Re: Blood and Iron

Bruno had unintentionally climbed the social, political, and economic ladder of the German Reich within a period of twenty years. He was now sitting at a position that was damn near untouchable.

He wasn’t just a monarch in his own right, answering directly to the Kaiser, but he was a war hero who every political party worth a damn would literally kill just to have him publicly endorse them. His wealth? Few men in the history of mankind could come close to all that he had accomplished.

The public adored him, the sword and shield of the Reich, a man who no matter how high he grew, never forgot his duty to the people. And his wife had long since been referred to as the Angel of Berlin for the aid she gave to the wounded soldiers, homeless, orphans, and just the general downtrodden in life.

Truly within the borders of the fatherland, there was one type of citizen who despised Bruno, the ancient vampires who clung to their old power like it was their lifeline… One that was rapidly drying up.

Prussia had been among the first European states to adopt Meritocracy, and as a result the German Empire had inherited this mentality in military affairs to be sure. But Bruno had made it a precedent to everything in life.

Military, politics, business. If you couldn’t succeed by your own virtue as a man, then you didn’t deserve the prestige, respect, and wealth that came with it. The old aristocracy was now forced to kneel to the new Tyrolean Prince, one whose own daughters would be married to the future Kaiser and Tsar alike.

Meanwhile, they began to falter in relevance. And while this had been something put on the back pedal because of the war effort, as the years began to pass, and the scars of the Great War began to heal in a way that made it slip into history, more than memory. These ancient bloodlines began to realize that their fundamental way of life was not on a sacrificial altar.

Bruno had built a society that no longer needed them, nor respected them, at least by virtue of their heritage. Rather, it demanded they continuously perform in accordance with their position, and the expectations demanded of it.

This, to a privileged class of people who had been resting on the laurels of greater ancestors so far distant removed from the current generations, they might as well have been Antediluvian in origin. Meant that they did not wish to integrate into this world where nobility was once more tied to duty.

Their ancestors had paid their dues long ago to earn their noble status, so why then should they be expected to continue to pay such a price? And that was the fundamental flaw with nobility as an institution, or as it was prior to the changes Prussia was already working towards by the middle of the 19th century.

Even without Bruno’s interference this rot and decay was being cut out, cleansed and replaced by a new generation of noble warriors, scientists, and industrialists who had earned their dues with sacrifice, honor, and merit.

But this new kind of monarchic society had been crushed before it could truly flourish, only brought back to life in this new timeline as a result of Bruno’s interference. And now he would have to deal with the specters of the past, which sought to continue to leech off the lifeblood of the Reich and its institutions.

It was no wonder that many of them were now gathered together in a palace within the Bavarian Alps. The Great Bavarian King Ludwig II had built this palace, and its fantastical design had been the inspiration for most works of fantasy in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Neuschwanstein Castle was truly a work of beauty, an envy of the world when it came to the grandeur of architecture in a way few other structures could ever compete with. And was so far removed from the centers of power it had managed to emerge nearly unmolested by the wrath and folly of two world wars and the generations which waged them.

At least in Bruno’s past life that is, now, here today in 1918, it was the center of a gathering of ancient noblemen, dressed in extensive uniforms, with medals more gained from nepotism, than through actual service, as they sat and discussed how to hold on to their waning influence, and deal with the man they held responsible for it.

A familiar face was here, albeit far older, and more haggard than the last time Bruno had seen decades ago. No, it was not Heidi’s father. The man had passed away some time in 1909, and she had been prevented from attending the funeral altogether by her scornful half-siblings.

Rather, the man who sat in this meeting, listening to his older brother negotiate with other ancient families on personal petty matters prior to discussing joint cooperation in bringing Bruno down was none other than the foolish Prince of Lippe who had challenged Bruno to a duel over the offense of striking his woman.

Bruno had humiliated this man in front of the Kaiser, and half of Germany’s upper nobility. A lowly Junker’s son had left scars across his body and face so horrific they had never even begun to fade with the passing of time.

Unlike the scar on Bruno’s own face having been earned with pride and honor during academic fencing, these were wounds of a man trounced in a “duel” by a far younger adolescent boy, and in a challenge over the honor of a bastard girl.

Julius had never forgotten this humiliation, but while he basked in the wealth and luxury of his family’s fortune, Bruno had built himself into a titan of a man. One with the wealth, power, respect, and alliances to stand among the world’s greatest men.

How could Julius ever avenge this insult that had been permanently cut into his flesh as a daily reminder of his own mediocrity? Most certainly never by his lonesome, but this was a gathering of powerful and ancient forces.

His wife Klara had aged far worse than her younger-half sister. Heidi had been blessed by Chronos, as time itself seemed to only kiss her cheeks as it passed by, providing age in the most graceful of areas, while still maintaining the vibrance and beauty of a woman a decade younger.

Klara however looked like father time hit her over the face with the book, easily five to ten years older in appearance and she really was. Having to see her bastard sister who she used to torment as a child for being “too pretty” being referred to by the public, and even her own sons as “Berlin’s Angel” was a deeply infuriating blow to her ego as the lawful daughter of their father.

For all of her life she could lord over the fact over Heidi, that she was still a true princess at the end of the day. But then came Bruno’s rise to power in Russia, in Austria, and In Germany.

Heidi wasn’t just a princess born of royal blood, albeit a bastard of passion, no she was a genuine Grand Princess, Royal Consort to the newly crowned Grand Prince of Tyrol, an actual monarch beneath the Kaiser, rather than a mere mediatized Prince whose royalty was in name only.

She too could not hide her contempt for the discussion being had by the members of their own families who wielded the actual authority to do something about Bruno. But they were cautious…

Too cautious, so much so they appeared to even fear the very idea of expressing ill will towards the Lion of Tyrol aloud, despite how much they internally felt the very sentiment with every fiber of their being.

Julius and Klara naturally knew their place here, but seeing these old men use alternative terms, stepping around the blatant issue they were here to discuss in the first place only tested their patience.

However, ultimately, it was one of the Princes of Bavaria, the host of this meeting. Who spoke his thoughts out loud? He was not the current Reigning King of Bavaria, or even the rightful heir, yet he had the gall to use his family’s possessions to summon this treasonous meeting. And because of this, he could no longer sit by and watch these old men refuse to address his reason for doing so.

“Let’s just say it as it is… and stop avoiding the issue entirely shall we? Bruno von Zehntner must die…. There’s no other way to say it… If he is killed now, the Kaiser and Tsar can be convinced to break the engagements that have been proposed between the man’s daughters and their future successors.

But the longer we wait, and certainly the longer we avoid the topic altogether, the quicker this window of opportunity will slip us by. Because if we continue to do nothing, then our time will truly come to an end, here and now… And I am unwilling to go quietly into the night, even if my family has chosen peace with the so-called Wolf of Prussia.

SO cast your lots and be done with it!”

Silence permeated the air for a long time, as few had the nerve to step forward and agree with such an incendiary statement.