Traitorous Hohenzollern! The Kaiser is never wrong! To say otherwise is treason! You shall be purged once illustrious Kaiser Malcolm I defeats the rebellious barbarian subjects!It seems to your decision to change rulling dynasty was wrong.
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How you'll do that, if in every province is rebel army and your armies? I think that's impossible.
Anyway, I wanted to see convertion in the Vicky 2, but due to your catastrophy it's impossible.
Adieu, Roemisches Reich!
Anyway, I wanted to see convertion in the Vicky 2, but due to your catastrophy it's impossible.
Adieu, Roemisches Reich!
- 2
Do not question the will of the Kaiser. God and the angels are with Malcolm!How you'll do that, if in every province is rebel army and your armies? I think that's impossible.
Anyway, I wanted to see convertion in the Vicky 2, but due to your catastrophy it's impossible.
Adieu, Roemisches Reich!
YES, they're, but only because "Kaiser" Malcom is the one, who brings death to Reich, what is wanted to introduce The Apocalypse.
The next update will discuss this in more detail. You have no idea...YES, they're, but only because "Kaiser" Malcom is the one, who brings death to Reich, what is wanted to introduce The Apocalypse.
My German is very horrible, but I'm assuming that means "This is very good, I find, my Kaiser." What is schlecht?
I have enjoyed this brief detour into Macbeth, but I will admit I would have been sad if the Hohenzollern dynasty was gone. Watching the Reich crumble would be interesting, but much of the appeal, aside from your clever writing, has been that the Reich is always keeping the status quo, rarely gaining more power in Europe.
Yeah. If the Hohenzollerns were gone, I would have dropped humanist, innovative, and exploration in favor of religious, offensive, and aristocratic ideas. I would probably start converting my heathen provinces and culture convert everybody to German. Oh, and I would invade everybody and make this into a WC.
It'd be a miracle of this rebellion was put down. I'm looking forward to the return of the Hohenzollerns.
Chapter 88: Anarchy
Uckermark, north of Berlin, Sunday evening
A priest was walking home from church, which had become almost impossible in the last few days. The people in Berlin were calling it the Anarchy. Malcolm's political authority had all but withered away in the aftermath of the Hohenzollern purges, and the Church likewise was overwhelmed. All over Europe, the citizens were rising up in arms, killing and slaughtering every figure of authority they could find. The priest recalled hearing tales of nobles dragged out of their burning homes and violated and burned in the town square, merchants forced onto their ships and sent out to sea before the mobs on the shore blasted them to pieces with cannons, monasteries and cathedrals looted. The list went on. There were rumors that even Brandenburg Palace had been breached, but he wasn't so sure of that. Malcolm would not go down so easily.
Something leaped out from behind a bush towards him. A hand--or was it a claw?--came down over his mouth, preventing him from crying out. He felt steel--or was it bone?--slide between his ribs, and pain exploded everywhere. Then he felt and saw nothing more.
The next day, the priest went to Uckermark's main cathedral, a large piece of paper in his hand. He walked up to the door and nailed the paper to it*. That being done, he began handing out copies of the paper to passersby, encouraging them to reprint it and spread it around.
The contents and ideas of the paper spread like wildfire, fast even in peacetime standards. Within weeks everybody in Uckermark and Saxony owned a copy. Inspired by what the priest wrote, people began to turn against the Church and its practice of selling indulgences, but they quickly moved beyond the issue of indulgences. Citizens marched en masse on the cathedrals of Uckermark, storming them and destroying all of the icons of Jesus, Mary, Saint Wilhelmina, and other Christian figures they could find. Crosses were burnt. Statues were torn down and trampled upon. Many clergy protested, but they were burned at the stake by the vengeful citizens. Here was the reason Malcolm was on the throne, the reason the Reich was weak, the reason anarchy reigned supreme. The icons must go!
Within weeks, the movement branched out as more copies of the paper were produced. In the meantime, peace returned to Uckermark. There were no more riots in the city. Order was restored. Here was a city that was peaceful and calm in a sea of revolution and anarchy. God is with us, the citizens of Uckermark said, He approves of our iconoclasm.
