Chapter 25: Fall of Letzenbourg Part III: Retreat
People of Letzenbourg,
I have failed you, the republic is entering the city and it will soon be overrun. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I beg you all not to resist, I could not bear to see everyone suffer, please don't give the republic any reason to hurt our families or destroy our home.
I must leave the city now, it feels like I'm abandoning you all, but I am not giving up the fight. I give my solemn promise that you will all be liberated, and I vow not to step foot in this city again until this terrible war is over. – Excerpt from Prince Wilhelm's last broadcast during the Fall of Letzenbourg.
May 5th Unified Year 1925
Letzenbourg City, Ducal Palace
Ludwig stared out of the window of his private study within the Ducal palace and watched his home tear itself apart. Muzzle flashes and grenades lit up the streets outside as the cracks and bangs of gunfire and explosions crept ever closer. There had been no contact from the boy Damian Willibrord, it seemed his plan to seize Wilhelm and leave the city had been unsuccessful. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised, it had always been a slim bet and Ludwig had never been a good gambler. It wouldn't be long now, they would soon storm the Ducal Palace and it would be over, his gambit had failed, the city was lost.
When they heard of the Imperial's raiding the city, his commanders had expected them to go for the jugular as they had in Dacia, and attack the Palace directly, the officers had been furious when he'd insisted on staying instead of evacuating with his wife and unborn child. However, as he'd suspected the Degurechaff girl was more than a mere attack dog, the Imperials wanted full control of the city, so they had attacked the defensive forts to drive out its defenders. The officers had been equally furious and confused when half of their forces had turned against them, it was inconceivable to the old soldiers that any would betray their cause, it just showed how out of touch they were with the people they were supposed to protect.
Ludwig hadn't been surprised, Wilhelm wasn't a fool, he wouldn't act unless he thought he could win, and as for Degurechaff? He'd gotten a measure of the girl during the Ball, he'd noted that there was more to her than the model child soldier the Imperials claimed she was or the bloodthirsty monster that the republicans believed her to be. Behind that sweet little face was a look of ruthless intelligence far beyond what a child should possess. She was like Wilhelm in that way, but he suspected she was far more dangerous than the boy could ever hope to be. Perhaps that was why Wilhelm seemed so fond of her, people are often captivated by dangerous things.
Resistance now seemed futile, but his remaining officers felt disgraced and refused to surrender, they had declared that they would fight to the last and were apparently beginning a counterattack from the north. It would arrive too late for him however, the palace was surrounded, and the enemy was closing in. To him, the counterattack seemed foolish anyway, but he could understand why they would feel the need to strike back, he however, had accepted this as a potential outcome when he went over to the republican's side, others would need longer to accept their defeat.
The commanders had been taken totally by surprise by how effective the strategy employed by the Imperials had been. The Ispagnian tower, Fort Lamberd, even the impenetrable Casement dê Bach had all fallen far more quickly than anyone had expected, leading to loyalist forces to rout to the north of the city or to the Palace. It had become increasingly clear that this assault had been planned far in advance, they knew Ludwig would switch sides, the whole thing had been an elaborate setup and he had walked straight into it. The whole strategy the imperials employed had all the unusual quirks and hallmarks that would be expected of something dreamed up by Wilhelm, he'd always been a cunning little boy but Ludwig doubted he was truly the core of this plot, the strategy was certainly his but he suspected another had forced this situation to come to a head.
Some of the fortified areas had fallen without a fight, Ludwig had sensed Wilhelm's a hand in that, the boy had been sighted in the places that showed less resistance, little Wilhelm was always good at talking people around to his side and it seemed he had been employing that talent across the city. The broadcasts that echoed around the area were proof enough of that, most of his own supporters thought he was reading from a script given to him by the Imperials, but Ludwig knew better.
Wilhelm had an adult's brain with a child's temperament, Ludwig could hear his influence in every word of the broadcast. Although the language was adult, the underlying message was a simple childish argument that resonated with people. Ludwig was changing sides, he was a liar, he betrayed his friends, I'm the one that's been fighting to keep you safe, I'm the one that can be trusted. Nothing was ever as simple as that, but with a little flowery language, the earnest interpretation of a child and an angelic voice, suddenly the argument seemed to have weight and so the boy's words reverberated through the city turning the hearts and minds of the populace against him.
