A/N: Enjoy this letter fic, royalty AU - and yes I am an AU binge right now. I'd also like to do a huge shout out to Amber - thank you for being an absolute inspiration when it comes to the Black family.
Word Count: 902
unsent, uncensored
My Dearest Druella,
The moon reminds me of you. So beautiful, so bright and so far away.
I would never dare to say those words aloud. It has been three weeks since I first arrived at court and we have shared no more than three conversations together. My brother has never been fond of my company, and indeed, my Mother certainly would disapprove if she realised I was craving your company instead of any of the eligible gentlemen to whom I should be showing my affection.
That is why I have come from the Black family Manor to the Palace. I have been told to find a suitable husband, to offer a sizeable dowry and to create allegiances.
It is what I was bred to do - marry, bear children and act in my family's interests.
Thinking of my brother's intended in the way I do, it goes against everything I know. Yet nightly I find myself dreaming only of you.
My dearest Druella, what am I to do?
Faithfully yours,
Walburga.
Druella, you are dastardly.
I know for a fact that you told Lord Yaxely that I was already promised to someone, for I was behind the hedge as you were walking with him through the roses. It was, of course, a coincidence that we had decided to take the air at the same time.
I wish I could ask you why you did that. Perhaps it's because you knew his reputation as well as I (for it is more than just commoner's gossip that he beat his previous wife to death, after all). That is the most logical answer and yet I find myself hoping you couldn't bear to see me with anyone but yourself.
I must have taken too much sun today. I am delirious.
I should burn these letters and do as Mother compels me to in her latest missive. The tensions between the noble families heightens by the day and my marriage to the right match could secure my family's position, should it come to war.
Why must duty have come in between love? Why can reality be so cruel and tempt me with something untenable?
With longing,
Walburga
Druella, I dare not say goodbye.
It has been decided that I will marry my second cousin, Orion. We have not met but the family does not wish to invite a stranger in amongst us, with tensions so rife.
I must assume that you have heard the news. No doubt Cygnus has made excuses for me not leaving my quarters. I am supposed to be packing for the long journey back to the country - and yet all I can do is stare, despondent, and wonder about my future.
I had never questioned how my life has been decided without my own wishes taken into consideration, not until I met you and realised I would never be able to lead the life that would give me true happiness.
I cannot say goodbye to you. I think I would prefer to remember you as you were during the ball earlier in the season. True beauty is rare and yet you make it seem effortless. All the men in the room had their eyes on you, and if I could have, I would have killed them all for staring at what I wish could be mine.
This will of course be my final letter - although can you call sheafs of paper written to a subject who is never intended to read them a 'letter'.
With heartbreak and regret,
Walburga
Dear Walburga,
It has been three months since you left court. We are both married women now, our families intertwined. I have thought of only you, for every one of those days. The air in your rooms still smelt of your perfume when I found the letters you had written to me, dozens of them all laying in the fire.
Had I not gone into your room, grief stricken, hollow, no one would have known. The maid's light the fires in the morning and I doubt any of them have the capacity to even read, never mind comprehend the matters of the heart you penned with me in mind.
I send you this letter in advance, in the hopes that it may ease the shock of our arrival. Cygnus and I are coming to visit - I demanded it as soon as it was feasible.
I did not know you thought of me in the same way Walburga, as I did you. I did not know it was even possible, for a woman to love another of the fairer sex, until I saw you.
What the future will hold, I do not know. Frankly, I do not care, if it means I get to hold you for a night.
With hope,
Druella
My love,
I have the pendant you gave me nestled against my chest.
We will be together again soon.
Cygnus has disclosed to me that all he requires is an heir, he does not care how I spend my time as long as I can give him that. I do not know if Orion will be amenable, but if he is not there are, of course, other options. In a year or two you would not be eligible for remarriage, should you become a widow.
We have time to plan. For now, hold my letters close and remember me.
Forever yours,
Druella.
A/N: Prompts and Challenges:
- Lyric Alley: 'I'm a little bit jealous'
- Liza's Loves: Royal Arrival - Write a royal!AU
- The 365 Prompts Challenge: 33. Royalty!AU
- The Insane House Challenge: 918. Quote - "The moon reminds me of you. So beautiful, so bright and so far away."
- Serpent Day: 39. Lancehead- (word) hollow
- Scavenger Hunt: 8. Write a Letter fic
- Femslash February: Druella/Walburga