Visiting Hours
40 Years after the Great War
Londinium
As we reported in a previous episode, the Abwehr was the primary intelligence agency that served as the eyes and ears of the Empire during the early years of the Great War. The organisation utilised a great many techniques to procure and extract information, some of which were questionable, even for the turbulent times of war. However, like all the Empire's actions, they were considered legal at the time, even if we find them morally abhorrent today.
The organisation itself adhered to a strict hierarchy, with each intelligence branch reporting to the agents of the Abwehr. At the top of this hierarchy was the now infamous Vice Admiral Friedrich Canaris, a controversial figure for both the Allies and the Imperials alike. His actions contributed greatly to the direction of the War and although there are dubious rumours about his private life, these contributions cannot be emphasised enough. – Andrew WTN Special correspondent.
June 28th Unified Year 1925
Holding Cell No.4, Offices of the Abwehr, Berlun, 16:00hrs
"Why?"
The little colonel asked with a mixture of anger and disappointment as he struggled to keep his emotions from staining his tired-looking features.
"Why did you have to come back to Berlun?"
These were the first words that escaped Wilhelm's lips as he stood in front of her in the dark cell while his shoulders shook slightly despite the summer warmth. He'd barely managed to contain himself and had started his childish little tirade the moment the guard had been persuaded to leave them alone. Unlike Visha's visits, the little colonel had apparently been allowed some privacy while he was here, so he had dropped the innocent prince act immediately in favour of this unusual bout of sincerity.
Tanya found herself struggling to calm her own anger and frustration as she saw the look on the boy's face. Why the hell are you so upset? I'm the one who's been imprisoned because of your scheming! She cursed internally as she saw the hurt look in his eyes. He looked as though he had been physically struck or been given some particularly traumatic news. To an outsider, it would seem like their situation had been reversed and he had been the one forced to suffer the ignominy of being locked up for someone else's crimes. It was clear even to Tanya that he was genuinely upset about this situation, but she couldn't understand why.
"We almost had that Bastard! I warned you it was dangerous to be near me! Why didn't you stay away? It's what you wanted! You just needed to stay away a little longer! Why did you have to come back?" he continued struggling to control his voice.
Tanya could hardly believe what she was hearing. Not only had she been forced to take the blame for his failed coup, now he was blaming her for ruining his doomed attempt to get back at Canaris. Surely his petty revenge on the intelligence chief didn't mean this much to him! Somehow it seemed almost like the boy really believed he was the victim in this scenario and Tanya found herself unable to keep her frustration with the boy bottled up anymore.
"How was I supposed to know about your foolish grudge with Canaris!" She snapped irritably, "All I knew was that you were up to something again! And you were! You kept everything secret! You always do! Do you even tell your minions everything you're up to?"
The boy recoiled slightly before frowning and he began rubbing his wrist nervously as his gaze fell sadly to the floor. It seemed she'd struck a nerve and unusually the brat had withdrawn sulkily rather than fired off an angry retort as she would have expected.
"Sofia and Christina know everything I can tell them," he began glumly staring at a tile on the floor. "I wish I could tell them more. I'd bet you're keeping some secrets from Visha too, they'd think we were insane if we didn't."
That was true enough, she'd never told anyone about her past life. She was certain that the crazy claim that she was a thirty-something-year-old man in the body of a young girl's would get her dragged off in a straight jacket, so she'd wisely kept it to herself. Even those she trusted with her new life like Weiss and Visha knew nothing about it, if she were to tell them, they'd surely think the stress of the job had become too much for her and she'd gone off the deep end. Only Wilhelm knew and even he didn't know any of the details, she'd only ever revealed a little bit of what she knew about Being X and never told him the details of her previous life as the Salaryman. It made sense that he would do the same.
Tanya found herself regretting her outburst almost immediately. Although she felt it was more than justified that she should vent her frustrations on the boy since this situation was entirely his fault, it wasn't part of the plan to upset him right now. One of Wilhelm's few good traits was that he was quite protective over his trusted subordinates, perhaps too much so in some cases, so calling the skilful sisters' his minions was bound to upset him. Sometimes she wished the boy didn't get under her skin so much, if she could stay calmer around him perhaps she could've attained the same level of trust from him as the Zerbist sisters enjoyed and she wouldn't be in this mess.
It was too late for that sort of wishful thinking however, so she took a breath to calm herself and remind herself of her goals. Since her failed negotiations with Vice Admiral Canaris, she had been considering her options. The Admiral wanted her to persuade Wilhelm to give in to his demands and retire from the military. She already knew this plan would be doomed to failure, not only was the Admiral's assumption that the boy cared for her flawed, she knew Wilhelm would refuse any demand that involved him leaving the army.
