In Memory of the late Kaiser, 
William III of Riessany
(2053—2089)
William III of Riessany
(2053—2089)
Snow swirled through the freezing air of the mourning city. The previous day had seen the capital of Riessany covered in several inches of snow and though the storm had passed, the wind in the city kicked the fallen snow back up, Makoto it see as if it still fell. Fluttering the snow filled air were Riessan flags, flown at half mast, joined in some areas with black flags of mourning. The Kaiser, was dead.
Zentrumpalast, Berlin, Riessany
A Kaiser, Ludwig mentally corrected, a Kaiser was dead, The Kaiser was alive
The new Kaiser stood before a window in Zentrumpalast, the massive palace that sprawled in the middle of the capital over looking the Kristallin River. Frost spread across the fine glass, curling around the initials L and A, where he and his wife had scratched them into the window during their courtship. Ludwig, a towering and imposing man was the third brother to sit the throne in as many decades. Standing 6’3” and with a barrel chest, and with his thick well groomed beard, he was an imposing mountain of a man, with the attitude of one. Cold and stony, Ludwig was said to never smile unless in the presence of his wife, Alexandria of Hanover. Frederick V and William III had both been, in Ludwig’s opinion, coddled too much by their mother, and thus they had always had weaker constitutions. It was evident in their reigns. Frederick’s personal reign had been short and full of him being told what to do like a boy obeying a parent. William’s had been the opposite, him dismissing all advisors to rule personally, but William had lacked the personal convictions to do anything. William’s greatest contribution to the empire had been to redesign Zentrumpalast. And whilst it was beautiful, with its graceful white and bronze walls and glass arching roofs and domes, it had been a pet project whilst the rest of the nation had been neglected. Riessany has been left to grow fat and lazy, whilst the rest of the world sailed by them. Ludwig would correct this.
But Ludwig was not in the business of speaking ill of the dearly departed. He would honor William’s life and he would change his legacy for the better.
Downstairs the Imperial Family has been gathered. The longest lived member of the dynasty, Dowager Empress Effie sat in a wheel chair at the head far end of the state gallery, a private room for the Imperials and their guests to gather before the funeral began. Effie, a small woman of 120 years, was swathed in white. In Riessany white was the color of deepest mourning. She had lost yet another great-grandson, how could see not be in mourning. Her small fragile and withered wrinkled body was clad in a thick white dress, lined with snow white fur, her white hair pinned in a bun over which a mourning veil was draped over. The nearly blind dowager empress looked up at the glass ceiling that her little William had spent years designing and over seeing the construction of, now caked in snow, casting her family in cold pale light.
“Are you alright Ur-Ur?”
Effie looked away from the ceiling over her shoulder, her movements slow and careful as she put a delicate hand over a youth on her shoulder. Her eldest great-great-granddaughter stood behind her.
“Just watching the snow my dear. Just watching the snow.”
Augusta, the Princess Imperial gave her beloved Ur-Ur a small sad smile. Just sixteen, Augusta had been assigned to care for Effie during the funeral, not that she minded. She loved her Ur-Ur and knew that it could not be easy on the supercentenarian’s heart to face such sorrow. Augusta, like every other princess of Riessany today wore a long sleeve dress that reached her ankles, her dark hair was pulled back into a bun and covered in a black lace veil.
The death of William III had been hard on the entirety of the Imperial Family, it’s suddenness having shocked them all. Taylor III and Frederick V had both at least showed signs of illness leading up to their deaths, the former sickly and the latter locking himself away as his mind was corrupted. But William III had been strong and healthy. He had been due to live a long life. And for an accident, a disaster to strike him down... it shook them all. Was it true? Were they cursed? The former Kaiser and Empress didn’t dare speak it, but they believed it. They’d lost too many of their descendants to see otherwise. Edward IV, grandfather of the late William III, stood, old and thin, next to his wife. Just months before it had seemed that Edward would be the one whose funeral they would be attending. He was an old and tired man, at 98, he had been ready to die. If he could have, he would have traded his life for William’s. He and his wide stood at the far end of the gallery, looking like twin wraiths.
