Duchess Josephina Barrow
Location: Windsor City, Windsor, Star Kingdom of Windsor
“Your Majesty, I…”
“I’ve heard your arguments, Mr. Burke, and I’ve made my decision.” There was a finality in Victoria’s tone that only a Queen could possess.
Josephina sat in the armored limousine as it coasted several hundred feet above the estates just outside Windsor City. She’d made this trip hundreds of times in her life, but only a few in the last decade. The demands of her position precluded her from taking advantage of the city’s proximity to their destination.
In the air-limo, aside from the Queen and Duchess, were three members of the Obsidian Guard. Their hulking frames looked squished even in the spacious confines of the lavished limo. Two were female and were standing just shy of two and a half meters. Their hair was bone white and was woven into a complex braid that hung down their backs.
The members of the Guard were another breed of humanity. Genetically altered for warfare and the protection of the Queen, they had also developed their own customs in the private compounds where they were born, lived, trained, and died. The hair was one of those cultural differences. It was a signifier of their skill as warriors. The longer the braid, the longer they had gone undefeated. Sex didn’t matter. Men and women wore the cultural badge proudly. The two women on the Queen’s detail had braids reaching the middle of their back.
An Obsidian’s body was a work of art, and it went beyond their muscular physiques. The Guards weren’t made to be artists, but their most artistic had the honor of tattooing significant events of that warrior’s life down their spines. Events like their first kill, marriage, a child, or the loss of a loved one in battle were sculpted into their pale flesh with black ink. Since the first tattoo on the back of their neck was traditionally their first kill, anyone who caught a glimpse of it saw just how brutal these warriors could be. Normally, the tattoos would be covered, and braids coiled in their armor, but today was a casual affair. All the members of her guard were in black smartcloth suits.
The two women sat opposite the Queen. Next to her was the Guard Captain. He had a braid so long he had to loop it around his throat to keep it from dragging on the ground. The rumor was the man had never known defeat. Josephina privately wondered how safe it was to have a choking hazard conveniently wrapped around the throat of the Queen’s chief bodyguard, but she also knew the Guard Captain. Anyone stupid enough to get within ten meters of the Queen he’d choke to death with his own braid. It wasn’t a hazard to him, just another weapon in his arsenal.
Josephina hadn’t heard the Guard Captain say more than a few dozen words in all the time she’d known him, which was frustrating to say the least. He was a giant, closer to three meters than two and a half, and he filled the entire seat next to the Queen, which was why Josephina and the other occupants were seated lengthwise with a good view out the starboard window. His eyes were critical, but they sat on a handsome face with a jaw looked like it had been carved from duro-steel. His nose was perhaps a little too crooked, and his eyebrows a little too bushy, but Josephina couldn’t help but find him very attractive. Not that it mattered. His loyalty was to the Queen until death, and nothing would get in the way of that. If necessary, he’d use Josephina as a human shield. That reality kind of put to bed any romantic sentiments.
“Yes, Your Majesty, however…”
“Give it up, Burke.” This time it was Josephina’s turn to interrupt the man sitting next to her.
Sir Desmond Burke, youngest brother of the late Baron Burke, and uncle of the current Baroness, was the Queen’s Private Secretary. He held the keys to the Queen’s schedule, which despite his Low Nobility birth, made him one of the most influential people in the Kingdom. He was a squirrelly-looking man, whose dark, ebony skin had taken on an ashen complexion in his late age. He had just celebrated his one hundred and sixty-fifth birthday. His age was made clear by the old-fashioned horn-rimmed glasses he preferred to wear rather than receiving corrective surgery. It made him look like a dullard to anyone who didn’t look closely. Josephina always studied people closely.
She knew that Sir Desmond Burke, Order of the Quill, and recipient of the Queen’s Medal for Valor wasn’t a sniveling government bureaucrat. Burke had been a spy who’d worked for the Windsor family for over a century. He’d built a network of informants that crossed the Kingdom’s planets, he knew where all the bodies were buried, and he’d put a few of them there himself. As a result, he’d propelled his family from a backwoods Shire that was only famous for their proprietary species of apples, to a staple of the Low Noble Houses, and one of the only ones to hold the ear of the Queen. Unfortunately, at the moment, his advice wasn’t going over well, but he knew his place, so he sat there and kept his mouth shut.
