wrong turn; charles & katerina
A letter of commendation, there wasn’t anything more infuriating to Charles. He had to present a letter of commendation to recovering soldiers of his province, Veneto. Those who’d been harmed three years ago in a blast that almost leveled the capital city, all they received was a stupid letter and a speech from their duke, a man who’d been affected just as much as those he’d governed. In the audience would be many of those who’d been at ground zero, who had pulled together to find and save those who couldn’t save themselves. For the past three years, he’d been putting those memories and emotions behind him to focus on the rebuilding. But now it was rebuilt, and they needed to be commended for it.
Sitting in the back room of the auditorium, Charles had his notes sitting on his lap with his legs crossed. A heavy sigh echoed in the all but empty room as he tried to make the words he needed to speak feel real, feel like they meant something. Nothing could make it believable from him. His hands still shook, and he still had problems focusing. But no matter.
Then the door opened. Startled, he spun around to see who it could be. Being so lost in thought, and when he was more than used to having someone’s presence announced, Charles didn’t handle surprise entrances well. Hell, even his children were announced before coming to him. “Well then, you must be lost.” He made a move to stand and alert his guard, then thought otherwise as he saw the young girl who looked almost as startled as he was. “This isn’t the restroom, if that’s what you were looking for. That’s the entirely other direction. You must have taken a left when you were meant to take a right.”
