Chapter 1
Late October 1946, Budapest, Hungary.
They were still here.
Why?
She continued to tell herself, every day, that they would leave. It was her mantra every morning. She held her hands behind her back, avoiding eye contact with the giants. Ignoring the cat calls and the unnerving stares, she continued with her morning stroll.
"Don't worry, Elizabeta... They're definitely going to leave tomorrow. No doubt about it." The woman muttered to herself. Surely, she must have looked insane to the average human. But most would understand why.
It had been over a year since the Second World War had ended. During those brutal times, Elizabeta's homeland had fought mercilessly. She was proud of her country and was proud that she was able to lead it through the massive conflict. She had received medals for involving herself in the war campaign, though she never sought to the frontlines. She trained soldiers and had her own small squadron of militia.
But she never wanted to believe the damn Soviets drove those blood thirsty Nazis out. She just couldn't. Even though the Red Army had liberated Hungary, they were bad news. The way they look spoke and acted were red flags in her eyes. But she couldn't do anything about it, the people of Hungary looked to the Soviets as if they were gods.
She wanted to spit at them. They were vile things.
Elizabeta felt as if she knew what repulsive things those Soviets were. She knew what they did. Terrible things.
Slaughter and rape.
Oh, how she wanted to beat each and every one of them to a bloody pulp.
Elizabeta found it quite hard passing those Soviets who lined the streets. To take her mind off of things, she fixed her green military cap that sat atop her brown locks and ran her hands down her Hungarian uniform. Getting rid of any dust and crinkles. She had to look her best in front of the public eye.
Upon reaching a militia checkpoint, Elizabeta noticed how there were more Soviets more than ever. The checkpoint was a small marquee that hovered over two desks. It was easy to spot out of all of the rubble surrounding it. The rubble once belonging to buildings, their remains showed how much hell it had been through during the war.
"Corporal Elizabeta Héderváry reporting for duty!" The woman saluted, announcing her presence at the checkpoint's front desk. The man attending it gave a quick glance towards her before returning his attention down to his clipboard. Elizabeta lowered her salute. What? Was he a Soviet too? "Erm... Helló?" She asked, trying to regain his attention. She frowned knowing that he wasn't going to give her any recognition. Elizabeta huffed before turning away from the marquee. What was going on?
"Elizabeta." A voice beckoned her. She turned to the direction she heard her name. She came face to face with one of her officers.
"Herr Edelstein." Elizabeta bowed, paying respects to someone above her rank and someone she truly admired.
"Please. None of that. I prefer not to be noted as a Nazi anymore. I'm lucky to be alive since I was part of the Nazi regime." The brown-haired man said, raising his hand as a sign to stop. "Please call me Roderich. No need for formalities." Roderich added, lowering his hand.
"Yes, Her— Roderich..." Elizabeta nodded, obeying his orders.
"Eliza. I'm sure you've noticed the number of Soviets has been growing lately. I, for one, cannot disclose why. But I've been told by the higher authorities that we need to work with the Red Army– Apologies they're known as the Soviet Army now." Roderich cleared his throat, noticing his words were catching the eyes of those nearby. "They're our allies now. They have been since they drove out the Nazis." Elizabeta fisted her hands. Oh, how she loathed that even Roderich thought that the Soviets drove out the Nazis.
"They didn't drive out the Nazis! Gil di—" She said, raising her voice. A finger to her lips stopped her from continuing. She received a threatening look from Roderich.
"Nicht jetzt." He muttered. "Nicht mit neugierigen Ohren," Roderich added, he gave her an empathetic look. "Continuing on our discussion. Follow me." He gestured and began walking. "The general has given me the order to let you know that you and your squadron must work with the Soviets. Together as military police."
"Mit?" The Hungarian stopped in her tracks. "I'm sorry... What did you just say, Roderich?" Roderich sighed as he pushed his glasses up against the bridge of his nose.
"I knew this was going to happen." He said, incoherently. "I'm not going to repeat myself, Elizabeta," Roderich said, he turned on his heel to face the woman. "We are going to work with the Soviets. As allies."
"But—"
"Tut tut. We must not bring any more attention to ourselves." He hushed her. Roderich snaked a hand around Elizabeta's waist. "I know, it's going to be hard on you. It's not easy for me either. I hate those damn reds with a burning passion." He whispered as he nudged Elizabeta along with his grip on her. "And I know for damn sure that they didn't drive the Nazis out. But they made a huge hullabaloo out of it." Roderich glanced around at the shattered buildings and empty glass bottles, presumedly to once have held some sort of alcoholic beverage. "Do you understand me now? As much as I hate to work with Reds, we have no choice. You and I have seen what they've done. He would want the best for us." Elizabeta nodded her head, Roderich was right. He would want the best for them.
"Have you heard from Ludwig?" Elizabeta asked, seemingly they were on the subject. To her dismay, Roderich shook his head. "I see... I-I'm hoping he's still alive..." She said, feeling anxious about the situation. She cared deeply about Ludwig; he was like a little brother to her. Brother... She ruefully chuckled, thinking about that word in her head. Roderich glanced down at his wristwatch.
"I best show you to your new partner." He sighed. Out of a habit, she let out a huff. "I'm sorry Eliza, it's only for a short amount of time. Most of Europe is in an economic crisis. We need to get all the help we need, even if it means from the USSR." The officer informed her. She couldn't help but still pout about it.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me... are you going back to Austria anytime soon?" She asked.
