Work Text:
Penelope watched as another noble brought a well dressed woman on their arm to introduce to Callisto. Count Bartel’s pretty daughter fluttered her lashes masterfully and curtseyed smoothly, smiling a honey sweet smile. Penelope couldn’t hear from her distance, but Callisto nodded along as the two nobles spoke to him, his self-assured smile in place.
She took another gulp of the champagne in her cup, wishing that she could literally stare holes into the woman’s head.
She was standing at an angle that was largely facing Callisto’s back, so she was sure the count and his daughter must have noticed her at some point. Yet, the woman continued to blatantly flirt with her fiancé in front of her. Just as nearly every other eligible noblewoman had done that night. All because her father hadn’t attended this particular event, as if that nullified the five years of their engagement.
Perhaps, most definitely, it was the five years of engagement that were giving them the confidence to be so bold in their advances. It must be natural to assume the emperor simply hasn’t made up his mind on his future wife when an engagement spans such a period of time, in the Eorkan empire at least.
For once, she wished Reynold was here so he could spin some rumours to counter this. At least, it would get people to stop throwing their daughters and nieces at Callisto, even if she would have some other headache to deal with as a result.
“His Majesty and the lady’s looks certainly complement one another.” Came the voice of a noble standing not close enough to be heard by Penelope unless they wished to be. Which they would never have dared had the duke been in attendance, instead of just that useless Derrick.
“She’s charming too. He would be sure to have a lovely wife.” Penelope hoped she had only felt a phantom twitch in her eye; she didn’t want anyone to think she was intimidated when she knew Callisto had no intention of straying.
“Their children will benefit from her strong lineage. It’s only natural that the future emperor of this empire be of the most respectable bloodlines.” Now that was definitely meant for her ears.
She tried to take another sip of her champagne, only to find that her cup was already empty. Again. She glared at the cup too.
“You’re looking at that as if you may throw it at Lady Bartel,” Maryanne said, coming to stand beside her. “At least fill it to the brim so you can argue it was accidental if it spills on her.”
“I’m considering far worse than some gown drenching,” Penelope grumbled, knowing her tone wasn’t matching Maryanne’s mischievous smile.
She crossed her arms and returned her glare towards the lady in question.
“Am I, His Majesty’s fiancée, not standing in the same hall? These sycophants have been at this all night.” She gestured vaguely at a group of women still standing in Callisto’s general vicinity despite having already had their introductions.
Maryanne subtly pulled Penelope’s hand back, with a glance around them. “Let’s not give people more to shake their heads at, my lady.”
“Why should I have to be polite? I’m not the one throwing myself at an engaged man,” she muttered angrily. She felt explosive, ready to throw a fit to put the original Penelope to shame.
Maryanne hummed, tone losing some levity as she said, “My husband mentioned something, recently.” Penelope ignored the envy that cropped up in her at Maryanne’s casual reference to her husband, at the comfort with which she had adapted to a married life and starting her own family. She glanced at her in a gesture for her to continue. “The court has been putting pressure on His Majesty regarding his marriage.”
She wrinkled her brows. “But he’s engaged,” she pointed out, bringing her left ring finger up to tap at her glass, turquoise gem glinting. “What is there to pressure him on when he already has marriage settled?”
“My lady.” Maryanne hesitated a moment, head leaning back awkwardly. “He’s the emperor; he can’t stay engaged indefinitely.”
Penelope felt the buzzing in her head intensify. “I know that,” she insisted quickly. “And he’s not going to stay engaged, because I’m going to marry him. Eventually.”
Maryanne nodded slowly. “The ‘eventually’ is the problem, I’m afraid. He needs an empress beside him, and an heir to raise. The nobility will only wait so long, and apparently, they have been impatient for some time now.”
A servant walked by holding a tray, and Penelope exchanged her empty cup for a new one without a thought. Maryanne gave her a side glance, but didn’t say anything.
“What does that mean? That he has to hurry our marriage? Because I haven’t heard anything about that.” She could hardly taste the champagne now, but she assumed that it probably wasn’t causing the bitterness in her mouth.
“Hurry your wedding, or…” Maryanne swirled her own surely non-alcoholic drink, considering her pregnant state. Penelope looked at her hard, and Maryanne's face took on a look of sympathy. “Well, I believe there’s been talk of his choosing another woman as his wife and empress.”
