Secrets of the New World (Infini Calendar) (Volume 2) (2 page)

She shrugged and said, “So we’re going to steal more of their technology? I thought we were better than thieves prowling the shadows.”

“Watch your tone,” he warned her. “We
are
better than that. We represent the House of Hapsburg, and we are not going to disgrace it.”

“So what, then?”

“Next week I am embarking on a journey to America to forge an alliance with them in person.”

This wasn’t what she had been expecting. “An alliance? With an unknown country halfway across the world?”

“It’s not quite that far. With our newest steam technology we will be there in a week or so.”

She prayed she hadn’t heard that right. “We?”

“Yes,
we
. You’re coming with me. I don’t trust you here by yourself. Who knows what trouble you’d get into.”

Like hell. “Absolutely not! I’m not going on a boat ride to some place I know nothing about. Besides, you need me here to run things.”

He responded with a sharp laugh. “You? Running things? You may be an effective asset in war, but you only cause trouble during peace time. You give no thought to your own actions.”

“What could possibly go wrong with me here?” she protested.

He ignored her. “My wife is more than capable of managing affairs here while we’re gone.” He was referring to Maria Luisa, daughter of Charles III of Spain, and Grand Duchess of Tuscany.

“Forget it! I’m not going.”

He brought his face mere inches from hers and gave her a penetrating stare which would have terrified the devil himself. “You are going, and that’s that. Do—I—make— myself—clear?”

Gulp. “Perfectly clear, my brother.”

She turned to leave, thinking the meeting was over. However, he suddenly said, “Oh, there’s one other thing.”

She turned back around. “What’s that?”

“Do you remember Prince Frederick William III of Prussia?”

She didn’t know where this was going, but after the previous topic she really didn’t want to know. “Uh…yes? He’s set to become king in a few years, isn’t he?”

“Correct. He is of the House of Hohenzollern.” Leopold then rather quickly added, “And you’re going to marry him to keep our ties with Prussia secure.”

She suddenly felt very sick.

Chapter II: Nice to Meet You (I Guess)

Vienna, Austria, November 2, 1792 (Infini Calendar), 1:05 p.m.

Vienna was Austria’s capital and largest city. Located in northeast part of the country, the city was near the Slovakian border. Vienna also had the great river Danube flowing through the eastern part of the city.

In the center of the city was the Hofburg, a formerly modest-sized fortress which was continually built upon until it became the imperial court, the core of Austrian supremacy. The oldest area of the Hofburg is the
Schweizerhof
, a four-tower structure and the historical beginning of the fortress.

Farahilde put on her goggles and left the Hofburg via her motorized bicycle and proceeded north through the city to the area where she was to meet their ‘guest.’ As she drove through the city and observed all the people going about their business (including Hanz Freud, who always wanted to talk about his theories on the workings of the human brain which he planned to compile and pass on to his descendents), she was again struck by the greatness of Austria. The country had a staggering amount of beauty; whether one looked upon the snow-capped Austrian Alps, the lush green valleys, or the medieval castles which dotted the country, there could be no lack of admiration for the country’s splendor.

The average person might have been content with Austria’s aesthetics, but as a student of history, Farahilde Johanna’s adoration for her country went even deeper. The biggest reason she was proud to be an Austrian was the country’s history. In the ninth century, Charlemagne acquired the land that would eventually become Austria and gave his new citizens (the native inhabitants) the job of defending his Holy Roman Empire against attacks from the east. In other words, the Austrians were the first line of defense. And even though the Empire had since collapsed, Farahilde took pride in the fact that her ancestors were defenders and warriors. It naturally followed, then, that when the French invaded a few years ago, she sprang into action to defend her country. So what if that involved torturing some French worms and playing sick games with them; they deserved it.

The puttering rumble of her steam cycle, with its constant blowing of exhaust, announced her presence to everyone around as she drove through the farmland that made up the outer edge of Vienna. She was still one of the few people in Austria to own such a contraption. As royalty, she had been able to easily acquire one of the first of these vehicles. She thoroughly enjoyed riding it; it was, after all, a very convenient way to get around. It wasn’t slow and bulky like a steam carriage.

Eventually she arrived at the northernmost edge of the city. It was largely forest beyond this point. She killed the engine and pulled out her pocket watch. According to it, she was early. A rare occasion.

What the hell was Leo thinking, sending her out to meet their ‘guest’ with so little notice? Knowing how he felt about her, he probably did such things just to anger her. Lord knew she was this close to gutting him when he suddenly dumped the marriage news on her.

Although, she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been expecting this day for quite some time. She had fought it as long as she could, but she
was
, after all, a member of a royal family, and as such she had a responsibility to one day marry for political reasons. At least, that was what her whole family had been telling her throughout her entire life.

