Agrippina violently sobbed into the ornate white clothing of the young archbishop in front of her. The archbishop had slightly tan skin and neat dark brown hair. A second, much older, man who was dressed in elegant robes, sat off in a corner of the room. The room was relatively small and furnished with two large, cushioned chairs with silk upholstery, a low table, and a fireplace. The walls were lined with large display cases constructed of glass and rosewood, a type of wood imported from lands far to the south east; far beyond the Osminite Empire. The display cases were full to the brim with expensive and exotic trinkets. The treasures contained within included porcelain tableware inlaid with gold from Mittelreich1, a land so far to the east that it wasn’t drawn on any of the empire’s maps; a white marble bust of an early Reman emperor that was easily over a thousand years old; a double-pointed scimitar that was looted from an Osminite baggage train and had both its handle as well as its scabbard constructed out of gold encrusted with many jewels; and many more objects of similar nature.
“Your highness, please. What happened today was not your fault. You couldn’t have known…” the man said.
“...He’s my little brother and I couldn’t protect him. What kind of sister am I?” the princess wailed. The archbishop then grabbed Agrippina by the shoulders.
“Please listen, your highness. Right now, your father isn’t in the capital and it’s going to take some time to make him aware of the situation. In the meantime, we need someone to take over your brother’s responsibilities and run the day-to-day operations of the grand duchy.” the archbishop explained.
“...but Father Buffone2, I’m not fit for such a position!” Agripina protested as tears rolled down her face.
“Your highness, please listen to me. It took immense bravery to do what you did today. If you didn’t alert the palace guards in time then who knows what Alexandra would have done to your brother! I have no doubt in my mind that you have what it takes to be the temporary de-facto ruler of the grand duchy of Ostermania! I am willing to vouch for your competence, wisdom, and benevolence even if I have to go to Reme and speak with the patriarch myself!” archbishop Buffone declared.
“...you… you really think that?” a sniffling Agrippina asked.
“Yes.” The archbishop responded. He then hugged Agrippina, “Everything is going to be okay. I’m sure the empire’s best people are doing everything they can to help Alexander and if there is assistance the church can provide, then all you have to do is ask.”
“Thank you, Father Buffone.” Agrippina said. After a few minutes the archbishop left. The moment the door closed behind the archbishop, Agrippina's face switched from a smile to a look of contempt.
“I can’t believe that actually worked.” She said to the old man, “That man is a complete moron.” The old man smiled.
“Well, that is why your father and I had the patriarch give him the position. It wasn’t cheap, but I think it paid off. Having a local church leader who’s completely neutered as far as politics is concerned is well worth the price of a couple hundred gold pieces. Still, that only solves our immediate problems. Your grasp on power is still quite tenuous. The moment your father returns to Königsstadt, you will lose everything you’ve gained today,” The old man warned. Agrippina turned back to look at him.
“Our mutual benefactor has told me that he’s already found a way to buy us more time,” Agrippina replied.
“Oh really? How the hell is he supposed to accomplish that when he isn’t even able to come here and speak with us in person?”
“Trust me, von Steinmann, he will get it done,” Agrippina responded. The man laughed.
“So you’re saying that you have faith in him? That must be the first time I’ve ever heard you say that.” He said. Agrippina turned and looked him in the eye.
“I don’t have faith in him or anyone. All I know is that when he says he’s going to do something, it will be done. It would be in your best interest to remember that.” Agrippina warned.
“Well, he did say that he was going to have some stupid bitch mind-control her backdoor-bandit of a little brother into marrying some noblewoman and producing a couple of nice, easily manipulatable heirs with a magic trinket, but that apparently did not go as planned,” von Steinmann replied. Agrippina clenched her teeth and contorted her face into a look of pure malice.
“It’s not my fault that my idiot sister ruined everything. I would have had enough time to master the power of the amulet if that scrawny little freak hadn’t gone and provoked me!” Agrippina barked. Count von Steinmann sighed.
