Grasping for the Crowns (The Powers Book 2)
Page 24
“I told you, I won’t eat you,” Rudolph sounded equal parts amused and annoyed.
István finished his sekt. “Your Grace, I have no doubt of that. Pardon me if I have some doubts about your friend’s self-restraint, however.”
“Have you ever brushed Logres?”
“No, Your Grace, but I have heard stories. Something concerning the reason that the next closest Powers are east of Paris, along the Rhine, and in Scandinavia. Were east of Paris,” István corrected.
“Pannonia is wary of Logres.” A long pause. “And I still won’t eat you. Your taste is too bad.”
The assassination attempt backfired. István, sitting at the breakfast table in the house in Budapest, read the election results from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, Galicia, and Kraina, and smiled. It was the first smile in several weeks, and it made his face feel odd.
“Papa?” István turned and saw Imre walking into the room, followed by his nurse and a horse on a string. He smiled wider, and the boy dropped the string to launch himself across the room. István crouched and caught him.
“Oof! You are a big boy indeed, Imre.” His father and mother would never have permitted the familiarity that István indulged in, but well, times had changed and he lived in a different world. He’d come to accept it at last, for the sake of Imre and little Margit Barbara, Judit’s daughter. She’d given birth not long after reaching Budapest. Her husband had died in Munich, caught by the Communists as he tried to keep them from following his pregnant wife and his mother as the women fled. Now Judit lived with her brother once more, a wounded shadow of her former self.
Imre chattered about his toy and about going to play with his Rozemberk cousins. István held him in his lap, let him sample milk coffee, and hoped Barbara wasn’t looking down at him and patting her foot for indulging their son. After fifteen minutes or so, Imre wiggled his way to the floor and trotted off again, intent on something or other. István let him go after ruffling his fair hair.
The four nations and the Galician province had all voted to remain in the Commonwealth despite pressure from the Entente. István smiled again. The French Foreign minister would have a screaming fit, even though he hated Germany far more than he hated Austria. There would be repercussions, of course. None of the French, British, Italian, or other delegates seemed to be inclined to believe that any non-German residents of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire truly wanted to remain under Josef Karl Habsburg’s scepter. Given the chance, they’d probably have carved the empire into even smaller pieces, like they were busy doing in Southwest Asia. Although Italy now had her own hands full with that idiot poet-pilot with dreams of a new Roman state based on the Adriatic. Serves the perfidious bastards right, István growled. And Romania had taken its chunk of Transylvania.
The assassination attempt and deaths of innocent bystanders had united the nations of the former empire. Even István had been a little surprised by the strength of honest relief and joy from most people that the royal family had survived. For now, people wanted stability more than full independence, and the Habsburg Commonwealth seemed to be the best way to achieve that. The pictures of flags and bunting, the letters of support, and the stories of the prayers of thanksgiving touched even Archduke Rudolph. The Empress’s insistence that she and her eldest daughter visit the injured civilians in the hospital, and the fact that they personally ensured that the families of the dead and wounded had support, helped as well.
I wonder what the French papers will say about the referenda? Nothing polite, I’m certain, especially not from the Socialists. The rumors about the additional punishment Poincaré intended to inflict on Germany, and on the former empire’s allies, boded ill for the future if the other Entente nations continued to support him. István suspected the Americans would grow bored and find something else to do. Like other young things, they had a short attention span. The whispers about French involvement in Czechoslovak and Hungarian politics concerned him more, as did the growing mutters from the new Liberals and the nationalist parties about redistribution of land and wealth “for the good of the nation.” Well, first those two groups would have to agree on which “nation,” and that would likely keep them occupied well into the 1940s at least, he mused. Andre Lüger’s fall from grace had left Labour flopping like a carp on land, and Florian Horthy had resigned in disgrace. The referendum had cut the MSP back to a ghost of itself.
István felt a bit like a carp out of water too. He missed the house in Kassa more than he’d anticipated. They’d removed every personal possession and all the furnishings that they could before the border changed. More importantly, all his staff and allies had gotten clear. The trouble he’d anticipated had come with a vengeance not long after the assassination attempt, as the Communists tried to seize the city. The rioting and looting had left parts of the city smoking for days, including the area of the townhouse. But he’d gotten his people out, and the House would survive. And, István reminded himself, he’d needed to refurnish the Budapest house, as well as an apartment in Vienna for Judit to use if she wanted it. The Kassa furnishings held no memories for her.
István didn’t like the new world, but he was not going to try to cling to the old one. Imre, Erzsébet, and little Barbara belonged to this time and place. And he had a place in the diet again, representing a different district, one that now bordered the new Czechoslovakia. He still harbored grave doubts about the fitness of the vast majority of people to manage a government. After all, he’d been bred and trained to be Head of the House, and he could barely manage that! Oh, most people meant well, and probably tried a little, at least now, but once the novelty of self-government and voting wore off, well, God had made people in their places for a reason.