The warm pressure she had been feeling on her skin and in her head from the alcohol disappeared in a blink, replaced by an icy chill. She took another sip.
“How much talk?” She couldn’t even guess at how her voice sounded, not over the rushing that had started in her ears.
“Well, I suppose, it would make sense to say – that is –” Maryanne looked away momentarily before turning to her again, eyes quickly scanning Penelope’s face worriedly. “A fair amount. Quite a lot in fact.”
No wonder there had been such a long queue of ladies, all dressed to their best and prepared to wait all night for a word with Callisto.
A moment’s silence, and then Maryanne shrugged. “If His Majesty hasn’t said anything to you, my lady likely doesn’t need to worry about it.”
Penelope clutched the stem of her cup with both hands. What did it mean that he hadn’t told her?
“Come now, my lady, who amongst these ladies could rival your beauty?” Maryanne said in a hushed voice, exaggeratedly, making an attempt at lightening the mood.
Penelope’s tone didn’t reflect that as she said, “But any of them would be easier to deal with.” The ground spun beneath her feet as she thought, None of them would push his patience like I am.
Worse still, despite knowing that she has done nearly everything she set out to do with archeology, Penelope still wanted some more time to finish her last project. All this and she still wouldn’t be able to say yes if he asked her to get married right now.
She nearly let out a hysterical laugh. He might not even ask again, so maybe there’s no point in worrying about that now.
Callisto hadn’t made any attempt to marry her since the day she put on his ring and told him she wanted time for her career. She had stupidly assumed that meant it wasn't going to be an issue.
“-Lope? Lady Penelope?” Maryanne waved a hand in her face and Penelope flinched minutely, coming back to a frowning face in front of her. Maryanne had, at some point, taken her cup from her hands because it wasn’t there when Penelope went to take another drink. She blinked at her empty hand in vague annoyance.
“Alright, now,” she began, “I think His Majesty has entertained enough people for tonight. You should go to him while he has a moment of peace.” Penelope looked towards Callisto and noticed that, for the first time that night, he wasn’t engaged in conversation with anyone.
The group of ladies from before watched keenly as he walked away, each clearly itching to follow.
She didn’t stop to think or say a word to Maryanne before she started making her way across the ballroom, as fast as she could without stumbling over herself. So determined to get to him speedily, she didn’t notice when, in between one blink and the next, he was suddenly much closer to her than before.
Penelope let out a small sound as she walked into his chest, her already fragile balance upset and nearly sending her backwards. Large hands caught her by the elbows. She blinked as she stood still to reorient herself, trying to make sense of the blur of colours in front of her.
“Lady Penelope?” Her vision finally cleared enough for her to look at Callisto, shining with his golden hair and piercing red eyes. Callisto really did look even more breathtaking than usual today, decked out in an opulent, dark suit. He raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Excuse me, I don’t know whose fiancé you are, but you look very handsome today,” she said, putting her hands on his chest.
“What, did you just say ‘excuse me’? When did you become so polite,” He said, with a tone of mocking, taking hold of her hand.
“Hmph! That’s mean,” she gave him a sullen pout. The look he gave her was utter fondness. He caressed her cheek with his thumb.
“I think,” Callisto began, and just listening to his voice after going hours without it in this noisy place soothed her, “that it is time my lady retired.”
Penelope shook her head. She didn’t want to leave him alone with these noblewomen and their scheming relatives.
Her eyes dropped to a medal on Callisto’s chest, the gold glimmering nearly as much as his hair. “I don’t need rest.”
Callisto’s hand slipped from hers, and she instantly felt colder. She didn’t have to mourn it for long, though, as his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to his side. Penelope blinked up at him.
The guests moved out of their way as Callisto guided Penelope out. Penelope had to bite her lip to keep her mouth from contorting into a sneer at the acerbic looks thrown by the young women who had talked to Callisto earlier.
As soon as they made it out of the ballroom, Penelope’s hand came up to grasp onto Callisto’s suit jacket.
“How much did you drink tonight?” Callisto asked her, his pace slower now that they weren’t surrounded by guests.
She tried to remember how many times she had replaced her glass but, failing, let out a hmph instead.
“That much, huh? You just had to choose tonight to get wasted?” The hand holding her waist pinched it. She jumped and let out a sound she would swear wasn’t a squeak. He laughed lightly as he rubbed his hand over that area soothingly.