Unlike Tanya, who had been thrown into this world by a spiteful and irrational supernatural being entirely against her will, Wilhelm had bargained his way into reincarnation. She had learned of his Faustian deal with Being X shortly after Arene and knew that the boy had paid for this new life with the promise of the lives of people from this new world. She didn't know what the wannabe deity's goal was with this deal, it didn't seem quite like the bastard she knew, and she had briefly wondered if there were more than one of these irrational entities in the cosmos. It didn't bear thinking about, but she at least saw it as further proof that Being X and his ilk were not Gods.
It was due to this deal that she knew Wilhelm would never willingly quit the army, not while he still had his debt at least. Like her, he'd realised war was coming but unlike her, he had been rushing to be posted towards the frontlines, not away from them. In what Tanya considered an unusually eloquent and efficient solution for his predicament, at least by Wilhelm standards, the boy had decided to use this terrible war in order to pay his debt as quickly as possible. It was a fact of life that people die in wars after all, he was making use of that fact.
As long as he remained a soldier, he could take advantage of the war to further his own survival. It was for precisely this reason that he had wanted to prolong the war and prevent the Republic from surrendering. If he was forced to quit, he couldn't pay that debt. At least not without resorting to means that were unacceptable to society and she'd seen the terror cross the boy's face when he thought of what might happen if he failed. He would see giving into Canaris as a death sentence, he would be giving up his own life for hers and she couldn't imagine he would ever wish to do that. No, she would need him to help her in a different way.
"I'm sorry, you weren't supposed to be involved in this," the boy said with a heavy sigh causing Tanya to blink in surprise.
He actually seemed to be genuinely contrite about the situation. For a moment she considered the admiral's words about how certain he was that Wilhelm would capitulate in order to help her, and she began to wonder if she had been mistaken in her assessment. She quickly dismissed this idea however, no doubt he was just worried about what she knew about him or how his continued support affected his overblown reputation. Even if he did feel some guilt for what he'd done it would only be because it affected his personal goals and like her those personal goals were survival.
"He wants you to sign the treaty and retire or he'll have me shot" she stated neutrally keeping her voice calm while she studied the boy's glum expression, "I have no intention of dying for you."
She let the words hang in the air, some might consider it a threat but for Tanya, it was a statement of fact. Wilhelm already knew what Canaris wanted, she was certain of it and she was equally sure the boy would refuse but it was important that she got him to lay his cards on the table.
He winced slightly when she mentioned dying for him but continued to stare at the floor sadly. At least it seemed like he cared enough to realise how high the stakes she was facing really were. Still, the stab of victory was short-lived as he brought his pained frown upward and met her gaze with sad, almost tearful eyes.
"I don't care about the Charlemagne treaty, I already said I never want to go back to Letzenbourg, the high command can have it. They must hate me there," he began with a heavy sigh. "I'll sign that and anything else he wants."
Considering all he'd gone through for the coup she was surprised he'd give up his prize so easily. And what was this about people hating him? Had no one informed the boy that most of his little country and even the Empire still believed in his heroic reputation, despite all his actions? She'd even heard from Visha that the Empire was considering giving the small country part of the Republic in war reparations due to the perceived heroics of the little colonel. Yet the boy seemed to believe he was vilified in his home country.
"I don't want you to die but…I can't leave the military," he continued fearfully as his hand instinctively flew to his belt where the familiar blade was thankfully absent. It seemed even Wilhelm wasn't allowed to bring his sword into a prison cell. "You know why."
His emerald eyes looked like those of a cornered animal as he stared at her tearfully. It was as she thought, he wouldn't even consider leaving the armed forces while he still had his debt to Being X. What did surprise her however was the depth of the horror that sat in his eyes when he spoke. She'd always known that their respective relationships with Being X had been very different from one another, she had not tried to bargain with the supernatural being. The Salaryman had merely pointed out the problems that the creature had described during their unfortunate meeting were entirely it's own doing. So, when the pseudo-deity had thrown her into this world in an attempt to try and prove a point, anger had been her overriding emotion towards Being X, at least once she'd grown enough to regrow her mental faculties.
Wilhelm, however, seemed to be truly terrified of the Being X that he had encountered. Although they had spoken little of their experiences with the false god, Wilhelm had always described the creature with a mixture of anger and fear, but she'd never realised the true depths of that fear. That fear was dangerous. Nothing could force someone to be more irrational than fear, it was little wonder the boy often seemed so erratic.
There was more in his eyes than just fear though, that hint of guilt still remained, it seemed that he really did feel responsible. Perhaps he could be a decent officer one day she found herself thinking; after all, taking responsibility for the mistakes of yourself and your subordinates was part and parcel of a leadership role. Then again there could be other reasons for the little brat feeling so bad about this situation. Tanya was certain that Wilhelm put his own goals above those around him, but he usually preferred to keep people on his side. Why else would he go so far out of his way to keep people loyal to him?