The name "iconoclasm" stuck. Days later, the members of the movement were declaring themselves "Reformed Iconoclasts," building upon the ideals of the original Iconoclasts. They rejected any theological innovation made since the days of the Great Synod of 1444 and pursued a hard line towards the heathens, who enjoyed nearly equal rights with Christians. They fell upon the Jews of Uckermark first, burning entire families at the stake, confiscating their wealth and property, and shutting down their businesses. They next turned to the few Muslims of the city, burning down their mosques and their Qur'ans, forcing raw pork down their throats, before burning them all at the stake. They then turned to the pagans, the Norse, Romuvans, and Slavs, and tortured them using devices stolen from the overwhelmed Inquisition before drowning or burying them alive. Finally, they turned to the Inquisition and to the clergy, forcing them to approve their practices or be burned alive. Eventually, rifts emerged in the Reformed Iconoclasts, between the mainstream which wanted to focus on destroying icons, and the minority which wanted to eradicate the heathens. They still were nominally part of the same movement, though.
The text of the paper which started everything reads as follows:
"
The Ninety-Five Theses
- Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.
- This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.
- Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.
- The penalty, therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
- The patriarchs do not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which they have imposed either by their own authority or by that of the Canons.
- The patriarchs cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, they may grant remission in cases reserved to their judgment. If their right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.
- God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to the patriarchs.
- The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
- Therefore the Holy Spirit in the patriarchs is kind to us, because in their decrees they always make exception of the article of death and of necessity.
- Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.
- This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.
- In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
- The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.
- The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
- This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
- Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.
- With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.
- It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.
- Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.
- Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the patriarchs mean not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by themselves.
- Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the patriarchs' indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;
- Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.
- If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.
- It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.
- The power which the patriarchs have, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish. The Patriarchs have no power over Purgatory!
- The patriarchs do well when they grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.
- They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
- It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
- Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinusand Paschal.
- No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.
- Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.
- They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.
- Men must be on their guard against the heathens, for they do not follow the true faith.
- For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.
- They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.
- Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.
- Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.
- Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the patriarchs are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.
- It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.
- True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].
- Apostolic decrees such as those preached in the 1444 Synod are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.
- Christians are to be taught that the patriarchs do not intend the tolerance of heathens to be compared in any way to works of mercy. The tolerance is there because they are afraid for their own lives and wealth and power.
- Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does worse work than crusading against the infidel;
- Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.
- Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the patriarchs, but the indignation of God.
- Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.
- Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.
- Christians are to be taught that the patriarchs, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.
- Christians are to be taught that there is only one holy, catholic, apostolic, Christian church which must be kept from being corrupted by sin.
- Christians are to be taught that if the patriarchs knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, they would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
- Christians are to be taught that it would be the patriarchs' wish, as it is his duty, to assist them in the reform of the church and its own salvation from the Devil.
- The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.
- The heathens are enemies of Christ and of the patriarchs, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that apostasy may be taught in others.
- Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on heathen apostasy than on this Word.
- It must be the intention of the patriarchs that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
- The "treasures of the Church," out of which the patriarchs grant indulgences are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.
- That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.
- Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the patriarchs, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.
- St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.
- Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure;
- For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the patriarchs is of itself sufficient.
- The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
- But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.
- On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
- Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.
- The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.
- The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.
- Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.
- Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.
- But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the patriarchs.
- He who speaks for tolerance of the heathens, let him be anathema and accursed!
- But he who guards against the heathen incursions, let him be blessed!
- The patriarchs justly thunder against those who, by any art, desire bringing the Gospel to lost souls.
- But much more do they intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of tolerance to add to the injury of holy love and truth.
- To think the tolerance of heathens so great that they could absolve a heathen even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.
- We say, on the contrary, that the patriarchal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.
- It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Ecumenical Patriarch, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the patriarchs.
- We say, on the contrary, that even the present ecumenical patriarch, and any ecumenical patriarch at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.
- To say that the crosses raised in churchs are of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.
- The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.
- This unbridled tolerance of heathens makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the patriarchs from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.
- To wit: -- "Why does not the ecumenical patriarch empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."
- Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"
- Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the patriarchs, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"
- Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"
- Again: -- "Why does not the ecumenical patriarch, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, almost as great as that of the Holy Kaiser, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"
- Again: -- "What is it that the ecumenical patriarch remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"
- Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the patriarchs were to do a hundred times a day what they now do once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"
- "Since the patriarchs, by their pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why do they suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"
- To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the patriarchs to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.
- If, therefore, the Gospel were preached to the unbelievers according to the spirit and mind of the patriarchs, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.
- Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!
- Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!
- Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell; They must not follow false or even true icons, for they detract and lead them astray from their faith and their reverence and worship of the Lord Almighty. Did not the Third Commandment laid down by God to Moses say that
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image? - And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.
"
Berlin
Brandenburg Palace was completely empty. Malcolm had fled to Krakow, where he and those still loyal to him had reinforced their fortress on Wawel hill.
There was the sound of flapping wings, and the palace wasn't so deserted anymore.
The three witches knelt in front of the vacant throne, on which Raphael, wearing the robes of a minor patriarch, was lounging, eating grapes from the vine.
"Well?" said Raphael.
"My glorious Archangel!" said the first witch. "It has begun!"
"As you commanded!" said the second witch.
"The Apocalypse!" said the third witch.
"Okay, so you managed to tempt Malcolm into usurping the throne," said Raphael, "What took you so long to get literally everybody to rebel against him? At least you guys did it correctly."
"A voice!"
"A visitor!"
"A villain!"
"Oh, will you cut that out?!" cried Raphael. "I know you guys like that playwright in Britannia who's our new Prophet, but seriously?! Making people speak the way he writes?! Do you know how hard it is to understand them now?"
He looked up, seeing Wilhelm standing at the door.
"We'll show ourselves out." The angel-witches vanished.
"Ah, Wilhelm," said Raphael, sitting up. "I told you so."
"Shut up," said Wilhelm, "That's not the reason I'm here."
"What is then?"
"The Seven Seals. They're missing!"
"Oh, they're missing because they're opened!"
"WHAT?!"
"Have you read Revelation? Chapter 6. 'And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.' Yep, that's covered by Malcolm's seizing the throne. 'And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse [that was] red: and [power] was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.' The rebellion? Check. 'And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine.' Well, not quite a famine, so there was nothing to trigger it, but I opened it manually. 'And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." Oh yes, Death will be quite busy in the next fifty years. 'And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled.' Yes, the heathen and pagan citizens of the Reich kill the Christians every day now, so that works out. 'And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of the heavens fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?' Look at the devastation the Romans are inflicting upon themselves! Well, there is a meteor shower in Aozhou and a solar eclipse in the Triple Alliance domains (they're even doing all of the sacrificing things for us!), but more on that later. 'And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, [which came] with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast [it] into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound...And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.' Yeah, Lilith's got that covered. Oh, and we added in the Whore of Babylon for good measure. It's currently in Uckermark right now impersonating a preacher."
"How dare you do this!" Wilhelm screamed.
"Well, there's nothing you can do now about it," said Raphael, "The Apocalypse has begun. Oh, that reminds me--what's an Apocalypse without Lucifer?"
If Wilhelm was shocked, he was genuinely frightened now. "Lucifer?? Do you angels have a death wish?!"
"We will gladly die if it means bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth," said Raphael, "You don't understand the meaning of destiny, do you?"
Before Wilhelm could respond, Raphael put up a finger, and Wilhelm found his tongue immobilized.
"Now, on to the good part." Raphael snapped his fingers.
Xichen Itza, Yucatan Altepetl, Triple Alliance
Wilhelm and Raphael materialized into heavy and humid air.
"Where did you send us?" Wilhelm demanded, his tongue no longer literally tied.
"Look around you," said Raphael, "This is Xichen Itza, and we're on the top of the Temple of Kukulcan, which is now a temple to Quetzalcoatl."
The old Temple of Kukulcan, in the old city of Xichen Itza (away from the modern metropolis of Xichen Itza)
"Why are we here?"
"Oh, 'cause the show's about to start!"
