Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Ninety-Nine
12th December 1958
Berlin
The dormitory on the Humboldt campus was still fairly new as these things went. The presence of Kiki had generated a bit of excitement at the start of the term until it sunk in that she was just another student who would be seen around the common areas every single day. She had even gone so far as putting her name in to share a room with another student. Overall, Kiki found the whole thing to be rather amusing when she took the time to think about. Listening to other students complain about living in the dormitory was hilarious.
Kiki had come directly from living in a military barracks where she shared an open bay with twelve other young women. A door that closed, a lukewarm at best shower that you shared and not enduring staggeringly long days in training. The other students had no idea of the relative luxury. Kiki had mentioned this at a family diner a few months earlier that her father had insisted that she needed to attend. She had been advised by Charlotte that she should probably keep that opinion to herself. The other students probably wouldn’t want to hear it. While Kiki was still trying to make up her mind about her stepmother, she had to admit that it was good advice.
It had been during that meal that her father had announced that over the last few years he had given his children wide latitude towards pursuing their own interests. Now that time was coming to an end. There was a new Government in power and while it was comprised mostly of those who understood the stability that came from having him as a figure who was above politics. There were still many who didn’t like the idea of an unelected, possibly unaccountable Head of State, even as a figurehead. When given a choice, the three oldest had all started careers in the services. That was a good thing, however the secrecy that surrounded them needed to be lifted. They were leading by example and people needed to know.
While all of that was understandable, Kiki had a feeling that there was probably more than just that driving her father’s comments. Like everyone else, she was just going to have to wait for the other shoe to drop. The months since had been bad enough. For some odd reason, much of the public still thought that Kiki was twelve. Learning that she had joined the Medical Service with the intention of becoming a Field Medic and eventually an Emergency Surgeon had come as a surprise to them. There had been a few times that she had found herself being stalked by photographers at the Hospital and at the University. She had discovered the fastest way to get them to leave her alone was to wear the white surgical scrubs that she wore on duty anyway. Another dozen photographs of her wearing those would be worthless to them.
Tonight, was a part of what her father as Emperor was asking of them. It had however turned out to be more complicated than Kiki had figured it would be. Umberto the Second of Italy was making a State visit to Germany with his wife Marie-José and two youngest daughters. The Italian King and Queen were popular in Italy, however rumor had it that while many hoped that Umberto would live a long life, his son Vittorio was being encouraged to take up dangerous sports. The rub was that the two Italian Princesses were flirting with Freddy and Michael while Suga was shooting daggers with her eyes at Freddy every chance she got. As always, Freddy was largely oblivious to what was going on.
“Everyone can tell you’re jealous” Kiki said, “The last thing you need is for those vultures to catch wind.”
She nodded towards the press who were covering this event from the margins.
“How do you put up with them?” Suga asked, “In Japan we would have them flogged.”
“No, you wouldn’t” Kiki replied, “It’s just a very different culture there. Your family is held in far greater reverence than mine is, so you wouldn’t need to.”
Suga just frowned. She had been devoting herself to her studies and Freddy returning from Vietnam had not exactly been a part of her plans. Kiki got the impression that she liked the version of Freddy that she had gotten in the letters. What he was like in person fell a bit under her expectations. From what Kiki had observed, any relationship between Suga and Freddy would probably be a volatile one. At the same time, Suga would push him to be a better person. Kiki’s hope was that her brother would recognize the value in that. As opposed the what she regarded as the worst aspect of him, Freddy tended to always take the path of least resistance when he was pressed to make a hard choice.
“What is their story?” Suga asked, looking at Umberto and Marie-José. She was obviously trying to change the subject to something more comfortable for her.
“The King of Italy and his wife” Kiki replied, “Do you see anything different?”
“It’s like there is a distance between them” Suga said.
“It is a State marriage” Kiki said with emphasis on is, “That is why I told my mother that I didn’t want that for myself.”
“Perhaps” Suga said, “But they came across more like good friends, rather than a husband and wife when I was introduced to them.”
“Then they got the best we could have hoped for a generation or two ago” Kiki replied.
Suga didn’t respond to that. She still had what was very much an outsider’s perspective here, so she obviously saw things differently than Kiki. As odd as Suga seemed at times, Kiki always had to remind herself that she must be equally odd.