“Now, I’m not particularly fond of that runt either, especially after that incident last year, but what could she have possibly done to provoke you? Did she wheeze at you aggressively?” von Steinmann asked. Agrippina growled as she clenched her fist and narrowed her eyes. At that moment she didn’t look like a person, but a rabid animal. The count then got up from his seat and began to exit the room. Just before he left he turned to Agrippina.
“My friends in the nobility will tolerate this for now, but you better get the situation under control as soon as possible. If worse comes to worst, then I’m not going to protect either you or that man from your father,” von Steinmann warned.
“If worse comes to worst, then I won’t be the sort of person that needs protection and you won’t be the sort of person who can provide it,” Agrippina responded. Count von Steinmann scoffed at her remark and exited the room. Agrippina remained motionless for about ninety seconds before letting out a growl. She then inhaled deeply before turning around and putting her foot through the table. Agrippina let out a blood-curdling scream as she grabbed a fire poker and began to smash everything in the room. She began by turning the chairs into scrap wood and then went on to the display cases. The sound of glass and porcelain smashing onto the floor filled the room as Agrippina dispensed as much violence as she physically could. Within a minute or two Cili entered the once opulent and ornate room to find it completely destroyed with Agrippina standing in the middle of it.
“Your tallness, are you requiring of ass…” Cili said, unable to finish the word ‘assistance’ as she saw Agrippina turn around and stare at her with wide, soulless eyes. If Ekkehardt, Alexandra, or anyone present in the room at the time could have slowed down and rewound time to listen to Agrippina’s response slowly and multiple times over, they would have deciphered a message that sounds something along the lines of ‘How dare you come in here?’, but all they could make out was an incomprehensible shriek.
Agrippina lunged at the servant girl and struck her multiple times in the arms, shoulders, torso, and head with the fire poker. Fortunately, the young girl had instinctually raised her arms in self-defense. Unfortunately, this only made Agrippina more angry.
“Clemency, please! Clemency!” Cili pleaded, but it was all in vain. Agrippina continued to strike the servant girl as tears and blood leaked from her body. Soon the girl began to plead more desperately in Peschtian, her native tongue, but neither Alexandra nor Agrippina could understand what she was saying. Cili slumped against a wall as Agrippina raised the fire poker for one final blow to Cili’s head. Suddenly Alexandra broke out into a dry hacking cough. Without thinking, Ekkehardt grabbed her body, pulling her away from the hole with one hand while covering her mouth with the other. This was all that he could do to muffle the sound of her coughing. The coughing only lasted for about fifteen seconds, but that was more than enough to attract Aggripina’s attention. Neither of them could see it, but Agrippina took a moment to pause and look at the ceiling. Her cold green eyes searched for the source of the noise. Ekkehardt felt Alexandra’s heart beating out of her chest as they waited for Aggripina’s next words.
Suddenly, the door opened and a man, another servant, entered. He held a letter in his hand.
“Your highness, I have a very important message! It’s from an important advisor!” He announced. Agrippina turned to look at him.
“I’m in the middle of something!” She barked, raising the fire poker at the servant. The servant was scared and confused, but decided that the best course of action was to follow his orders.
“I was told to tell you that the sender would like to speak with you tomorrow… under the moonlight,” He explained. Upon hearing those final three words Agrippina dropped the fire poker and rushed towards the servant. She then snatched the letter from his hands.
“You’re dismissed,” She said. The servant took no chances and left the room as quickly as possible.
Agrippina tore open the letter and read it quickly. Her eyes moved from left to right as she scanned its contents. She then read it again and sighed. Her body language changed. It now looked as though all of the strength was drained from her body.
“You…” She said as she turned to and pointed at Cili, whose face was covered in blood, tears, and snot, “Clean this up.”
Agrippina exited the room.
