Annabelle’s expression remained neutral as Caterina began recalling the events surrounding their mother’s death. There was very little she remembered that far back, being merely two years old at the time. She perhaps recalled glimpses of the funeral and a pained expression from her father, and after that his cold silence… but as for memories of her mother, or memories of when she died or how she felt… Annabelle had nothing. She grasped nothing and remembered nothing. Perhaps she had pushed it all from her mind. Her childlike innocence had not been scarred too deeply by the loss of a mother she barely remembered at all. Perhaps what did scar her was the isolation she felt from her father, whom she adored completely – although, from a forced distance. Perhaps her earliest full memory was of the time her father sent her away when she was merely five, to the summer cottage with her nurse because she had caused too much of a ruckus at the palace.
The arrangement lasted for a week or so, wherein Annabelle acted out as horribly as she could so she would be taken back... and when she was taken back, her father didn’t so much as greet her for he was bogged down with the stress of being King and a Single Father.
She pushed the memory away and tried to concentrate more on Caterina’s words. When the apology came from her sister’s lips, Annabelle looked away, down at the crumpets on her plate. She eyed it darkly for a moment before parting her pretty lips and letting a small exhale go before stating in a soft, almost faintly accusing voice: “What’s done is done.” Annabelle looked up and matched her sister’s eyes for the briefest of moments before continuing, this time her voice stronger, “There is no reason to apologize for doing what you felt best, at the time. How were you to know any better, being the eldest?” She smiled softly at her sister, trying to portray the forgiveness she was allowing herself to feel there. Perhaps their relationship would blossom from there… perhaps this could be a turning point. “There is nothing I wish for more in my life than to have my sister as that – my sister. Not my Queen, not my pseudo-mother…”
That wasn’t entirely true. Annabelle wished more than anything else to have the right to bear children as most other women had. And yet, she would pander to the moment, if it meant a closer relationship with her sister. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel so secluded from her. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel quite as if she were playing second fiddle anymore.
Annabelle’s beautiful face lit up in a dimpled, childlike smile when her sister accepted the invitation to do their shopping together. Truly the princess could not recall ever shopping with Caterina, at least not as they were both adults. She wondered how calculating she was when making her decisions, for if she were anything like she was on the battlefield, it could be a long afternoon. Annabelle took a bite of her crumpet and brushed the crumbs from her fingers as she placed the remainder onto her plate. “We should have called Ethanov this weekend… we could have had a sibling reunion.” Annabelle said pleasantly, feeling much more optimistic about spending time with her sister.
“Champaign and cake!” Her eyes sparkled at the idea, for she could hardly resist either of the two if offered to her – what a celebration it would be, to have all three siblings together, there to patch up the relationship that had been marred by the absence of a proper mother figure in their lives, and the absence of an attentive father as well, at least for Annabelle.
ooc: Sorry if that's short!
