The Ice Queen Chapters 1 and 2
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gen_storytellerReposting here by invitation *G* Happy to comply.
Title:The Ice Queen
This story was written a couple of years ago (one of my first fic's). The incredibly talented![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
selene2 made the lovely banner and several icons as well as a wallpaper for it.
Category:Drama
Rating:PG13
Characters: Cecily Addams/Halfrek, Anyanka, D'Hoffryn Note: ME cannon says nothing about Cecily being Halfrek aside from the sly "William" remark Hallie made when she recognized Spike, I have taken the literary license of saying they are the same "person"
Summary: Cecily Addams gets her vengence on with a bit of help from a straight-talking demon, Anyanka...oh and meanwhile, Marx gives birth to the USSR.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction . ME and Joss Whedon are the owners of all Buffyverse characters therein. Some characters are from my imagination and a few were real people. Joss and ME own all rights to their characters and those actual persons, albeit dead, own themselves.
===============================================================================
THE ICE QUEEN
Chapter 1: Of Ice And Men
Outside Novodvinsk, Russia - 1895
Cecily was cold, so cold she felt there weren't enough fires in hell itself to ever warm her again. The house should have been closed for the season weeks ago. No one stayed in the country during the winter, unless you had the misfortune to be born a peasant, of course. Actually, Cecily could scarce believe the task had been left to her! Sergi had demanded--yes, demanded--that she stay behind. While serving his purpose, she would also see to the millions of minutiae involved in shifting the household back to St. Petersburg during the long, unbearably cold winter here in the sub-Arctic.
Funny, her many friends in London had been so jealous when Cecily had finally married a man worthy of her beauty and station. Her girlhood dreams of becoming a countess in her home country had come to nothing. That toad Edmund had run off with an actress, leaving Cecily with the embarassment she still felt around those very friends. Her father had been livid. No, not at Edmund for stringing Cecily along, but at his youngest daughter for letting him get away. Daddy could be so harsh, as harsh as a Russian winter.
It had taken her a full five years to finally find a man who impressed even her father. The Archduke Sergi Yevtochenko was an attache to the Russian embassy in London. He had connections to the Romanov house. Of course, that also related him to her Majesty Queen Victoria herself - albeit through the marriage of Victoria's granddaughter to the Czar.
Sergi was a man’s man, rugged and a bit rough. He could hunt, drink and rut like a peasant but also be remarkably presentable in court dress. Some of the old Tartar blood, no doubt. The Russians were European, but only JUST. The court had patterned itself on the French since Peter The Great and was civilized enough. "Ah, but that was at court,", thought Cecily, "not here in my fiefdom of ice."
Once you got into the rural areas of her adopted homeland, it was like stepping back centuries. Yes, Sergi DID have all the modern conveniences at their country home, just as they did in St. Petersburg. However, the peasants lived as they had always lived, tied in servitude to the land owner. They were little more than animals, of course, and she and Sergi provided well for those who served them.
Cecily would never forget the first time she saw her husband’s ancestral home. She had cried for a week and begged Sergi to take her home to London. The ground here never totally thawed and although there were trees, little else grew. Certainly the love that had been promised to follow her marriage never grew!
The winds coming off the White Sea could be brutal. Nothing you could wear stopped the invasion of death-like cold. All the white-furred weasels in Russia could drape themselves over her and still she'd shiver. Cecily wasn't like these Russian peasant women who could continue their chores even as the Arctic winds blew. She was a delicate English rose; Sergi used to call her that.
They had been married for five years, but the marriage had actually ended soon after the honeymoon. Sergi's tastes were coarse in all things and Cecily was mortified by his crass humor at her expense in front of his friends. The behavior was bad enough, but to be humiliated as well was far too much! Cecily had developed a reputation in London for having a certain coolness in her personality. She had heard the titles they gave her, "Frozen Goddess" and the less flattering "Ice Queen". Now she truly had a kingdom of ice. Her wonderful official title did nothing to keep her warm.