He folded the paper, finished the sausage that Imre had started, and tried to decide which of the day’s tasks he needed to battle first. Probably the House’s business accounts, then his political correspondence, and then whatever else decided to appear at his door. Beneath the energy, the world felt drained and exhausted, more so than the grey morning alone could have inspired. The land and people seemed tired, but also pensive.
He suspected that Archduke Rudolph had been correct. Russia had turned her attentions inward, murdering thousands more of her own people, much as the Turks had done to the Christians in their lands. Serbia, now the main chunk of a new Yugoslavia, coveted the new Slovi-Croatia, but feared the chaos to the east and west too much to grab for those lands. It seemed to István as if a group of dogs sat in a circle around a steak, all wanting to snatch the meat but none willing to risk the others attacking him for moving first.
“This feels too much like the quiet before a storm,” Rudolph had said, blowing a stream of cigarette smoke into the grey sky.
“I have no doubt of that, Your Grace,” István had sighed. “No doubt at all.”
But the House survived, and the Commonwealth of Three Crowns survived, and his children prospered. István heard a loud thump from overhead and wondered who had done what. Two pairs of little feet pattered down the hall upstairs, and he closed his eyes. How exactly had he, Mátyás, and Judit lived to adulthood? He imagined Janos, chuckling at the prospect of posthumous revenge.
“I’m going to be in my office,” he told Ferenk.
The butler looked up toward the top of the stairs. “I believe that is very wise, my lord.”
Magda’s voice drifted down, along with a wail of protest. “Master Imre, you are a very naughty little boy.” Came the sound of a hand connecting with a cloth-covered rump. “You have been told not to.” His wail drowned her out as she carried Imre and led his sister back to the nursery.
“Ferenk, remind me, how old do they have to be before the boarding school on Lake Balaton will accept boys?”
“Eight, I believe, my lord.”
Perhaps he could leave the children with Aunt Claudia up in the mountains until then. No, István realized as he climbed the stairs to get ready to depart for the office, Imre would probably have d
isassembled the lodge before he turned four, and Agmánd would resign in protest, assuming Erszébet didn’t chase him as far as Poland. Thank you, Lord, for the children, for Magda, and for the problems of peace.
As Szombor assisted him with his topcoat, István was, for the moment, content.
Alma T. C. Boykin was born in the Midwest, moved to the Great Plains, and after a brief period living in places where trees almost outnumber people, returned to the plains. She escaped college with a BA, worked for a living, then returned for an advanced degree some years later. When not writing or rotating the cat, she teaches and does a few other odds and ends. Hobbies include cooking, reading, hiking, geology, astronomy, and music.
Visit Alma’s blog at AlmaTCBoykin.Wordpress.com
A Carpathian Campaign
Book 1 of The Powers.
István Eszterházy, Half-Dragon, heir to House Szarkany-Kárpátok, cavalry officer and gentleman of the world finds that world shaken when an assassin’s shot starts a war. Nothing goes as he had planned and István discovers that the strongest things in the world can also be the most fragile.
Grasping for the Crowns
Book 2 of The Powers.
István Eszterházy tries to maintain control as the British, Americans, Italians, and regional nationalists work the shatter the Empire.
Coming in 2018...
The Powers continues with Against a Rising Tide (Interwar alt-history).
Keep up with the latest books in The Powers by visiting Alma’s blog: AlmaTCBoykin.Wordpress.com
Elizabeth of Starland
Book 1 of the Colplatschki Chronicles.
Stubborn as a mule? No, stubborn AND her mule.
Colonial Plantation Ltd. abandoned ColPlat XI, writing the planet off as a tax loss after a series of severe Carrington-type events. Now, four hundred years later, Laurence V of Frankonia wants to write Elizabeth von Sarmas out of his kingdom, but like her Lander ancestors, Elizabeth refuses to roll over and die.
To survive, she needs to cross the continent, thread her way through a holy war, and find friends in the Eastern Empire—an impossible task for a sheltered gentlewoman. Or is it? Never underestimate a woman with a mission and a mule.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Starland-The-Colplatschki-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00HFEWKXY/
Elizabeth of Donatello Bend
Book 2 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Elizabeth grows into her duties as colonel and lady of Donatello Bend, and makes a fateful enemy.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B00KKY2G1M
Elizabeth of Vindobona
Book 3 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Ten years after Elizabeth reaches the Empire, court politics and military command aren’t the only things she has to deal with. A marriage proposal, an assassination attempt, and a siege on the Imperial Capital bring new challenges... and new opportunities.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B00LNE7D2U
Elizabeth and Empire
Book 4 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Twenty years after the events of Elizabeth of Vindobona, an untried emperor sits the throne while courtiers scheme. Elizabeth must navigate politics, religion, her relationship with Lazlo, and the Frankonians’ wrath in this fourth book of the Colplatschki Chronicles.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Empire-Colplatschki-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B00PNW640U
Peaks of Grace
Book 5 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Margurite deSarm knows that she cannot govern the Sarm lands alone. But her husband, Gregory Berlin of Louvat, refuses to fulfill his duties. As Marta attempts to undo her marriage, Odile Rheinhart discovers her own unique calling. In their own complimentary ways, over ten years the two women work to keep the Sarm Valley free from the machinations of Phillip of Frankonia while balancing family, duty, and desires.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B00S1XGJSA
Circuits and Crises
Book 6 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
The Turkowi begin their advance from the south as a fight between brothers threatens the Empire.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B00UZP7QFM
Blackbird
Book 7 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Charles Malatesta will defend his inheritance or die trying.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YHXJ3A4
Marie’s Tale
Novella
Another side of the story of Duke Aquila Starland.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B00MW7YODI
Forcing the Spring
Book 9 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Too soon grown, too late wise.
