"It makes me want to cry." Beatrice said as she viewed the endless rows of litterature in the library.
"Pick one." Katya said, gesturing to the books.
"I could no sooner choose a favorite star in the heavens." The girl replied breathlessly as she stared at it all in awe. They had walked up five flights of stairs and still the walls of bookcases were filled to the brim with texts from every land you could imagine.
"What is it about litterature that touches you so?" Yekaterina enquired as she followed after the young woman who seemed to be inspecting every single title on each shelf.
"I suppose it is because when I was young, my father would always stay up late and read to me. He was addicted to the written word, and I would fall asleep while listening to the sound of his voice." Trixie explained.
"What sort of books were they?"
"Anything, but mostly sience and philosophy. I suppose they remind me of him. He died when I was merely eight. Utopia was the last book he brought home from his travels." Beatrice said as she leaned against the railing of the staircase, tears finding her eyes at the thought of her deceased father.
"Which explains why you quote it." Katya responded, finally understanding why the book seemed more important than anything else in the world to the other woman, and how the girl could know every word by heart.
"I would give up anything to hear his voice again." The girl said, the Grand Duchess feeling a sadness run through her at the pain in the voice of the brown eyed beauty. This made Yekaterina pull away, walking to the other side of the room as she once again felt the stark difference in the passion this girl had compared to what she herself possessed or had previously encountered.
"Is something wrong?" Trixie asked.
"In all my years of study, not one tutor ever demonstrated the passion you have shown me in the last two days. You have more conviction in one simple memory than I have in my entire being." The Grand Duchess said in frustration over how she could have so little passion despite being taught so much.
The princess had been trained in mathematics and physics, was fluent in italian, german and french, was an excellent dancer and horseback rider, and yet could show no passion for any of it that was even comparable to that of the other woman.
"Please, Your Highness, if there is anything I have said or done..." Beatrice said in a worried tone as she stepped closer to the other woman.
"Please don't. It is not you... you are wonderful. Perhaps even too wonderful." Katya said as she took the girl's arm, leading her out towards their carriage again.
A/N: Fun little side note. Like I have said a lot of this book is built on real Russian history, the reform in regards to kholops is one of the examples of that.
However I just wanted to mention why I chose Yelisaveta (Elizabeth) Petrovna to model Katya after (other than the shared middle name).
Because read this: Elizabeth was a bright girl, if not brilliant... From her earliest years, she delighted everyone with her extraordinary vivacity and was regarded as the leading beauty of the Russian Empire. The wife of the British ambassador described Grand Duchess Elizabeth as "fair, with light brown hair, large sprightly blue eyes, fine teeth and a pretty mouth. She is inclinable to be fat, but is very gentle and dances better than anyone I ever saw. She speaks German, French and Italian, is extremely gay, and talks to everyone..."
Like for real; blue eyes, fine teeth, talks to everyone, speaks multiple languages, dances well, extremely gay (meant as happy in this context but still 😂). Try to tell me that this woman and Katya are not fully the same person.
YOU ARE READING
Ever After ✔~ trixya
Fanfiction"Her name was Beatrice Mattel. And this, was her glass slipper. Perhaps you will allow me to set the record straight?" The Grand Duchess says as she picks a beautiful shoe out of the silver box. "Then it's true? The story?" The writer enquires. "Yes...