She recalled how she'd misinterpreted his warped attempt to reward her as a bribe and how even after Letzenbourg he had tried to buy her off with gifts. He obviously felt he still had some obligation to her, either that or wished to be certain his secret was never revealed, it was fortunate for her he didn't know the truth. Now was the time to start using this as trading capital, especially since her information on him was now a much less valuable negotiating chip.
"If you really don't want to see me shot, then you have to get me out of here another way," she said feeling her fists clench reflexively as she put her scheme into motion. "You have to get me out of the country."
She didn't particularly like this plan, it was essentially giving up everything she had worked for in her new life. However, she had seen the distinct parallels between this world and the events that led to the destructive conflicts that had occurred in the Salaryman's world and she had been preparing for the worst. She had long known that if things went wrong, she would need a backup plan. After all, although the Empire was clearly much stronger and more efficiently run than its otherworldly equivalent, it still sat in a very precarious geopolitical position. As much as she would prefer her new home country and its rational ideals to prosper, she wasn't about to give her life to make sure that it did.
Part of the reasoning for her early military service was in order to get herself the sort of career that would give her the pay packet and contacts to quietly disappear if things got dicey. Although she would never say she admired the members of the regimes that had attempted to quietly escape in the other world, she could appreciate the necessity to move somewhere safer when you knew you'd lost. After all, the losers in war often find themselves guilty of things that they wouldn't be if they had been victorious and despite her careful adherence to the law, she couldn't be sure she'd be treated fairly if the Empire fell.
She had no intention of escaping to South America like so many of the escapees in the other world had, however. Much of the continent was the playground of banana republics propped up by American corporations or various gangs of thugs disguised as governments trying to overthrow one another. The continent may be a good place to disappear in, but it wasn't a place you could thrive and she had no strong desire to live out her life in such an uncivilised place. No, she would go to the Unified States.
The Albish language was remarkably similar to English in the other world, and the Salaryman was fluent in it due to his time at the Chicago school of economics. The Unified states was also a mirror image of its otherworld clone, a place of free markets and capitalist ideals. Although it had a few too many religious zealots for her tastes it was still a place that she felt she could understand and she was certain that with her management experience and knowledge of economics she could make a successful new life over there. Additionally, since much of the population was made up of Europan migrants, she wouldn't seem out of place with her Germanic origin. She would be just another citizen of the Unified States.
Unfortunately, her career had yet to have a chance to flourish to the point where she had much in the way of either capital or connections, at least not enough to get her out of this cell and to the land of the free. Although she was now a Major and was earning a modest wage plus some expenses, courtesy of the General staff, she had yet to earn anything close to enough to start a new life for herself. As for her connections, she had done her best to impress her superiors over the last few years but these things take a long time to cultivate and she simply hadn't had enough of it to earn a favour as large as this.
Wilhelm, however, was already wealthy and well connected, even with his current troubles with the Supreme High Command. Additionally, he had access to the remainder of his mage company and the skills of the two Zerbist sisters. She would, of course, prefer to use the skills of the 203rd but she didn't want to drag her subordinates into this mess too.
Although she was loath to ask him for anything, Wilhelm had enough firepower, wealth and influence to get her out of here and to a neutral port where she could escape to the Unified States and away from Canaris's influence. And he could provide her with enough money to make a start over there. In her current situation, she couldn't afford to squander any potential resource and although volatile, Wilhelm was a useful resource indeed.
Of course, her escape may cause the little colonel some problems of his own, but by then that wouldn't be her concern. Wilhelm still believed he was not the real prince of Letzenbourg and he believed she was the only one that was aware of this fact. She didn't like trading on a lie but if Wilhelm wanted his secret safe, he would have to get her out of here and as far away from the Empire and its spymaster as possible. Still, she would only mention Wilhelm's secret of it absolutely necessary, he was already aware of the threat, so she didn't see any reason to remind him.
"Out of the country?" The boy said, repeating her words in surprise, "you want to leave?"
"As I said, I have no intention of dying for you" she continued leaving the unspoken warning in the air before making her demands. "I'll need money, papers and to get out of here of course."
"You can't!" He exclaimed sounding oddly panicked, "I'll be….."
Tanya stared at the boy with growing confusion for a moment as his voice trailed off and she watched as he subconsciously began rubbing his wrist once again as he squeezed his eyes shut. Why was he becoming so distressed about the idea? If anything, having Tanya out of the picture would be helpful for him, wouldn't it? He would no longer need to worry about his secret and could enact whatever foolish plan he wanted to concoct without any interference from her.
The room was silent for a moment until Tanya heard a low grumble escape the boy's lips. She saw him begin to ball his hands into a fist and his shoulders began to tighten once more. She took a cautious step back as his eyes snapped open and she recognised the fiery rage burning in his emerald orbs.
"First he took Hausmann, then Letzenbourg and now he's driving you away too?" the little colonel growled and thought she Tanya began to understand the source of this new emotional outburst.