Ludwig found himself smiling wistfully. The boy had spent his entire youth wrapping people around his little finger, he had a natural charisma that Ludwig could not hope to compete with and always seemed to be able to find the right words for the right person or situation. Ludwig, by comparison, was considered cold and unfeeling, he intimidated people, although it was never his intention, people didn't like him because of this. It was little wonder Wilhelm could turn people against him so easily.
The boy had a silver tongue and keen intelligence that swayed people and sliced through their concerns, while his childlike and innocent face leant his argument a strange kind of legitimacy, it was so very difficult to refuse the child. Ludwig often wondered if the boy even realised he was doing it, sometimes he seemed to be so naturally manipulative, you'd think he was the Devil tricking you into selling your soul, but then he'd fix you with an innocent smile and suddenly you couldn't quite believe that he could possibly have any malicious intent.
Part of him almost wished he could surrender to little Wilhelm, it looked as though they would lose soon anyway, but his loyalist would never allow it. They were now so fervently against the Empire, they would rather see the city burn than serve someone they thought of as a puppet. He hated that it had come to this, but his followers were right about one thing, Wilhelm was firmly under the influence of the Imperials.
Just as Wilhelm ensnared people with his words, he too had been ensnared by the Empire. Against Ludwig's wishes, they had allowed him to do whatever he wanted as long as it could be made to serve their purpose. It depressed him to think how much the imperials had been using the boy, he should never have been fighting, but they clearly wanted to make him a war hero and symbol for the people, the strain would be too damaging and it would doubtless be taking its toll on him. Wilhelm was a child staring into a fire with fascination, but soon he'd reach out and be burned, he might even be engulfed by the flames.
Then again, Ludwig knew he had no one but himself to blame, he had caused this, and he could have prevented it countless times if not for his own cowardice. That was why he couldn't leave, this was his divine punishment, he just wished everyone else didn't need to be punished along with him.
He crossed to his desk, jumping slightly as a stray shot blasted through the window he had been standing at a few moments before, the enemy was getting close. On the dark mahogany table were several letters that he had composed while waiting out the night. He'd obviously been unable to sleep, and he was no soldier, so had left the defence of the city to his officers. He'd thought it prudent to get his affairs in order, however, so had spent much of the evening writing and rewriting his final thoughts to those he loved.
The first letter was to his father, he had already been quietly moved to a hospital in the Waldsätte Confederacy before the fighting in the city had broken out. Writing this letter had felt awkward, his illness had taken a turn for the worse shortly after his abdication and now he was almost completely vegetative. It was likely he would never read the letter, and if he did it was doubtful he would understand it. In truth, he felt like he'd lost his father years before and that this person was a mere shell masquerading as the once-great man, this letter was for a man who was long gone. Still, he'd done his best to explain everything that had happened and asked for forgiveness, all the time wishing he could talk to the man he knew as child one more time.
The Second was to his beloved wife Charlotte, the only person in the world who understood his feelings and the person he felt most guilty about abandoning. She had been the only one he had ever told about that night 10 years ago, the only other person who knew about Wilhelm. He'd confessed it all to her the night she had told him of her pregnancy, he should have been happy, they were going to have a child. Instead, he felt himself break down in terror and dread, he hadn't held a child since that night, the thought made him feel sick with guilt and at that moment he knew he could never be a father to his child, just as he hadn't been a brother to Wilhelm. She had tried to comfort him, but the shame was overwhelming.
There had been no point in repeating any of that in the letter, instead, he poured his heart out about how much joy their short time together had bought him. He went on to apologise how he could not be with her and how she must be strong for the baby, his heart ached as he wrote it, he wanted to run away but he had sworn he would face his sanction.
She had been evacuated to the Allied Kingdom, it had been part of the deal he'd made with the commonwealth agent Mr John. As they'd bid their tearful goodbye, he'd assured her he would be joining her soon, he felt guilty about not being able to keep that promise, but just as a captain goes down with his ship, he should go down with his country, it was his duty and his punishment. She would no doubt be made head of state for a government in exile, in the name of their unborn child, she would have a difficult time ahead of her, but he was sure she would manage things far better than he ever had.
Lastly was a letter to his brother, he'd agonised over this one, re-writing it several times, not really knowing how much he should reveal. Under the circumstances, it seemed wrong to write everything down simply because he wanted to remove the guilt from his own shoulders, but there were some things he had never been able to tell his little brother and he felt happier for committing it to paper. He stared at the document one last time, taking a few moments to read it before carefully folding it and putting it into an envelope with his brother's name on it. It was probably for the best that he didn't go into too much detail about his actions, that wasn't the important part of the message anyway.