The limo banked sharply toward it destination, but Josephina wouldn’t have noticed unless she was looking out the window. The four fighters escorting the Queen pulled into a hover as the limo settled into a hover just a few centimeters off the ground in the middle of a large cheering crowd. Police manned the outer perimeter at a twenty-meter distance. The inner perimeter, at ten meters, was manned by the club’s private security detail, and the final defensive layer sat inside the limo itself.
The Guard Captain held up a hand, opened his door, got out, and closed it quickly behind him. The minute the door opened, rapid cheering reached the ears of everyone inside. Despite herself, Victoria couldn’t stop a smile.
Burke got out first to take a look around. He might look a little befuddled to the subjects eagerly awaiting the chance to get a glimpse of their queen, but Josephina knew that he was scanning for threats just as hard as the Guard Captain. The pair of glasses he wore were equipped with powerful optical sensors. They had the same tech as modern battle armor packed into them, which made his quick three-sixty turn an integral part of the security measures. Exiting after Burke was one of the female guards. She scanned the crowd looking menacing, and then nodded to the Queen.
“Victoria,” Josephina reached out and touched her old friend’s forearm before she stepped out, “are you sure?”
The Queen nodded resolutely, before stepping out and drowning in a sea of cheers. The second female guard followed the Queen, so hardly nobody even noticed Josephina stride up the steps of the Windsor Fencing Club behind the Queen’s entourage.
Josephina ran her hand across one of the pillars of the centuries-old building and smiled. Victoria and Josephina had spent a lot of time at the fencing club when they were young; back when Victoria was Crown Princess and Josephina the oldest daughter of a Duke. They’d come here to have fun, flirt, even steal a few kisses, but most of all to train. The club was the first step on a road that would lead them both to their ultimate goal. Today, several young nobles, and talented subjects would be embarking down that same road.
The annual House of Windsor Royal Fencing Tournament was a prestigious event where the Kingdom could see their noble youth shine. The competitors were male and female, seven years of age, and were some of the best the Kingdom had to offer. Other tournaments were being held throughout the Kingdom, but getting to the Royal Tournament was the pinnacle of achievement for these young people. If they did well at a tournament, among other qualifications, they would be offered admittance to an Academy. At an Academy they would be taught how to lead and command millions, how to survive the harshest conditions, and how to wage war on the Kingdom’s enemies. If they survived the rigorous curriculum, they would go on to be officers in the Royal Army, Navy, Marines, or commanding the forces of their noble house. If they received a royal commission, they could do anything from being an adjutant under notable officers to leading men into combat. The opportunities were endless when you achieved, and were indoctrinated, into the Order of the Sword. Having OS at the end of a title opened a lot of doors.
As she entered the lavish club’s interior, she saw dozens of other noble houses that had members competing in the competition. Dozens of banners were draped from walls, and families tended to cluster around those banners. The biggest collection was under a blood-red and black banner. At its center was a circle of gold. Inside the circle a muscular arm was bent at a ninety-degree angle emphasizing a bulging biceps. From this bicep hung the head of a wolf. The wolf’s teeth were sunk into the flesh of the bicep, and its eyes were filled with rage and hunger, but no blood leaked from the wound. It was the emblem of House Jaeger, possibly the second strongest House in the Kingdom, and the House of Prince Consort Albert Jaeger-Windsor, husband of the Queen and father to her children.
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Personally, Josephina didn’t like the Jaegers, even though the Barrows and Jaegers were on good terms. She saw them as opportunistic, power-hungry, and always positioning themselves for the future. The marriage of the current Duke of Dresselshire’s eldest son to the Queen entrenched them in the royal family for the foreseeable future. She also knew through Burke’s network that the Jaeger’s weren’t fond of her rapid rise and success.
Dresselshire, the Jaeger’s ancestral holdings, was the largest shire in the Kingdom, and held one hundred and seventy million subjects. It was also an epicenter of commerce and industry. The Jaeger’s had also pioneered early asteroid mining in the system and were considerably wealthy. Their private House fleet of ships was second only to the Royal fleet, and included two dreadnaughts.