Wilhelm blamed Vice-Admiral Canaris for all his recent troubles, although Tanya would be more than willing to argue the validity of that point. This was the latest in an ever-increasing list of occurrences where the spymaster had outwitted and outmanoeuvred the bratty little Machiavellian. Tanya's arrest was a situation that he would view as a loss no matter what he decided to do. Not that it mattered to her, as long as the loss he chose to accept resulted in getting her safely out of here. Looks like this is your third loss in a row she thought, that's what you get by playing these sorts of games.
Gradually his anger subsided, and the room was left quiet once again. The boy continued to stare silently and thoughtfully at the floor for a few minutes as he collected his thoughts. Tanya began to feel impatient, her survival was on the line and she didn't have time to deal with Wilhelm's temper tantrums, especially when all of this had been his doing to begin with. She found herself grinding her teeth with frustration, she still didn't have an answer from him about her escape plan. It's time I reminded him what I know about him, she thought.
She didn't particularly like the idea of using Wilhelm's secret now it had been revealed to be false. As both a businessman and a soldier she had always found that negotiations should not be built on falsehoods. A certain amount of trust was needed in order for both parties to comfortably negotiate. Deception should be expected, of course, a company wasn't going to advertise its weaknesses but free markets also meant freedom of information so a good negotiator would do their research and find these shortcomings.
Trading with Wilhelm's secret now felt like selling a faulty product. Such an action could ruin the reputation of a company that sold it and in her past life as the Salaryman, she would have never done business with someone who held that sort of notoriety. Despite Wilhelm's ignorance of the truth, she couldn't help feeling dirty somehow as she tried to blackmail him with information which she knew to be false. Still, desperate times call for desperate measures and her continued existence was most definitely desperate enough that she would abandon those particular scruples.
"Thank you," said Wilhelm quietly, silencing Tanya before she had the chance to speak.
What? Why thank me? Tanya asked herself with renewed confusion as the boy raised his head and greeted her with a strange smile. He stared into her eyes for a few moments and his confidence began to return as Tanya found herself shifting uncomfortably and unable to speak under the little colonel's strange gaze.
"You might not have the evidence anymore, but you still could have told Canaris about me," the boy began, and Tanya's blood ran cold.
Has he realised I already tried to sell him out? She thought in a panic, once again it felt like he'd managed to somehow read her thoughts. She soon calmed herself however, he'd said that she could have not that she had. Was he testing the water? No, he sounds too sincere.
"But you didn't, you chose to finally trust me instead," he continued with a slight laugh as his friendly smile broadened. "After everything I've done, you finally asked for my help. How could I refuse you now?"
Tanya stood speechless and aghast at what the boy had just said. Did he really believe that this ridiculous situation had caused her to start trusting him? She looked into his face and sensed immediately he was being completely genuine, there wasn't so much as a hint of one his deceptive masks. He truly believed that she trusted him and that she had kept his secret safe.
This was an unacceptable misunderstanding, although she could still use this newfound trust to manipulate Wilhelm into getting her out of here it could easily backfire. They'd already had mix-ups that had caused them to come to blows, she couldn't let this sort of error occur again. The boy had to realise that he was being blackmailed, not relied upon but as she looked back into his jade eyes, she found herself unable to speak.
Usually, Tanya wasn't predisposed to bouts of guilt, generally, there wasn't a lot for her to feel guilty about. She always followed the rules of society and acted within its confines, even if some things she did could be considered morally dubious by some, she usually felt very little in the way of remorse because she knew she always operated entirely lawfully. But as she looked into Wilhelm's eyes at that moment, she felt an uncomfortable and unfamiliar stab of discomfort in the pit of her stomach.
What am I thinking? She chastised herself inwardly, why should I feel guilty? This idiot trusts me and wants to help me get out of here and to the states! I should use that! But she knew if she did, she'd feel like she'd gone against her principles. Equally though, she could see the boy truly believed he had earned her trust and for once she felt she couldn't rob him of that.
The Effect of Being X and the Type 95 must have damaged her brain somehow, she had no reason to feel this way, especially after everything he had been up to recently. True she had sold out the boy, and it was the belief that she hadn't that had motivated him to continue helping her, but he had gotten her into this mess in the first place. He had even admitted to her that he would have tried to prolong the war if the Empire's leaders hadn't been so confident in their victory that they were already doing it. She had no reason to feel any sort of loyalty to this brat. So why can't I shake this feeling? She thought as the boy's green orbs stared at her fondly.
Wilhelm seemed to be growing more confident now and even seemed to stand a little taller. The tears had now vanished, and a fire now seemed to burn in his emerald eyes as his familiar self-assured grin began to slip across his lips. Tanya felt a growing unease as she saw the boy's swift transformation, the blubbering child was gone only to be replaced with the insufferably smug princeling that had been the cause of all of her recent woes. If he was back to his old self, he hadn't given up. He was up to something, she was certain of it.
