The study was immaculate, as one might have expected from whom it belonged to. Everything had its place, and everything was in its place, as it should be. All except for the uppermost drawer in the wooden desk, which was slightly ajar, as if someone had closed it in a hurry and not quite pushed it all the way to. Within, parchment could be seen bearing the neat and precise script of the King himself.
My Dearest Theodora,
It has been barely two weeks since we were wed, and yet in the morning I will be gone away from you already. I wished to leave you with no doubt as to my gratitude. I could not go without trying to express
You will forgive me for I am not good with sentimentality, but I didn’t want to leave without telling you how much I have appreciated having you by my side in the past days, and how despite this marriage not beginning as either of us might have hoped, how glad I am to be able to name you my wife.
Theodora.
I’m not good with words when they are tied to moments of significance. I have wanted to tell you more than once how glad I have been of your company in a time where..You have been a comfort during a time where the very world has shifted, and though I regret deeply that even our short days together have been compromised by duty and preparations for this voyage, I want you to know that I will treasure each one and
Sweet Theodora,
I write this as the hour of my departure approaches. I have left before to take war to foreign soil, but this time it is different, for I leave you behind. It has played upon my mind these past days, and though my heart of course is for Taengea, I think maybe you have claimed
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