In front of them, Mexica priests led a criminal to the sacrificial altar at the top of the stairs leading up the step pyramid. They pinned down the man while the main priest raised a blade of obsidian and plunged it into the victim's chest. After some work, the priest reached down and cut out the man's heart, raising it above his head for the peasants at the base of the stairs to see. His assistants then kicked the body down the stairs.
"And you thought human sacrifice was abolished in the Alliance?" said Raphael. "It's still present in some degree, which is useful for our own purposes."
"I don't know what disgusts me more, the Anarchy you instigated or this."
Raphael did not answer that. He simply pointed to the area on the ground where the body lay and the blood mixed into the ground. There was a rumbling, and cracks emerged from underneath the body, quickly spreading under the crowd, white light emanating from within. The cracks widened, and with it the light. The peasants began screaming in pain, covering their ears, but it was no use. Flames burst from their eyes, and they all collapsed, dead.
"Now their souls will all go to Lucifer," said Raphael.
The cracks connected with one another and converged on the city's cenote, the hole in the ground which was filled with water...which Wilhelm knew was created by Lucifer's fall and was a way for him to escape.
The cracks suddenly vanished. Just when he thought it was all over, the cenote exploded with light, and the release of energy overwhelmed him but not Raphael.
"Lucifer's free!" he heard Raphael say. "Oh, and don't forget our meeting in four years!"
Then the energy vaporized his vessel's body and scattered his angelic essence to parts unknown.
---
*did not actually happen in real life
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Ah, so the purpose of the brief Malcolm reign is revealed. Part of the plan, and now the Reich faces a reformation. Lots of details in the Iconoclast Reformation. Religious acceptance and unity now has another hurdle to clear.
Also, thank you Raphael for commenting on the weird speaking pattern!
Also, thank you Raphael for commenting on the weird speaking pattern!
Chapter 89: Revolution
Wawel Castle
"Bring me no more reports; let them fly all," proclaimed Malcolm to an empty room, "Till Lithuanian wood remove to Wawel I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Friedrich? Was he not born? The spirits that know all mortal consequences have pronounc'd me thus,—"Fear not, Malcolm; no man that's born shall e'er have power upon thee."—Then fly, false thanes, and mingle with the Russian epicures: the mind I sway by, and the heart I bear, shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear."
A servant entered the room.
"The devil damn thee black, thou cream-fac'd loon! Where gott'st thou that goose look?" screamed Malcolm.
"There is ten thousand—" stammered the boy.
"Geese, villain?"
"Soldiers, sir."
"Go prick thy face and over-red thy fear, thou lily-liver'd boy. What soldiers, patch? Death of thy soul! those linen cheeks of thine are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face?"
"The Russian force, so please you."
"Take thy face hence."
The boy ran out of the room.
"Doctor Seyton!"
A freckled man with yellow hair wearing a medicus's outfit appeared. "What's your gracious pleasure?
"What news more?"
"All is confirm'd, my lord, which was reported."
"I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack'd. Give me my armour."
"'Tis not needed yet."
"I'll put it on. Send out more horses, skirr the country round; hang those that talk of fear.—Give me mine armour.—How does your patient, doctor?"
"Not so sick, my lord, as she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, that keep her from her rest."
"Then cure her!"
"Therein the patient must minister to himself."
"Throw physic to the dogs,—I'll none of it.—come, put mine armour on; give me my staff:—Seyton, send out.—Doctor, the Dukes fly from me.—come, sir, despatch.—If thou couldst, doctor, cast the water of my land, find her disease, and purge it to a sound and pristine health, I would applaud thee to the very echo, that should applaud again.—Pull't off, I say.—what rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug, would scour these Russians hence? Hear'st thou of them?"
"Ay, my good lord; your imperial preparation makes us hear something."
"Bring it after me.—I will not be afraid of death and bane, Till Lithuanian forest come to Wawel."
He left the room.
The doctor's eyes glowed white and then fiery and blood red. "Were I from Wawel away and clear, profit again should hardly draw me here. But at least I got some souls condemned! And why am I speaking like this?"
