A New Power is Rising in Antarctica (Part III)

January 1st, 1889, the Continent of Antarctica.

Flag of the South Polar Confederation.

Topographical Map of Antarctica.

It was known to the Directorate, that Lord Salisbury was an enthusiastic amateur scientist, private inventor and accomplished reader and writer on a great many subjects. He had long had a serious and friendly interest in the varied scientific studies of the Solar Polar colony and a general interest in north and south polar exploration and discovery projects. The Directorate thus had the feeling that the pressure to take a more active role in it's affairs was not his personal desire or even a project he subscribed to. The pressure, likely came from the Foreign Office's own departmental staff and undersecretaries, who were more greatly interested in increasing their own administrative importance and the power of the Foreign Office over potential colonial developements in opposition to the desires of their rivals amoung the Colonial Office and India Office officials.

Consequently, while the Directorate could with some justification write off the Colonial Office's interest in their affairs, and it was unlikely to carry a great deal of weight in British governmental circles at least for the present. The Admiralty and Foreign Office administrative moves were however much more serious and were a great deal more likely to develop into something very real if they preceeded uninterrupted by any moves on either the British government's or the Directorate's respective parts.

The Directorate had three possible options to play in that regard. Number one, being to directly appeal to the British Cabinent of Lord Salisbury to maintain the current status quo, rather then change it in any substantive way. Number two, the Directorate could appeal to Queen-Empress Victoria I, herself directly and ask her to intervene in the dispute. Number Three, was to wage a campaign of persuasion in British and foreign scientific journals and public newspapers to bend popular opinion in the Solar Polar colony's favour, which would make options one and/or two, easier to effect.

Not that either Lord Salisbury or Queen Victoria were likely to be swayed by mere public opinion both being strong minded and not easily intimidated, they would take note of it when making their decision at least. The British Parliament, particularly the House of Commons, however was much more susceptible to public pressure and lobbying efforts. The House of Lords was generally less prone to acting on public opinion but it's decisions could still be influenced subtly if one knew what levers to throw.

A New Power is Rising in Antarctica (Part II)

January 1st, 1889, the Continent of Antarctica.

Flag of the South Polar Confederation.

Topographical Map of Antarctica.

The Directors of the South Polar Scientific Expedition had steadily reorganized their colony into five distinct territorial divisions or provinces. South Orkneys Islands, the Antarctica Penisula (which included the South Shetland Islands), West Antarctica, East Antarctica and the Transantarctican Mountains (which was the divider between the West and East Antarctica). They had also formalized the South Polar/Antarctican Line, their initally ad hoc shipping company that exclusively provided for the colony's cargo, logistical and personel carrying needs, possessing a good number of cargo and passenger carrying sea-going, sky and air ships. These ships were now marked by black or dark blue hulls, white upper works, with dark blue funnels with a deep white band beneath a deep black full cap.

The South Polar Directorate (the colony's effective government) received the reports from several lookout posts about the British ironclad off their western coast without undue alarm, their intelligence services had already gathered that Great Britain, after nearly forty years was becoming remarkably curious about the colony they had helped established in the frozen southern continent. True, the British governement had largely ignored the South Polar colony's situation, as the colony was self-funded by it's wealthier members and supporters and it's material needs were not generally referenced to the British Colonial Office or indeed any other British office or department.

The British Cabinet had only being only peripherally interested in the colony's regular scientific research reports. These typically arrived in London four times a year since 1846, to be dissseminated to the various Royal Societies that had serious scientific interests in geography, magnetic and wildlife studies. The Royal Navy, had shown even less interest in the South Polar colony, after it had all but withdrawn it's naval station in 1865. However, the Directorate had steadily become aware that a three way administrative fight had begun to develop within the British government between the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office and the Admiralty over just who in fact had effective control of the scientific colony's affairs.

The ironclad scouting out the western coast was likely the Royal Navy updating the existing coastal and ice survey maps of the south pole that were already in the Admiralty's archives. What the Directorate was not sure of was whether the Royal Navy intended to re-establish it's naval station in the South Orkneys. It would complicate things for them if that was the case, as the Directorate did not want the British authorities looking too deeply into what they were doing. Though, if they could confine the Royal Navy's interest and activities to Portal Harbour in the South Orkneys, then the situation wasn't irreparable. The Royal Navy had maintained a friendly, hands-off approach when it dealt with the Directorate in the past and it was expected to continue this attitude if it resumed regular relations with the scientific colony it had looked after from 1845-1865.

