Nilo did listen to her, though his eyes were trained on the floor and away from her. Not that he was scared to look at her, but he was just at a loss. This decision was already weighing on him like a sack of stones. The prince was furious with what they had done to Theodore, but he was able to separate himself and his relationships for the sake of trying to be just. At that point, most of the anger he had displayed with the soldiers was more so what they had done, rather than who they had done it to. Nilo just could not fathom what had happened and how these men could have possibly considered that a valid form of warning.

Nilo’s mind had begun to spiral, the man wondering how many times these kinds of “accidents” had occurred in the past. How many times had a soldier lied to get out of something, only to have an innocent person take the blame? Is this what happened in the field? A hand came up to his head and he felt nauseous, eyes squeezing shut for several moments. These men had been considered good soldiers, solid fighters that fit the bill of his army. But they had done this without a second thought. So what did that mean for the rest of his military? Did they all fall beneath that same canopy?

The prince would never get a chance to know. He was going to spend his life living a life of luxury in his castle and that question would never be answered. Nilo knew he couldn’t let that eat at him because, at the moment, it was a problem that extended beyond his reach. He had to focus on what was occurring now and it was that one of his citizens had been severely harmed. Usually, his father would have been in charge of such things, but the king had traveled beyond their borders. The older man had been worried enough about leaving his throne behind for a bit, considering it had been his first outing alone in over three years.

Nilo was trying his best to set bias aside to reach the most justified verdict he could, but he knew he could never be completely neutral. Nobody really could. His background greatly influenced his thought processes, just as his wife’s did. They were all looking at the situation through spectacles with lenses made of bias. He just wished his father was there to handle it all. The man knew that it couldn’t be like that forever, as he would one day be king, but this? This really had to be the second situation he had to handle and it was yet another instance of someone he knew personally being heavily involved? What the hell kind of luck was that?

“I’m not going to sit there and examine their facial expressions to try and find some sort of remorse. If they want to show that they are apologetic, then they need to communicate that clearly. It’s not my job to look for secret messages in their gazes and even if they did regret it, it isn’t going to alter their charges or my judgment.” Nilo understood that she would look deeper into these men, as she had a special attachment to the army and she had even appeared to know one or two of them. Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to do that. If they held too much pride to grovel, that was their problem, not his.

His problem was analyzing the proceedings and trying to find a fair punishment. On top of that, he would need to speak to the generals and the Valencias. Though, he was more anxious about Theodore’s family. He had to find a way to tell an altered version of the story to keep their son from being crucified when he was already down. Then he would probably have to send a letter to his father… He hoped whatever he decided would be enough to please the king. The last thing he needed was his father being disappointed in him on top of everything else.

“And I’ll go find Damien to get his report to look over it. I’ll also need to make a copy… or twelve. I’m not sure.” Nilo sighed and got to his feet, smoothing out his shirt and re-tucking a portion into his pants. He could already feel that sleep would not come easy that night, if at all. He now had so much to do. There would be a hefty amount of planning and the rumors… Gods how was he supposed to handle those? The men were contained for now, but things would still get out. He might have to pull some strings… “We’ll have to figure out something soon, we can’t keep them locked up forever and we can’t leave the victim in limbo.”

He stepped over to the door and opened it for her. There was nothing left for either of them in that room at the moment. It was just empty and… heavy. “I wish you luck. I’m sure he’s still in the infirmary, he’s bound to be unable to leave with all the painkillers they probably fed him.” The man shook his head and the frown that fell onto his lips was unfortunate. “You might run into Isabella, Damien said she was supposed to be heading in. She might be able to help you out.” Nilo offered, trying to be at least a little positive.

She could tell that there were parts of the military he did not understand, made even more evident when he spoke of the way his soldiers should show their apologies more clearly. He did not understand this was how the army was built, the way the men were trained. It was pounded in that you stay stoic in every situation, that you do not grovel but take all things “like a man.” But she did not push it or try and elaborate and explain. Not now at least. They had very different backgrounds and she had never taken the time to give her husband an in-depth view into the military, but especially into the codes and laws between soldiers, the ones born from deep adversity, pain, and the horrors that still haunted her some nights that she had long since stopped talking about.

The truth was, Gennadius was painfully biased and desperately trying not to be. One side of the scale tipped in Theodore’s direction, but to try and be fair, she yanked it back and began tipping it into the direction of the people and lives she knew better than anyone else in that court. There were sides and intricacies and relationships she understood, and perhaps a part of her feared where this would lead in the overarching makeup of the military she felt responsible for. But it didn’t help that she struggled to communicate sometimes and she wasn’t even sure how to truly address it.

“I agree. But I believe taking a day to go over things and think things through will do more good than harm. It will give everyone time to breathe some. Tomorrow we can bring things to the table and see where we are at.” There was sound logic in her words as she looked at him, knowing there was so much going in both their heads, and the feeling that things needed to be resolved in this very second wasn’t helping either. If they could maybe find even a small amount of time to relax and get it figured out in their own minds, things were bound to go more smoothly. Assuming they could both keep their stress levels somewhat down and their confidence not totally destroyed.

“Good luck to you as well,” she offered in return as she stepped out, pausing in the hallway. Something in those dark eyes held almost a touch of longing as she looked at him, though for what it was was near impossible to tell. Whether it was for none of this to have happened, or for them to be able to just sit down and find comfort and a solution in this situation together, or even some kind of quiet plea for him to tell her it was all okay was truly impossible to figure out. Or perhaps it was something totally different. But the look was there as she hesitated, reaching out to just brush her fingers against his arms for a moment. It was reassurance, she supposed, or just some kind of physical touch she felt was needed in the situation.

There was little else to be done and both of them had places they wanted to be, leaving Gennadius to turn and head down the hallway back to the infirmary. She knew she owed Theodore an apology. She owed him a whole hell of a lot more than that. With rational thought back on her side, the woman truly felt awful for what she had done. She was terrible with words and worse with emotions in these kinds of situations, evident both by this time and the time Nilo had been almost killed, her fear getting the best of her. Fingers threaded out through her hair as she walked before her hand rested onto the hilt of her sword, trying to find the words for an apology while she walked.

Gods, what am I doing? The thought rolled through her mind as her steps ate up the floor, bringing her closer and closer to the infirmary. The infirmary that she had spent far too long in herself. The infirmary Nilo had been left in after his assassination attempt. The infirmary she had helped remodel. The one that held so much pain and hurt that she had managed to make worse and held a close friend that she didn’t even have the faintest clue how to help. Gods how she wanted to. But it was already so complicated and there were so many things to consider. But she knew she could at least offer an apology and her support now.

Which finally brought her there, steps slowing as she neared the door to the room he had been in, and assumed he was still in. Every fiber of her being wanted to just walk in and blurt out how sorry she was and explain herself, but she kept restraint, reaching up and rapping on the door. “Theodore? “ His name was followed by a soft sigh as she had to make up words now since she had lacked to come up with anything decent on the walk over. “Theo... may I come in? I want to talk to you.” Was the man even awake and aware? She hadn’t the slightest clue, but hope sprang eternal in this situation.

“Please.”