He took the messages and placed them in his breast pocket, before carefully removing a revolver from the desk drawer that Corporal Clemes had given him. The man had been begging him to leave all evening, once the fighting reached the palace and it became clear to him that he wouldn't leave, the man declared he would fight for him to the end and ran off to join the defence, despite Ludwig's insistence that he flee. I wish I had Wilhelm's gift for persuasion he thought sadly placing the weapon in his pocket, he was unfamiliar with firearms but was sure he could use it easily enough, although its weight felt uncomfortable and awkward.
He took one last glance out of the window and could see the fighting in the courtyard below, Wilhelm's forces seemed uncoordinated, but they outnumbered his own troops and were fighting ferociously, little by little they were pushing his own forces back and they would soon be in the palace itself. Oddly Ludwig didn't feel all that much worry about the situation, he'd already come to accept his fate, so it seemed almost comforting.
Soon he found himself wandering the corridors listlessly and without purpose, before he realised it, he was retracing the same route he had taken all those years ago with his baby brother in his arms. He stopped at the point where he had once chosen the battered old sword for his brother's journey to heaven and felt slightly disappointed to see that the weapon was missing, replaced by an ugly boar head instead. It was of course out on the battlefield with Wilhelm now, it was a strange twist of fate that the weapon would end up saving the boy so many years later, perhaps it was an omen.
He soon reached what used to be the nursery, that too had changed. The crib had long since been removed and the room had been redecorated more appropriately for the age of its occupier, not that he occupied it very often. The bed was still in the same position opposite the fireplace as the cot had been all that time ago, and Ludwig soon found himself staring down at the mattress.
It had been here 10 years ago that he had decided to kill his brother, he had held a pillow ready to smother the poor defenceless child, in what he thought of at the time as an act of mercy.
"What monster could even consider murdering a baby?" he whispered to himself angrily. He hated himself for even thinking it and worse he knew deep down he would have gone through with it.
His mind drifted back to that night, his hand had started to lower itself almost automatically. At the time there had been no doubt in his mind that it had been the right thing to do, he would end the boy's suffering, baby Wilhelm would go peacefully. Thank God he was interrupted.
He'd been shocked and terrified to see a figure at the door, but the figure seemed equally surprised and they'd stared at each other for what had seemed like an eternity. Until another baby gurgled in the figure's arm. The noise seemed to rouse the man from his stupor, and he swore before a gun appeared in his other hand as Ludwig froze in fear. What was this man going to do? Why did he have a baby? What would he do to his beloved brother? All these questions and more exploded into his mind as the man carefully and quietly crossed the room towards the baby's crib.
Suddenly the silence was broken as baby Wilhelm screamed into the darkness. Ludwig turned to his brother, he had been certain the baby was in his last minutes of life, but against all odds, the baby had refilled his lungs and his cries were piercing the gloom. The screams distracted the intruder, causing him to glance fearfully at the doorway, expecting company, while the cries snapped Ludwig from his frozen terror. Without thinking he grasped he sword he had lain down next to Wilhelm, unsheathed it and charged.
The trespasser had no time to react and looked back at Ludwig in shock as the sword plunged into his chest. He fell backwards dropping the gurgling child in his arms, leaving Ludwig staring at his blood-covered hands. He was shaking and in shock, he had just killed someone, it was self-defence so its ok right? He thought in a panic, more than that he'd saved his brother, hadn't he?
No, he realised, that wasn't true, he'd been saved by his brother, baby Wilhelm's screams had broken him out of his fearful paralysis, Wilhelm had saved him! Ludwig dropped to his knees and threw up, he had been going to kill him, his own brother, the brother that had saved his life, what kind of terrible monster was he?
He looked down and saw the other child staring up at him silently, fortunately, the child was unharmed, but it was strange that he hadn't begun crying like baby Wilhelm, instead, he just peered up at him in quiet contentment. He had a passing similarity to Wilhelm, it was likely most wouldn't be able to tell the two apart, but he could easily see the differences, could this man have been trying to switch this child for his brother?
The sound of a shrieking child had finally gained the attention of some of the palace security and a soldier came to investigate, turning the light on and illuminating the scene as he entered.