The Colonial Office's and the Foreign Office's interest was more problematic, as they would insist on taking a more active role in the Directorate's affairs. The Colonial Office, would try to appoint a colonial governor, who would be anwserable to the Secretary of State for the Colonies but not to the inhabitants of Antarctica. While the Foreign Office would try to appoint a resident-commissioner, which amounted to the same thing and would allow the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (who, just also happened to be current prime minister, Lord Salisbury) to dictate the day to day governance of the South Polar Confederation from London via a form of diplomatic remote control. The Directorate had been appraised that the Colonial Office's bid for control was unlikely to carry the day.

The British Cabinet did not feel there was any justification for it, much to the chagrin of the Right Honourable Sir Henry Thurstan Holland, 1st Baron Knutsford and his Colonial departmental staff, as they had never been involved in the Antarctican exterprise at any point in it's development or execution over the last forty-four years. The Royal Navy which had been fairly actively involved in the inital transport of the expedition and it's set up on the South Orkneys and South Shetlands as well as providing escort, logistical and mail services so the colony could develope, had a much stronger hand to play if it came to it.

The same could be said for the Foreign Office, which had had some preliminary involvement in organizing and setting up the south polar expedition, particularly since a large portion of it's original membership had been as much non-british in origins as there were English, Scottish and Welsh members. This had required a great deal of co-ordination by the Foreign Office and various other countries diplomatic services to vet the qualifications and personalities of the people applying to join the scientific mission or later join the colony when it had been more firmly established in the South Orkneys. The Directorate was thus concerned to head off any one of the three possibilities as soon as possible or for as long as possible if there was in fact no way to avoid them.

A New Power is Rising in Antarctica (Part I)

January 1st, 1889, The Continent of Antarctica.

Flag of the South Polar Confederation.

Topographical Map of Antarctica.

A masked figure dressed in heavy winter gear stood upon the rocky, snow covered hill overlooking the ice floes and drift ice covered the Bellingshausen Sea. The person shifted fractionally bringing long tubed ship binoculars to their face to examine the seascape more carefully. Antarctica was the southern most continent upon the planet of Terra, and possessed one of it's most desolate environments, the continent was a mixture of ice, mountains, tundra and polar desert.

Antarctica, had been formally discovered and it's coastline and ice shelves roughly charted by the First Russian Antarctic Expedition joinly lead by Fabian Gottlieb Benjamin von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev aboard the Imperial Russian Naval Sloops K.Y.V. Vostok and K.Y.V. Mirny in 1819-1821.

They had made some preliminary assessments of the continent and local flora: largely Moss, fungi and Lichen and local fauna: they had noted Penguins, petrels, cormarants, gulls and albatross as well as blue whales, orca, colossal squid, fur seals and leopard seals. Though this was only by distant or off shore obervation, as no serious attempts were actually made to land due to the difficult sea and ice conditions the two naval officers encountered during their expedition. The Russian explorers had effected landings on several of the outer islands of the Antarctican Penisula with some success but they had also warned them of the likely dangers of trying it upon the interior of the continent itself.

They had also noted the frigid temperatures, and snow falls that dominated the continent's climate. They found it to be the coldest, windiest, and driest of Terra's continents. Near the coast, the temperature rarely exceeded 10 °C in summer and fell to below −40 °C in winter. Over the elevated inland, it could rise to about −30 °C in summer but fall below −80 °C in winter. The harsh arctic wind, also surprised the Russian explorers, as it was frequently very strong and very presistent. This caused attempts to survey Antarctica from the air by tethered and dirigible balloons, and four light observational aircraft carried by the two sloops to be problematic.

Beyound this initial scientific and navigational expedition, scant further interest had been taken in Antarctica by any of the major naval or imperial powers. The frozen continent, which was regarded as worthless for either valuable resources or basing rights, had largely been left to the occassional attention of seasonal deep sea fishermen, whalers and seal hunters since the 1820s. That, at least had been the official story as far as anyone was concerned, regarding the south polar regions, the truth had in fact been rather more different.

In truth, the interests of a number of individuals had been excited by the observations and reports of Bellingshausen and Lazarev, which had been published in various polar and scientific journals and intensively discussed during 1822-24. Quietly, these interested parties had gotten together and pooled their resources, recruited whatever personel was deemed necessary and charted a small fleet of specially modified or built arctic ships and ice breakers to establish a permanent scientific colony/research station in the Antarctic Penisula, that the Russians had already partially charted.

They had obtained provisional leases from the British Empire to use the South Orkney and South Shetland islands off the penisula, which the British had claimed largely for distant fishing and whaling rights but had never formally occupied. This whole process had taken some twenty years of intense preparations and lobbying before the first group of explorers and researchers was ready to leave for the Antarctica in 1844.

