by Eric Flint
Noelle stared at her. Much the way she might have stared at a Martian. Or a mutant.
Chapter 53
The United States of Europe All of the major newspapers in the country and many of the smaller ones came out with the story the next morning. It didn't matter what day of the week they normally published. It didn't matter whether they were morning papers or evening papers. Even if the edition was just a two-page special edition, nothing more than a broadsheet printed on both sides, they all published something.
The headlines varied from city to city and province to province, but the gist of them was essentially the same: the emperor recovers chancellor oxenstierna executed for treason hundreds in berlin arrested prime minister wettin freed and returned to power the emperor orders a halt to all conflict the emperor offers a truce to king wladyslaw the emperor to return to magdeburg
The festivities and the parades died down, although they didn't die out entirely. People of whatever political persuasion understood that the coming days were going to be a time of hard bargaining. Most of them figured they'd wait until they saw the end result before they started celebrating again.
Or started crying in their beer.
PART V
March 1636 The thunder and the sunshine
Chapter 54
Magdeburg, capital of the United States of Europe Gustav Adolf arrived in Magdeburg five days after Oxenstierna's killing. His advisers-that mostly meant his cousin Erik, right now-had had to talk him out of flying to the capital. Why take the (admittedly not great) risk, when there was no point to it? There would be no way to start any serious negotiations until Mike Stearns arrived in the capital, after all. Given the situation in Dresden and his responsibilities there, it would take him most of a week before he could leave for Magdeburg.
Besides, Gustav II Adolf-the full and formal name was needed here-could spend a useful two days or so dealing with the men who'd been arrested in the palace. Oxenstierna's minions, as Colonel Hand was wont to call them.
Deal with them he did. The emperor was sorely tempted to have the ringleaders summarily executed. But Wilhelm Wettin talked him out of that. The prime minister pointed out that given the chancellor's freewheeling abuse of power, it would probably make a nice counter-example if the emperor displayed a great deal of restraint at the moment.
Gustav Adolf was a bit dubious of the logic, but since Erik weighed in on Wilhelm's side, he decided to accept their advice. He was still shaken by the results of his temper tantrum and not as inclined as he normally would be to trust his own instincts.
Having ruled out summary executions, however, he drew the line at summary punishments short of removing heads. No way would he accept timid restrictions!
He started by stripping von Ramsla and anyone else whom Oxenstierna had given any sort of official position of all of his noble titles. Then, of all his lands, if he possessed any.
As a strictly legal proposition, his right to do any such thing was eminently disputable-and there was no shortage of lawyers in the USE ready and willing to argue the case. The problem was that Gustav Adolf did not extend the punishment to the heirs of the punishee-but made it very clear that he would do so the moment any of them tried to challenge him.
That made the whole thing a very risky proposition. A man could bow his head, accept the penalties, and slink back home-where, at least for most of them, their families would maintain them in more-or-less the same comfort they'd been accustomed to. Or, he could challenge the emperor in court. If he lost, though, he risked being out in the cold with his entire family.
Most of them accepted the punishments. Only three indicated an intention to file a legal challenge. In all three cases, because their families detested them and would be pitching them into the cold anyway.
That done, the emperor ordered any of Oxenstierna's minions who might conceivably-remotely, at the far edges, barely, tangentially, it didn't matter-have been involved in the plot with the Bavarians to be kept under arrest until such time as Erik Haakansson Hand got around to interrogating them and deciding they were innocent.
At which point, of course, any other penalties would kick in.
That done, the emperor levied heavy fines on anyone who had participated in what he chose to call the "outlaw convention." If the person in question had been a member of Parliament, the fine was doubled and the emperor unilaterally decreed that their election was null and void because they had violated their oath of office by participating in said outlaw convention.
This ruling was very questionable, there being no provision in the constitution that gave the emperor any such power. And, in the end, Gustav Adolf would rescind it two weeks later. The electoral disqualification, that is, not the fines. He did so not because he feared the courts but because Mike Stearns insisted on it and the emperor decided it was not an issue he was prepared to fight over tooth and nail.
That done…
He decided to rest from his labors. He'd already stripped large pieces of hide from just about everyone who'd been arrested, after all. In fact, the only exceptions were two servants who'd been rounded up by mistake.
And by then, the barge was ready to take him to Magdeburg. The very luxurious barge, with the world's best doctor on it and ready to tend to his needs. James Nichols had come up from Magdeburg at the emperor's request. Dresden, capital of Saxony Eddie finally arrived in Dresden just about the same time Gustav Adolf stepped aboard the barge that would take him to Magdeburg. By the time he got there, Denise and Minnie had two more accomplishments to their names. First, they'd produced one of the best-manicured airfields in Europe, certainly in wintertime. Secondly, they'd learned how to use a plow.
"A skill," Minnie pointed out, "that for girls like us is probably as useful as knowing how to grow those little miniature trees-what do they call them? Something Japanese."
"Banzai trees."
Minnie frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Oh, yeah. Japanese people get fanatical about stuff."