She heartily wished herself that girl again, back home. The men had all taken interest in the Addams’ youngest girl and she could have had her pick. Her father had been the one to speak of the desirability of Edmund and his eventual title and lands. She should have entertained the other possibles.
There had been many other men she could have had. They sent flowers and vied to escort her to various gatherings and entertainments. One twit, whose name escaped her, had even written reams of poetry about her many virtues. But no, she chose to please Daddy. Well, she had truly, as they say, made her bed and must now lie in it.
She would be glad to get back to St. Petersburg. The city felt European and not nearly so foreign. The climate was warmer as well. At night she could look from her bedroom window to the West and imagine herself sailing across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki and eventually civilization.
Sergi would scarce notice, so rarely was he at home. Between his duties, his cronies and his mistresses, she rarely saw him. But he was posessive and if she DID leave, he'd follow and carry her back if need be. She was his property, just like all else he owned. Her physical comforts were provided for, but her emotions had atrophied these last years.
She had her own circle of friends. Last year when Nicholas II had ascended the throne as Czar, Cecily found herself a lady-in-waiting of sorts to her Highness the Czarina Alexandra. She maintained all the dignity such an honor required of her, adding to her rather stiff and frigid appearance. Her old friends would not recognize her.
Well, she had best hurry and get this ice cavern closed up tight against the coming winter. She began to long for the weeks to come in polite society. Yes, a ball or two would fix her right up. St. Petersburg was no London, or even Paris, but it would do nicely.
Chapter 2: But Still Trim In Figure
St. Petersburg, Russia - 1895
After the first four years of marriage with no heir in sight, Sergi had stopped trying. He never came to her rooms anymore. No, she would never speak of the indignity that caused her delay in Novodvinsk. Sergi had gotten one of his servants pregnant over the season and she delivered a fine, fat, healthy son.
Sergi demanded Cecily pass the child off as if she had given birth. Announcements had been sent to all the right people and Sergi had his heir at last. He made Cecily stay at the country house, supposedly recovering from the birth, until the child and its mother could travel. The woman would act as wet nurse, among other things, Cecily thought bitterly.
There would be a grand Baptism in only four days, and Cecily was eaten up with bitterness. She could not look upon the child without revulsion. It was as well that proper women had little to do with their offspring and she would not be considered strange for her lack of affection. She would have to watch herself around the Czarina, of course. Alexandra was looking forward to having offspring. She planned to enjoy time with her children and wanted several. The Czarina would expect Cecily to be delighted to have finally produced so fine a son.
The child was to be named Mikhail Ivanovich Yevtochenko with all the titles and honors his supposed birth entitled him to hold. Cecily couldn't wait ‘til he was weaned so she could ship that robust, fertile farm girl off to some distant holding before she had a chance to present Sergi with any more 'heirs'!
Perhaps Cecily could turn the boy against his father in time. That would be sweet revenge indeed if the boy doted on her and despised histrue blood kin. It would not be too hard to accomplish. She merely had to be sure Misha was witness to Sergi's treatment of her and saw her understandable tears of pain at the cruelties she had to endure. Yes, she began to envision an entirely new way to fill her hours. She was going to be such a wonderful mother, she thought as she grinned wickedly.
Meanwhile, in the darkened halls of another kingdom … another dimension, ears perked up and a message was sent to Lord D'Hoffryn of a possible addition in the making to their ranks in the army of vengence. This one would bear watching....but so few lived up to the full promise.
Cecily had thought to take a lover, maybe even turn up an "heir" of her own that Sergi could scarce deny without embarassing himself. That would, however, require her actually letting another pig of a man touch her. No, the new plan was far better.
Sergi would be busy for a while as he was a key investigator of a group calling itself St. Petersburg Union For The Struggle For The Emancipation Of The Working Class. It was a subversive group led by a man named Vladimir Ulyanov and his fiancee Nadezhda Krupskaya and was based on ideas penned by that German troublemaker Karl Marx. Once enough proof could be gathered, the lot of them would be "enjoying" the Siberian winters.