This arrangement had suited both the organizers of the new antarctican expedition and the British government, as it gave the reseach group "official" British support and nominal "protection". From the British perspective, the enterprise, allowed them to actually have someone occupy the islands, at no cost to the British Treasury. Through 1845, the first waves of people arrived by ship at the South Orkneys to establish what the organizers called their portal camp to the Antarctican continent. It would serve as their main supply and communications hub with the outside world. They were escorted by the Royal Navy armoured cruiser H.M.S. Endurant, which was based in the British Falkland islands and would thereafter visit, the South Orkneys, once every few months to see that all was well and bring news and mail from the outside world to the base, as well as escort incoming and outgoing supply convoys the group had chartered.

The next forty-four years had followed a steady rythme, of development, exploration and entrenchment by the explorer community both in the South Orkneys, the South Shetlands and the Antarctic Penisula. Within the first twenty years of it's founding, the British government had all but forgotten about the scientific colony. By 1865, due to naval committments elsewhere in the world, the Endurant was withdrawn from it's escort and mail duties and the South Polar colony was advised to organize it's own system of dispatch and escort vessels for the supply convoys.

Unknown to the British government in distant London, the Antarcticans, had already done just that; having secretly established a capable and well armed land militia to both police and protect their research stations, store houses and living installations that now dotted the whole of the Penisula and Western Antarctica up to and including the Transantarctican Mountain range. Had the British been aware of this, and the powerful navy the Antarcticans were in the process of secretly assembling in hidden naval dockyards buried in the south polar glaciers and rocky coasts they would have been even more alarmed.

Another twenty-four years had passed quietly enough, without the British Empire showing the slightest signs that it understood just what was going on within the confines of the South Pole. Which, suited it's inhabitants just fine. It had given them the preciously needed time to build their strength, increase their numbers and prefect their arrangements for the day they knew was coming. The South Polar Confederation, as they called themselves, now covered the whole of the Eastern Antarctica.

Today, though, that long quiet might be ending the observer thought. He watched as a British warship made steady progress across the furthest edge of the Bellingshausen Sea for the first time in years to check up on the silent, ice entombed colony. Ordinarily, British ships approached the Antarctican coasts from the direction of the Falklands, making for the harbour at South Orkneys, this ship was not. It was approaching from the west, nosing around to see what it could without the colony being aware they were doing it.

Evidently, the British didn't know that the colony was now spread all over the continent and all the coasts had watch posts to observe and report anyone or anything in the area to the South Polar capital. If, the British Royal Navy, still thought the colony was confined to the South Orkneys, South Shetlands and the Penisula, as their last reports indicated, it didn't explain why they would be curious about the rest of the coastline. He watched the armoured ship, for he could see clearly that it was a major ironclad warship after watching it for nearly an hour. Time to report in, he thought, his superiors would determine the best response to this interloper.

The Nation States of An Age of Steam, Steel and Iron: Part Seven

The Inner Planets: 1889

Vulcan, the Haunted planet, as far as many of Humanity's spacefaring population are concerned, Vulcan is trapped in the baleful grip of the Sun - even more so then it's neighbour Mercury - and regularly and directly bathed in it's fiery energies. A forbidden and foreboding place, considered the abode of the unquiet dead and nightmarish spectres and the wreaks of many lost space vessels that now dot it's surface or hang trapped like insects in amber in it's orbit. Consequently few of them will willingly venture there at any price. Perliminary exportations of Vulcan indicated that it was possessed of considerable and unique mineral wealth due to it's close association with the Sun.

More unsettlingly, the early explorers reported strange, unfathomable and extensive ruins of unknown origin dotting the surface of the planet, particularly and more densely concentrated towards Vulcan's northern and southern poles. Equally strange and eerie Phenomena were also associated with these ruins and structures, often causing individuals exposed to them to develop an unhealthy fascination bordering on a disturbed obsession with them.

Two corporations, one British and the other American, eager to exploit the resources of Vulcan, founded colonies. New Roanoke on the northern pole and New Plymouth on the southern pole. For a time both colonies flourished despite the extremely hostile environement of Vulcan and the associated difficulties of space craft getting to and from the planet and realised fabulous and undreamed of profits for their investors.

Then, something began to go terribly wrong: strange deaths, unexplained murders or disappearances and increasing instances of insanity began to stalk the two colonies and their outposts, even ships in orbit were affected. All contact with the two Vulcanian colonies was lost under these increasingly mysterious and much disputed circumstances. The British Royal Navy Aether Service, operating from Mercury without any formal explanation, has established a distant blockade of the now ill omened and now believed to be deserted planet. The ships of the blockading squadron now refuse to allow anyone to approach the planet under any circumstances and destroy with minimal warning any ship that attempts to land anywhere on Vulcan and more importantly any ship that attempts to leave... .

