Historical Figures x Reader

Ivan IV Vasilyevich x reader

It had been weeks since you married the Tsar of Russia and things haven't been so easy. You always felt uncomfortable around your husband, Ivan, and never dared to speak unless he spoke to you first. He was a very frightening man, standing at a proud height of five feet and ten inches. He also had broad shoulders with a large chest, and a beard hanging from his chin and around his mouth. He seemed to always be angry about something; his voice sounded menacing and his eyes seemed to pierce through your soul. Ivan was a man that was easily irritated and definitely someone to not trifle with. You knew that the marriage would be terrible, considering how he was, but your mother, however, she thought everything was perfectly fine. You were born in an aristocratic family and as usual, your parents would be the ones choosing who you should marry, but your father almost was never around so it was up to your mother. You were the only child so it was crucial for you to marry someone with high importance. Your mother sought for someone who was wealthy, owned large areas of land, and held a high social status. Many suitors had come to your home to try to win your heart, but all were failures. You were a very pretty lady, but had several characteristics that would seem unattractive. You always kept yourself busy, often reading books to pass the time. When you weren't doing that, you were drawing, writing, or playing chess. 

  You were also very timid, often preferring to be left alone than joining crowds of people. Your mother hated your shy behavior and always forced you to attend balls or other social gatherings that only aristocrats such as yourself were allowed to attend. You hated wearing big and eccentric dresses, and having to please others. When the suitors came over they would usually seem to get bored of you easily or they straight up were obnoxious and making it obvious that they never wanted to come. Sometimes there would be someone that was totally fine with being with you, but you made it clear that you had no interest with them. If it was up to your mother, she would take the opportunity to get you with someone who was interested with you, but your attitude never allowed it. Sure, your mother wouldn't have cared whether you liked the man or not, but she couldn't afford to have her reputation crumble to pieces because her daughter couldn't be a "good wife" or something of that sort. News had reached all across the large empire of Russia that the Tsar was available for marriage and was accepting suitors to present themselves at the palace.

This immediately caught your mother's attention and she made haste to make you as "perfect" as possible. She hired many tailors to make beautiful and outstanding dresses that would perfectly fit you. She also bought perfume and makeup to cover up the "unwanted" features of your face. You never really liked makeup and you were naturally beautiful so you never really needed it. Your mother worked as quickly as she could to make you as presentable as possible and to be one of the first to meet the Tsar. The day had come quicker than you had expected and you were anxious to go to the palace. You were intimidated by how the other women looked and thought that this was going to be yet another day to disappoint your mom. You were also worried about the Tsar asking you for a dance since there was also going to be a ball and you couldn't dance. At an early age your mom would force you to practice, but you never got the hang of it. You would always eventually give up and go back to reading books as usual. Meeting the Tsar was one thing that you would never forget. You felt terrified to even look directly at his eyes, but you still managed to be as polite as possible. During the dance, you stood at the other side of the room and tried to avoid everyone.

You kept thinking about wanting to go home and away from the busy place, but sooner or later your reverie was broken by Ivan himself. He had asked you to dance and you were embarrassed to admit that you couldn't. He had said he would show you how to and he did. He took you by the hand and led you to the middle of the ballroom. Everyone stood around to watch you and Ivan which made you anxious. He slowly led you into a waltz and from time to time you would accidentally step on his shoes. Whenever that happened you would immediately stop and apologize repeatedly. You felt terrible and knew you were making a fool of yourself, but all of those thoughts and feelings changed at the end of the dance. Before Ivan had let you go, he had leaned down to your ear to whisper that he enjoyed your company and would rather marry you. You were amazed to hear this and knew your mother would be overjoyed. You, however, were not.