A Weight Lifted
Brandenburg Palace - January 11
Gertrude put the files on the table. She had gotten several samples from the tomb: among them, one each from Friedrich the Great, Martin, Friedrich III, Prince Nikephoros, Franz Joseph, and Otto. They would be compared against each other and a sample from Wilhelm Karl. A broad sweep which checked Hohenzollerns from each major point in the timeline and both major branches to be extra sure. The test was run by a geneticist she trusted, under heavy supervision from Heinrich’s men.
“The results are finally in,” Gertrude said.
“Get to the point,” Francesca said.
“Okay, fine,” she said, “You’re legitimate. Your DNA matches the samples from the tomb. On both branches.”
Wilhelm Karl leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Oh thank God.”
“To summarize, the illegitimate Anatolian line legitimized itself by intermarrying with the Egyptian line,” Heinrich said, “Thus Prince Nikephoros and his descendants—the main Siegfriedist branch—are legitimate. Our DNA test confirmed this. Meanwhile, we don’t have to worry about the line of Princess Eva.”
It was backed up by the historical records Heinrich obtained from Smyrna. She compared them to her samples from the Anatolian line, focusing on the generations of, before, and after Viceroy Folkhard of Aegyptus. It checked out. The Anatolian Hohenzollerns after his generation were genetically linked to the main line and Friedrich the Great.
“It was quite simple, really,” Gertrude said, “Friedrich III’s father did die in battle against Prince Saltuk of Persia, and he was adopted as Kaiser Martin’s nephew, that is true. But his mother was of Hohenzollern blood. She was of the Anatolian branch, of all branches. A descendant of Viceroy Maria of Anatolia, who married Bernhard von Hohenzollern, Folkhard's brother.”
The tests clearly showed Friedrich III’s genetics matched with those of his mother, Martin, Folkhard, and Maria.
“Fancy that,” Wilhelm Karl said, “We thought the Anatolian branch was the weak link in the Hohenzollern family tree, but it ended up saving us.”
“Does this mean the Maximists are actually Siegfriedists?” Francesca said. “And the Pragmatic Sanction and Maximist Wars were pointless in the end?”
Funny how that worked out. Konrad von Habsburg was probably spinning in his grave or screaming in Hell. As for Maximilian himself? He probably didn't care. Wait, then what did that mean for Otto's marriage? Uh...best not think too hard about it.
“Hopefully that doesn’t provoke another civil war,” Heinrich said, “One ongoing one is already too much, even if it’s mostly died down now.”
“Alright, I think this is the right time to say it,” Gertrude said, “I know my word doesn’t mean anything to you anymore, but for what it’s worth…I’m sorry, Wilhelm Karl. I’m sorry for calling you all sorts of demeaning names over the last eight years. I’m sorry for doing all of this to you.”
She really regretted calling him Guglielmo this whole time.
“I don’t know if I can forgive you,” Wilhelm Karl said, “But I’ll try.”
“I never thought you’d say that, sir,” Heinrich said.
Same. The man had never apologized once for any of his past controversies, even before the committee. He wasn't the forgiving type.
“What are you going to do now?” Francesca said.
“Elias’ leverage is gone,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I’m finally free to fight back.”
“So how will you do that?” Heinrich said.
“Well, I’m booked for a state visit to Penglai tomorrow,” Wilhelm Karl said, “We leave first thing in the morning, so I can’t do anything right now. But when I land…I’ll seek asylum at the Russian embassy.”
“That would be a funny sight,” Gertrude said, “The Kaiser begging for asylum at the Russian embassy in Aojing.”
“It’s necessary,” Wilhelm Karl said, “Elias forced me to do so many horrible things. All those nullification acts I passed, the crackdowns against my own people, the miscarriages of justice I encouraged…me willingly pushing the button to fire all those nukes. But that's no excuse. I know I’m at fault for this too. I went along with it, instead of stopping it. And I did plenty of horrible things in my own right before Bloody Tuesday. I know my actions aren’t going to erase what happened. But at least I can keep things from getting worse. I’ll go into exile. I won’t serve Elias anymore. Instead, I’ll join the government in exile.”
“To lead it?” Heinrich said.
“No,” Wilhelm Karl said, “They’ve already got a leader…my niece, even if she didn’t accept the official role. She’s done more good in the last three years than I’ve ever done in my life. These past eight years, I’ve come to realize I’m not really qualified to be Kaiser. I always desired the throne, and I thought it was a stroke of luck when my sister died and I replaced her, pushing Willie aside. So I thought it was my birthright. Turns out, it never was. I think I know my real destiny now. It’s to help the true Kaiser by guiding her on the path to being the good ruler I never was. It’s to right the wrongs of history, so my sister’s daughter sits on the throne that was rightfully hers, before I stole it.”