Mercury, A planet of considerable extremes being frigidly cold, blanketed in an eternal night or searingly hot while being bathed in a never ending daylight depending upon which side of the planet one is on. The only habitable areas are the north and south polar regions and a narrow twilight band between the day and night sides.

The British Empire, officially owns Mercury, but other then being a place of purely scientific interest and mining, the world is not heavily colonized save for several research stations and various mining faculilities, interested in extracting the mineral wealth of the planet, that dot the planetary surface.

Venus, The Green Hell, a world of extreme heat and humidity, covered in shallow oceans and seas, bogs, swamps, marshes and wet lands and sprawling tropical rain forests. It is the abode of reptilian and insect life in abundance and considerable variation. The German Empire claims, Venus as it's own, although the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy have established sizeable colonial domains.

Great Britain, has a small presence on the planet as well, though nowhere near as extensive or developed as the Germans, Russians and Italians. The British have found their efforts to extent their control over still larger areas of the planet blocked by the Germans, Russians and Italians who do not welcome their presence in the first place.

Secondly the every present stifling heat, frequent mists and constant rain fall, is off putting even for people who are native to the British Isles and thus no strangers to either fog or rain! Nor does the extremely hostile Venusian animals and insects and the equally dangerous plant life encourage a massive influx of potential volunteer colonists.

Terra, The cradle world of Humanity, and the home of currently some eighty-two nation states. These nations and their predecessors have a shared and recorded history going back nearly eight thousand years.

Luna, Terra's only satellite moon, and the home of several species, Humans, Insectoids and Phaetonians. The Humans largely inhabit, the international settlement called Luna City, which is governed and maintained by the British Empire along with its extensive space port.

The Insectoids also called Selenites, are Luna's native inhabitants exist in scattered nations, colonies and enclaves that dot the moon's craters and cavern systems. While the Selenites are curious about Humanity, they have by and large kept to themselves and pursued their own interests, which as a rule do not conflict with Human interests.

The Selenites have in the past generally interacted with individual or small groups of Humans in a limited but largely peaceful number of economic or cultural exchanges. That said, not all Selenites regard Humans indifferently or curiously, a growing number of Selenites communities have begun to become suspicious of and/or alarmed by Humans due to their precieved aggressive or violent natures.

The Phaetonians, also called the Moon Men by outsiders, are the former inhabitants of the world of Phaeton, which was destroyed ages ago, and now provides much of the physical mass of the Asteroid Belt. The Phaetonians as a rule live in a strictly enforced isolation from both Humans and Selenites communities and very often themselves, living in several heavily fortified city-states that occupy an extensive cave system beneath the Moon's surface.

Mars, An ancient planet where the dust of ages covers many civilizations. The British Empire is the dominient power upon Mars, but almost every other significant colonial power on Terra has some sort of presence upon the Red Planet.

Deimos, One of the two satellite moons of Mars. Deimos is the smaller of the two satelites and orbits Mars more distantly. Like Phobos, Deimos has also been repurposed into a Royal Navy Aether Service fortress and naval installation, though of lesser importance then Phobos.

Phobos, One of the two satellite moons of Mars. Phobos is the larger of the two satelites, and orbits Mars much more closely. The British Empire has steadily converted Phobos into a fortress and 1st class Naval base as well as the headquarters for all space operations around Mars and the Asteroid Belt.

The Asteroid Belt, The New Frontier of known space for Humanity, few of the explorer ships sent out beyond the asteroid ring have yet returned to report their findings of the planets and celestial bodies beyond the Inner planets. Nevertheless, the asteroids have become a thriving place of deep space industry, mining, resource extraction and colonizing activities under the aegis of the Ceres Consortium.

An international organization established by the later Luna Accords and drawn from all Terran based nations with space programs, is responsible for policing and administering the Asteroid Belt in as even handed and efficient manner as possible, which rather surprisingly it does via it's various departments and offices which handle mineral surveys, mining and water rights, regular resource allocations for each colony or mine head with the assistance of the Solar Cross and the Ceres Rangers organizations.

The former handles space rescue, salvage and recovery missions throughout the Inner worlds and the Asteroid Belt, while the later organization loosely modelled on the Texas Rangers is concerned with law and order duties within the same sphere, particularly within the scattered colonies and mine heads within the asteroids themselves which have since their inception taken on the aspect of the American Wild West and the British Northwestern Frontier.