There was far too much social unrest since Russia had entered the industrial age. There had been efforts in the past to overthrow the government and harsh measures had to be taken to prevent social collapse. The first Nicholas had campaigned especially against liberal ideas, in education especially, in an effort to prevent Russia joining Europe in revolution. He had only succeeded in slowing the ever nearing changes. Years of war and a people tiring of near slavery and starvation were too perfect a breeding ground for new philosophies, such as Karl Marx’s, to bloom forth. It didn't help to have such a vast gulf in lifestyles between the privileged and the working classes.
Cecily gave little thought to such matters. She scarcely noticed the dissatisfaction of the masses surrounding her, so deep was she in her own sea of unhappiness.
She sorted through her jewel box for just the right set of rubies that would breathe fire to her ice. Her gown had been fashioned from patterns sent to her seamstress from Paris and were completely up-to-date. The materials were rich silks from the Orient and lace tatted in Belgium to her own design. Tonight was the first social engagement for Cecily since she and her new "son" had returned home.
Her maid had exclaimed over and over at how trim Cecily's figure was so soon after giving birth. All the ladies of the court would surely be envious. Cecily heartily hoped so.
Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov was going to be hosting this party and Sergi planned to ask him to honor Misha by agreeing to become the boy’s godfather. Cecily saw no reason not to ask the Czarina herself to stand as godmother. Yes, her Daddy would be quite proud indeed.
Esme, her elder sister, had not done nearly as well, having married a young, handsome ship builder and promptly producing one child after another. Why, when Cecily last saw her she was quite plump and shamelessly giddy with marital bliss! Very common, but then she always had been. That was why father had counted on her to be the proper one. She hadn't let him down.
Title:The Ice Queen
This story was written a couple of years ago (one of my first fic's). The incredibly talented
selene2 made the lovely banner and several icons as well as a wallpaper for it. Category:Drama
Rating:PG13
Characters: Cecily Addams/Halfrek, Anyanka, D'Hoffryn Note: ME cannon says nothing about Cecily being Halfrek aside from the sly "William" remark Hallie made when she recognized Spike, I have taken the literary license of saying they are the same "person"
Summary: Cecily Addams gets her vengence on with a bit of help from a straight-talking demon, Anyanka...oh and meanwhile, Marx gives birth to the USSR.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction . ME and Joss Whedon are the owners of all Buffyverse characters therein. Some characters are from my imagination and a few were real people. Joss and ME own all rights to their characters and those actual persons, albeit dead, own themselves.
===============================================================================
THE ICE QUEEN
Chapter 1: Of Ice And Men
Outside Novodvinsk, Russia - 1895
Cecily was cold, so cold she felt there weren't enough fires in hell itself to ever warm her again. The house should have been closed for the season weeks ago. No one stayed in the country during the winter, unless you had the misfortune to be born a peasant, of course. Actually, Cecily could scarce believe the task had been left to her! Sergi had demanded--yes, demanded--that she stay behind. While serving his purpose, she would also see to the millions of minutiae involved in shifting the household back to St. Petersburg during the long, unbearably cold winter here in the sub-Arctic.
Funny, her many friends in London had been so jealous when Cecily had finally married a man worthy of her beauty and station. Her girlhood dreams of becoming a countess in her home country had come to nothing. That toad Edmund had run off with an actress, leaving Cecily with the embarassment she still felt around those very friends. Her father had been livid. No, not at Edmund for stringing Cecily along, but at his youngest daughter for letting him get away. Daddy could be so harsh, as harsh as a Russian winter.
It had taken her a full five years to finally find a man who impressed even her father. The Archduke Sergi Yevtochenko was an attache to the Russian embassy in London. He had connections to the Romanov house. Of course, that also related him to her Majesty Queen Victoria herself - albeit through the marriage of Victoria's granddaughter to the Czar.
Sergi was a man’s man, rugged and a bit rough. He could hunt, drink and rut like a peasant but also be remarkably presentable in court dress. Some of the old Tartar blood, no doubt. The Russians were European, but only JUST. The court had patterned itself on the French since Peter The Great and was civilized enough. "Ah, but that was at court,", thought Cecily, "not here in my fiefdom of ice."