"I'll get you out of here all right, I'll see to that personally" he declared as his grin widened with a hint of menace. "But you won't need to pack your bags, you'll be back at work where you belong when you leave."
Tanya almost felt her heart stop when he heard his words, he was going to do something foolish she was sure of it. This wasn't the attitude of someone who was defeated, and he'd already told her he wouldn't leave the army so he couldn't be planning to give in to the Vice-Admiral. He'd no doubt concocted some other ill-advised scheme and the thought didn't fill her with confidence. If he opposed Canaris it would be her that would end up being punished for it.
"Wilhelm! Whatever stupid idea you have, drop it!" she yelled desperately, grabbing his wrist as he turned to leave. His actions right now could doom her, she had to stop him. "Just get me out of here, give me what I need to get to the Unified States and I'll disappear!"
Wilhelm stared at her for a while with his confident smile. Don't be an idiot! You're going to get me killed! She yelled internally but she could tell she wasn't getting through to him.
"I'm going to see the Vice Admiral for a little chat," said Wilhelm with a cruel smirk. "I'm sure he's dying to speak to me about the treaty after all."
xxxxxxx
Sophia felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw her prince stride confidently out of the doors of the offices of the Abwehr. The boy seemed like a different individual to the one who had entered the building. Instead of the tired, worried and indecisive boy that he had been the last few days, he seemed like the kind, confident and cunning leader she knew once again and she felt a heavyweight had been lifted from both her and the boy's shoulders.
Sophia and her sister had been extremely worried about Prince Wilhelm lately. Even before Major von Degurechaff's arrest he had been uncharacteristically quiet and subdued, they feared he still hadn't truly recovered from the disaster at Letzenbourg, at least not psychologically. The image of the Major carrying the broken boy as their homeland fell still haunted the sisters, it was a memory both she and Christina wished they could forget.
Until the fall of the city, they had always felt like the prince was infallible and unbeatable. Why wouldn't they? He had always managed to turn any situation to his advantage, and although some of his decisions seemed odd at times, they had always worked out for the best in the end. He had even realised the world was destined for war long before anyone else and had written a paper explaining how it might happen. Although others may have disregarded his warnings, he had acted to prepare them all for the coming storm. He'd made sure they were trained to defend themselves and had the skills to survive, all while securing funds for their future and even creating and outfit his own mage battalion.
Although he had never told them why he was so desperate to fight, his leadership had proven invaluable in helping them survive and his ability to inspire those around him made him truly worthy of the moniker "The Saint." His actions in the past meant that, to her at least, he would always be a guardian angel to both her and the people around him, and she felt blessed to know him. She truly believed the boy could accomplish anything. Perhaps that was why she hadn't objected to him trusting Canaris, despite her misgivings about the man.
When had he ever been wrong before?
Since the fall of Letzenbourg, the prince had been acting less and less like himself, seeming ever more thoughtful, distant and irritable. After the republic's crippling defeat, they had expected his confidence to return and that he would spring back to his old self but he had only seemed to have gotten worse since then, compounding the worries of the two sisters.
Although he had led the operation that had debilitated the Francois and ultimately freed their homeland, he had refused to return to the country and had been making excuses in order to avoid it. In private he had revealed he believed he would be despised after the devastating loss of Letzenbourg to the Republic and he couldn't bear the thought of being around so many people that hated him. She and her sister had tried to persuade him that the Letzenbourgers didn't blame him for the fall of the city. In both the Empire and Letzenbourg, everyone loved him, he was a national hero! He refused to accept it however and he had become increasingly more withdrawn and morose.
Sophia couldn't forgive Canaris for that, the evil old man had the boy convinced that he was a failure and a villain. The Prince blamed himself for trusting the Admiral and causing the loss of the city and he felt responsible for the deaths of poor Haussmann and the others. Canaris had almost extinguished the light in the heart of their saint.
Perhaps this bout of depression was the reason why while everyone else had been celebrating the Imperial victory, the Prince had remained silent and thoughtful. While she and her sister had been starting his plan to bring down Canaris, the prince had been in contact with the high command and the General staff. Soon after he concluded that the war would continue, despite the confidence of the Empire's leadership that the remainder of the Republic and the Allied Kingdom would soon come begging for peace. He declared that the Republic would not surrender during the armistice and he began preparing and rearranging his finances again before insisting they deal with the Canaris situation as soon as possible. He wanted to get back to the war and didn't want the looming shadow of the spymaster haunting them.
Although they were still worried about him, it was heartening to see him becoming more decisive once more.
Then it had fallen apart again. Just as they had been preparing to finally spring their trap on Canaris, Major Degurechaff returned to Berlun. It seemed she had made the same deduction as the prince about the Republic and had rushed back to the Capital in order to convince the General staff to press their advantage and finish the war. Sophia couldn't help but be impressed by the girl's intelligence and persistence. Even from the front lines, where the big picture could easily become distorted, she had kept a cool head and realised the danger, acting immediately to counter the perceived threat. She could understand why the prince was so fond of her.