Memories of Past Conventions 2025

Lord Hood, as usual attempting to make off with the Tardis, Toronto FanExpo.

Lord Worthing, in company with R2-D2, Toronto FanExpo.

Lord Worthing, Professional Cosplayer Burkes_Cosplay (Daedric Armour/Skyrim) and Lord Hood, Toronto FanExpo.

Helldivers and Lord Hood, Toronto FanExpo.

Lord Hood, Officer Batou (our friend Steve Thomson, cosplaying Batou/Ghost in the Shell) and the Mandalorian Mercs (Ciry'kurs clan), Toronto FanExpo.

Lord Worthing, Professional Cosplayer Odfel (Aerith/Final Fantasy VII), and Lord Hood, Toronto FanExpo.

Officer Batou, Lord Worthing, Professional Cosplayer Gaby Cosplay (MaoMao/Apothecary Diaries) and Lord Hood, Toronto FanExpo.

Officer Batou, Lord Hood, Professional Cosplayer Peary the Catapus (Marcille/Delicious In Dungeon) and Lord Worthing, Toronto FanExpo.

"Circa 1889, An Age of Steam, Steel and Iron. Sir Leo Worthing-Topper, the Viscount Worthing, Major of the Royal Corps of Engineers." -- photographs taken by photographer Dru Patrice, Hamilton Comic Con.

Lord Worthing with Professional Cosplayer Julia Verhaeghe (Original Cosplay/the Nestea Samurai), Hamilton Comic Con.

Lord Worthing with Professional Cosplayer Candy Cosplay, Hamilton Comic Con. We, hilariously, could not get our expressions to match despite several attempts, lol.

Attendence at the Kendal Ball (Part XV)

Kendal Palace, Grosvenor Square, London, Great Britain: January 1886.

Sir Thomas Jameson, watched the whole affair unfold before him from behind the polite, expressionless mask of professional civil and military courtesy that he had spent a lifetime learning as a naval and merchantile marine officer and medical doctor. While, Sir Thomas did not altogether approve of snubbing people in public, in Roderick Crossley's case, he was prepared to make a very broad exception.

He did not hate, Roderick, as much as Ursula did in the personal sense, he had however met enough people - whether they were passengers, peers or superiors both inside and outside the Royal Navy or the Locke and Key Line - like Roderick to at least thoroughly dislike him on general principal. The fact that Roderick had repeatedly pursued Ursula, dispite her complete lack of interest or approval of his suit, transformed that dislike into something approaching deep personal loathing.

That said of course, Sir Thomas was just as quietly relieved that the situation had not developed into a full blown donnybrook in front of the great hall's assembled guests. Though he could not get the idea out of his head, that Ursula would have welcomed it, especially if it had allowed her the opportunity of physically slapping Roderick across the face if he chose to contest her announcement of their engagement. The dangerous, sparking light in her eyes had warned him that might actually be the case, though once Roderick had retreated from her immediate presence, she had readily and calmly turned her attentions back to other matters.

Regis Crossley, always a study in contrast to his spoilt younger brother, further helped to defuse the still tense social situation by detaching himself from their presence, saying he ought to be circulating amoung the rest of the assembled friends and well wishers of the Wraithdale family and not deflecting his hostess from her duties in greeting her remaining guests. Sir Thomas noticed that Lady Penelope Wraithdale, did not really let herself breath until the last of the arriving guests were dealt with and then quietly let out a breath of ill ease and relief, while fanning herself vigourously with her fan to hide her discomfort. Ursula comfortably slipped her arm around his, and guided him towards the nearest knot of assembled guests, so they could begin their circulation of the great hall, chatting and engaging with various guests and assorted honourees.

Sir Leo considered the matter for a moment, his monocle turning into a pool of light as it caught the reflected glow of the various nearby chandeliers and candelabra. He watched wordlessly as Ursula and Sir Thomas departed to make their rounds of the assembly, then dismissed it from his mind. He offered his arm to Lady Penelope.

"We should be circulating as well." He remarked to the other Wraithdale trustees, just the hint of a wry smile touched his lips. Thistlewood, a loner by nature, tipped Sir Leo and Lady Penelope a salute with one hand and then made for the nearest of the long tables loaded with food and drink. The others nodded in agreement, Scattergood offered his arm with a elegant bow to Lady Fieldhouse, who graciously accepted. Dame Daphne and Foster broke off from the group together as well, all of them joined the ensemble of guests.