Ludwig ordered that the whole affair be covered up, the body was quietly removed and disposed of, he had his suspicions he was an imperial agent, but they weren't able to find any direct proof. The second baby was taken to a local church to be raised and named by the priests, he had donated generously to them in order to keep him secret and sent some trusted men to check on him from time to time. He'd visited only once but seeing his resemblance to Wilhelm made him uncomfortable and he refused to go again.
Wilhelm meanwhile made a complete and miraculous recovery and seemed to grow stronger than he ever had been before. Ludwig had been ecstatic, his brother was safe and healthy, but he soon found he could no longer look at the boy without a deep feeling of guilt and revulsion about himself. Eventually, he could barely look at the boy at all.
He had still wanted to do what was best for his brother and eventually submitted to the doctor's requests for preventative treatment. He'd intended to be there with his brother throughout, but saw the effects it had on the boy and the memory of what he had almost done flooded back. He could not bring himself to look down on the small boy staring up at him, wondering why he had to go through such a thing, so he hid away like a coward and the seeds of Wilhelm's animosity towards him was born.
As Wilhelm grew, his formidable intelligence started to become apparent, despite the draining effect of his treatments. Inwardly Ludwig was thrilled, outwardly, as always, he was unable to express himself. Worse still, he found himself lashing out and shouting at the boy, seeing him was a painful reminder of that day and no matter how hard he tried, those feelings of self-hatred manifested as anger and frustration around little Wilhelm. Day by day he found himself pushing his brother away.
Eventually, the Imperial's began meddling and before he knew it, every decision he made about Wilhelm was quickly undermined by the Imperial faction in Letzenbourg or interference through diplomatic channels, the Kaiser himself had even taken an interest in the boy. Wilhelm lapped up the attention and soon began using these people against him. He wanted to blame the Imperials for taking his brother from him, but in truth, he had driven him to them.
They had even had some doctors clear him of the same mental instability that plagued their father, but Ludwig was sure they had been paid off. Once Wilhelm returned from the War College in Berlun, he'd seen the same early signs that had afflicted their father years before. He'd been horrified, his brother was so young! It hadn't started to manifest in father until his mid-20s! Wilhelm rarely ate or slept, and he had become paranoid and delusional, at this pace it wouldn't be long before he started to hallucinate, he couldn't understand why his staff couldn't see it! Perhaps they were too close to him, or maybe they just didn't want to see it.
Ludwig knew he had to make sure his brother was treated, but again he was too much of a coward to confront his brother directly. He took to trying to smuggle the drugs into his food or send some of his most trusted to administer it while he was sleeping but all it had done was make things worse. By the time of the Ball, he knew it was too late to repair their relationship. Wilhelm hated him completely.
His cowardice had pushed Wilhelm away from him, had doomed the boy to a gradual mental decline and delivered the country into the hands of the Empire. As both a ruler and a brother, Ludwig was a complete failure.
A loud bang and the shattering of glass somewhere along the hall jerked Ludwig from his depressing reverie. He crossed over to the marble fireplace before carefully laying out the letters on the mantle, content with the placement he returned to the bed once more, before sitting and pulling the pistol from his pocket. He stared at it a few moments, studying it like a scientist looking through a microscope, to him the device was alien and unfamiliar, he'd never even held a gun before, why would he ever need to?
Eventually, he closed his eyes and raised the weapon.
"I'm sorry"
Xxxxx
Tanya hadn't been surprised when a soldier reported that he'd seen Wilhelm enter the Ducal Palace, he'd been raging about his brother after the fight with his strange twin, in his injured and confused state he'd obviously thought it was a good idea to go confront the man. She had been slightly taken aback when she'd been informed that he'd entered the building through one of the upper floor windows, however. She shouldn't have taken her eye off him, the boy was now clearly suffering from battle fatigue and was currently incapable of making rational decisions for himself. It was more than a little irritating but considering his injuries it was hardly a shock, combined with his obvious exhaustion and the other incidents that had happened overnight it was a miracle he hadn't broken down sooner.
Tanya was thankful that she'd had the mental fortitude to carry on herself, after all, she wasn't a war maniac like the rest of her battalion or Wilhelm and being a pacifist made the whole situation far more stressful for her than any of them. The necessities of war were harrowing enough without the mess that Wilhelm and his clone had bought to the situation, although she was glad that Being X hadn't produced any more bizarre and preposterous events, such as an evil twin of her own or a divinely blessed and overpowered girl for her to deal with. She wasn't getting paid overtime for this after all.