Emperor Arnold von Adler, also known as ‘Arnold of the Black Ridge’, was a massive man. He was nearly two imperial paces of pure muscle. When he had a statue of himself made to be erected in Königsstadt there was no need nor room for exaggeration on the part of the sculptor. The only difference between the statue and the man himself was that the statue was three times larger than the real Emperor Arnold, albeit built to scale. The end result of the sculptor's work was a stone behemoth; a statue standing at five and a half imperial paces tall and heavier than anyone had ever cared to measure. Alexandra was truly amazed by how such a structure could have even a tiny tunnel beneath it without completely collapsing the entire square it stood in.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Ekkehardt and Alexandra followed the instructions of the message to a tee, navigating through the hidden passageway and into the old Reman sewers, which had thankfully not been used for hundreds of years. Regardless, they were still relieved to breathe fresh air once again when they popped out of a hidden door located at the base of the statue of Arnold von Adler. They were even more relieved to see that Arnold’s Square was completely vacant of both guards and bystanders. The two of them climbed out of the passageway and closed the door behind them. Under the cover of the dark, moonless night, they walked to Rasmussen’s house. Although Alexandra had never visited Rasmussen at his residence before, she was able to quickly identify his house thanks to a large sign with a razor blade, a tooth, a leech, and a pair of praying hands on it. This sign identified the building it was affixed to as the home and business place of someone who was a barber, a dentist, a doctor, and a faith healer. While it was actually very common for someone employed in one of those professions to serve as all four3, Alexandra knew that Rasmussen was the only doctor wealthy enough to live in the citadel district.
Rasmussen, the royal physician, lived in a small, but comfortable house one block away from Arnold’s Square. Like the other residents of Königsstadt’s citadel district, he was a rather wealthy and fortunate man. Being not only a physician, but the royal physician, he had essentially achieved the most success that any commoner with his skillset could ever hope for. Of course, some of his success could be attributed to luck. He had essentially fallen ass-first into a position as the house physician for one Count von Kupferkopf4; a minor noble who would eventually hit his own run of good luck when his daughter Sieglinde5 caught the eye of none other than Emperor Alexander von Adler himself. Being short of a physician himself and trusting the advice of his new wife, the emperor decided to hire Rasmussen. This event would be pivotal as Rasmussen, in his capacity as the royal physician, went on to oversee seven successful royal births and the development of eight royal babies into healthy adults.
‘And there would have been at least eight successful royal births and nine healthy adults if it wasn’t for that last princess; Alexander’s twin,’ Alexandra recalled overhearing people saying things like this many times throughout her life.
“So, are we just going to know on his door, or what?” Alexandra asked.
“I don’t think there is any other way in. Besides, we have to get off of the street as soon as possible. Ekkehardt knocked on the door to Rasmussen’s house. A thin, black haired man who was about Alexandra’s age opened the door. Upon seeing the two of them he gasped.
“Is th-th-th-at you, your highness?” he asked with a thick Peschtian accent. He looked anxious and was careful to keep his voice down. It took a moment thanks to the dim light, but Alexandra was able to recognize him as Vilmos6, an assistant to Rasmussen.
“Yes.” Alexandra replied.
“Good. Fuh-fuh-fuh-follow me and be quiet.” Vilmos said as he ushered them inside. As soon as they were inside Rasmussen’s entrance hall Vilmos closed the door behind them and opened a trapdoor.
“Go in here. No tuh… no time to explain.” He whispered. The trapdoor opened to a small storage area under the floorboards. It was filled with wooden crates and burlap sacks, but it had just enough space for Alexandra and Ekkehardt. Neither Alexandra nor Ekkehardt knew if Vilmos was leading them into a trap, but they decided to go with their gut and trust him. Vilmos closed the trap door on top of them and covered it with a rug just as a door on the far end of the entrance hall opened up.
“Well, I guess that’s just the way it is.” Alexandra heard a man lament through the floorboards.
“Yeah. What a shame.” Another man said, “Uh, doctor, you wouldn’t happen to remember anything he said before he died, would you?” He asked.