The rest of the evening passed pleasantly enough, though all the trustees made a point of keeping an eye out for Roderick Crossley, who they all expected to make some sort of scence the moment he reappeared. Regis Crossley had actually been mystified by his young brother's virtual disappearance. After making the social rounds of his society peers and seniors present at the party for several hours, he decide it was high time that he found Roderick before that idiot did anything that they would both regret in the morning.

A few inquiries with the palace postilions quickly located Roderick, who had been guided to a private room well away from the main hall some hours ago, provided with food and drink and then locked into the room. The two door warden automatons posted outside the room, were waiting for his older brother to arrive to take custody of the younger Crossley. They informed Regis Crossley, when he arrived to see his brother, that Roderick had been in sulky, distraught mood for several minutes, when first put into the room. He had paced up and down in a nervous state of agitation for some time with much cursing and swearing. A great deal of it was directed at the Duchess of Kendal, although some caustic remarks were addressed to himself. Gradually though he had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol and some of the provided food before lapsing onto a sofa in a drunken or emotional stupor. Right, if that was the worst, Roderick did tonight, all would be well on the morrow as far as Regis was concerned. Well past time I got Roderick home, before he could do anything really socially damaging.

Regis, asked the automatons to summon several more of their kind, as he doubted his very thoroughly inebriated younger brother was physically able to walk by this point. He further asked the postilion, who had accompanied him, to summon his carriage to take Roderick home. Regis then braced himself and entered the room, closing the door shut after he had entered. He found Roderick, sprawled untidily and semi-conscious across the sofa as he turned from the door, he noted the considerable number of empty spirit and liqour bottles scattered around the room and the nearest tables. Regis decided they were going to need a stretcher at this point, either that of they could just roll Roderick up into the nearest carpet and surreptitiously carry him to the carriage that way.

-- WORK IN PROGRESS.

A Time of Congresses and Reflections (Part II)

The New Eggenberg Palace, the City of Graz, the Crownland of Styria, the Empire of Austria, 1814.

The Fürstin Marie Luise von Eggenberg, sat quietly alone, in a private drawing room adjoining the palace's main hall, lounging on a reclining sofa with small glass of hot fruit punch in her hands. She had felt the need to take a few moments to compose herself after several hours of playing the role of the party's primary hostess before rejoining the fray. While the role of soldier and administrator came to her by a combination of inner nature, ability and inclination, the role of dedicated socialite did not. Marie Luise, all too often found the intensive and often superficial social interactions that aristocratic society demanded of her exhausting, frustrating and not infrequently boring in the extreme.

She tried to ease her stiff shoulders and neck, no easy task within the confines of her generalfeldmarschall's uniform and long red skirt hemmed with stiff gold wavy pattern lace decorated with trefoils of oak leaves. The same pattern of lace decorated both the high collar and deep cuffs and turn backs of her coat, all of which were the same snarling red as her skirt. She set aside her glass cup of punch and tried again, raising her arms above and behind her head and slowly rolling her shoulders to work the kinks out, once again with indifferent success.

The heavy, lacy cuffed and high collared shirt with it's close fitting black stock and heavy red velvet waistcoat with it's heavy gold braid, she wore beneath her white general officer's coat hardly helped. Nor for that matter did, the considerable collection of foreign and Austrian orders of chivalry, military decorations and medals and sashes that adorned her chest. She had received a virtual deluge of those following the Coalition's victories in the final campaign in France and the outbreak of genuine peace in 1814, following the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

She had also received with said tokens of commendation by various monarchs a great many annuities, pensions and assorted and valuable spoils of war, which she accepted with some personal misgivings: as a consequence of her arduous twenty years of military service in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars and her own vigorous often desperate part in the recent battles of 1813 and 1814. Marie Luise was of mixed opinions about this sudden and to her mind excessive largesse from her own sovereign though less so from the other heads of states of the Sixth Coalition. Although the combined monies were welcome in rebuilding her badly depleted personal privy purse and the exchequer of her feudal estates, Marie Luise, felt very wary all the same. Particularly because it was so unexpected: Kaiser Franz I of Austria was normally one of the most parsimonious monarch's who ever sat on any throne and never went out of his way to praise or reward anyone unless he thought he would gain something personally, dynastically or politically by it.

Marie Luise, felt sure the Kaiser's actions in this regard, were meant as a bribe to retain her loyalty, a crudely material one admittedly, he was usually more subtle then this in his dealings with her. Kaiser Franz was probably concerned that he would loose considerable face with his military officers, the Hofkriegsrat and just as importantly from his perspective, his fellow monarchs if he acted with less publicly visible generosity then they were showing her. Marie Luise, reclaimed her cup of punch and sipped it thoughtfully. Marie Luise, was at this moment just as glad that she had chosen to retire - in triumph this time rather then disgrace - to her estates, their and their inhabitants prosperity and the rearing and education of her four year old son, Ferdinand Ulrich, was the sum total of her current and future hopes and aspirations.