“That’s admirable,” Gertrude said.
“And when Elias is defeated and Jerusalem falls, first thing I’ll do is go to Potsdam,” Wilhelm Karl said, “And I’m going to apologize to my parents and siblings for how I treated them all these years.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Francesca said.
“Well, we know what we have to do,” Heinrich said.
“Heinrich and I will continue working behind the scenes at the committee,” Gertrude said, “Try to keep Elias in line.”
Yeah...although she had done little of that these last couple years. Those nullification acts had really sidelined her. Most she could do was get to the tomb.
“I’m going to Penglai too,” Francesca said, “He can’t speak a word of Chinese. He wouldn’t last one minute without me.”
Wilhelm Karl laughed. “Thanks, my dear.”
He took out a bottle of wine.
“I’ve been saving this for the occasion,” he said, “You know, Prince Maximilian was a gardener, but he also owned a vineyard in Saxony and for a time made some high quality wine. This was one of the bottles he produced. Among the first batch made in 1855, shortly after the end of the Maximist Wars.”
He uncorked the bottle and poured some glasses.
“Why are you doing this?” Gertrude said.
“Because I knew you’d pull through, Gertrude,” Wilhelm Karl said, “None of us trusted you at first. I certainly didn’t. You had no reason to help us, from our point of view. And yet you did everything you could to undo the blackmail against me. The blackmail you created. So I have to thank you, Gertrude. For doing all this.”
“I…I don’t deserve this,” Gertrude said, “I really don’t.”
“Please, my treat,” Wilhelm Karl said, “Kaiser’s orders. Keep the bottle too, as a gift for helping us.”
He handed a glass to Gertrude, who pretended to sip the wine.
“It’s nice,” she lied.
“You definitely deserve it,” Wilhelm Karl said, “No matter what you think of yourself, you definitely do.”
“I don’t know,” Gertrude said, “This feels like too much.”
“If it’s too strong, that’s fine,” Wilhelm Karl said.
He handed glasses to everyone else.
“Today, we celebrate our coming victory,” Wilhelm Karl said, “A renewed hope for the future. We’ve overcome the struggles of the last eight years, and now we are finally ready to take our fate back into our own hands to free our country. Tomorrow, we begin the most dangerous fight of our lives. But that’s tomorrow. Today, we celebrate!”
He held up his glass and looked at everyone. “
Is iyían! For a free future!”
“For a free future!” the others toasted. “
Is iyían!”
Gertrude just quietly held her glass. Did she really deserve to drink it?
Over Penglai - January 12
The aerial convoy flew over the desolate landscape of the Penglai outback. Two jumbo jets—Imperial One, carrying Wilhelm Karl and Francesca, and Two, carrying Wilhelm Jr.—were escorted by a division of fighter jets launched from a Jerusalemite aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean to relieve another fighter escort launched from Arabia. With the old Kaiserliche Marine still fighting on throughout the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, they had to be completely safe.
Inside Imperial One, Wilhelm Karl sat at his temporary desk and read a mission report. He was less reading the actual report and more going over the map of downtown Aojing, planning his safest and fastest escape route. The Russian embassy was ideal, but he could go to any of the Eimerican or Schengen-1 embassies. It was just that the routes were too long. If he was caught by the Penglai authorities, they’d turn him back over to Elias.
Wilhelm Karl absolutely hated Zhao. Zhao was like an older Elias, with less religious fanaticism and military experience but more charisma and political acumen. This was the man who had singlehandedly destroyed Penglai’s democracy and proclaimed a republican dictatorship with himself as president, and then from there bankrolled Han Xianyu, who was now doing the same thing to China. Which was weird, because Zhao both supported Jerusalem and Han, but Jerusalem and Han weren't on the best of terms these days. Relations between Han and Zhao were also fraying lately, maybe because of Zhao's continued ties to Jerusalem. When Jerusalem fell and he retook control, he was going to have a long chat with them. They fancied themselves strongmen. He would show them what real strength was.
Francesca knocked on the door. “Wilhelm, dear, you’re still here?”
“Yes, I’m busy,” Wilhelm Karl said.
“You need to relax,” Francesca said.
“No, I need to plan everything out,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I have to be in control of this. I’ve lost control for the last eight years. I’m not going to lose control of this now.”