“He just kept repeating ‘I’m sorry your highness,’ until he died. How he was able to speak in his condition is frankly a mystery. As for the words themselves; I don’t know what to make of them.” A third man said. Alexandra recognized him as Rasmussen. As Rasmussen said this Alexandra could feel Ekkehardt’s breathing get heavier.
“Well, that’s unfortunate. I’ll make a note of that in my report. I’ll also make sure to let Captain Schüttmann7 know that you cooperated with our investigation fully. If you’re interested, I can probably get Udo to have someone pick up the body tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, sir. I would like to hang on to Sir Lowe’s corpse, provided that is acceptable. I would like to perform an autopsy on it. I don’t often get access to corpses that aren’t subject to normal legal protections and the boy is quite the specimen.” Rasmussen responded.
“That won’t be an issue.”
“Excellent.” Rasmussen replied. He then paused for a moment. “Did someone come to the door?”
“Juh-just some drunk. I tuh-tuh-told him to go away.” Vilmos responded. There was another pause.
“Anything else you need, sir?” Rasmussen asked.
“No. Just try to stay safe out there. I don’t know exactly what’s going on in the palace, but something’s happening. Commoners like us should stay out of it.” A man said.
“Thank you. I hope we both make it out of this alive.” Rasmussen replied. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Someone, presumably Vilmos, opened it. A new man, one with a voice that wasn’t as deep as the others attempted to say something, but, for some reason, had difficulty expelling words from his mouth.
“Hell… oh, uh, what’s going on here? Did something happen?” He asked.
“Doctor, do you know this man?” One of the men asked.
“I’m not sure…” Rasmussen said.
“I’m Adi8, Adi Schumacher9, I believe you received a letter about our meeting recently.” The new man said, clearly nervous for some reason.
“Oooh. I remember now.” Rasmussen explained, “He’s a new patient of mine. This was the only time that fit his schedule.”
“I see. We’ll leave you two alone then.” a man said. Alexandra could hear the door open and close as footsteps passed by her. As soon as the door closed Rasmussen spoke up.
“So, you received a letter as well.” He asked.
“I did. I couldn’t just stand by knowing that Prince Alexander was being… well, I’m not entirely sure what’s happening to him, but I know that it’s bad.”
“Come to my operating room. I’ll give you the details there. Do you know of anyone else who’s coming?” Rasmussen asked.
“Anyone else? I thought it was just you and me who were in on it; well you, me, and whoever sent those letters,” Schumacher replied.
“I was told to expect multiple people coming to my house, including someone of ‘great importance’,” Rasmussen explained.
“Uh, master? Th-th-there’s someth-th-…” Vilmos announced before getting cut off by a knock on the front door. Someone walked past Alexandra and Ekkehardt before opening the door.
“Hello?” Rasmussen asked. A new man that Alexandra had never met before responded.
“Hello... My name is... Egon... Messerschmitt10. I… got a letter…” The man huffed out.
“Do you want some help with that?” Rasmussen asked.
“Yes, please…” He responded. Rasmussen, Vilmos, and Messerschmitt struggled for a few moments with something of great weight.
“What the hell is... in this bag anyways?” Rasmussen growled.
“Weapons... The best of everything I had lying around...” Messerschmitt answered, “I’m a blacksmith. I’ve done some work for the royal family and the gendar...” he said before his sentence was interrupted by a loud ‘thud’.
“My foot! My foot! It’s on my foot!” Rasmussen shrieked as though he was a little girl who just tripped and skinned her knee.
“Oh crap, sorry about that!” Messerschmitt exclaimed. There was the sound of a brief struggle before the two men both sighed audibly.
“Why did you bring all of this crap?” Rasmussen asked.
“I was told that Prince Alexander was in danger and that I had to come to your house with my best weapons in order to save him. I’ve brought everything I could: swords, daggers, axes, maces, morningstars, you name it.”