Once you got into the rural areas of her adopted homeland, it was like stepping back centuries. Yes, Sergi DID have all the modern conveniences at their country home, just as they did in St. Petersburg. However, the peasants lived as they had always lived, tied in servitude to the land owner. They were little more than animals, of course, and she and Sergi provided well for those who served them.
Cecily would never forget the first time she saw her husband’s ancestral home. She had cried for a week and begged Sergi to take her home to London. The ground here never totally thawed and although there were trees, little else grew. Certainly the love that had been promised to follow her marriage never grew!
The winds coming off the White Sea could be brutal. Nothing you could wear stopped the invasion of death-like cold. All the white-furred weasels in Russia could drape themselves over her and still she'd shiver. Cecily wasn't like these Russian peasant women who could continue their chores even as the Arctic winds blew. She was a delicate English rose; Sergi used to call her that.
They had been married for five years, but the marriage had actually ended soon after the honeymoon. Sergi's tastes were coarse in all things and Cecily was mortified by his crass humor at her expense in front of his friends. The behavior was bad enough, but to be humiliated as well was far too much! Cecily had developed a reputation in London for having a certain coolness in her personality. She had heard the titles they gave her, "Frozen Goddess" and the less flattering "Ice Queen". Now she truly had a kingdom of ice. Her wonderful official title did nothing to keep her warm.
She heartily wished herself that girl again, back home. The men had all taken interest in the Addams’ youngest girl and she could have had her pick. Her father had been the one to speak of the desirability of Edmund and his eventual title and lands. She should have entertained the other possibles.
There had been many other men she could have had. They sent flowers and vied to escort her to various gatherings and entertainments. One twit, whose name escaped her, had even written reams of poetry about her many virtues. But no, she chose to please Daddy. Well, she had truly, as they say, made her bed and must now lie in it.
She would be glad to get back to St. Petersburg. The city felt European and not nearly so foreign. The climate was warmer as well. At night she could look from her bedroom window to the West and imagine herself sailing across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki and eventually civilization.
Sergi would scarce notice, so rarely was he at home. Between his duties, his cronies and his mistresses, she rarely saw him. But he was posessive and if she DID leave, he'd follow and carry her back if need be. She was his property, just like all else he owned. Her physical comforts were provided for, but her emotions had atrophied these last years.
She had her own circle of friends. Last year when Nicholas II had ascended the throne as Czar, Cecily found herself a lady-in-waiting of sorts to her Highness the Czarina Alexandra. She maintained all the dignity such an honor required of her, adding to her rather stiff and frigid appearance. Her old friends would not recognize her.
Well, she had best hurry and get this ice cavern closed up tight against the coming winter. She began to long for the weeks to come in polite society. Yes, a ball or two would fix her right up. St. Petersburg was no London, or even Paris, but it would do nicely.
Chapter 2: But Still Trim In Figure
St. Petersburg, Russia - 1895
After the first four years of marriage with no heir in sight, Sergi had stopped trying. He never came to her rooms anymore. No, she would never speak of the indignity that caused her delay in Novodvinsk. Sergi had gotten one of his servants pregnant over the season and she delivered a fine, fat, healthy son.
Sergi demanded Cecily pass the child off as if she had given birth. Announcements had been sent to all the right people and Sergi had his heir at last. He made Cecily stay at the country house, supposedly recovering from the birth, until the child and its mother could travel. The woman would act as wet nurse, among other things, Cecily thought bitterly.
There would be a grand Baptism in only four days, and Cecily was eaten up with bitterness. She could not look upon the child without revulsion. It was as well that proper women had little to do with their offspring and she would not be considered strange for her lack of affection. She would have to watch herself around the Czarina, of course. Alexandra was looking forward to having offspring. She planned to enjoy time with her children and wanted several. The Czarina would expect Cecily to be delighted to have finally produced so fine a son.