“Control also means knowing when to rest,” Francesca said, “Knowing when to let go.”
“Really?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“If you try to control everything, you’ll end up controlling nothing,” Francesca said, “Something my dad used to tell me.”
“I never took him for the philosophical type,” Wilhelm Karl said.
“Neither did I,” Francesca said, “But these last eight years have changed all of us.”
“True,” Wilhelm Karl said, “Tell me, Francesca. Am I still that same person I was, when we got married all those years ago?”
“You are,” Francesca said, “When we met, I saw you were a very driven young man. The second child of Otto the Great, determined to leave a mark on the world. Well, you’ve made that mark.”
“I’m not done yet,” Wilhelm Karl said, “There’s much I still have to do.”
“But that’s when we land,” Francesca said, “We’ll handle it when we’re on the ground.”
“Right,” Wilhelm Karl said.
“We still have two hours left,” Francesca said, “I’ve got a movie we can watch before we land.”
“What kind?” Wilhelm Karl said. “You know our movies have been horrible Christian sermons these last few years.”
“The first Starkrieg,” Francesca said.
“Starkrieg?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“Yes, the first one, you heard that right,” Francesca said.
“I remember watching it at 18,” Wilhelm Karl said, “Opening night. My sister reserved the whole theater for just her, me, Georg, Horst, and a couple friends. Elisabeth always gravitated towards Leia and her journey towards being a Jedi. Georg liked Ben Kenobi and screamed when he died. When Alderaan blew up, Horst vowed he would get revenge in the names of the fallen. As for me? I just wanted to see more of Tarkin. He was a cool villain.”
“You must’ve loved the prequels, then?” Francesca said.
“Eh…” Wilhelm Karl said. “Mixed bag. On the one hand, more Tarkin. On the other, it was crazy complicated and full of plot twists and grandiose events. The dialogue was also subpar. Haven’t watched either of the Clone Wars shows, though Willie and Wilhelm Jr. told me I should watch. We don't talk about the sequels.”
“When we meet up with Willie, we need to set aside evenings to watch Clone Wars,” Francesca said.
“Sounds great,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I know Willie would enjoy it. Maybe we can bond that way.”
“Anyways, I’m going to be in the movie lounge,” Francesca said, “I’ll start playing the movie in five minutes. Feel free to join me.”
“Alright, Francesca,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I just need to finish this up.”
“Don’t take too long.” Francesca kissed him on the cheek and then left.
“Of course, my dear,” Wilhelm Karl said.
He turned back to the mission report. Picking up a pencil, he sketched a possible route from his lodgings to the embassy. He checked the security arrangements and then shook his head, erasing the route.
“Why don’t you take a break?” a familiar voice said. “You know Francesca’s right.”
He looked up and saw Elisabeth Alexandra sitting on the couch.
“How long have you been there, sis?” he said.
“Long enough,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “For the record, I liked Leia and Ludwig equally. And despite what people say, their arcs in the sequels were fine.”
“What are you here for?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“Just wanted to check in, see how you’re doing,” Elisabeth Alexandra said.
“Great, actually,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I got rid of Elias’ leverage.”
“That’s my brother,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “I knew you could do it.”
Wilhelm Karl felt a firm hand patting his shoulder. “I’m proud of you too.”
He looked up and saw Georg standing next to him, smiling.
“How can you say that?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“I’m your brother, you know,” Georg said.
“I killed you,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I murdered you and Horst.”
“Did you?” Horst said, pacing around the room.
“Oh, you’re back, Horst?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“You’re family, Karl,” Horst said, “There is an honor among family. Family doesn’t betray. Blood can, but family cannot.”
“But the fact remains, I killed you!” Wilhelm Karl said. “I killed you in Malaya! And Georg, I had a drone blow you up in North Eimerica!”
“No, that wasn’t you,” Georg said.
“What do you mean?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“You only took credit for our deaths,” Horst said, “I don’t blame you. It was natural for you.”
“Wait, you mean…I didn’t do that?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“No,” Georg said, “Elias Anhorn did.”
“Elias?!” Wilhelm Karl said. “He killed you two?”
“Well, if you bothered to follow the breadcrumbs, you’d put two and two together,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “Logical, really. But you just wanted the credit, in a way. You looked the other way after saying you wanted them to be 'taken care of' and Elias took it upon himself to take care of it.”
“Why would he do that?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“Didn’t he tell you he hates us all?” Horst said. “For what we did to him in Mexico?”
