Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Thirty
25th April 1955
Souda Bay, Crete
When the SMY Hohenzollern IV steamed away from Palestine it had felt like everyone had let out a breath that they didn’t know they were holding. As per the plan, the Hohenzollern had gone to Crete so that everyone would have a chance to decompress for a few days after a trip that had secretly been a diplomatic minefield. In a few days the Hohenzollern would be bound for Athens so that the Royal family could fly back to Berlin and life would go back to normal.
It was nice to see the Emperor and Empress spend time on the beach with their children like if they were an ordinary family on vacation. On this trip it was noticeable that Freddy had started to get attention of the female sort. That was hardly a surprise and at sixteen keeping him out of trouble was become quite a task for the First Foot. This was just one more wrinkle to that. Kat had made it clear to them that there would be no excuses if anything happened before its proper time. She didn’t like that she had even needed to make that clear. Mikey was only a year younger, but he was not as outgoing, nor was he the natural athlete his older brother was. Next to Freddy, Mikey might as well be invisible.
Kiki presented a different set of problems for Kat. She remembered what it was like to be Kiki’s age. Having to get used to a body that had suddenly grown unfamiliar and like Kat she would take years to come into her own. She was tall, gawky if there was a word for it. It wasn’t helped by her having a narrow face, the round lenses of the steel framed glasses that she wore and the way that she wore her hair really did have the odd effect of making her look a bit like the whippet that her brothers joked that she looked like. Kat was a bit horrified that thought occurred to her.
Kat had also listened in on the conversation that the Princess had with that American tourist. Kiki was the sort that older women wanted to talk with and help where they could, the proverbial little sister. Kat had realized that Kiki was far more comfortable being someone else rather than herself. For Kat, it was all too familiar. The name that Kiki had picked for herself was a good one, one that did not immediately identify her as royalty and it might be useful in the future. Kiki had mentioned to Olivia Anderson that when she was old enough, she was going to join the Joint Medical Service and eventually become a Doctor. All so she could help people.
Prince Louis had been trying to convince the crew of the Hohenzollern to let him try out one of the eight dual-mount 37mm cannons that were on the ship. Perfectly in keeping with his character. Rea and Vicky had enjoyed the trip and the tour of Jerusalem. Now, they were trying to impress the journalists who had accompanied them with their newfound solemnity. What the journalists didn’t know was that they were the straight men in a joke that the Princesses were putting over on them.
For Kat herself, things had turned out quite well. When the Hohenzollern had dropped anchor the day before in Souda Bay the day before, Douglas along with Tatiana and Malcolm were on dock when the launch had pulled into the dock at Souda. After arranging for the outer cabin of Kat’s stateroom to be converted so that her children could sleep there neither Tat and Kol seemed too inclined to sleep much. Between the ship’s crew, the First Foot and the Marines they had discovered that they had a whole lot of extremely fun and terrible influences to meet. Fritz Schafer had said that he would keep an eye on them while Kat and Doug got reacquainted with each other. Presently, the twins were still sleeping having stayed up most of the night though it was almost noon. That gave Kat time to discuss matters with Doug.
“If Kiki is still interested in joining the Joint Medical Service in a few years I have to help her” Kat said.
“That will probably be something that will anger Kira” Doug said, “Especially if you go around behind her back regarding her daughter.”
“I know that” Kat replied, “But you were not there in Naples. Kiki was practically thrown at the two princes who are second and third in line for the Italian throne. She found Vittorio revolting and Amedeo bored her with endless talk about ships. I can tell that Kiki will never be the sort of consort that they might want. She’s too intelligent and ambitious to ever be happy in that sort of role.”
Doug listened, then thought about it for a minute. “Kiki is thirteen now” He said, “That gives you at least three or four years before she can legally join. That might be long enough to get Kira to see your perspective on the matter.”
“When I’m meeting with Kira alone it seems like she always can just buffalo me into doing what she wants” Kat said, “No matter what I do, the Empress seems to box me in until I’ve only one choice and it’s exactly what she wants.”
“I know that you are not going to like to hear this” Doug replied, “But Nancy mentioned that her entire motivation for applying for citizenship and accepting a place in the Order of Louise is so that you have a friend in the Court. Your Aunt Marcella said that she felt that it was something that you needed and asked her to do it.”
Kat was touched, but she also feared for her friend. Once Nancy lost the ambiguity regarding her situation then her former employers were going to be furious.