In comparison, Rose Bay held less the sixty million inhabitants, and Westwoodshire didn’t add much. Its location made it a crucial port for sea trade, and a wet navy base stationed there was charged with protection of the seas for the entire hemisphere. In the last few decades, Rose Bay had started to increase their tech base, and royal contracts for research, development, and production had spurred it into the fastest growing province in the Kingdom. To the old powerhouse, that was threatening.
“Auntie Jossie!” The seven-year-old girl standing in her fencer’s gear raced up and gave Josephina a fearful hug.
“Katrina.” Josephina smiled and hugged her tightly back. “You looked prepared.”
“I am!” Katrina raised her nano-blade in the en garde position and swished it vertically in front of her. The air hummed as the molecularly-honed blade passed through it. “I’m going to be in the Order of the Sword just like you.”
“I’m sure you will.” Josephina liked her forth sister’s daughter. She had spunk.
“Did you come with the Queen? Is she excited to see us fence? Is she as pretty in person as on the tele?” Katrina descended into the rapid-fire questioning without waiting for answers that could only be achieved in Parliament or by a young child. Before Josephina could even think to answer a bell chimed in the distance.
“Your Majesty, Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen the tournament is about to begin.” The commentator beckoned everyone through an archway that led out into the dueling grounds at the rear of the club.
“Good luck, Katrina.” Josephina gave her niece one last hug and headed back to join the Queen’s entourage.
The rear of the building had a traditional style to it. The dueling pitches, ten in total, were clearly outlines by holographic lines on grass whose seeds had been taken from Scotish Highlands back on Old Earth. It was a rugged strain that had been genetically manipulated to endure the tens of thousands of boots that trod all over it. Overlooking it all were several boxes draped with House livery and ordered by ancestral heritage. At the very top was the Windsor Box, which was more of a row that spread across the dueling grounds from end to end. At the center was a legitimate throne for the monarch and several lesser seats for her entourage. Josephina took her seat to Victoria’s right, Burke sat to her left, the female guards stood to the rear on either side of her chair, and the Guard Captain stood directly in front of Burke. People might think it an indication of his lower status, but again they’d be wrong. He preferred to be out of the spotlight, and there was no better way to achieve that than to be blocked by the Guard Captain’s considerably-broad shoulders.
House Jaeger’s box was in the row below the Royal one, and House Barrow’s was two below that. In terms of ancestral seniority, Josephina’s house was not high on the list, and their seating arrangements were an actual box. A lavish box, but still a box. At the very bottom, sitting eye level with the ring that circled the dueling grounds, were the families and friends of the commoners who’d qualified for the tournament.
For the most part you couldn’t tell the difference between the different classes of the children set to begin their matches, but subtleties were starting to make themselves known. At seven, the commoners tended to be slightly smaller and skinnier. Any genetic changes their families had been able to afford were minor or cosmetic. On the other hand, the nobilities’ children were already starting to fill into their superior physiques. The children from House Jaeger were already standing over 160 centimeters tall and were clearly taking all their vitamins. They looked like they would be able to tip over an assault shuttle with their bare hands when they reached adulthood. Even young Katrina, who was still growing into her willowy frame, was going to be beautiful in appearance and with a blade in a few years. Her eyes already sparkled with a keen mind that Josephina could relate to.
All of this was to be expected, but what was out of place was the amount of press. This event was always televised, but it wasn’t as popular as a Royal Football League match. The only people interested in this were the military, nobles, and royal admirers. Those viewers didn’t account for the army of press ringing the dueling grounds. That was Burke’s doing. Even though he didn’t agree with the Queen’s approach, he’d executed her orders.
“Your Majesty, esteemed member of our Kingdom’s noble houses, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the two hundred and ninety-fourth House of Windsor Royal Fencing Tournament.” A scattering of polite applause followed the commentator’s announcement. “We have some very exciting matches among the future leaders of our Kingdom. I…” The commentator would have continued, but Victoria had raised her hand and stood from her throne.
With very little exception, the Queen didn’t do much during these events. She would sit down with the winner for a brief audience, and speak with the other nobles, but she never made a proclamation, and that was exactly what Victoria planned to do.