She glared up at him and, nearly shouting, exclaimed, “It’s your fault!”
He gave her an incredulous look. “I didn’t hand you a single cup.”
“That’s the problem!” He hadn’t been beside her to give her a cup or to take it away.
“Are you too drunk to have a conversation with?” He said, clearly annoyed. Callisto nodded to the guards outside his room to open the doors, and the disappointed look on his face – as if he were the one wronged – angered her so much that she used her free hand to hit his chest firmly.
The guards froze for a moment – but only a moment, too used to Penelope's disrespect of their emperor.
Penelope broke out of his hold and dragged him in by the hand, stumbling only slightly now that she was so determined.
The doors shut behind them and she turned to him with a fierce look.
“It is my birthday, my lady. You could be nice to me today,” he complained, hands grabbing onto her waist. That was good, she would have to do less work if he just initiated it as usual. “You didn’t even agree to spend the week until your birthday with me, so did you have to get wasted tonight?”
He pulled her against his chest roughly and began to unlace the back of her dress. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest, mumbling, “That’s still your fault.”
He clicked his tongue in disapproval. The dress was tugged down her arms, and she felt his warm lips on her shoulder before he continued undressing her. Callisto deftly undid her corset and she reached up to pepper kisses along his jaw. She was trailing her way upwards until he lightly pushed her back to pull her corset off, leaving her in her chemise.
Before she could continue with her kisses, he took hold of her shoulders and turned her around, beginning to pull out the jewelry woven through her hair. Penelope let out a frustrated huff of air.
Callisto ran his hands through her now loose hair. Some of the tension left her, and she spun around to face him. She reached for his lapels to pull him down into a kiss, then tried to tug the jacket off before he could react.
To her annoyance, the jacket stayed on and he pulled away from her. “What are you doing right now?”
She glared at him. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
Callisto sighed, walking away from her and toward his bedside table. “You drank so much even though you said you have to leave early tomorrow,” he said.
Penelope felt the urge to hit him again and stomped over. He turned, neatly folded fabric in hand, and said, “Put on your nightgown, and go to sleep.”
She took it from him only to fling it to the side immediately. He gave her a flat look.
“What’s gotten into you?”
“You don’t seem to love me like you used to,” she said, the remaining sober part of herself wincing internally at how whiney she sounded. The rest of her didn’t care.
He barked a sharp laugh. “There you go again, talking back every chance you get. What are you upset about this time?”
“I abandoned my extremely important work to come here and celebrate your birthday! But you were going around nodding and smiling at other ladies all night…” She trailed off, angrily looking off to the side.
“When did I do that,” he asked, sounding baffled. She fiddled with one of his jacket buttons, trying to loosen it, and he lightly swatted at her hand.
“See, even now. You’re pushing me away even though I’m trying to seduce you. Do you like those women better than me? Huh? You keep this up, and my feelings are going to be hurt, Mister Regulus!” She crossed her arms and glowered at him.
He met her expression with a glare of his own.
“You know we haven’t met in a while, right? And yet all you did today was get roaring drunk. Who between us should be feeling hurt – Wait, stop,” he said, his tone going from irritated to dumbfounded as she resumed her earlier attempts at getting him out of his clothes. She fumbled with the buttons, pulling roughly at them more than she made any real attempt to undo them.
“Are you out of your mind? You’ll tear my clothes!”
“Stay still! I’ll show you who’s boss tonight!” She finally pulled open his jacket, which was now short a button, and began work on his shirt.
“Are you out of your mind,” he said, trying to stop her by the elbows. She resisted his gentle hold easily and pushed him onto the bed. Nonplussed and unprepared to resist, he fell on the mattress.
Throwing off her heels, Penelope quickly hitched her chemise and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips.
A stupefied look on his face, he watched as she finally pulled his shirt open and put her hands on his firm chest.
Blinking slowly, mesmerized, she ran her hands over his skin. The frantic tension left her as she leaned down to press a kiss to a scar, then another, and another.
“Only I get to do this,” she mumbled into his skin. She felt his chest move against her lips with his breathing.
“Huh?” Callisto said.
Sitting back to admire the canvas of skin covered in her lipstick, she nodded to herself, satisfied.
“Penelope,” Callisto said, his deep voice rough and affected, but attempting to remain firm.