The only really surprising thing was that Wilhelm was not only still on his feet, but apparently was still able to fly through a second-floor window, she had to give the idiot credit for endurance at least. He couldn't last much longer however, the boy was far from superhuman and would collapse soon if he hadn't already. She just hoped he hadn't managed to kill himself somehow, command was sending someone to collect him, it wouldn't reflect well if she presented a corpse to the General staff.
She was worried enough about what her superiors might think already given the state he was in when she last saw him. Her orders had been to bring him back in one piece and the interpretation of that had already been stretched somewhat, and considering the bulk of his injuries were as a result of a foolhardy attempt to protect her from an explosion, she was more than a little concerned that she might be held responsible, even with Wilhelm's promise to shield her from blame. She was just glad they'd sent colonel Rurugen to pick up the boy, she knew he was at sympathetic to her, he might be able to put in a good word for her once she explained everything.
It was fortunate that resistance around the palace had crumbled quickly, none of the troops had been ordered to assault but with the communication problems, some of Wilhelm's more zealous supporters interpreted the order to advance as an excuse to vent their frustrations. Miraculously, they had successfully stormed the building, which must have allowed Wilhelm to enter without too much trouble, as long as he didn't run into anything on the inside, there was still a good chance of extracting him and getting him to order the withdrawal. There was still sporadic gunfire, however, and Tanya resolved to keep her wits about her, the bulk of the resistance had left to join the closing republican troops in the north of the city, but there was no such thing as being too careful.
She felt like she should be angrier with Wilhelm for this stunt, the battlefield was no place for personal vendettas, especially when your body is falling apart. She was undoubtedly annoyed at him, but she didn't feel the strength of anger that she usually would towards him for this kind of behaviour. She wondered if she was subconsciously giving him a bit of a free pass due to his injuries, between that and the strange fight with his doppelganger, he'd shielded her from a significant amount of potential harm. Besides, her own encroaching fatigue was beginning to take its toll too, making it difficult to summon up too much annoyance at him, but ultimately the bulk of her frustration was aimed elsewhere.
The command to withdraw bothered her, she knew that the general staff wouldn't have ordered it without good reason, but it felt like a waste of resources considering how successful they had been. It made good economic sense to shelve a project that wasn't meeting its projected goals but despite their setbacks, this operation had been mostly a success, its only real failing was that their promised reinforcements had been called off. It annoyed her on a base level to see their efforts go to waste, not to mention the waste of manpower and materiel, if help had arrived, they would have retaken the city with only a small investment. Without the extra troops, the expenditure of materiel had been for nothing, it almost felt like this mission had been engineered to fail.
She wasn't looking forward to breaking the news to Wilhelm, normally she would probably have enjoyed seeing the smirk taken off his face, but this situation left a bad taste in her mouth. She couldn't deny the effort that he had put into this operation, even if his methods were dubious. Like her, he would likely be similarly disappointed, but she doubted he would take the news as magnanimously as she had even if he were healthy, let alone in his current state.
By now Tanya and Visha had entered the palace and were cautiously searching the corridors and rooms of the Ducal Palace for any sign of the little brat. They had been forced to split up in order to cover more ground, neither was especially familiar with the layout of the building, Tanya had been led by Wilhelm when she had last been here and Visha had waited in the servant's area playing cards on their previous visit to the estate. They had to hurry, longer it took to find the little colonel, the more difficult orchestrating a full-scale withdrawal would become.
It was eerily reminiscent of her first meeting with the faux prince a few months before in the republican field hospital, although this time instead of wounded soldiers, the building was almost empty except for a few looters trying to take advantage of the chaos. Finally, she found the window that Wilhelm had broken through and followed the trail of blood that he left, leading her on a circuitous journey around the royal residence. Eventually, it led her to a bedroom filled with the smell of blood.
As she entered the room, she saw the body of the Regent sprawled out on the bed, it was an unpleasant mess and it was clear he was already dead. She'd been a soldier long enough now to be mostly unaffected by the grisly scene, there had been plenty of death on the Rhine and she'd seen much worse. If anything, it made her feel slightly uncomfortable that she didn't feel too disturbed by the scene, it was worrisome that this sort of thing was almost normal for her now.
