Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Three
20th October 1966
Plänterwald-Treptow, Berlin
It was quiet here even though it was in the middle of a large city, Kat had to give it that much. Looking around at the trees, the leaves were still on the trees and it was hardly a wonder that Louis liked the place. She had come to take a look for herself when Louis had spoken of it the last time they had talked. He said that he was going to be out of town on personal business and had asked Kat to keep an eye on this project in his absence. Kat suspected that if she found out where a car show or similar event was happening this week it would be where he could be found.
This was to be the sight of the new Winter Residence and the secrecy surrounding the project was intense and the architect was in discussions with the firm contracted to clear the area so that the footing for the building’s foundation could be laid down next spring. Kat knew that eventually what this plot of previously unused patch of land situated on the point of a bend in the River Spree was to be used for would leak out and then security would become a major headache. While Louis Ferdinand was content to live in the penthouse apartment that Kat leased to him for now, he felt that he would need to establish a permanent location for the Royal Court to conduct its business without the hurdles associated with the former Winter Palace which was used only for official functions. Even without the security concerns of the old Residence with its location on a major thoroughfare and residential buildings right next to it, the wiring was an improvised, obsolete fire hazard and the heating bill alone would have eventually bankrupted the Hohenzollern trust.
Recently, Louis had signed the papers leasing the Hohenzollern Palace to the Government. The plan was for the Palace to become the Berlin-Brandenburg Museum of History after substantial renovations were complete. It seemed the perfect use for a building where much of that history had taken place over the previous two and a half centuries. The new Winter Residence was going to be just large enough to serve its official function but would lack the imposing nature of the buildings that past Emperors had used. The area around it was to remain wooded to help ensure the family’s privacy.
In many ways the new residence would reflect Louis’ interpretation of the role that he played within German society, one that couldn’t be more different from his father and grandfather. Kat had seen the public opinion polling that had been conducted where the questions about Louis Ferdinand and the Royal family had been asked. While she didn’t put a whole lot of weight on such things, people seemed to think that Louis was approachable and seemed to understand ordinary people. It wouldn’t be too hard to guess what people might have had to say about an infamous womanizer like Louis’ father and they probably would have been even less complementary towards Wilhelm the II after the First World War and Spring Revolution almost upended the country.
Laupheim, Württemberg
The matronly woman who met him the entrance to the Amelie Beese Barracks, had looked Louis in the eye and told him that she didn’t give a shit who he was, the regulations said that no man was allowed into the Barracks without prior authorization and an escort. She pointed to a chair and told him to wait. The woman was wearing the uniform of an Oberstabsfeldwebel in the Luftwaffe and the turbine mechanics patch on her sleeve showed her specialty when she wasn’t playing den mother to the women’s barracks in Laupheim. Neither Louis nor his security detail were inclined to argue with her. She was perhaps a meter and a half tall and weighed in at 45 kilos but had the disposition of a rottweiler. The regulations were also firmly on her side.
Those who violated them were asking for a visit from the Tigress looking to sharpen her claws according to popular belief. Considering that Louis knew the Tigress extremely well, he was all for encouraging that belief though mostly because his daughter was living here at the moment.
This was far different than when Louis had made his last visit to Laupheim just days earlier. That had been in an official capacity. This time it was because he needed to talk to Kristina of a matter of great importance.
After several minutes of waiting, Louis was escorted by the Oberstaber and another equally formidable looking Stabsgefreiter who was about ten years younger through the barracks. The feel was certainly different than most barracks he had been in. There were the expected bulletin boards, notices, charts, and motivational posters on the walls. The horizontal spaces were where the similarities ended, a vase with red roses in it were on one table, another had a goldfish bowl with two goldfish moving the red gravel around the bowl oblivious to the world around them. He couldn’t imagine either of those things being seen or lasting as long as they apparently had here in a typical barracks.
The Oberstaber knocked on a door, until Kristina answered. Her hair was still wet from the shower and she was wearing one of those oversized blue and white striped shirts that she had slept in since she was a child. Louis had been told that she had been dragooned into being the Liaison Officer for an upcoming joint operation with the Americans. Until the last week neither the troops from the German KSK nor those from the American 1st SFG had shown much inclination to work together. Neither of them had made it easy for Kristina as she had tried to get them to see that they had a common goal.
“You look tired” Louis said as he entered her room. As a Stabsarzt she was entitled to have it to herself, Kristina wasn’t alone though because Rauchbier greeted him.
“I’ve been busy” Kristina said. She was unlikely to say that she had to deal with small minded men with outsized egos all day, but it was the truth and that had to be exhausting.
“I’ve news for you, you’ve been extended an invitation to join the Johanniter Order” Louis said, only to see the frown on Kristina’s face deepen. Somewhere along the line, she had come to hate what she felt was being offered to her by virtue of her birth as opposed to merit. For Louis it had come to be a bit of an annoyance.
“Your stepmother suggested that your name be put forward to join the Order” Louis said, “I thought that the more conservative members would never allow it, but I was told that they have come to feel that a woman entering the order is an inevitability. They feel that a young woman with your accomplishments would be a perfect candidate to be a Knight… er, Dame, I guess you would be called that, of Honor. If nothing else, it will get you away from here for a couple of days.”
Kristina just looked at him, confused.
