"Please stay calm, your majesty," maids standing behind the fuming empress begged.
They had long made their way back to Sunrise Palace with Katya's daughter in tow, too furious to remain at the Spring Ball a moment longer. A smattering of priceless shattered crystal vases and whatever else Katya could lay her hands on lay strewn across the floor. Princess Julia, who had rarely seen her mother's temper, sat quietly in the corner, fat tears dripping down her face.
It was a terrifying sight on the rare occasions her Serene Majesty, Empress Katya Duvernay let her temper free. Under her calm visage, her eyes would reflect a deadly rage and she would slowly move through the room, knocking over vases and glasses indiscriminately. The only sound to accompany her anger was twinkling glass, and it was the eery silence that had shivers running up and down her maids' spines.