Unfortunately, she had returned at the wrong time. They had known that it was unlikely that the Canaris would target the prince directly, and as the only people around that were close to him, she or Christina would surely take the brunt of the admiral's ire. Although the prince did not disguise his distaste at this part of the plan, both she and her sister had been prepared to do what they needed to bring ageing admiral down and they had prepared themselves for such an eventuality.
Sophia had been itching to do something to hurt the perverted admiral ever since she'd learned of the awful things he did to the women under his command. The amount of time she'd spent under his filthy gaze was enough to make her feel sick. He reminded her of Ludwig's disgusting old butler, the depraved creature that once tried to assault her, and she yearned to rid the world of him just as the prince had removed the butler for her. His perversion combined with what he had done to the prince, convinced her that he deserved all the worst kinds of punishments imaginable and she secretly wished the Admiral would target her so she could be the one to enact them.
However, the Admiral had chosen to seize Major Degurechaff instead. No doubt he'd been inspired by the growing rumours that their friendship was more than simple comradeship between officers and reasoned that taking her would hurt the little royal more. It seemed he was right. Suddenly everything they had worked for had begun to unravel around them. The prince had deliberately wanted to leave the Major out of this plan, he hadn't fully explained his reasons, but he had insisted that the girl not be involved from the very beginning.
Sophia had assumed he simply didn't want to expose her to any risk. Since she had been deployed all the way at the front and she wasn't scheduled to return to the capital, they had assumed she would be safe from the grasp of the Admiral. Sophia knew from her time working with him that the cruel spymaster liked to be close enough to see his prey squirm so targeting someone so far away would not have appealed to him. She was certain he would want the prince close by when he enacted his punishment.
The Major's unexpected return had thrown everything off, however, and as soon as Sophia's contacts had told them that the girl had arrived in the city, they knew she would be in grave danger. Christina had rushed over in the car immediately, they hoped that they could shelter her in the embassy until they could get her out of the city. However, it seemed Canaris was willing to risk the consequences of ignoring the law and diplomatic protocol to enact his retribution on the prince and he had seized her anyway. It was hardly surprising, he believed he was the custodian of the Empire and he was powerful enough that he could simply disregard any laws that didn't suit his purposes.
Sophia had been absent at the time, she'd been busy making sure that slimy worm Patryk did as he was instructed rather than doing whatever his greedy little brain thought might make him the most profit. It was probably fortunate she hadn't been there; it had only been the prince that had stopped her from taking the remainder of the mage company and blowing Canaris's brain out to begin with. Since their confrontation in the church, she had been itching to do something to get back at him. She doubted she would have been able to hold herself back if she had been there when the Major was taken, the man deserved to die.
Christina had been on hand to witness the scene, however. Her sister had managed to remain calm and collected as always, an innate ability that Sophia envied her older sister for. She'd known that stopping the Admiral and his soldiers would cause nothing but trouble and had reluctantly allowed them into the Embassy. When the man moved to imprison Major Degurechaff the prince had been enraged and uncharacteristically panicked. According to Christina his usually carefully constructed public persona had cracked and at one point she feared he might attack the admiral.
Fortunately, the major went quietly, although Prince Wilhelm had pleaded with her not to. Logically, she knew a confrontation with Canaris while the guards were there to witness would likely have meant the end for all of them. There was only so much mess they could cover up and even the prince's influence had its limits. As much as Sophia wanted to see the man suffer, she wouldn't trade her sister and the prince to see it happen. It infuriated her but the result of the exchange was probably the lesser evil of the possible outcomes.
Still, the incident had shaken the prince's confidence and left him uncertain of what to do next. Although in public he was the same heroic prince that he had always been, in private he seemed nervous and indecisive. He had been barely eating and sleeping again, and both she and her sister had heard him muttering to himself with worry. He had always asked her and her sister for advice when he needed it but in the past few days, he seemed to have repeated the same questions over and over again to them as if hoping the outcome would change. Worryingly the question he asked the most often was simply "she hates me, doesn't she?"
Before she had driven him to the Abwehr offices, she had overheard something that she had found particularly concerning. She had been outside his office in the Embassy when she'd heard him talking, no shouting to himself. She hadn't meant to listen in but had found herself stopping at the door as she heard his yell with frustration from the other side of the door.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I know she hates me!" she had heard him yell behind the door, "leave me alone! I know that even if I get her out, she'll never trust me again but if I don't…."