When the Queen stood so did everyone else, so everyone scrambled to their feet looking a little confused, and in the case of a few nobles who’d been hitting the bar, a little wobbly.
“Subjects of my Kingdom.” Victoria’s voice was strong even without the microphone she’d been fitted with back in the club. “Today we gather to see the best of us.” She waved down to the fencers and smiled. “I see several familiar faces among our contestants, and I wish them the best of luck.” The Queen’s daughter, Princess Elizabeth, third in line to the throne, was among the contenders. “These young, noble men and women embark on something significant here today. They will take the lessons they learn here to our Academies. They will learn to be the best men and women they can be, and how best to serve my Kingdom, but what they learn is going to be far more important than anyone here realizes.”
A hush fell over the crowd. Josephina kept a close eye on several of the noble families. You couldn’t deploy a sizeable contingent of the Royal Fleet without notice, so word was going to slip out despite security protocols. She hoped some of the nobles would give themselves away, and she could send Burke’s resources to root out those moles.
“For the past decade I have enforced peace and tolerance on our people, and all of that was for good reason.”
Josephina was well aware of the squabbles that noble houses tended to get into, and were often resolved through minor warfare. That license to fight for honor and riches came from a royal warrant, and no such warrants had been issued since the United Commonwealth of Colonies and the Eastern Block of Nations had arrived in the Kingdom’s backyard.
“For the last ten years we have been bargained with, instructed in what to do, played for fools, and conveniently maneuvered by the United Commonwealth of Colonies and the Eastern Block of Nations. These Collies and Blockies thought because of their vast empires throughout space that they could tell our Kingdom what to do. They thought they could put spies in our midst and learn about all of our hard-fought achievements in science, technology, and warfare. They thought they could impugn our honor. They thought that they could influence my subjects with their view on governance. They thought, for the second time in half a millennium, that they could steal what is ours.”
Josephina could feel the rage emitted from the people in the boxes around her. Each of those families had been forced off Earth because the Collies wanted to get rid of an aristocracy that had been a part of the United Kingdom and Europe for over a millennium. Their way of life was called a barrier to progress and outdated, so they were pushed aside and forced to the edges of human space. It was an old and deep-seated dispute between the Kingdom and the Commonwealth that the Collies didn’t understand.
“No more!” The Queen’s fist smacked into the railing with a loud CRACK that made everyone jump. Despite her lithe frame, the Queen’s bones had the genetic enhancements of her royal status. “WE will not bow to usurpers, land grabbers, and carpetbaggers. WE will forge our own destiny. WE will live as WE see fit, and the Collies and Blockies can be rest assured that WE will defend our way of life until our dying breath.” Victoria removed her had from the splintered railing and calmly folded it across her waist.
“It is my duty as Victoria the Fourth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, of the planet Windsor and all Dominions among the stars, Queen, and Defender of the Faith to inform you that a state of war now exists between my Kingdom and the United Commonwealth of Colonies and the Eastern Block of Nations.”
A pin could have dropped it was so silent.
“The Royal Fleet, led by Lord Admiral Kent has already deployed to defeat the enemies’ fleets occupying what is rightfully ours. Our cruiser, HMS Benjamin Disraeli, has already single-handedly defeated the Commonwealth’s main offensive strike force and destroyed the Eastern Blocks mobile maintenance station assigned to their forward operating units. Lord Captain Armstrong, Count of Snowden, showed tremendous bravery and courage in crippling our enemy’s ability to make war. Lord Admiral Kent will continue with victories that will push the enemy out of our space, and continue applying pressure until the teeming masses of the Commonwealth and Eastern Block are sick of paying the butchers bill against our mighty Fleets.”
Victoria looked absolutely, confidently regal as she faced billions of subjects across several planets.
Whatever this Hegemony was, she didn’t know why it wanted the Star Kingdom to defeat its rivals, and she didn’t trust anyone whose motives she didn’t understand.
“GOD SAVE THE QUEEN…GOD SAVE THE QUEEN…GOD SAVE THE QUEEN…” she joined the chant that had started up across the Kingdom as Victoria concluded her speech that was the official declaration of war to her people.