“So obviously he wanted revenge,” Georg said.
“He was playing me from the start,” Wilhelm Karl said, “He always wanted this.”
“Good on you for realizing that,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “Now you’ve broken free.”
“Yes, I have,” Wilhelm Karl said, “And I intend to take back control.”
“There you go again, talking about control,” Georg said, “Sounds like the Karl I know.”
“I’m telling you, this is for the good of the nation!” Wilhelm Karl said. “For my people! For true justice!”
“Okay, now you’re sounding like me,” Horst said, “And to think you once mocked me and my sayings about justice.”
“For what it’s worth, I was joking,” Georg said.
“What are you going to do now?” Elisabeth Alexandra said.
“I’m going to land in Aojing, and as soon as I get the opportunity, I’m defecting to Russia,” Wilhelm Karl said.
“Oh, so you’re pulling a Prince Kirill, huh?” Georg said. “Going to come back in a few years at the head of an army?”
“No, no, no,” Wilhelm Karl said, “If there’s anything I’ve realized in the last eight years, it’s that I’m not fit to be Kaiser. I may be the legal Kaiser, but I’m not the Kaiser we need. My reputation is already in the gutter. Elias has pinned everything he’s done over the last eight years solely on me. Everybody sees me as a tyrant and a dictator who murders his own people. I don’t blame them. They are right, in a way. This is all my fault. I can’t be Kaiser anymore. Someone new must take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart and a strong sense of justice.”
“Heh,” Horst said.
“One who knows what it means to bring balance to the nation, to the people, and to the world,” Wilhelm Karl continued, “I was wrong to mock idealists as irrelevant and fated to die badly. Because they’re the ones who really push us forward. We need an idealist on the throne. It has to be your daughter, Elisabeth.”
“My daughter?” Elisabeth Alexandra.
“She’s grown into a fine woman,” Wilhelm Karl said, “Not afraid to speak her mind. Steadfast in her beliefs, but open to change. Sees herself as unworthy, yet always finds those who are. Those who never want power are always the most qualified to have it. She needs to lead us out of this new dark age.”
“Imagine that,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “Little Willie, my little Wombat, once second in line to the throne, is now again the true heir. Chosen by you, nonetheless.”
“I never thought I’d see the day,” Georg said.
“Personally, I didn’t think I’d see this day either,” Wilhelm Karl said.
“We always knew you had it in you,” another familiar voice said.
Wilhelm Karl looked to his side. Victoria Louise stood near the doorway, smiling.
“Mother?” he said.
“Hello, Karl sweetie,” Victoria Louise said.
“I don’t deserve this,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I did so many bad things, even before Elias. We never got along. I always thought you were an old fool!”
“You were only doing what you thought was right,” Victoria Louise said.
“How can you forgive me, Mother?” Wilhelm Karl said. “After everything I did to you?”
“I can always forgive my son,” Victoria Louise said, “You were lost in darkness, but you found your way back to the light in the end. And for that, I’m proud of you.”
“I…I…” Wilhelm Karl said.
“As your mother, I only wanted the best for you, Karl,” Victoria Louise said, “I wanted you to be the best man you could be.”
“Yet I rejected you at every turn,” Wilhelm Karl said, “And I…was even glad you’re dead!”
“But not anymore,” Victoria Louise said.
Wilhelm Karl opened his mouth, but he couldn’t say anything. He started crying.
“I missed you, Mother,” he said, “I really did miss you. I missed our family. Me and Elisabeth and Georg pretending to fight shadow dragons in the courtyard while you told us war stories of escaping the Angeloi…I had a fun childhood, now that I recall.”
“We did our best,” one last familiar voice said.
Wilhelm Karl instinctively tensed up. He bowed his head in shame.
“Please, Karl boy,” Otto said, “Look at me. I don’t want to see you like this.”
He slowly raised his head and locked eyes with Otto. Otto looked much younger than he was when he died. He looked more like how Wilhelm Karl always imagined him as, the fifty-something father he knew growing up.
“You’re here…Father,” Wilhelm Karl said very meekly, “It’s…it’s been almost twenty years.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you too much,” Otto said.
“I don’t deserve to be in your presence, Father,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I may not have killed Georg and Horst, but I certainly did kill you, even if it was on Elias’ urging.”
“I do too,” Otto said.
“So you do remember,” Wilhelm Karl said, “You must be mad at me.”
“No,” Otto said, “I’m not mad. I was disappointed in myself. I was sad you had lost your way.”