The child was to be named Mikhail Ivanovich Yevtochenko with all the titles and honors his supposed birth entitled him to hold. Cecily couldn't wait ‘til he was weaned so she could ship that robust, fertile farm girl off to some distant holding before she had a chance to present Sergi with any more 'heirs'!
Perhaps Cecily could turn the boy against his father in time. That would be sweet revenge indeed if the boy doted on her and despised histrue blood kin. It would not be too hard to accomplish. She merely had to be sure Misha was witness to Sergi's treatment of her and saw her understandable tears of pain at the cruelties she had to endure. Yes, she began to envision an entirely new way to fill her hours. She was going to be such a wonderful mother, she thought as she grinned wickedly.
Meanwhile, in the darkened halls of another kingdom … another dimension, ears perked up and a message was sent to Lord D'Hoffryn of a possible addition in the making to their ranks in the army of vengence. This one would bear watching....but so few lived up to the full promise.
Cecily had thought to take a lover, maybe even turn up an "heir" of her own that Sergi could scarce deny without embarassing himself. That would, however, require her actually letting another pig of a man touch her. No, the new plan was far better.
Sergi would be busy for a while as he was a key investigator of a group calling itself St. Petersburg Union For The Struggle For The Emancipation Of The Working Class. It was a subversive group led by a man named Vladimir Ulyanov and his fiancee Nadezhda Krupskaya and was based on ideas penned by that German troublemaker Karl Marx. Once enough proof could be gathered, the lot of them would be "enjoying" the Siberian winters.
There was far too much social unrest since Russia had entered the industrial age. There had been efforts in the past to overthrow the government and harsh measures had to be taken to prevent social collapse. The first Nicholas had campaigned especially against liberal ideas, in education especially, in an effort to prevent Russia joining Europe in revolution. He had only succeeded in slowing the ever nearing changes. Years of war and a people tiring of near slavery and starvation were too perfect a breeding ground for new philosophies, such as Karl Marx’s, to bloom forth. It didn't help to have such a vast gulf in lifestyles between the privileged and the working classes.
Cecily gave little thought to such matters. She scarcely noticed the dissatisfaction of the masses surrounding her, so deep was she in her own sea of unhappiness.
She sorted through her jewel box for just the right set of rubies that would breathe fire to her ice. Her gown had been fashioned from patterns sent to her seamstress from Paris and were completely up-to-date. The materials were rich silks from the Orient and lace tatted in Belgium to her own design. Tonight was the first social engagement for Cecily since she and her new "son" had returned home.
Her maid had exclaimed over and over at how trim Cecily's figure was so soon after giving birth. All the ladies of the court would surely be envious. Cecily heartily hoped so.
Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov was going to be hosting this party and Sergi planned to ask him to honor Misha by agreeing to become the boy’s godfather. Cecily saw no reason not to ask the Czarina herself to stand as godmother. Yes, her Daddy would be quite proud indeed.
Esme, her elder sister, had not done nearly as well, having married a young, handsome ship builder and promptly producing one child after another. Why, when Cecily last saw her she was quite plump and shamelessly giddy with marital bliss! Very common, but then she always had been. That was why father had counted on her to be the proper one. She hadn't let him down.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 12:49 am (UTC)I love this fic and am so happy you posted it here. I'm madly in love with this community already and have been reading voraciously here, so am glad to see your Cecily/Halfrek find a home here, too.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 12:53 am (UTC)So good to hear from you!
Love,
Kathleen
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 09:03 pm (UTC)One twit, whose name escaped her, had even written reams of poetry about her many virtues.
Self-centred and status-conscious Cecily was no different from many young women of her station whose thoughtless prejudices and remarks could have such devastating effects on others.
Thanks for bringing it over - and welcome to the community.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 10:08 pm (UTC)Thanks for the kind words. I have to hand it to Kali Rocha (not sure of the spelling) for giving layers to the character that made it too easy to build on here. I enjoyed writing this so very much and love it when it gets read. Thanks for giving it an audience here.
Kathleen