Marie Luise pulled absently at her long, almost silvery white hair, faint streaks of her formerly blond hair were just visible. This was most outwardly visible "memento mori" of her "death" at the battle of Leipzig, aside from the phosphorescent green tinge that still coloured her eyes, nearly a year previously. Violent headaches, muscle spasms and nerve storms, which caused her to suffer alternating bouts of either wild, alarmingly maniacal energy or deep melancholic lethargy plagued her. There were of course the other chronic aches and pains that nearly twenty years of active military service had inflicted upon her in the form of assorted illness, various wounds not all of them minor and the physical, mental and emotional exhaustion that was part and parcel of active combat duties. Sometimes, Marie Luise, wondered if the desperate intervention effected by Graf Sonder and Eisen, that had lead to her rebirth, reanimation, whatever one wanted to call it, had been worth it.

Marie Luise's immediately imagined Sonder's and Eisen's reaction to that sour but understandable thought. Sonder would have promptly told her to not be such a confirmed pessimist even if she was an Austrian! She chuckled despite herself at that mental imagine. Eisen would have given her one of his silent, searing gazes and probably cuffed her head over ears to try knock some sense into her. Certainly Ferdinand Ulrich, her beloved son and her family's retainers, feudal subjects and many friends and relations that had supported her through thick and thin, had been relieved by her unexpected and unlooked for survival in the circumstances. the muffled sound of music and the heavy murmur of numerous simultaneous conversations penetrated the closed door to the drawing room, bringing her mind back to her present surroundings.

The Great Hall, at this moment was crowded with what seemed like the better part of an infantry battalion's worth of military officers, officials and dignitaries from the more then a dozen member states of the Sixth Coalition. In truth, the party she was hosting for the evening, in her new suburban palace in the city of Graz was not really that large by the standards of such things, being only several hundred people all told, certainly not a very large affair by the grand and ostentatious standards of Vienna and the gigantic and imposing Imperial palaces of Schönbrunn and the Hofburg. it just seemed that way, given the considerable noise and genuine gaeity of her many guests, Marie Luise reflected wryly.

Nor was this particularly surprising, given the soothing prospects of an evening where the primary features were nothing higher then good music, good company and good food and drink. Which in and of itself was a welcome change from the overheated, often highly tense political parties, meetings and soirees that many of her guests were accustomed to for the past weeks. Quite frankly, Marie Luise was quite happy not to be involved other then very peripherally in the matters of high international politics and national agendas that had dominated Vienna and the other great capitals of Europe, since Napoleon had been defeated by the Sixth Coalition and subsequently agreed to go into permanent exile on the Island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Archdukes Karl and Johann, as had many of her extended family, friends and relations, had kept her abreast of political and military developments within the Congress. The military campaigns of 1812, 1813 and 1814 plus her hard earned feldmarschall's baton had successfully rehabilitated her in eyes and good esteem of the Austrian Empire's people if not Kaiser Franz's, so she had a fair idea of how things stood between the various nations of Europe.

Kaiser Franz's feud with her continued unabated though rather less publicly then previously and her enemies in the Imperial Court now treated her with greater circumspection then they had previously. Both had nearly driven her to suicidal despair in 1810 and 1813. Kaiser Franz, especially when he had curtly informed her in a private meeting before the battle of Leipzig, that he would never allow her to marry her beloved Karl. That unexpected although not surprisingly vindictive blow had nearly killed her there and then. Both, she and Karl had quietly entertained hopes of a morganatic marriage up to that moment as her military and political reputation was once again on the rise.

That Marie Luise had unexpectedly "survived" being mortally wound at Leipzig trying to stop Napoleon and the Grande Armee's escape from Leipzig had threatened to derail Kaiser Franz's plans in that regard. Franz I being Franz I though, was patient and cunning and arranged Karl's marriage to a princess of the Grand Ducal House of Nassau. This had devastated both of them, particularly as there was little they could do about it without storing up still more still trouble for themselves both politically and socially.

A wicked smile touched Marie Luise's lips, the Kaiser had spectacularly overplayed his hand in the matter however. He had not reckoned on the personality and character of Princess Henrietta von Nassau-Weilberg. Henrietta had not only fallen thorough in love with her new betrothed but had a spirited mind of her own, refusing to Kaiser Franz's face to convert from her protestant faith to Roman Catholicism as he had blithely assumed. Both Marie Luise and Karl had both been raised to be good Roman Catholics without thinking too much about it but both were largely devoid of any deep rooted religious bigotry and dogmatism which marked them both out as something atypical amoung Christians, given the frequent and often bitter sectarian conflicts that had marked previous centuries.