From the other side of the darkened room, she heard a raspy and slightly gargled breathing and she turned to find Wilhelm slumped on the floor by the fireplace. His wounds had finally caught up with him she concluded, and he'd obviously collapsed to the floor as soon as his body could no longer supply enough adrenaline to keep going.
"He was like that when I got here," the boy said struggling with his words between breaths. He didn't look up at her as he spoke, instead, he stared down at a letter in his shaking hand. They were both silent for a moment before the pale and drained boy looked up with hate-filled eyes.
"He knew I wasn't the real one, I'm sure of it, still the bastard managed to mock me one more time before the end," he breathed crumpling the paper and tossing the letter aside. It landed at her feet and she glanced down at the note without thinking, she could only make out the words "to my beloved brother" atop it, from what she'd heard about their relationship she could see why Wilhelm thought it was a sick joke. Then again maybe the letter had been for the real Wilhelm.
She hadn't known the Regent, so she could only take Wilhelm's word on what his motivation with the letter might have been, but to her, it felt like they weren't seeing the full picture, not that she particularly cared of course. She didn't have time to waste with Wilhelm's family life anyway, the republicans would be storming the city soon and she didn't fancy being around when they got here.
"Colonel," she snapped professionally, hoping it might remind the boy of his command responsibilities. She paused for a moment, hoping for some sign of understanding to materialise in his green eyes. It was clear the combination of the strange events and his injuries were now seriously affecting his cognitive abilities, and she would need to get him to understand the situation to get him to do what she wanted, she couldn't exactly rough him up anymore in his condition after all. Fear flashed in his eyes for a moment before he looked down at the floor again.
"Are….Are you still going to shoot me?" The boy asked sounding genuinely fearful, and for the first time ever, like a real child, at least to Tanya's ear. He truly looked pathetic, he somehow seemed smaller than ever before, as though each of his injuries had somehow diminished him little by little.
If he'd asked her that question an hour or so ago, she might have thought about it, considering how much trouble he'd put her through. The order to withdrawal had changed things, however, they needed him to order the Letzenbourgers out of the city. On top of that, command would want someone to blame for this debacle and as the senior officer it should be Wilhelm takes the responsibility, without him, there was always a chance it might pass down to her. Besides, she was a pacifist, she'd shoot for her own survival but even she thought shooting the barely breathing boy was a little heartless.
Tanya knelt beside him, ignoring his nervous glance as she took a look at his wounds All mages were taught a bit of magical medicine during their training, although Tanya would admit her own knowledge on the subject was rudimentary at best. It was usually used on oneself and it was awkward and unfamiliar treating another, but she did her best to use that knowledge and what she remembered from her first aid training in her past life to look the boy over. She felt confident she could probably patch him up enough to last until they found a real medic.
"We've been ordered to withdraw all friendly forces from the city," she informed him while bandaging up the wound on his head. "But your forces refuse to leave without your say so."
"But the reinforcements…" he started to stutter in shock before Tanya cut him off once more.
"Are not coming, they never left, they were called off by the General staff," She informed him flatly and saw his pale expression fall into sad disbelief.
"Why? We won!" Wilhelm whispered, blinking at her with confused disappointment, Tanya could sympathise, the situation more than irked her so she could only imagine how Wilhelm must feel given how much he'd put into this operation. His expression began to change as he assimilated this new information and his eyes darkened.
"Canaris betrayed me" he growled, gritting his teeth as blood began to fall from his mouth. It seemed Wilhelm had come to the conclusion that the Imperial spymaster had reneged on his promise to send reinforcements. He balled up his working hand into a fist and smashed it into the marble fireplace beside him with an audible thud. She was surprised he still had the energy but judging from the way he slumped back down afterwards it must have been all he had left.
"I'll give the order to withdraw," he said eventually. "I should make a radio announcement for the people too, I don't want it to be like Arene," he finished sadly still struggling to force the words through his injuries.
She'd expected more of an argument from him but could see the fire in his eyes dim as exhaustion finally caught up with him, either that or he had finally learned when to give up. In truth, she felt a strange mixture of sympathy and a newfound respect for Wilhelm. He'd had victory snatched from him, but all in all, he was taking it surprisingly well and he'd even considered something she'd missed.