Pjtor Adamson Svendborg seethes as his elder half-sister and her favorite play at ruling NovRodi, ignoring corruption and courting danger. Pjtor and his half brother Isaac the Simple must find a way to wrench NovRodi free of her clutches, and of the Harriers who raid, kidnap, and destroy all they touch. Doing so will take Pjtor over the sea to New Dalfa and a new world. Can he learn what he needs, fast enough, to save NovRodi? And to defeat those who prefer the old ways, who would drag his homeland back into the chaos years?
But the damage done to Pjtor the child could bring down Pjtor the man.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Forcing-Spring-Colplatschki-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B01LYU9GDD
Golden Summer
Book 10 of the Colplatschki Chronicles
Early ripe, early rotten, or so the proverbs claim.
Pjtor Adamson Swendborg defeated the Harriers and opened NovRodi to the lands across the White Sea. But his wife has not born another living child, and there are whispers that Godown has cursed her or him. He chafes at the old men and old ways that surround him. He may be emperor, but even he must bend to the will of the nobles and the church. As Pjtor wrestles with his past, he discovers that defeated enemies do not always stay defeated.
In his haste to save his world, Pjtor’s impatience may undo all that he has won so far.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/dp/B073WDVK6D
Coming in 2018...
Book 8 of the Colplatschki Chronicles, Fountains of Mercy: The Great Fires and the founding of the Babenburg and Peilov lines.
And more...
Keep up with all the latest books by Alma T C Boykin on her blog: AlmaTCBoykin.Wordpress.com
(Listed in chronological order from the perspective of Rada Ni Drako.)
Hubris: The Azdhagi Reborn
Book 1 of the Cat Among Dragons prequel series.
When the Azdhagi overreach the limits of their science, only a few individuals stand between them and chaos. Three interlinked disasters start a chain reaction of tragedy and triumph leading to the re-creation of Azdhag society.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Hubris-Azdhagi-Reborn-Alma-Boykin-ebook/dp/B00J8UCN9O
Renaissance: A Novel of Azdhag Survival
Book 2 of the Cat Among Dragons prequel series.
When the Empire calls, dare an Azdhag disobey? Two generations after the Great Relocation and the Azdhag Empire threatens to pull apart as Great Lords, colony residents, and Freetown inhabitants struggle to control their worlds. A ghost from the past forces the King-Emperor to send the Prince Imperial and a most reluctant Tartai of Tarkeela to the colony on Pokara. Trouble, madness, and carpentry await.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Renaissance-Azdhag-Survival-Alma-Boykin-ebook/dp/B01E0CKMX8
A Cat Among Dragons
Book 1 in the Cat Among Dragons series.
They started it. Rada Ni Drako just wanted to do her job, but her father’s people declared her a corrupt half-breed, one
unfit to live. Now she’s on the run and in need of a new identity and a job. When she fled back in time to join an interstellar mercenary company, she did not anticipate becoming the Pet of House Nagali, becoming the student of a mysterious but very well connected Healer and diplomat, and fighting her way into power as the only sentient mammal in the court of a reptilian empire. And falling flat on her face several times in the process.
This collection of short stories, the first in the Cat Among Dragons series, begins the saga of Rada Ni Drako and her odd assortment of allies. Join the adventure as Rada takes on her father’s people and tries to keep her head, and the rest of her, intact.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/A-Cat-Among-Dragons-ebook/dp/B00AMNB0N6
Hairballs
Short fiction from the Cat Among Dragons series.
Rada, Yori, and some of the other Scouts are unwinding from a mission when they hear that the Division is testing new battle armor. Yori gets the idea that someone needs to put the armor through its paces, and against Rada’s better judgment, Yori ropes her into the adventure.
Available from Amazon.com at:
www.amazon.com/Hairballs-Among-Dragons-Story-ebook/dp/B00B1DR544
Justice and Juniors
Book 2 in the Cat Among Dragons series.
A collection of short stories following the exploits of Rada Ni Drako in a universe full of danger, excitement, and strange alien species.