They'd had plenty of advance warning, so all three of the women working for Nasi who'd gotten stranded in Dresden were waiting in the little hangar at the airfield with their luggage packed. Noelle had paid off the rent owing on the townhouse already so they were ready to go.
The bolder of the two young hostlers waited with them. He'd continued to help them all the way through, because Minnie had relented and decided he was okay after all, on the cute side, and unlike Denise she had no boyfriend. (Steady boyfriend, anyway. Whenever she was in the mood, Minnie never lacked for male company. One-eyed or not.)
The hostler was sorry to see Minnie go. For that matter, Minnie would miss him herself. It had been a very pleasant few days.
On the other hand, once they left Dresden she'd get over the loss in about fifteen minutes and he'd get over it in twenty. Theirs had been a friendly relationship, but one driven far more by hormones than by hearts.
It didn't occur to any of the women to ask Eddie where they were going until Noelle realized they were flying south.
"Prague," he said. "The boss has a new assignment for us."
"What is it?" asked Minnie from the back of the plane. She and Noelle were crammed into a seat that was really designed for one person. They'd agreed to let Denise have the co-pilot's seat so she could be close to Eddie.
"How should I know? Since when did Francisco Nasi become a blabbermouth?"
"For Chrissake," Denise complained, "we're the ones who'll be doing the assignment. How can we do it if we don't know what it is?"
"Oh, I'm sure he'll tell you once we get there."
An upsetting thought occurred to her. "Aren't you coming with us?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then why didn't he tell you?"
"So I couldn't tell you, of course. Denise, you've really got to brush up on your operational security." Vienna, capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Emperor Ferdinand III gave Janos Drugeth a suspicious look from under lowered brows. "This is not simply an elaborate ploy
on your part to see your American woman again, I hope?"
Janos wouldn't normally roll his eyes in response to an imperial comment-that would border on lese majeste-but he did on this occasion. "Don't be absurd! And how could I have done it anyway? You think the sultan conspires with me?"
Ferdinand kept peering at him from under lowered brows.
Now, Janos threw up his hands with exasperation. "The Americans have a word for this, you know. 'Paranoia.' "
"Yes, I know. Demonstrating once again their tenuous hold on reality. Apparently they think people have no enemies." He sniffed. "It's like having a word for a fear of heights. Completely useless. Of course people are afraid of heights."
Janos decide to wait out the imperial fit. It was true enough that emperors had lots of enemies.
After a few seconds, Ferdinand sighed and slumped back in his chair. "You're certain?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I am." Janos thought formality would help here. "As certain as I've ever been of anything in my life."
He leaned forward in his own chair, his hands extended in what was almost a pleading gesture. "Ferdinand, look at it this way. We're in the beginning of March. If I'm right, Murad will have begun his troop movements. By the end of the month-no later than sometime in April-the first detachments will have begun arriving in Belgrade. Once that happens, you know perfectly well the invasion will be underway."
After a moment, Ferdinand nodded. Like any Austrian ruler, even a young one, he knew the military realities. That great a mobilization of troops was simply too expensive for an empire-any empire, even one with the resources of the Ottomans-to use as a feint or diversion. If large numbers of soldiers started appearing in Belgrade in the spring, the Turks would be at the Austrian border by mid-summer at the latest.
And Austria had lots of spies in Belgrade.
"Go on," he said.
Janos leaned back. "So let's use the intervening weeks to establish private communications with the USE. Which we can do using Nasi in Prague as the intermediary."
The emperor made a little snorting sound. "Who will no doubt use as his own intermediary a certain young woman who already has an Austro-Hungarian connection."
"Well…yes, I imagine he will. It would make sense, after all."
Ferdinand went back to gazing at him from under lowered brows.
"Oh, very well," he said. "Set the process in motion."
Solemnly, Janos inclined his head. He saw no need to burden the emperor with the knowledge that he'd already begun that process a week before, as soon as he returned to Vienna. What else were royal advisers for than to anticipate the decisions of their sovereign? Magdeburg, capital of the United States of Europe Since Mike Stearns hadn't arrived yet, Gustav Adolf spent the first two days after his return to the capital mostly with his daughter. They had not seen each other for almost a year-a year in which a great many things had happened, including an assassination attempt on the girl that came very close to succeeding and the murder of her mother that very same day. Not to mention the near-death of her father and his subsequent mental collapse.
She had held up surprisingly well. No, extraordinarily well. He was very pleased with her.
No, immensely pleased.
Most of that pleasure was personal, nothing more than the sentiments any father would feel when one of his offspring demonstrated good qualities under pressure. Some of it, though, was dynastic and quite cold-blooded. It was a simple fact that the Vasa dynasty had come out of a crisis that might easily have turned into a disaster in better shape than ever. Its position in the United States of Europe was now extremely secure, even if its direct power might have declined a bit.
That was largely thanks to Kristina. The huge, cheering crowds that had greeted Gustav Adolf when he arrived in the capital had been there as much to applaud a father as a monarch. Kristina had been riding with him in the parade, and that much was blindingly obvious.
