The last rays of the daily hot sun not only shone on England, as on that hot summer day they also shone considerably on the enormous surface of the Russian territories.
And while some mothers reacted to their children's mourning in a more nostalgic and depressed way, there were also mothers who, after the horrible event, made the possible to get by and did their best with the remaining children.
One of those women was Anne Patterson, who after the death of her eldest son Vassily, the crowned prince of her empire, had promised herself to put all her effort into governing and raising her two remaining children to the best of their ability.
Katherine hadn't seen her sister for years, she was scared, she was afraid in her heart of not recognising her or not loving her in the same way as they always had.
On the other hand she remembered the time spent as little girls, she and her younger sister, they were inseparable, they had always been, until respectively at the age of fifteen it was their destiny to marry different men from opposite sides of the planet.
The queen slowly lowered her gaze to her pale and cold hands, wrapped in precious and soft gloves of white fabric, she was simply afraid and embarrassed by her, that her own sister would be impressed in seeing her after ten long years.
The cool wind passed through the huge and heavy coloured windows of the wide corridor, Katherine did not know if she was ready, if she ever was, but on the other hand that was the only place where she could have lived peacefully.
The queen felt her cold hands being slowly grazed, touched, squeezed, caressed by those of the woman to her right, Johanna stared in the direction of the other with her large and expansive blue eyes full of life.
The woman's very long brown hair was closed in a low ponytail on her back.
She squeezed her hands as if to reassure her and in a second lady Katherine smiled faintly and slightly blushed her pale cheeks, all of a sudden she felt immensely grateful that she always had a such understanding and lovable company by her side.
On the other hand Johanna Cross was considerably younger than the woman, but from the first moment that the eyes of the two met, on that day when the seventeen-year-old courtesan gave birth to little Francis, it immediately seemed to the two women that they had much more in common than they could ever believe.
When the queen had taken the girl and her little son under her protection, she had begun to feel esteem for this innocent girl, who despite the abandonment of the child's father and the girls' gossip was able to resist and raise her son with love.
Katherine was not even angry with her when Karlheinz Hanover, the ruler of England, her own husband got the girl pregnant with her second child: Thomas. Indeed, at that moment an even more solid bond had been created between the two.
And still until that day the two were enormously linked, they were like best friends, but with an extremely deep and respectful bond.
-When you are ready, your majesty...- admitted the woman squeezing even stronger the cold hands of her protector, until they actually start to tremble.
Lady Katherine smiled faintly, exhaled from her dry thin lips, she felt no more important at that moment and she was happy, indeed, if she could admit it was the best feeling she had ever felt.
-I'm ready, Johanna, I'm ready...- the queen admitted hiding any trace of fear or perplexity.
As the two external parts of the huge door opened, the room was invested with an immensity of light and heat coming from the great royal hall.
Inside, above a magnificent and precious marble staircase stood a large, majestic and mighty throne: on it sat a man with straight brown hair and two small hazel brown eyes, which on his attractive and pale face seemed wear a grimace of anger and discontent.
To his left stood a precious upholstered chair, but somewhat smaller and less majestic than the original throne and on it sat a woman with a beautiful appearance but in any case somewhat humble for a sovereign.
She did not wear any type of jewelry and despite having just turned fifty-five she seemed to represent a much younger age and a decidedly perfect and well-groomed appearance.
As soon as Lady Anne noticed the arrival of her older sister and her protégé, a slight smile spread over her thin but soft lips, a smile full of welcome and kindness.
-Sister dear, what a happy event that you have come here safely and you too Johanna, it's a pleasure to meet you here, this by my side is Dimitri, my second son, I don't know if you can remember him...- .
Lady Katherine's big eyes widened all of a sudden, was that woman really her sister? She was magnificent, she was youthful, self-confident, perfect and so, as far as she had seen, the young man next to her sister seemed to be her nephew.
-Dimitri, I can certainly remember you! You were just a little boy when I last met you, you and your brothers: the young Aleksei and Vassily, I am so sorry for your loss- admitted the English sovereign, placing her hands one in the other.
Katherine lowered her gaze, she had not had the opportunity to make condolences personally, if not in paper form to her sister and now finally after all that time she had had the opportunity to bring all this to her.
She knew how painful it was to lose a firstborn child for a sovereign, so in saying and performing those actions she was incredibly cautious and delicate.
Anne smiled faintly and lowered her pale face, illuminated by her own big brown eyes full of life, she never gave up, she was tenacious, strong and free, she had always made up her mind, ever since she was a child, Katherine remembered.
Although it was considered uneducated to hang out with commoners, his young sister, in her childhood had always loved going around town in folk fairs to dance with the cutest boys and making their poor parents worry, who sent herself and the attendants to look for Anne and bring her home.
Unfortunately, the future had been somewhat sad and cruel with that rebellious girl, Anne had to marry at the age of fifteen with the Russian sovereign, a cold and serious man somewhat older than her.
-Thank you for your understanding, sister, I am only sorry that you have not been able to meet my husband, understand...due to his age and illness he is bedridden and my Aleksei left for the war, I thought it was necessary to prepare of the changes to my eldest son, temperamentally…-.
Lady Katherine understood, on the other hand she had communicated it ironically by letter.
Since the Russian sovereign had fallen ill, a lot had changed or at least a lot was what Anne had made to change.
Prince Dimitri, second royal prince, who used to host as many different girls in the bed was told he had put his head or something else in place, thus agreeing to marry the young Polish lady Christine Novak.
This forced decision obviously did not help the prince regent, who by now forced to put his ideas in order had been forced to a monogamous and boring relationship.
Katherine mostly understood this from the fact that, once she reminded Dimitri of this, the prince immediately decided to leave the room, taken by a spirit of rage and resentment.
But what could she say? Mothers, on the other hand, always encountered the choices deemed best for their children, it was in their nature, in their fate to be strong and to fight for them and to love them more than anything else in the world.
But Anne kept smiling, on her face stood a wide and broad smile full of understanding and affection.
-If only I had known Aleksei was coming to England, I would have gladly supported him as his aunt, but as you know my daughter Isabelle is becoming more and more unstable day by day- admitted Lady Katherine immediately lowering her gaze, her wide eyes towards the white, fresh and marble floor.
On the other hand, she herself felt responsible and guilty for the assassination attempt on her own nephew, Prince Aleksei, who had almost risked having his betrothed cut his veins.
Katherine was only lucky that her sister and her husband had decided not to respond to the attack with a war, otherwise it would have been the end of the whole British Empire for them.
-We women have a lot in common, all three of us love our children and somehow we have lost them, all three of us have loved them to the end and all three of us know we have difficulties as women, but we know how to get by...- admitted Lady Anne, letting Johanna lower her gaze in that moment as a sign of tension and nostalgia.
-My dears, I'm more than sure it will be completely interesting to host you here for these times- Anne admitted smiling again.