Re: Blood and Iron

It was 1924… In the city of Berlin, within the Royal Court Chapel the biggest event of the decade was taking place.

Three years passed since Elsa married her husband Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. But as the years passed, and time with it, so too did Eva find herself on her wedding day.

Despite being the oldest of Bruno and Heidi’s offspring, she was ironically enough the one to marry last. At least among the three eldest siblings.

Today, she was standing in front of the mirror, her makeup and hair being perfectly crafted and applied by the Reich’s greatest artists.

Heidi and Elsa stood by her side. Rach radiant as the morning dawn, but their dresses subdued, and their styles modest as to not outshine the bride on her big day.

For years Eva had been waiting for this day, and now that it arrived she could not stop her heart from beating too quickly.

Elsa was unusually cheerful. Or perhaps her time in the Tsar’s Winter Palace as the wife of the heir to the throne of the Russian Empire had made her more open to her real personality. Either way, Elsa was quick to comfort her elder sister.

“Eva… I was just as worried as you were on my wedding day. But it really isn’t something you should be so anxious about. You only get married once in this life, enjoy yourself! You and Wilhelm are great together, no?”

There was no denying it. Since she was an adolescent, her father and Wilhem’s grandfather had been arranging semi-regular meetings. They got along swimmingly, but Eva knew more than her sister just what this union meant.

She touched her heart and confessed her feelings to her mother and her sister in secrecy.

“I love him with all my heart… But… I’m not sure I’m ready…”

Heidi frowned at her daughter.

“Eva, you’re not getting cold feet are you? This has been in the works for years, and you’re not getting any younger….”

Eva shot her mother a nasty scowl, as if to silently scold the woman, who was now closing in on 42 years old, yet looked a decade younger. But instead, she sighed heavily and explained her situation properly.

“it’s not that… Mother… I’m worried I’m not ready to play the role father has given me. He expects me to help Wilhelm lead when the time comes for him to take the throne. But there’s so much I haven’t learned!”

Elsa rolled her eyes. Of course her sister was worrying about the political aspect of the marriage, and not her duty as a wife and mother first. A role Elsa had taken quite a liking to as she herself had a child with Alexei in the years since their wedding, with another on the way.

“Eva… I have held my tongue for the better half of the twenty-two years I have known you. But no longer… You are just like daddy! Always plotting for the future and never living in the moment!”

Elsa’s faced had grown red with fury, perhaps for the first time in her life, as she continued raising her voice.

“Your husband-to-be is not even the crown prince yet! Before he ever gains the throne, his grandfather and his father have to pass first! You have plenty of years to think about such things, and continue your lessons. Now is not the time for such nonsense!”

Heidi was trying her best to hold herself back from laughing as she realized how much Elsa’s assessment of her older sister was correct.

With a deep breath and a heavy sigh, Heidi hugged both her daughters tightly and gave them some proper motherly wisdom.

“Elsa’s right, Eva… You share your father’s relentless neuroticism. And it seems for the both of you it always manifests itself at the worst possible moment. Don’t think about politics today, think about the life you are going to build together with Wilhelm. You damn fool!”

Eva couldn’t help but break out into laughter, as she realized how foolish she had been, something she shared with her mother and sister together.

—

Bruno had gathered his daughter and began walking her down the aisle. For a man approaching forty-five, he continued to age with grace, just as his wife did. He and Elsa were locked arm-in-arm.

And for the first time in a very long time. Bruno had broken out the dress blues. For everyday wear, he much preferred the practicality of his feldgrau uniform.

But on today’s special occasion, he wore the old blue waffenrock, with the gilded epaulettes, and all the medals he had earned from the Reich, and its many domains for a lifetime of service.

Whereas Eva looked as divine as her younger sister Elsa, and her mother Heidi had at their own respective weddings. Bruno finally took the last step and handed the girl off to her groom.

Giving the young man a fearsome gaze, as if a silent remainder of the price he would pay should he ever cause the girl harm or grief. A gesture that did not go unnoticed by the Kaiser, who stood next to Bruno in the pews and whispered.

“Was it really necessary to terrify the poor lad like that? You know he fawns over your little girl, right? Besides, if he ever were to try something uncouth, I would personally mount his bollocks to my fireplace!”

Bruno had to prevent himself from laughing as the ceremony began. And when it did, Tsar Nicholas II who was also nearby leaned in and joined the conversation between Europe’s most powerful figures.

“I must say, Wilhelm, did you invite our cousin? Or did he show himself in? He wasn’t present in Saint Petersburg for my son’s wedding…”

Wilhelm cast a gaze over at King George V, who had found his way to Berlin for this occasion. The man was silent, haggard, and weary. Seemingly aged two decades in the nine years it had been since the Great War came to an end.

His own family stood by his side, but their gazes were not in reverence, or awe at the majesty and grandeur put on for this mythic event. No, they were filled with deep concern.

The changes in Berlin, which in many ways mirrored those in Innsbruck, and other major German cities were indeed a cause of concern for those who had been on the losing side of the Great War.

And the Russo-German alliance was the blast furnace, forging a railway towards a new horizon. While the rest of the world was still doing its best to catch up to the generation of technology, the Germans had wielded in the previous war.

To say that this wedding was a showcase of how grand Germany had become was an understatement. And as the bride and groom kissed at the altar, Wilhelm sighed while choosing to be totally honest for once.

“I wanted him to see what he missed out on when he refused my offer. Had he accepted we may have made our grandmothers’ dream a reality. But now I fear the British Empire will soon be coming to an end.”

A pause, and a long contemplation followed by a harrowed tone.

“And whatever replaces it will be a shadow of its former grandeur…”

Bruno interjected, while clapping along with the rest of the audience.

“It was inevitable. They made their choice, and unfortunately for them, it was on the wrong side of history. Our job now is to ensure that destiny stays its current course, and that the sisters of the fate do not interfere with the world which we created, and that our children will cement.”

There was no disagreement among the three monarchs. Only silent for what could have been, but what would never be.

—

King George V walked out of the chapel with a haunted visage. He had seen the mistakes that Parliament had made clearer than ever before.

And now, as Britain was still recovering from the wildfires that had taken half a decade to put out across its Empire.

He had come to also realize just how far Germany had shot ahead of his own realm. Britain which had one been supreme among the great powers, was not a minor player in the concert that Germany was conducting.

Sitting in the back of his limousine, he could not help but sigh in deep contemplation.

“No matter how much the trade between our two nations has benefited us, it won’t be enough… If another Great War is to follow our defeat, we will certainly lose again…”

Another figure sat across from King Charles in the cab of the limousine. But it was not a member of his family, rather when the man took of his fedora cap, to reveal his haggard appearance.

It was Calvin Coolidge, a man who this year would be running against the current President of the United States. His face was cold, and calculating as he expressed a slight hiss before speaking.

“That is why, it is paramount I gain your support in the upcoming primary. I have reason to suspect President Hughes is compromised, and that he is a puppet of that Tyrolean Devil you Europeans call a Prince. Support, me, and I will ensure you have the full industrial backing of the United States, should another war break out….”

There was a long pause… And only the two men in the back of the car would ever know what agreement had been brokered between them. Or lack thereof….

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