess Esmeray, both of whom were younger than Louisa and older than Cory.
Cory’s heels clicked on marbled flooring as her lightweight lavender robes, perfectly suitable for the middle eastern heat, flowed behind her. A lifetime of Princess training was the only thing keeping her posture straight as she walked, a pleasant grin hitched on her painted lips as she took in the artwork on the walls and sculptures and antiques on display. After she’d charmed the King and Queen moments ago, she shoved her sunglasses back onto her face and hoped she didn’t look as hungover as she felt (she may have had a little too much fun with Kyros and his brothers after the rather excellent party in Greece last night, oops!).
The Turkish palace proved massive, which gave Cory time to whip out her journal from her beaded clutch and flip to the page she’d been most active in since they’d left. “You never shared with me your thoughts on the Spanish Príncipes,” Cory said airily to her sister, pulling her self-inking quill from its leather holster.
*
Louisa had been training for a princessing marathon of this caliber for her whole life, though she hadn't known it. She had decades of built-up endurance in never showing her true feelings, keeping her expression pleasant and politely interested, and saying only kind things, no matter what she was thinking. She managed to make it look completely effortless, unflagging as they hopped from palace to palace. Inside, she was frustrated most of the time. Bored near to tears a few, and praying for an end at least once. Luckily, this tour would be short-lived. She kept reminding herself of that fact, using it sometimes to give a genuine happiness to her expression.
Picking at the non-existent dirt on her sage-green robes, Louisa glanced over at Cordelia with the same flippancy her sister had exhibited. "Prince Felipe seemed particularly enamored of you." And he was a complete buffoon, worse than most Louisa had ever had to endure. Better that he be interested in Cordelia, for that reason as well as his position in line for the throne. "Prince Diego is very handsome and well-mannered. His eye for fashion is remarkable as well. I would not mind him, I think. We would have our own interests to keep us busy. Alejandro is just as handsome as his brother, but more aware of it. I feel he may end up being more diligent a husband than Diego. What did you think of them?"
---
Cory had mostly decided on her princely rankings from their tour of Wizarding Spain, but she made a habit of waiting for Louisa’s input before solidifying her opinion in ink. Not that she needed Louisa’s opinion to form her own, of course. It was more of a courtesy thing (or so she told herself). She mostly muffled her snort when her sister shared her thoughts on the super important matter. “Prince Felipe is a huge prick, which means he likely has a small one,” Cory remarked, rolling her eyes. “I’d wager Prince Diego would be more interested in Perce or Ali than either of us, so you’re probably right on the mark with the own interests assessment. And Prince Alejandro…” Cory trailed off. “He’s hot and seemed pretty brilliant and all, but what sort of dark magic had his hair coiffed that perfectly? Seriously, it ought to be a crime to have better hair than two princesses.”
*
Louisa raised a brow at Cordelia's snort, a corner of her lips quirking upward. "Younger members of the royal family have more freedom to express themselves, that's all. I'm sure it's nothing to do with the size of his… him." Still, there were better options than Felipe, that was for certain. Better both from the girls' perspective as well as the English crown, which was a small mercy.
Giving up on the 'dirt', she crossed her arms under her chest and grinned. "Better than yours, at least. Besides, imagine how wonderful your children's hair will be. And perhaps he could give you pointers." And a Spanish alliance would be very beneficial, not to mention being Alejandro's wife meant being Queen of Spain one day.
---
“Mmm…” Cory wrinkled her nose. “I express myself plenty but I’m not an outright arsehole to people unless they deserve it. And even then, I’ve had plenty of practice tamping that down to acceptable Princess snark standards.” Her antics during her early teenage years had earned her plenty of scolding conversations from their parents. Cory knew the “perks” of marrying a firstborn son--their mother was set on betrothing both of them to firstborn sons, after all, and she knew she could do a hell of a lot worse than Prince Alejandro. “He’d be acceptable, I suppose.” No doubt the Spanish military--with their impressive fleet and reputation for being rather ruthless on the battlefield--would pull high interest from their parents, but other countries had other benefits to offer the British crown. “None of them hold a candle to Sofia, though.” Her admission was quieter, a fond grin pulling on her mouth as she busied herself flipping through her journal pages to find the correct one.
