Beauty and the Beast(Moldova)

[Wallachia]

[/b]


A marriage of convenience, was how it was pitched to the young and slightly temperamental Wallachian. His newly elected prince spoke of it as a way for his mother to gain power again, and that was surely the way to get this growing youth to agree to such a thing.

It had worked, Dorianus knew that his mother had never truly been as strong as she had been before she was taken in by the Ottoman Empire. It had left him, his younger brother and younger adoptive sister alone. His people had fought against the rule that was bound to come, Nicholas had been taken in by Hungary and Iona, well she had been taken by the Ottoman Empire only to be given over to Russia later on. Because the lands were not formally united again, his mother wasn't as strong as she had been before, and fear wracked Dorianus' brain for a way to make her stronger or to protect her.

The marriage, or union, had happened and to Dorianus, there was nothing but political maneuverability and away to bring unity to his mother's lands. Iona was his sister, but she was strange and he never found himself truly carrying for her. Perhaps there had been a time when he had been caring, before the weight of everything began to take its toll upon his mind, but that was far away. To any observer, this was not a marriage at really, the two had their own bedrooms and never shared a bed. Dorianus did not really spend much time talking to Iona either, he spent most of his days in the dungeon, or in the library.



The door to the dungeon's opened slowly before the tall and slender figure of Dorianus slipped through. His black hair was pulled back with a tie to keep it out of the way and out of his face. His long form was dressed in trousers with his shirt slightly undone at the top.

The rest of the castle was quiet for the moment and he enjoyed the silence from the screams he had been hearing down below in his dungeon. There was no expression upon his face as he moved through the hallways. He passed a few of the castle workers and he paid them no mind, even as they moved past him as if he was the devil himself. Of course, to them and the villagers, he was the devil and he enjoyed them feeling that way. If they traveled further into his dungeon they would be met by a few of the girls from the village, girls who had taken pity upon him to help him that he had turned into dolls of shorts. They were his helpers and maids and they all loved and cared for him as if he was God himself.

Dorianus entered the library, not noticing if anyone else was in there. He moved and sat down, stretching his long legs out before him.[/ul]

[Moldova]

Iona was sure she'd have been dead by the end of the first week. It was no shock to her that Dorianus did not want this in the slightest. Neither did she. But here they were. The good news, she wasn't dead. The bad? She was still in her body, which was connected to something else in an invisible way, as if she were tied to the house, to him, by threads so small you couldn't see them, but strong enough to remain unbroken no matter what you tried. And how she tried.

As a young lady in such turbulent times, she wasn't really allowed to roam about by herself, she'd need an escort for that. Not to mention the fact that she had left Ivan rather quickly, marrying Dorianus instead of joining him. He seemed rather angry and disappointed in her decision, and it was more than obvious that if she strayed too far away, she would be an easy target for conquest. Breaking off the marriage would result in similar consequences.

So she stayed and behaved, as she had not for years. Not that it had done anything, since Stephen the Great had died and she'd been taken into the Ottoman empire. How she missed Stephen, but no amount of praying (Or tears) would ever bring him back. Iona took to wandering about, her curiousity getting the better of her in times of hardship. That was how she found the dungeon.

Never again would she EVER enter that INFERNAL place. She had heard some muffled sounds coming from inside, before, but never knew exactly what had been going on. Now she could not get the sounds out of her head, and every time she passed by, she remembered what she saw and would begin running until she was out of breath. She wasn't sure if Dorianus knew she had seen his.... area, but if he had he made no move to ask her what she'd seen.

After her discovery, she took to hiding in the library. Things were nicer there, quiet and peaceful. She could bury herself in books and read about whatever she felt like. Whenever Dorianus entered, she could move to the very back and stay well-hidden until he left. Things were better.

But not much. The quiet of the library gave her time to think about things she did not wish to think of. For example, those girls. She knew she was small and slender, which had always been good for young women of her day and age, but perhaps the fact that she was so young, muscular from fighting, and had not developed in the ways those girls had made her less appealing. Perhaps it was a good thing she was, or else she'd have been down there, too.