She hadn't thought about the non-coms and Wilhelm's accidental Militia, it was a good idea to try to dissuade them from doing anything stupid after the soldiers fell back, she couldn't say if Wilhelm felt any actual responsibility for them or not but it would at least look good in the reports later. It seemed now that he'd calmed down, Wilhelm was able to make rational suggestions once again.
"I'll make sure this doesn't affect your career" he breathed sadly, and she nodded in thanks. From what she could tell he was being genuine again, perhaps he was too exhausted to lie anymore. She would have done everything in her power to make sure he shouldered the blame, but it was good to know that he might actually do it himself. It made her wonder how sincere he was being when he was beating his twin, hadn't he said something strange about the clone trying to take her?Then again, it was probably best not to take the words of someone with a concussion at face value, she would have to remain careful about his promises.
She radioed Lt Serabryakov her position and told her to gather the rest of the company, she was fairly certain she could get Wilhelm back and she didn't want any of her troops being left behind. She stood up and held a hand out to help Wilhelm back to his feet, it was obvious he wasn't going to get up by himself. He looked at the hand for a moment and averted his gaze from her with faint embarrassment, if he had enough blood left, she could have sworn he would be blushing. Suddenly he started laughing between his painful breaths.
"What is it now?" she asked struggling to keep the annoyance from her face.
"My hand is broken," the boy replied looking up at her with a mixture of pain and amusement, maybe I was right about him being a masochist she found herself thinking.
"I only broke the left hand," she stated with annoyance. He was wasting time, why was he picking now to act so childish?
"I…..think I broke the other one when I punched the fireplace" he chuckled quietly.
Tanya couldn't help herself and joined his laugher, she later found this is a common symptom of prolonged stress and that was perhaps in part why she had started giggling. She bolstered her strength with a little mana and hoisted him up and for the second time since they'd known each other Tanya was carrying Wilhelm, he was surprisingly light, it almost felt like she didn't need to enhance herself. This time, however, Wilhelm couldn't stand, and with his broken ribs, embarrassingly this left Tanya with no choice but to carry him like a newlywed bride. The only consolation was that he would be much more embarrassed about it than she would be.
Xxxxx
40 years after the Great War
Londinium
"I'm sorry Maggie, I really am," said Andrew sympathetically placing down a glass of wine in front of his disappointed colleague as she sat sullenly in the corner of the red lion pub. "If it's any consolation I think its utter nonsense."
"Its fine Andrew I expected it," she began with a heavy sigh. Andrew's ears picked up the subtle hint that it was anything but fine, he knew better than to point that out, however.
"After all, 'Women are too frivolous to be the bearers of grave news" she finished in a mocking and pompous voice just as Andrew decided to take a sip of his pint causing him to spill some of his bitter down his jacket as he chuckled. It was good she was joking about it, but he knew she was bitterly disappointed after all the hard work she'd put in.
He was sure they would have been the exact words the WTN news director had used. To say his views were a little old fashioned was an understatement, but there had been signs he might have started to bend under the weight of popular opinion. WTN had ultimately decided the world wasn't ready for a female newsreader however, apparently the big wigs thought it was unacceptable for a woman to be reading the late-night news. He knew that inside, Maggie would be infuriated, to say the least. She had worked hard to get where she was and it to her it would be galling that her career could be halted so abruptly just because of the old-fashioned ideas of those at the top. The same people that, in her own words, "only got the job because they went to the same private school as their boss," couldn't accept something as simple as her reading the news.
He agreed with her for the most part, they had gone to the same university, although when they met he had been a guest speaker there, and he knew she was an excellent journalist. Besides, it wasn't if reading the news was especially difficult, but it would have been a great opportunity for her and it would have been a world first. He would have liked to have pointed out that her attitude wasn't especially helpful to her in this case however, but now probably wasn't the best time for that. She had become increasingly bitter due to a string of disappointments lately.
As well as some freelance work for WTN she also worked for the Londinium Times, she'd been excited when she first started, she thought she'd get to do some real investigative journalism. She had to start from the ground up of course and although she had complained to him how dull reports on the Chelsey flower show were, she relished the opportunity to show what she could do. Unfortunately, the editors weren't interested, and she had become increasingly disillusioned as her submissions were ignored or side-lined and others were promoted above her. Andrew believed she'd hoped the job at WTN would be a way out for her.