Lithuania
Friedrich rode ahead on his horse through the thick forest, his army of Russians and German loyalists marching. "Cousins, I hope the days are near at hand that chambers will be safe," he said in an unusually high-pitched voice.
His soldiers didn't mind that. He was an inspiring leader, and that was all that they cared about. It was just a symptom of a nasty cough he had.
"We doubt it nothing," said Wilhelm Johann.
"What wood is this before us?" said Reinhard Johann.
"The wood of Lithuania," said Otto Johann.
"Let every soldier hew him down a bough, and bear't before him; thereby shall we shadow the numbers of our host, and make discovery err in report of us," ordered Friedrich.
"It shall be done," shouted the men of the legions.
"We learn no other but the confident tyrant deeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure our setting down before't," said Reinhard.
"'Tis his main hope: for where there is advantage to be given, both more and less have given him the revolt; and none serve with him but constrained things, whose hearts are absent too," said Friedrich, "Let our just censures attend the true event, and put we on industrious soldiership."
"The time approaches, that will with due decision make us know what we shall say we have, and what we owe," said Wilhelm, "Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate; but certain issue strokes must arbitrate: towards which advance the war."
'No man'. So I'm just guessing Friedrich is Sophia in disguise? Malcolm is going to have a rude awakening soon, especially after denying her overall very lenient terms.
How dare they! I mean desecrating icons of Jesus and Mary is fine, but Saint Wilhelmina? Sacrilege, blasphemy, heresy!
Setting Lucifer loose is always a good idea. He told me himself, and you can always trust the word of your good pal Satan.
Chapter 90: Der Untergang
Wawel
"Hang out our banners on the outward walls," commanded Malcolm, "The cry is still, 'They come:' our castle's strength will laugh a siege to scorn: here let them lie till famine and the ague eat them up: were they not forc'd with those that should be ours, we might have met them dareful, beard to beard, and beat them backward home."
Just then he heard the cry of his wife.
"Wherefore was that cry?" he demanded.
"The empress, my lord, is dead!" said Seyton, quite cheerfully.
Malcolm didn't notice, as he was weighed down by the weight of his wife's death. She meant so much to him...
"She should have died hereafter," he muttered, "There would have been a time for such a word.—to-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
"Sir!" said a messenger. "As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I look'd toward Lithuania, and anon, methought,
The wood began to move."
"Liar, and slave!" Malcolm hit him.
But if he was telling the truth...
Outside Wawel
"Now near enough," said Friedrich, "Your leafy screens throw down, and show like those you are."
His soldiers abandoned their camouflage and got ready for combat.
"Saints Wilhelmina and Gunhilda, grant us victory in battle!" he shouted. "Charge!"
And they charged into battle against the few soldiers still loyal to Malcolm.
Outside Wawel
The battle raged, and Malcolm's forces resisted Friedrich's fiercely. The usurper's soldiers charged at the enemy in such a way as to render the cannons and guns useless, forcing Friedrich to send in his knights and pikemen. All this time, Malcolm wandered the field, cutting down anybody in his way with his sword.
"They have tied me to a stake," he said, "I cannot fly, but, bear-like I must fight the course.—What's he that was not born of woman? Such a one am I to fear, or none."
There was a shout behind him, and he turned to face an enemy soldier.
"What is thy name?" demanded the boy, for the soldier had a too youthful-looking face.
"Thou'lt be afraid to hear it," said Malcolm.
"No; though thou call'st thyself a hotter name than any is in hell."
"My name's Malcolm," he said.
"The devil himself could not pronounce a title more hateful to mine ear," the boy spat.
"No, nor more fearful."
"Thou liest, abhorred tyrant; with my sword I'll prove the lie thou speak'st!" the boy lunged at him, only for Malcolm to draw his pistol and shoot him in the chest. The boy collapsed to the ground, dead.
"Thou wast born of woman," he said, reloading his pistol, "But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, brandish'd by man that's of a woman born."
Friedrich heard Heinrich Johann's screams as he was cut down. He knew that Malcolm had killed Heinrich and was nearby, though probably hiding now.