Henrietta being barely seventeen, her actual marriage to Karl had been deferred until sometime in 1815, had looked to the more experienced and worldly Marie Luise as a friend, confidante and guide. Which had astonished Marie Luise, especially since Henrietta was well aware that she and Karl shared a long romantic and physical relationship. Marie Luise had discovered that this was due to the intervention of two people. Johann, who was determined to throw as many spanners into his elder brother's intrigues against her as he could and her childhood friend Natalie, who had been unexpectedly appointed as Henrietta's chief lady-in-waiting.

There was also Henrietta herself, she had a warm heart and real integrity allied to an iron will all her own. Further Henrietta was the product of a small provincial German principality court, that of the Grand Duchy of Nassau and it's integral semi-independent duchies and principalities, and despite her youth, she well understood the intense and vicious game of intrigue, gossip mongering and innuendo that reigned, within the administration and courtiers, of such places. The basic rules of the great game of intrigues and feuds that went on in the Imperial Court, were in and of themselves no surprise to her, only their scope and consequences and players were unfamiliar. With Karl, Johann and Natalie's help and guidance though she was rapidly learning how to deal with her unexpected transition from that a minor German States princess to that of Imperial and Royal Archduchess and she was even spreading her wings in her own right.

At her invitation, Karl, Henrietta, Johann and Natalie were amoung tonight's guests of honour as were others of her inner circle of friends, family and acquaintances and numerous military and political luminaries. Another sip of the punch followed and Marie Luise's thoughts turned down other channels unbidden. While it was usual for a man's mistress: former mistress in her case, to have an adversarial or at least severely strained relationship especially in the case with a husband who happened to have a young and inexperienced wife, Henrietta and Marie Luise were developing a shy, very cordial friendship which did not cease to surprise Marie Luise the more she thought of it. This development had been another surprise development and an unpleasant one at that, as far as Kaiser Franz and the Imperial Court in Vienna had been concerned.

Marie Luise took another slow sip of her punch, as her thoughts again turned down other avenues. Finding she had drained the small cup, she reached for the bottle of punch, resting in a charcoal heater beside her couch and refilled it.

Marie Luise admitted that she was troubled by current events in France now once again under the rule of the Royal House of Bourbon. King Louis XVIII seemed determined to rule France as his ancestors had done in the past, though to his credit he was prepared to accept some constitutional limitations - in the form of the Royal Charter of 1814 - upon the very real autocratic royal authority he wielded. Marie Luise was skeptical that the old style absolutism that the great dynasties of Europe had long been accustomed to wielding was now possible. Particularly in light of the drastic social, economic and political changes that had happened within much of France and that Europe itself had undergone via the trials of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Marie Luise sighed softly aloud to herself, there would be another insurrection or revolution in a few years time within France, if Louis and his Heir presumptive, the Comte d'Artois, the self-styled leader of the French ultra-royalists and ultra-conservatives were not careful. Unfortunately the Bourbons had a well established reputation of forgetting nothing and forgiving nothing. Having actually met Charles de Bourbon, who personified this expression, a number of times during his long exile in the foreign capitals of Europe and again during the first days of the Bourbon Restoration in Paris.

Given the negative opinion she had gradually formed of Charles's moral character: he didn't have one, being a shameless philanderer and coward, he had been the first member of the Royal Family or Aristocracy to flee from France for his own personal safety when the revolution had broken out, general ability: he was incompetent in both military affairs and his own personal financial affairs, being a complete spendthrift ridden with debts running to the millions of francs and judgement: his ability to evaluate past and current political and social affairs as well as the moral character or general abilities of the people around him was abysmal. Marie Luise was dismally certain that he would do something outstandingly stupid when and if he ever got himself onto the royal throne of the Kingdom of France. He was already doing enough damage to both his own and the King's popularity by obstinately and tactlessly trying to turn back the clock socially and administratively, to return France to the so-called glory days of the L'Ancien Régime.

That last thought made, Marie Luise consider the bundle of letters she had received that morning all with the postscript of Portoferraio, Elba. Marie Luise felt her mood darken at the thought of the letters possible contents. A gentle knock sounded at the doorway, shortly followed by one of the armour plated, ornate warden automatons, moved into the room.

"Yes?"

"His Imperial and Royal Highness, the Archduke Johann and His Excellency, the Generalfeldmarschall Prince Aleksandr Vasilyevich Suvorov, wish with your permission to be admitted."