The room had fallen silent soon after and she had knocked gingerly before entering, wondering if she would see anyone else in the room with him when she entered. There was no one, of course, the prince had been alone all morning trying to figure out the best course of action, the pressure really must have been getting to him. The boy had looked utterly miserable and Sophia found herself desperately wanting to embrace the boy and tell him everything would be ok. It was often easy to forget that the brilliant little prince was only a child, but at that moment, he looked so small and fragile that it was difficult to see him as anything else. It was almost frightening.
Whatever had occurred during his visit to Major Degurechaff had reinvigorated him however and she could tell immediately that his confidence had been returned to him. Part of her almost felt a little jealous, the prince had only met the Degurechaff girl a few months ago and she already had such a profound effect on the boy. She and her sister had known the prince for years, why was it her that could bring back their seraph? What did she have that they didn't? She quickly shook that thought away before the Prince reached the car, chastising herself inwardly for such a childish thought. I should be thanking her for bringing him back, not being jealous that I couldn't be the one to do it.
She opened the door to the car as the prince approached to allow him to enter and bowed respectfully. In private he rarely cared about such things, but it was always better to keep up appearances in public, especially here in what could be called enemy territory. He met her eyes for a brief moment as he nodded a silent greeting and she caught a glimmer in his emerald eyes that dispelled all the remaining doubts she had in her mind. Her prince, no, her saint had returned.
"I'm going ahead with the alternate plan, I'm going to meet with Canaris right away" the boy stated quietly as he entered the vehicle, being cautious not to be overheard by anyone nearby. "Are we ready?"
She nodded to him, feeling her mouth go dry as she heard his words before closing the door behind him and heading back towards her place in the driver's seat. Not only had her Prince been restored to his former self, he had returned like an avenging angel, ready to claim their retribution against Canaris. She was overjoyed to have her prince back to his old self but the plan he wanted to enact had her almost as worried as before.
Despite the prince's hesitation in recent days, he and the sisters had still been trying to find some way to salvage the situation. Unfortunately almost all their options involved abandoning the Major to her fate, something that the prince refused to consider, the only other feasible plan had been overruled by Sophia and Christina as it exposed the Prince to too much personal risk. This was what he had chosen to do however and now she felt she had to try to dissuade him from this path. Although she had great respect for the girl, the prince's safety was more important than that of major Degurechaff.
"Most of our previous preparations will be sufficient for your needs" she began not bothering to hide the concern from her voice as she started the car and drove down the grand streets of Berlun. "But your highness, this is too dangerous it could…."
"Lead to me being either killed or imprisoned?" The boy replied and she glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw the self-assured grin on his face. "Don't worry Sophia, I'm not about to let that happen."
The prince was deadly serious, she realised, he didn't even stop to consider her warning. Only hours before he had been so indecisive that he couldn't decide on any course of action. All those doubts had disappeared however and he now seemed as focused as a sniper's aim, a sniper aimed directly at Canaris's skull.
Since they had not known what the Prince would decide, they had prepared for everything. As usual, her sister Christina had been very thorough, and the car had been filled with what the prince would need no matter what his final decision was. Sophia felt torn and didn't know whether to thank or curse her sister for her diligence. On the one hand, she desperately wanted to see Canaris taken down and the prince was the only one in the position to do it. However, it would be incredibly risky for the young prince. She couldn't shake the worried feeling in the pit of her stomach that something would go terribly wrong, she felt like she should try to steer him away, despite his rejuvenated confidence.
"Please my prince, it's too risky. We can change the plan so that me or Christina are the ones to do it. Please, let us take the risk for you" she pleaded, hoping the boy would listen to her.
"You know that won't work" the boy began calmly, "I'm the only one who he'll see now so it's up to me. I can't back down now; she's…you're all counting on me."
It was true, only the Prince could get near to Canaris now. The spymaster was rightfully suspicious of them and had barred anyone but Prince Wilhelm from coming anywhere near him. He would also no doubt search and disarm the boy when he entered the mansion, so the prince would be without his weapons and computation orb if the need to defend himself arose. Without either of these, the young royal could be easily overpowered by the man and it would put him in great danger, but the risks didn't stop there. Even if they succeeded, there was so much that could go wrong for the prince. If any of their preparations failed the prince would be implicated and even his social rank would not be enough to save him from the fallout.
She glanced at the Prince through the rear-view mirror, ready to try once more to get him to change his mind but the prince gazed back at her with a fiery look in his eyes. She'd only ever seen that look in his eyes a few times before and it had always been when they had been dealing with his brother Prince Ludwig.
She had never understood the ex-Regent's animosity towards Prince Wilhelm, it baffled her that someone could treat their own sibling so viciously. When he was younger the boy hadn't understood it either but as he grew the animosity became more and more mutual and sometimes the Prince would wear a cruel smile when he thought of some way to get back at his older brother. He wore the same expression now.
"I won't forgive him for Haussmann" he growled almost in a whisper as his shoulders shook slightly with rage.