"It wouldn't be so bad if you know who hadn't got the job, the inbred idiot can barely read," she grumbled. It seemed she'd already heard the news that Bernard had gotten the job, it was true the man was a dullard who wasn't especially qualified for any job that required using multi-syllable words, rumour had it that the only reason he'd gotten the position was that his father was friends with the WTN director-general.
"You know, sometimes it feels like they live in a different world to the rest of us," she sighed staring into her wine.
Ah, we're back at this again thought Andrew. He didn't know all the details and it seemed rude to ask, but from what he understood, Maggie hadn't exactly been well off growing up and she'd worked hard to get where she was today. This had meant that she held a special dislike for people who seemingly could get what they wanted by virtue of their birth or wealth. This latest setback would no doubt provide more evidence for Maggie's theory that the rich and powerful could do what they want.
"I know you feel disappointed Maggs, but if it makes you feel any better I really appreciate all the help you gave me with the special Letzenbourg report," he began hoping the change in subject would bring her out of her melancholy.
"It was nothing, it was nice to do some research again for once," she replied waving a hand dismissively, but he saw a small glint in her eye telling him that she liked the compliment more than she let on.
"I mean it, all that information you collected on The Saint and the Letzenbourg royal family was invaluable!" He continued with a reassuring smile. It was true, it had been a huge help and it was proof of how good she really was, both the Times and WTN were wasting a valuable commodity in the woman.
"Oh really? But you pushed aside all my theories that the Saint and Prince Wilhelm were one and the same" she replied with a pout and a hint of mischief in her eyes.
"There was no way the Empire sent children to battle, no historian takes it seriously" he replied, she'd gotten quite attached to the idea of the swashbuckling little prince and had tried practically everything to get him to put the theory in the program.
"They were much more liberal than most everyone else they had female soldiers even before the war, it's not impossible that younger people could have volunteered" she argued. "I bet they would have allowed female newsreaders at least," she added sourly.
"There's no evidence of it, besides who would let a prince fight on the front lines? It's just a story Maggs," he countered ignoring the last part, a smile had reappeared on her face, she'd genuinely enjoyed working on this project he realised.
"But what a story! I especially like the part where the Letzenbourg soldiers refuse to withdraw without their prince, but they all lose heart when an Imperial officer carries his broken body into the command centre," she smiled and Andrew fund himself rolling his eyes at her. She'd obviously got completely enamoured with the stories they told about the Saint in Letzenbourg and the Germanian republic.
"We're supposed to be journalists" he chided her, eliciting a giggle from her. He was glad he'd managed to cheer her up and soon found a comfortable smile had appeared on his own face too.
"It's amazing that there was so much of a link to your eleventh goddess thing," she said returning to a more professional version of herself. "And from what I could tell the association didn't end after the fall of Letzenbourg either," she finished conspiratorially.
Andrew raised an eyebrow and felt himself lean forward, his curiosity was piqued, and he could smell a story. Maybe another special was on the cards.
"Tell me more," he said with a grin.
Saint of Letzenbourg end of part 1
Authors notes
Hi all and thanks for reading.
Hopefully the grammar and such isn't too bad, I haven't been able to get in touch with my beta reader because fiction press has disabled email notifications for private messaging.
I'm calling this end of part one because it's the end of what I'd like to think of as the Prince's Arc, this was all supposed to be his introduction according to the original plan. Although that plan also assumed this would be about chapter 10, not 25 so I think it's fair to say the plan was more of a guideline now.
I still have plenty more story to write and I plan on doing just that. There's revolving door, the southern campaign, russy, mary and I have to explain the sword. Plenty to be going at.
I'm sorry the last couple of chapters have been kinda depressing, the prince wasn't supposed to get a happy ending but it kinda went all tragic towards the end there. That's actually part of the reason it took a little longer to write this chapter, it was getting me pretty down writing Ludwig's guilty feelings and knowing that Wilhelm will never know that he's not really a fake, and his brother actually cared for him made me feel pretty sad. Maybe I should put tragedy in the genre tag.
I'm also a bit concerned I've pushed past the T rating a bit the last few chapters, should I change it to an M?
I'm now going to go back and adjust the 1st few chapters and do some spelling and grammar corrections before I move on to the next part. I might add a bit of fluff in the first few chapters but nothing to change the story, so if you don't want to reread, you shouldn't miss anything.
I would appreciate any feedback on the story so far if you have any.
Otherwise, thank you all for reading.
Xanen