In a much darker way, the position of the Vasas in Sweden was stronger also. As part of his bargain with Oxenstierna when he took the throne in 1611, Gustav Adolf had restored the Swedish aristocracy's privileges that his grandfather has stripped away from them. Now, with the chancellor's betrayal and subsequent death, the king intended to strip those privileges and powers away from them again.
Not immediately. He had many more pressing matters to attend to first. But it was now clear to him that his grandfather had been right after all. The great man who had founded their line in Sweden had understood something that Gustav Adolf himself had had to learn the hard way-a smart dynasty bases itself on the populace, not on the nobility.
There had been another change in Kristina since he'd seen her last. This one more subtle but just as unmistakable. The girl was simply more cheerful than she'd been before. More at ease in her father's presence, less anxious, less needful of being the constant center of attention. Yet no less affectionate.
Caroline Platzer deserved much of the credit for that transformation, he knew-and silently patted himself on the back for having ignored the complaints about the American woman from the princess' other ladies in waiting. She had become something in the way of a surrogate mother for the girl, in the way the world's very best governesses could manage.
But there was another influence at work also, which the emperor did not miss either.
Prince Ulrik of Denmark. A young man with depths that Gustav Adolf had only half-seen before. To name just one: the dynasty's position in the newly-formed Union of Kalmar had also grown stronger. And that was well-nigh amazing. Had anyone told Gustav Adolf what was about to happen on the eve of the Battle of Lake Bledno, he would have sworn King Christian of Denmark would take advantage of the crisis to destroy the Union.
Yet, he hadn't. Gustav Adolf was quite sure that was mostly because of Ulrik. Not even so much because of his direct influence on his father but simply because of his existence. His nature, as it were. A drunk he might be, and given to grandiosity, but Christian IV was also exceedingly intelligent. On some level he must have realized that any actions he took against the Union of Kalmar would only damage his son's prospects-which were far greater than his own.
Even royal fathers are sometimes capable of putting their children's welfare first.
As Gustav Adolf would now have to do himself. He'd had another seizure on the barge, halfway through his voyage here-and this one had not been triggered off by any rage. It had come completely as a surprise to everyone, even Dr. Nichols. The lesson from the experience, which the American medician had drummed home at tedious length, was that the emperor had to accept the fact that he was now forced to operate within certain understood constraints. For how long? Quite possibly the rest of his life.
That meant he needed to develop surrogates. Men he trusted-but they also had to be men with enormous talents.
A rare combination, that. He'd thought he'd found it once before with Axel Oxenstierna. Being fair-to himself as well as his former chancellor-that productive relationship has lasted for a quarter of a century and might well have lasted for another, had Gustav Adolf not been struck down at Lake Bledno. Oxenstierna was hardly the first man to succumb to great temptation. Had the temptation never arisen, he probably would have remained faithful to his dying day.
Now, the emperor needed to find a replacement for Oxenstierna. And by great good fortune, he thought he'd found three: a son, a cousin and a brother of sorts. Perhaps the Lutheran pastors were correct and God did favor Sweden. It was tempting to think so, certainly. But temptation was ever Satan's favored tool.
Gustav Adolf had already had one long private talk with Ulrik since his arrival in Magdeburg. Two things had come out of it; one specific, one general.
The specific result had been that he'd decided to accept Ulrik's judgment that there had been something hidden in the murder of his wife. Some dark scheme that lay behind it, quite different from the conclusions one might draw from the superficial evidence. So, he'd put Ulrik in charge of ferreting out the truth.
>
Or rather, overseeing the ferret-that Norwegian of his, whose mechanical talents were but a veneer over more ancient and grimmer skills.
The general result had been the first step in a long journey they would take together. A king needed an heir, and an emperor needed one even more. A male heir, if at all possible. Women could rule, and sometimes even effectively-witness the great English queen of the past century. But in the nature of things their position was always a bit tenuous. Far better if their reign could be buttressed by a consort who could double as a king-in-all-but-name.
So, as time passed, a son-in-law would eventually become a son. As close to it as possible, at any rate.
As for the cousin, Gustav Adolf's trust and confidence in Erik Haakanson Hand had proven to be fully justified.
That left the brother of sorts. In the long and often bloody history of monarchy, nothing posed so great a threat to a king as his brothers-yet, at times, could be his greatest strength.
The first outcome was by far the most likely, of course. The Ottomans had made a veritable heathen cult of imperial fratricide. But you didn't need to venture into exotic lands to find the same phenomenon. Next door in France, Monsieur Gaston had been plotting ceaselessly for years against his brother Louis XIII, the rightful king. And while the plots of the newly crowned Fernando I in the Netherlands against his brother Philip III of Spain were not-yet, at least-of such deadly intent, they had still ripped Philip's realm in half.
Still, it wasn't always so. In his long struggle to retain his throne during the English civil wars of the fifteenth century, Edward IV's staunchest supporter had been his brother Richard, the duke of Gloucester. (His other brother George, however, betrayed him as royal brothers more commonly did.) It was true that after Edward's death his brother Richard was accused of having murdered the two legitimate heirs in order to take the throne himself. But Gustav Adolf was skeptical of that claim, given that it was advanced by the man who had overthrown Richard himself.