Sharply, she turned her eyes to him with the intention of snapping at him again. The beautiful frown he was wearing stopped her. Golden hair illuminated in candlelight, red eyes nearly swallowed by the black of his pupils. She felt herself go breathless before the rush of blood flooded her veins, her chest now rising and falling noticeably faster.
Callisto's eyes darted down once. She felt a sudden visceral, painful need to trace his jawline with her lips. To put her hands and mouth everywhere she could reach. But she almost couldn’t tear her eyes away from his handsome face to do any of it.
Without her awareness, her hands hesitantly came up beside both sides of Callisto’s face, shaking. She held them there, not touching his skin, just hovering. She believed there were many things she had worked for and earned in her life. Callisto Regulus was one she could not ever include in that set; yet, she couldn’t give him up. Not to anyone, not for anything.
Large hands wrapped around her wrists, moving her hands the last few centimetres to hold his face, and jolted her out of her reverie. She blinked once.
“Are you satisfied? Go to sleep now,” he said gruffly, hands reaching for her hips and beginning to lift her up.
“No,” she nearly shouted, draping herself over his body to reach his lips and kiss him. Despite his confusion, his lips moved with hers. The hands at her waist set her down again and pulled her further into him on instinct, her whole body pressing against his.
Letting out breathless noises as he kissed her relentlessly, she slowly rolled her hips and grinded downwards. Callisto groaned into her mouth. She rolled her hips harder, and his grip on her hips tightened.
He pulled away from her mouth, leaving her to make sounds of complaint. Callisto pushed his forehead against hers, one hand holding her head back by the hair when she tried to kiss him again. “What’s gotten into you,” he asked, looking into her eyes.
“Not you,” she said stubbornly, surprising a short laugh out of him.
"You have to leave early. You made that very clear earlier," he reiterated, and though she vaguely remembered saying that, it sounded like nonsense at the moment.
Her hands reached for his face again. "I don't care," she said huffily. He narrowed his eyes at her slightly.
“Don’t complain to me tomorrow,” he said after a pause, then flipped them over to get her under him smoothly.
She woke up leisurely to warmth surrounding her, her head resting against a solid chest. Strong arms tightened around her in greeting when she lifted a hand to rub at her eyes.
“Good morning, my lady,” Callisto said, his voice still rough from sleep. She felt lips press against the top of her head. Penelope hummed in response, burrowing back into him.
“Do you plan on spending one of my precious mornings with you asleep? It’s nearly noon already,” he complained, and she smiled at the childishness of his tone.
“Mmm. It’s your fault for tiring me out so much,” she said flatly, despite the warm feeling in her belly. She hid her smile against his chest.
He huffed. “Didn’t you force me? You were so demanding after we left the banquet.”
Cold anxiety from the past evening creeped in as she remembered the birthday celebration.
When she didn’t respond, he poked her cheek and questioned, “My lady?”
“You…you’re mine. You had better know that,” she mumbled into his chest, hiding her face as it heated up and surely turned pink. A moment of stillness. Then, she felt his laugh before she heard it, the rumble of it through his chest settling the turning in her stomach.
“I believe you made that quite clear last night, my love,” he said jovially. She smacked his stomach. He laughed again and held down the hand she had used before she could pull it back to herself.
She humphed, beginning to struggle in his hold so she could turn her back to him. He held her tighter before suddenly letting go and shifting away. She stopped her struggle at his unexpected movements, watching him move just far enough that he was leaning over her, one elbow supporting himself on the bed.
Callisto had dropped his grin, a serious expression on his face. He hadn’t let go of her hand, his fingers threaded through hers, and brought the inside of her wrist to his lips, her palm pressed against his cheek. “You have me, Penelope.”
Her mouth opened silently. His eyes looked like burning embers, setting her blood on fire. How to put everything she felt for this man into words?
Promises to leave the field soon were on the tip of her tongue. She wanted him to know that he wouldn’t have to wait for her much longer.
“Your Majesty.”
Looking into those red eyes brimming with devotion, she felt stupid for doubting him, no matter how drunk she had been.
He must know how I crave his love, she thought. How could he love me so much if he didn’t know? She closed her mouth and shook her head, taking the coward's way out by not giving voice to everything she wanted to say. At Callisto’s furrowed brows, she smiled, pulling her hand out of his grasp to drag him down to her lips.