"That way the noise is," he said, "Tyrant, show thy face! If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, my wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still. I cannot strike at wretched kerns, whose arms are hired to bear their staves; either thou, Malcolm, or else my sword, with an unbatter'd edge, I sheathe again undeeded. There thou shouldst be; By this great clatter, one of greatest note seems bruited. Let me find him, fortune! And more I beg not."
And he set off in search of Malcolm.
"Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on mine own sword?" said Malcolm to himself. "Whiles I see lives, the gashes do better upon them."
"Turn, hell-hound, turn!" came Friedrich's strangely high-pitched voice behind him.
"Of all men else I have avoided thee: but get thee back; my soul is too much charg'd with blood of thine already," said Malcolm, turning to face Friedrich, who was wearing a large helmet covering his entire head.
He was an honorable man, of course, and dropped his pistol. He drew his sword and got in a fighting stance. This would be a glorious duel, he thought, against a worthy opponent.
"I have no words,—my voice is in my sword: thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out!" shouted Friedrich, lunging at Malcolm.
Both went in for the kill immediately, their swords locking with each other. Malcolm pushed Friedrich away and lunged again, quickly gaining an advantage in sheer experience and speed. Malcolm brought down blow after blow on Friedrich's shield, but the Duke of Saxony blocked each blow and countered with his own. It was clear that Friedrich couldn't keep this up forever, though. Fatigue began to set in, and he could not swing his sword quickly enough.
Malcolm noticed this. "Thou losest labour," he said, "As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air with thy keen sword impress, as make me bleed: let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests; I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to a man born."
"Despair thy charm," proclaimed Friedrich, "And let the archangel whom thou still hast serv'd tell thee, I am not Friedrich, for I am Sophia!"
And "Friedrich" took off "his" helmet, and long black hair tumbled out from under it. Sophia, the true heir to the Hohenzollerns, glared at Malcolm, the man who had taken her throne and her birthright. She raised her sword again at the traitor, her eyes glowing with anger. There would be no mercy shown.
Blasted loopholes, he thought.
It was all over now. The prophecy was complete. He would die today, but at least he would go down fighting.
"Accursed be that tongue that tells me so," spat Malcolm, "For it hath cow'd my better part of man! And be these juggling fiends no more believ'd, that palter with us in a double sense; that keep the word of promise to our ear, and break it to our hope!—I'll not fight with thee."
"Then yield thee, coward," replied Sophia, "And live to be the show and gaze o' the time: we'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, painted upon a pole, and underwrit, 'Here may you see the tyrant'."
"I will not yield, to kiss the ground before your feet, and to be baited with the rabble's curse. Though Lithuanian wood be come to Wawel, and thou oppos'd, being of no man, yet I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Sophia; and damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'"
And they lunged at each other, swords clanging.
This time, Sophia gained the upper hand, tripping Malcolm, sending the usurper sprawling on the hard stone ground. She pointed her sword at his throat. "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword," she said, "Any last words?"
"I'll see you in hell."
The blade fell.
"I would the friends we miss were safe arriv'd," said Friedrich.
"Some must go off; and yet, by these I see, so great a day as this is cheaply bought," said Wilhelm.
"Sophia is missing."
There was a cheer from the other side of the field as Sophia appeared, victorious and her armor bloodied, carrying Malcolm's head on a pole.
"Hail, kaiser, for so thou art," he said, "behold, where stands the usurper's cursed head: the time is free: I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl that speak my salutation in their minds; whose voices I desire aloud with mine,—Hail, Kaiser of Rome!"
"Hail, Kaiser of Rome!" they all proclaimed.
"We shall not spend a large expense of time before we reckon with your several loves," said Sophia, "And make us even with you. What's more to do, which would be planted newly with the time,—as calling home our exil'd friends abroad, that fled the snares of watchful tyranny; producing forth the cruel ministers of this dead butcher, and his fiend-like empress,—who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands took off her life;—this, and what needful else that calls upon us, by the grace of Grace, we will perform in measure, time, and place: so, thanks to all at once, and to each one, whom we invite to see us crown'd at Berlin."
And everybody cheered. They raised Sophia up on a shield and paraded her around the castle.
"HEIL IM DER KAISER! GOTT MIT UNS!"