*
Louisa shrugged. "Princesses have different standards than princes." No doubt if Alistair had been similar to Cordelia in personality, he could easily have been a Prince Felipe. "Alejandro would at least treat either of us well. Unlike some of the others…" The Romanian princes in particular sprang to mind, and she suppressed a shiver.
Cordelia's entire demeanor was telling and Louisa sighed, lowering her voice. "You can't accept a Spanish offer with the intent to use their sister for carnal needs. Our dalliances end when Father accepts. Getting caught during a betrothal period would shatter … everything." She knew Cordelia knew this, but reminders were obviously necessary if she was looking at the princesses.
---
“Of course they do. Men are stupid by nature so we’ve got higher standards to make them look better than they are.” Cory loved her father dearly, but there was no doubt who had more of the brains and the bollocks between him and their mother. She nodded in agreement at Louisa’s assessment of Alejandro, and quietly scored him a 9 overall on her completely objective, unbiased and data-driven rankings chart.
Cory narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Do you think I’m stupid? I know that. Which is why I’m trying to get it all out of my system before I’m contracted off.” It was all too easy to spend extra time with Princess Sofia in the name of ‘witchly bonding’ but even Cory knew it would be too risky once signatures and unbreakable vows or whatever were inked and magicked in all but blood. She’d sat through too many boring (yet important, she grudgingly admitted to herself) history lessons to know how much her active libido could get her into trouble if she let it. And the last thing she wanted was for her quim to ignite another war.
*
"Getting it out of your system at home is completely different from doing it abroad in the palace you might some day have rule over." Louisa was of the same mindset that it would be the women who were truly running things, no matter which kingdom they ended up in. Of course, the men would think they were in charge, but that was the easy way to make sure it would be their heads on the block if something happened. "I'm sympathetic to your plight, but we're unlikely to come back with the ink drying. There will be some time yet for getting this out of your system. And then, after some years and children, if your husband takes someone else to bed, maybe you can as well. Discretely."
---
“It’s not that easy meeting people at home, if you haven’t noticed,” Cory muttered, scratching a few more notes with her self-inking quill. With a heavy sigh, she shoved her journal back into her beaded clutch and rolled her eyes. “I’m not complaining, Louisa, and I certainly don’t need your sympathy. I know how it is and I’m dealing with it. And sometimes dealing with it means playing an enthralling game of who’d you rather with Prince Ahmet and Princess Esmeray as soon as I lay eyes on them.”
*
Louisa was curious who Cordelia was writing to in her journal, but asking was a ridiculous notion. Instead, she watched the book slide back into her sister's bag and sighed. "Alright, you win. No sympathy, no advice. Enjoy your illicit trysts as always." And leave the rest of them to do what they always did, as well. Namely to keep soldiering on without the freedoms that came with being the youngest royal. "Even the ones just in your brain." Not that she trusted Esmeray would be a mental relationship only.
Looking around for said prince and princess, she used the opportunity to take in the sights. "At least it wouldn't snow here as much as home and some of the other palaces we visited."
---
Cory shot Louisa a half-hearted glare. “Please. As though you didn’t play who’d you rather with the Spanish princes. Thinking things like that is completely natural, you know.” Louisa may have mastered the art of masking her emotions--to the extent which, once in a while, Cory questioned rather she possessed them at all. (She wouldn’t say that, of course. But once in a while, she wondered.) At Lou’s comment regarding weather, Cory wrinkled her nose. “Too much sunshine here for me. I’d miss the snow.” Regardless, the comment served to remind Cory that she wouldn’t be able to call their kingdom home for very much longer, and her stomach twisted up with nerves. It was much easier to think on more immediate things, such as the shaggability of Princess Esmeray.