Please, God, don’t let him be anything like Louis XVI
. Antonia’s husband had ended up being a spineless coward who let his subjects push him around. He wasn’t even strong enough to protect his own wife when they both got hauled off to the guillotine. Her eyes welled up as she recalled the fate of her favorite sister. She would never forgive the French people for what they had done to her and her family.

Her melancholy was broken by the sound of horses coming up the road from the north. It looked like just a regular carriage (no steam involved), but she knew better. It was, she thought, a good way to travel without attracting attention; just one nondescript horse-driven carriage, and no escort to speak of.

It stopped a few yards in front of her. From either side two men in brown civilian suits and matching derby hats disembarked. They surveyed the area for several moments before turning their attention to her.

The one on the right—a fiftyish man with salt-and-pepper hair—said to her in German, “Only the strong survive.”

“Weakness breeds cruelty,” she replied.

Although seemingly satisfied that she had delivered the correct half of the password, they nonetheless kept their guard up. The one on the left—perhaps in his late thirties with dark hair—said, “We still need to see your eyes.”

“Watch how you speak to me,” she warned him.

“We mean no offense, ma’am,” Salt-and-Pepper said. “While you match the description given to us for the most part, we need to verify your eye color.”

She pulled up her goggles and let them rest on the tip of her forehead. “Satisfied?”

Salt-and-Pepper examined her closely for a moment. “Brown,” he confirmed to his partner who then nodded and knocked softly on the door of the carriage.

A young man with dark brown hair and a thin mustache on his upper lip stepped out cautiously. He looked, at least to Farahilde, like a small child brought into the big city for the first time.
At least he doesn’t wear a powdered wig
, she thought somewhat optimistically. Nor did he wear extravagant robes or any of that sort of thing; like his guardians, he was dressed in dull civilian clothing. He was already distinguishing himself from Louis XVI.

He approached the steam cycle (which she had not gotten off of) and stared at her. He looked terrified, as if he had no idea what it was he was supposed to do next. “M-M-M-M-M…” He tried to speak, but couldn’t get any words out.

She, likewise, was at a loss for words. “Um…”

However, he suddenly bowed and blurted out in German, “My name is Frederick William III! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!”

Lord, if you get me out of this now, I will atone for every bad thing I’ve ever done
.

Unfortunately for her, no salvation arrived. Instead, he remained bowed, evidently expecting some sort of response. She gave the only one she could: A sigh. “All right, all right; you can stand up now.” He did so. “I am Farahilde Johanna, as you probably know. We are to be wedded at some point in the coming months.”

He nodded nervously. “It…will be a pleasure getting to know you.”

She said to his aides, “I can take it from here. I’ll get him to the Hofburg in one piece.”

They exchanged dubious glances. “We were expecting the prince to ride in something…a little larger,” Salt-and-Pepper said.

“It’ll be fine.” She then addressed Frederick. “Hop in.”

He looked at the side car attached to the steam cycle. “I-In that?”

She furrowed her brow. “Don’t get any funny ideas. You’re not riding behind me on this thing. The side car.”

He haphazardly maneuvered himself into the metal attachment. His aides both gave defeated shrugs, and then handed Frederick two suitcases she assumed were his. There wasn’t quite enough room in the side car for both, so Frederick simply stacked them on his lap and held the top one with both hands.

When she was satisfied that he was as ready as he was going to be, she said to the aides, “Farewell, then.” Without another word, she brought down her goggles and started up the steam cycle. It rumbled and chugged to life, and Farahilde swiftly turned the whole thing around one hundred and eighty degrees. The steam cycle took off in the direction she had come from, back to the Hofburg.

On the return trip, she decided she needed to know something about Frederick William III if she was going to marry him. “So,” she yelled over the wind and the rumbling of the bike, trying to come up with something. “You are younger than me, yes?”

“Twenty-two years old,” he replied.

Well, the age difference wasn’t so bad, she supposed. “And your father has sent you down here so we can get acquainted?”

“Yes. As he explained it, this is to be a sort of grace period for us. If there are obstacles to our compatibility, hopefully we can address them before the wedding.”

She could think of a few issues off the top of her head. “What have you heard about me?”

He seemed reluctant to answer. “Well…”

“Out with it.”

She couldn’t hear him sigh with the noise around them, but she was pretty sure he did. “They say…that you are…” He seemed to choke back a lump of fear in his throat. “Undisciplined, rebellious, lacking in social graces. One rumor even has it you nearly started a war with France by murdering its last king.”

There was really only one thing she could say to that. “That’s mostly true. But let’s get one thing straight: I didn’t murder him. I killed him with the OK of the provincial government that had just taken power. And, I might add, that so-called king had just been convicted of treason.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” he assured her. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. This marriage must happen for the good of both our countries.”

Did he seriously just say that? For that matter, did he really believe his own statement? “Aren’t you worried I’ll end up killing you horribly? I’ve been known to do that.”