Chapter One Thousand Five Hundred Seventy-Nine
13th July 1963
Potsdam
Kat had told Asia that her sitting in the window all afternoon watching the world go by was bad for her and she had driven Asia to the Palace because Charlotte had asked to see her. It turned out that Kat was right about getting out of the house. Being at the center of attention in the Court of the Empress was a bit overwhelming. Charlotte was full of questions. When was it due? Did the scans reveal that it was healthy? Was also determined if it was a boy or girl?
Asia ran through the answers quickly. At any time. It was healthy enough to be stomping on Asia’s bladder, the scan didn’t need to tell her that. They were also fairly certain that it was a boy. She had mentioned her bladder.
With that the Empress dismissed her to go to the lavatory, but not before telling Asia that they had a great deal to discuss when she came back. She refused Kat’s help as she made her way there. Afterwards, Asia took a minute to wash her face in the sink. Looking at her face in the mirror, she saw how blotchy her skin was and the dark rings under her eyes. For the thousandth time that day she thought about how this was no way to live.
Opening the door to the lavatory, Asia was greeted by a woman who she had never been introduced to. She recognized her all the same though. That was why it wasn’t a surprise when she slapped Asia across the face. All Asia could think about was how if she wasn’t heavily pregnant, she would have made short work of her.
“Whore” The woman hissed at her with an… English? accent.
“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced Margret” Asia said, completely ignoring how her cheek was smarting.
“You saw fit to fuck my husband enough times for this… THIS TO HAPPEN!” Margret said looking at Asia’s belly, her voice raising as she said that.
“It only takes once” Asia said, “And I didn’t see anyone with a gun to his head. If he had told me he was married, I might have told him to get lost.”
Margret glared at her and she raised her hand to slap Asia again, but Kat caught her hand. “You need to go before you make matters worse” Kat said mildly to Margret.
“No matter what the Emperor says, I will not have your bastard son living in my house” Margret said before stalking off.
“What was that about?” Asia asked.
“Her husband approached Louis Ferdinand and asked if he could legitimize your child when it comes using what Wilhelm the 2nd did for Lagertha von Wolvogle as precedent” Kat said, “The alternative is that particular family will be effectively extinct once he passes away. And you just told the Empress that you are expecting a boy in front of his wife… Why did you have to have an affair with a Großherzog? It made this an even bigger mess than it needed to be.”
“I was pretty messed up at the time” Asia replied, “You ought to know better than anyone that contraception isn’t perfect.”
Kat paused and gave her a look like if she wanted to slap Asia herself.
“I hate to ask this” Kat said, “But are you even sure it is his?”
“He was the only man that I have had sex with, in the last year” Asia said, not liking it, but understanding why the question was asked. “Satisfied?”
“Hardly” Kat said, “But this could be a way to salvage some good from this situation.”
“How did that work out for Gerta?” Asia asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “This is why I didn’t want anyone to know who the father was.”
Kat frowned, Ritter Manfred von Wolvogle had made sure that his daughter inherited his title and the bulk of his estate through his relationship with the Emperor. Even so, his wife had done her level best to make Gerta and her mother’s lives miserable until she had finally died of a stroke just a couple years earlier. That whole thing had dragged on far longer than it needed to have.
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It was outrageous. Kiki had learned when she had arrived in Rangsdorf that her departure from the FSR had already been arranged ahead of her. She was promoted to Hauptmann and transferred to the Staff of the Emperor, meaning her father had asked for her personally. That meant that she had been in Rangsdorf just long enough to learn that before she had headed right back to Potsdam.
Her response to that was to do as little as possible over the prior days, sulking in her suite on the couch, watching television with Hera and Rauchbier sitting on her. Sure, having Rauchbier meant that she would need to walk him whenever he needed to go out, but she knew the Sanssouci Palace better than anyone else alive. It made avoiding people fairly easy. That was why she was out in the early afternoon sun watching Rauchbier when her father came looking for her. Before she had left Rangsdorf, Sigi had told her that it would probably be good for her to take Rauchbier with her because there was a bit of concern about him. Like almost all dogs he was a mooch and it was impossible to keep someone from slipping him a treat. Sigi was worried that he was going to finish growing up and then end up extremely fat.
Watching Rauchbier run around, Kiki was a bit annoyed. The reason he had needed to go out seemed to have been forgotten the instant he was outside. “I think I should have brought a photographer with me” Kiki heard her father say, “Let everyone see Kiki as opposed to Princess Kristina.”
Kiki was wearing one of her old Hertha jerseys and grey trackpants. Her father would know better than anyone that these were basically her pajamas. She hadn’t bothered to brush out her hair, so it was a mess. It occurred to her that perhaps she would be better off if the world saw her like this. As human as anyone else.
“What do you want?” Kiki asked with some resignation as Rauchbier came running back to her.
“I thought I should tell you why I asked for you to be assigned to my staff” Louis said as Rauchbier was sniffing at his shoes.
“I figured that it was to keep me out of trouble” Kiki replied.
“That would be a bit of a lost cause” Louis said, “Instead I would like to see you to take a turn at diplomacy.”
“That is the exact opposite of keeping me out of trouble” Kiki said, “I would start a war the instant I opened my mouth.”
Louis smiled, “I think you should give yourself a bit more credit” He said, “And I think you will find what I’m asking of you to be fun.”