She shook herself from her thoughts, returning to the book she had been reading. Today had gone no differently than usual. She had risen, dressed, eaten, and scurried to hide in the library. Dorianus had made his way into the dungeon, where she figured he'd be for a while longer. No, the door opened and he entered.

Iona normally would have scurried back to hide from him, but today she felt brave, so she stayed where she was, in plain view. She took a deep breath and watched him sit. Truly, she was glad she was standing and he was not. His immense height, compared to hers, left her feeling weaker and more vulnerable than she already was. She closed her book, watching him a little longer.

"Dorianus...." She didn't realize that she said his name, actually addressing him, until it was already past her lips. She had said it softly, perhaps he didn't hear. Perhaps he would sense her unhappiness at being ignored, even if it were him. A sense of lonliness lingered over her and she just couldn't seem to be rid of it.

[Wallachia]

[/b] His voice was low and deep, but soft when he spoke to her. Not trying to scare or intimidate her, he actually was trying to speak to her, trying to understand what she was going through and hopefully make her feel at ease. If her loneliness was what was making her brave then it would only continue to do such. So, he needed to dampen this loneliness to stop what could happen. He did not want to have some puppy dog following him around everywhere, it was rather annoying.[/ul]

[Moldova]

He spoke to her. He actually spoke to her. Iona peered at her 'brother' curiously, slipping from where she was standing and moving a little closer, like she were a cautious young pup being offered food. She was somewhat trusting of this strange turn in Dorianus' attitude, but not quite ready to outright respond to it. She clutched her book to her chest and took another step forward, eyes growing to roughly the size of dinner plates.

He truly didn't seem to care, not even lowering his book to look at her. His expression was apathetic at best, and it made her feel somewhat hollow in the pit of her stomach. But her curiosity and stubbornness won out and she remained where she was. Besides, she couldn't actually read much in library, though she eyed books day in and day out. She knew the alphabets by a glance, but had trouble putting the letters together to form words and then understand them. Her writing was even less developed. Mostly she tried to find books with pictures in them, but she had little luck. Not that she'd mention this to Dorianus or the rest of her 'family'.

But the matter at hand wasn't her literacy, it was that her 'husband' had actually acknowledged her and spoke to her.... softly, almost gently. It was kind of comforting, actually, that he didn't speak harshly to her as he had done before, how he usually did. Despite being alive for hundreds of years, her mind and body were still that of a child, roughly eleven years of age. Any attention at this point in her life, especially from her 'husband' was something to be cherished. She shuffled a few more steps, as if testing the boundaries of her own bravery. Then she pried her lips apart (She hadn't realized how dry they'd become since Dorianus had entered) and tried to speak.

"I-I.... I am, I s-suppose...." She trailed off then tried again, "I a-am, but I... I'm just k-kind of l-lonely and b-being kept inside... and a-all... I just f-feel kind of... Um..." She felt herself falter and knew that if she didn't get it out, now, she would forever hold her peace, unable to try something as crazy as this again. It shouldn't have been this 'crazy', it should have been a normal thing, a girl asking her 'brother' for some sort of company to keep her occupied, but the very idea of it seemed radical. She decided to try again.

"IwaswonderingifIcouldhavesomecompany," this time her words came out quick and jumbled, meshing together to form a nearly incomprehensible string of syllables and sounds. She felt herself flush in embarrassment. Surely this couldn't be so difficult. She found herself noting how long his legs were. Surely, he couldn't be that tall. Or was she just that small? All of the grown men she'd met had been very tall, like giants compared to her. Perhaps she had not begun to grow and they were all done? The topic seemed to have fluttered into her skull, taking her mind beyond the issue at hand. She shook her head slightly, blinking, and focused again on the topic. Loneliness. She wanted company, human interaction, more than anything.

[Wallachia]

[/b] The word even tasted strange in his mouth as he spoke and he had to collect his thoughts again before he spoke. "Well, I'm sure we could have some kind of party or I could invite Nicholas over so that you can have someone to speak with." A party was not something that Dorianus wanted, but if it was just Nicholas coming over to spend time with and speak with Iona, then he was sure it would help to put her at ease. He waited for what she would say, slowly moving his hand to pick up his book.[/ul]