She knew then for certain there would be no getting him to change his mind, he'd barely spoken of Dietrich since his death and when he had it had been while cursing Canaris. Haussmann may have been one of the newer members of their little family, but he had clearly made an impression on the Prince and he had vowed to see the Vice-Admiral pay for the man's death.
"I'll take the long way to give you time to prepare," she said, returning her eyes to the road while closing the tinted window that separated the driver's area from the passenger area in the back of the luxury car. There was no point in pressing the issue further, their course had been set.
She was still worried but the look in his eyes went some way towards soothing her nerves. The situation reminded her of his original plan to avoid being sent back to Letzenbourg, the operation that had led to their first meeting with Major Degurechaff and the 203rd. She and her sister had been equally concerned about that situation, especially since she had been responsible for shooting the prince down in the first place. As always though, that plan had gone off without a hitch and the prince had proven once again that his odd decisions were for the best.
That was before the prince's confidence had been shaken though, before they'd seen that even the little genius couldn't predict everything. She still believed in her saint but now she also feared for him, there was so much that could go wrong. It felt like they were playing chess and they were deliberately exposing the king.
What if my preparations weren't enough? What if I wasn't thorough enough and it gets traced back? What if I made a mistake and the Prince gets hurt or worse?
A knock from behind her roused her from her thoughts and informed her that the prince was now fully prepared. She slid the tinted window open and glanced in the mirror once more and saw the prince looking a little flushed and shifting uncomfortably in his seat before he looked up towards her and his confident smile returned.
"I'm ready," he confirmed looking into her eyes through the mirror. She must not have hidden her concern very well as his expression became serious as he stared at her through the glass.
"We won't fail. I know you've done everything possible to make this work, I trust you completely and I know you're too skilled to have forgotten anything" he said seriously before the fire returned to his eyes and the cruel grin returned to his face. "We will win this time."
They were only a few simple words, but she soon found her worries melting away. She knew the prince had the ability to inspire and encourage those around him, but this didn't feel like that, it felt like he was entirely certain. The way he spoke made her really believe they could not fail.
She nodded, feeling her own confidence return, before returning her gaze back towards the road and she headed towards the Admiral's Berlun home. The remainder of the journey was spent in relative silence aside from the odd complaint from the Prince about being uncomfortable and the bumps in the capital's roads. The quiet felt almost pleasant, despite the evident tension in the air and Sophia found herself smiling at the prince's grumblings. On the occasional glance she threw the young royal's way, she could still see the fiery look in his eyes that told her he was ready for anything. The blaze in those green orbs didn't diminish even slightly during their journey.
Eventually, they pulled up in front of the Admiral's private residence. It was a small estate on the outskirts of the city with a large fountain at the front of the building. Compared to the expansive residences of the prince and the rest of the royal family it wasn't all that impressive but compared to the homes of the average Berluner it was practically a palace. She pulled the car up in front of the entrance and turned to regard the prince once more.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked once more as the boy let himself out of the car. He turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile while his eyes burned with malice but said nothing. Instead, he simply nodded before turning and walking towards the doors of the stately home.
Our course is set then, she thought as she started up the car once more and headed out of the estate towards St Hedwig's cathedral. She didn't like leaving the prince alone with the admiral, but if the plan was going to succeed, she needed to meet with another one of her contacts while he was with Canaris. Everything else was out of her hands now, it was all up to Prince Wilhelm. All she could do was pray for his success.
Author's notes
Hi all and thank you as always for reading.
Sorry, I've not managed to get back to my two-week target yet, but I at least managed it within a month (barely). I did get a little side-tracked working for the HOI4 Youjo Senki Redux mod as we had to rush a release and relocate to a new page on steam, so I'm using that as an excuse haha. Good news is Legadonia has been added if you're interested (although I've still not had any luck getting them to rename Luxembourg).
This chapter is basically the spill over of what I had planned in the last chapter but there was too much to fit into one, so I decided to split it up a bit. I toyed with the idea of having a Wilhelm POV as we haven't had one in a little while so you guys don't really know what he's thinking but I decided against it in the end because I didn't want to reveal too much of his plan for dealing with Canaris until it happens. I know that this means I need to do a bit more to show why Wilhelm cares about Tanya and I'm going to work on that in the next few chapters so it all makes a bit more sense and it'll mean some interesting interaction between Tanya and Will.
I recently laid out all the ideas I have for the rest of this story and there's a lot more to come, so much so that I'm considering whether I should split it up into separate stories. What do you think? Should I Split the Saint up or would you prefer an 80-chapter monster? (this is a guess, I have no idea how big it'll be by the end)
I'm also considering putting it up on some other sites: Wattpad, Archive of our own and maybe Space battles, so that I can get more feedback (Not that I don't appreciate all the great feedback you've given so far of course). If you have any other suggestions of where I could post it, please let me know.
Once again, I hope you are still enjoying my story and thank you for reading.
Xanen