"Well... probably not. Not for a while anyway. Especially if the allies are still there. It'd be bad news if they found out if I was a Nazi." The Austrian answered a hint of melancholy in his tone. Elizabeta sympathetically nodded. She remembered how good it felt when she was able to take off that swastika and burn it. The Hungarian army was spared from any executions as most knew that they had no choice but to follow the Nazi regime. But in Roderich's case...
He joined on his own free will.
Elizabeta knew he wasn't a bad person. But she had no idea what drove him to join the Nazis and she wouldn't dare to question it. Because she knew that Roderich regretted it deeply.
"Major Ivan Braginsky," Roderich said in German, breaking Elizabeta's contemplation. "I am Sergeant Major Edelstein and with me is Corporal Héderváry." He saluted towards the tall soldier standing before them, continuing to speak in German. Roderich nudged Elizabeta to show her respects by saluting him. The soldier seemed to understand German.
The Hungarian stared up at the man. Her body tensed up. Were soviets really this scary close-up? He seemed tall like the trees found in the Amazon. The soldier wore a black coat with medals dotted across his right breast, very much like her own. He wore a black ushanka with a red sickle and hammer in the middle of it. A very common dress code among the Soviets. But this certain soldier seemed more intimidating than most. Perhaps it was the piercing mauve eyes he had or the pale skin or his beige coloured hair? Perhaps it was all three.
"Elizabeta!" Roderich hissed, finally gaining her attention. "Gruß, goddamnit." He added. She immediately obliged, saluting towards the tall Russian. The Russian returned a nonchalant salute with a small chuckle.
"At ease, Sergeant. Corporal." The Russian nodded, a serious look returning to his face. "May I help you?" He questioned. His words were mixed with a heavy Russian accent, it was quite hard to understand the German he was speaking. It didn't help that his voice very was quite deep and hoarse.
"I have been informed that your small soviet militia will be working with our Hungarian military police." Roderich began. "I'm here with the Hungarian Military Police commander." He motioned a hand over to Elizabeta, whom in a fit of panic saluted to the scary Russian once again.
Major Braginsky stood there with a confused look switching gazes with both the soldiers standing before him. "Izvinite chto?" He blinked, before registering what was happening. He began laughing. Roderich and Elizabeta shared a puzzled look. "I am terribly sorry... I just found your joke extremely funny." Major Braginsky said as he finally settled down from his laughing fit.
"Whatever do you mean? I never told a joke, Major." Roderich raised a brow, still muddled about the situation.
"The joke is that you have a woman leading the Hungarian Military Police. That's hilarious. A woman leading something? Never have I heard that!" He giggled just thinking about it.
"How dare you!" Elizabeta shouted. Her face turning red out of anger.
"The woman speaks German... Hmm, impressive." The major said, his sharp violet eyes met with her forest green ones.
"I am no woman. I am a corporal to you, scum." She hissed at the Soviet, in which she earned a warning glare from Roderich.
"Major Braginsky and Corporal Héderváry!" Roderich shouted, both soldiers turned their attention to the Sergeant Major. "Please keep this as professional as possible. Set aside differences, we are allies now." He informed them, fixing his cravat after raising his voice. "We don't want to gain the attention of others." He said, motioning at the crowd of eyes watching them. The eyes seemed to turn away once Major Braginsky glared at them. "As I was going to explain... Corporal Hédeváry is the leader of the military police. And you two are going to work together. This is an order from both of your commanders." Roderich lowered his brows and folded his arms, warning them each with his intense stare.
"Yes, Herr Eld— Roderich." Elizabeta nodded with a quick saluted. The Russian glanced at the Hungarian for a spilt-second before saluting towards Roderich, heeding his orders.
"You both will be taking your squadrons and stationing them around the capital. That is all for now." He saluted them. "I'll see you later Elizabeta. Major Braginsky." Roderich tilted his head before walking away.
Elizabeta glared at the Soviet. It was unfortunate they got off on the wrong foot, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to get close with the Russian. Not at all.
"Vnimaniye!" The major suddenly shouted, causing Elizabeta to jump. She soon found herself surrounded by Soviet soldiers. Elizabeta tensed up and subconsciously scooted closer to the major. Ivan began to talk quickly in a different language, most likely Russian. Elizabeta couldn't make out a single word, she was only fluent in German and Hungarian. She knew some English, but her skill wasn't good enough to speak full sentences. Ivan was still speaking quite fast and aggressively, his men stood there, stiff and emotionless. It was quite eerie.
"Now. Corporal... Hédeváry." He seemed to say her name with hesitance, either out of difficulty or spite. Elizabeta knew it was the latter. "Your men are where?" Ivan asked, noticing her small group of militia was nowhere to be found.
"My men are already stationed." She answered sharply. "I have already told them where to be on duty."
"Chto? Excuse me?" Ivan said quite flabbergasted, staring down at the woman. "Are we not supposed to plan together where to station our men?" He questioned.
"Oh, for god's sake. How was I supposed to know I was going to pair up with you Soviets? I planned where to station my men weeks prior to today." Elizabeta shot back at him.
"You soviets, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ivan growled, his stare turning into a cold glare.
"It means what it means." She said, turning her head away and folding her arms. Both leaders stood in silence. Ivan's small squadron watched the two bicker and stood in confusion. Most not understanding German, the two use to communicate with.
"Fine. Show me where you've stationed your men."