“After killing you, I destroyed your legacy over the next twenty years,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I destroyed everything about the Reich that made it great. Instead of renewing the nation, I burned it to the ground.”
“You forget one thing,” Otto said, “The burning to ashes comes before the renewal. When we are at our lowest point, we are open to our greatest change.”
“Yet I refused to change,” Wilhelm Karl said, “You tried to help me get ready to rule, but I always refused you. I thought you didn’t care about me. I thought you only loved Sister.”
“To be fair, I felt the same way sometimes,” Georg said.
“Hey!” Elisabeth Alexandra said.
“But it’s true!” Georg said. “Sorry, Alexandra.”
“It’s fine,” Elisabeth Alexandra said.
“I loved all of my children equally,” Otto said, “I did my best to help you. But there could only be one heir to the throne, and the demands of running the most powerful nation in the world meant that…”
“Your father was a very busy man,” Victoria Louise said, “We did our best, despite that.”
“All I wanted was for you to be the man you always could be,” Otto said.
“But I failed,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I did exactly the opposite. And look at what happened. You failed to help me.”
“Sometimes, you have to be lost before you can find your way again,” Otto said, “It’s true I failed to help you. But you have recognized your mistake. The next step is fixing it.”
“How can you say all this to ME of all people?!” Wilhelm Karl said. “I literally killed you!”
“There is no undoing that,” Otto said, “That much is certain.”
“But you should not tie yourself to a past event,” Victoria Louise said, “Even if it was as serious as patricide.”
“Acknowledge it is in your past, and seek to make amends,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “Move on and seek to prevent it from happening again.”
“Become a better person who won’t make the same mistakes,” Georg said.
“That is what true justice is,” Horst said.
“I wish things turned out differently,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I wish we could’ve still been happy. You gave me a choice, and I wish I took it. Maybe we could have avoided all this. But I was younger and misguided. I guess that’s how the world works.”
“I guess so,” Otto said.
“I know what you meant now,” Wilhelm Karl said, “You warned me against going on this path. That I wouldn’t find what I was looking for. Only misery and ruin. You were right in the end. But maybe…I was looking for the wrong thing. I assumed I was the rightful Kaiser. That the throne was my birthright after Sis died. I thought my destiny was to rule. But now I know the throne was never my destiny. It was to make way for the true Kaiser: Willie. That is my true destiny. I may never wipe away the sins of my past, but I’m going to do the best I can to make sure the future is free of them.”
“That’s my boy,” Otto said.
“I’ve always wanted control,” Wilhelm Karl said, “But now I know…I can’t control everything. What I can control is my own life. In the end, I never had to be you, Father. All I had to do was be true to myself.”
Otto smiled. “You finally get it, Karl boy.”
Georg and Horst patted him on the shoulders.
“Well, looks like you know what to do,” Georg said.
“Go get those crazy zealots for me,” Horst said.
“I still feel like I don’t deserve all this,” Wilhelm Karl said.
“We may have our disagreements, but we’re family,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “Family looks out for each other.”
“A mother always looks out for her son,” Victoria Louise said,
“I only wanted the best for you, Karl boy,” Otto said, “Now be the man you always could be. The man our nation needs.”
“Right,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I have a mission to accomplish. I’ll be damned if I let anything get in the way of finishing it.”
“Go, then,” Otto said, “We’ve kept you here long enough.”
Wilhelm Karl started for the door. He turned to look back at his late family.
“For what it’s worth…I’m sorry,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I’m sorry for everything I did to you, even if I didn’t do it. This mess is my responsibility, and I’m going to clean it up. And, uh…thanks for the encouragement.”
“It’s the least we could do,” Georg said.
“You deserved that much,” Horst said.
“Anything for my brother,” Elisabeth Alexandra said.
“It’s nothing,” Victoria Louise said.
“Well, get to it, Karl boy,” Otto said, “It’s time you stepped into your true destiny.”
Wilhelm Karl turned back and left the room. He walked down the hallway and headed for the movie room, with renewed purpose and determination. At that moment, the plane’s intercom activated.
“Thank God, it’s heaven on Earth!” Gertrude’s voice announced.
Seconds later, an SVI beam lanced down and obliterated Imperial One. There were no survivors. Idealists never ended well.
Berlin
Gertrude turned off the microphone. She put her head in her hands, crying softly. Elias quietly patted her on the head.
“Thank you for letting me know,” he smugly said, “You’re doing God’s work.”
He left the room with a smile on his face. Gertrude continued sobbing.
Why…why did she tell him? Why?!