“I wasn’t told that I would be taking massive deliveries of weapons… You do know I’m a physician and not an arms dealer, right?” Rasmussen complained, “Did you bring anything?”
“Just some shoes. They’re in my bag,” Schumacher replied.
“Mas…” Vilmos began, only to be cut off by Rasmussen.
“Vilmos, do you think I could get us some wine? Nothing fancy; just the Ostermanian…” Rasmusen ordered before he too was cut off; this time by a knock on the door. Alexandra and Ekkehardt listened as two more men entered Rasmussen’s house and introduced themselves as Heinrich11 Kurtzman12, a tailor and Ludolf13 Schirmer14, an officer within the imperial gendarmerie.
“Wait a minute, you’re with the gendarmerie? Aren’t you people taking orders from Princess Agrippina?” Messerschmitt exclaimed.
“That harpy might have Captain Schüttmann under her spell, but there are still some men within the force who are loyal to Prince Alexander, myself included.” Schirmer responded.
“The thugs on your force are too stupid to even understand what loyalty even is. I don’t want anything to do with whatever this conspiracy is supposed to be if I have to work with scum like you! Why would an ape like you even care whether his highness lives or dies?” Messerschmitt lashed out.
“Because, I owe him everything!” Schirmer barked back. The room was silent for a moment. Eventually Schirmer started speaking again, though more quieter and calmer than before.
“I have a little sister. Last year she worked in the manor of a baron who was… doing things to her. By some stroke of luck, I got the opportunity to tell Prince Alexander about it and he put an end to it. The baron never saw the inside of a cell, but he now has to pay my sister and a number of other women a large amount of gold every year. She now lives in the citadel district and will never have to look at that pig ever again. I never liked Captain Schüttmann, but even if I did, I would happily throw him to the wolves if it helped Prince Alexander,” Schrimer explained. Once again the room fell silent.
“I’m sorry,” Messerschmitt said, “My… My wife is a Strivalian from Barbalunga. She has…had this half-brother. He was from my father-in-law’s previous marriage; before he moved to Königsstadt. My wife had never actually met this man in her life. Last year, he was outed as a spy working for the Kingdom of Sardoza-Acquadimarea15. When the gendarmerie were informed of this, they arrested my wife and beat her within an inch of her life. They would have killed her if Prince Alexander hadn’t intervened.” He explained. Everyone in the room was silent for a moment.
“I did not have anything to do with your wife’s arrest, but I am genuinely sorry that it happ…” Schirmer replied, only to get cut off by Messerschmitt.
“You don’t need to apologize. If you are doing this for Prince Alexander then I will work with you. I’m sorry I questioned your loyalty.” Messerschmitt said.
“Okay, now that we’re all on the same page, does anyone know who sent those letters and what they want us to do about Agrippina?” Rasmussen asked. At this point Ekkehardt attempted to open the trap door that he and Alexandra were underneath, but quickly found that there was no way for the door’s locking mechanism to be opened from the inside, as that space was only ever meant for storage.
“Master!” Vilmos called.
“What is it, Vilmos?” Rasmussen asked.
“Puh-puh-princess Alexandra, she…” Vilmos began, only to be cut off by Messerschmitt.
“Come on boy, spit it out.” He interjected.
“Hey, he can’t help it; he has a stutter!” Ramussen barked, sparking an argument between the two men. Though it was hard to make out in the back and forth, Alexandra could hear the sound of one’s palm hitting the flesh of their forehead, followed by an audible sigh. Someone approached their location and the next thing she knew, light was flooding back into Alexandra’s field of view. Instinctively, the two of them rose up, eager to be free of the confines of the storage space. Vilmos cleared his throat audibly and gestured towards Rasmussen’s previously unseen guests. The five men in the room stared at Alexandra and Ekkehardt in shock.
“Princess Alexandra? How did you…” Rasmussen leaked out.
“It’s a long story…” Alexandra began.