The sisters of the late Kaiser, the Duchess of Walsrode, the Tsarina of Imarati and the Duchess of Mantova, respectfully Marie Louise, Alexandrine and Frederica sat together on one of the finely picked sofas covered in black silk, the three Princesses of Riessany accompanied by their husbands. Marie Louise, the eldest, wore a simple slender black dress, her blonde hair tucked back beneath her veil. The usual gold whip that she kept at her side was replaced with a silver one that curled around her waist like a snake. Her husband, Prince Henry of Hanover, Duke of Walsrode, sat in a wheel chair next to her. He was a large man, with a full beard and crewcut hair. He had been among those injured in the Eberhan disaster and whilst he wore the black uniform of a member of the armed forces, he had his leg encased in a black cast. There to push the Duke of Walsrode was his stepson, Duke Frederick of Saxe-Weimar, similar dressed despite him being too young to actually be in the armed forces, his rank being purely ceremonial.
Alexandrine, the regal empress that she was, had obsidian jewelry draped around her throat and hanging from her neck. Her long glossy black hair was pulled into an empress’s braide, studded with more obsidian. Her dress was slimming and empire-sque, a thick fur shawl wrapped about her and a black mitten was attached to her wrist. Frederica, who had been closest to William, with all their brothers really, sat with the gauzy skirts of her dress like the petals of an ink stained flowe. Her light brown hair was too short to be put into a bun, so instead she wore a black mourning cap, the veil falling down over her face. Beneath the skirts however she had several dozen throwing knives and two guns strapped to her. The three princesses had grown up in the shadow of their father’s death, had watched in horror as their eldest brother died and then seen each of their first husbands die as well. William’s was the latest in a long line of funerals the sister had attended together.
A younger set of princesses, the daughters of William III and Ludwig were being herded and comforted by Prince Charles and Empress Alexandria. The prince a black Riessan field marshal uniform with a high stiff silver collar that forced him to stand up straight and take controlled breaths. Black fabric wrapped around his arm. Charles, now the Crown Prince of Riessany, was, in short, a wreck over the death of his brother. Though, perhaps for selfish reasons. Charles, the baby of the brothers, and twin brother of Alexandrine was distraught at how the crown loomed ever closer towards him. The Crown had thus far killed his father and two of his brothers. He prayed that it spared Ludwig, and he thus had no wish to ever wear it. Charles further more disliked funerals. Especially state funerals. Charles had suggested that William be given a low-key funeral, but Ludwig has been determined however to make a point. Never mind the fact that it was the middle of winter and the city was freezing. Charles’s children, save one, among them the only males of the next generation of the dynasty, had been excused from attending the funeral only due to their young age. His eldest, Prince Katejan of Riessany stood with his cousins, Princess Marie-Margarete, Princess Wilhelmine and Princess Sieglinde, thé daughters of the late Kaiser. Katejan, only eight was, like all the men, dressed in the ceremonial attire of the armed forces. The princesses were meanwhile all dressed in identical dressed and coats of black fur on black silk.
Empress Alexandria, a princess of Hanover by birth, the second daughter of the constituent king of the kingdom, and older sister of the Duke of Walsrode sat next to her daughters, Princess Fredericke, Princess Christina and Princess Auguste. The new Empress had been badly injured during the Eberhan Disaster. Beneath her black dress and veil, pinned by a diamond crown, she swathed in bandages. Ludwig was devoted to Alexandria. Thus she alone had been offered the choice of not attending the state funeral. Alexandria however had refused. She was determined to be the empress that the Riessan people need in this time of transition and she had refused to appear weak by not appearing at all. Graced with skin the color of sandalwood and curly brown hair like her brother, she looked regal and stoic as she sat with her daughters, watching the members of her family and the guests of relations. The Crown of Riessany could not afford to be weak. Not at a time like this. Now, more than ever, they needed to be strong.
Building of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Berlin, Riessany
Newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Ferdinand of Wasserburg stood at at the foyer to greet the gathered diplomats and representatives that had come to attend the funeral. Those who were not invited to stay at the Zentrumpalast, thé many siblings and in-laws of the Kaiser, had been instead directed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ palace. Ferdinand, the 58 year old dynast of one of the constituent kingdoms within the empire, wore a naval officer’s uniform, his graying beard groomed to a perfect triangle and his mustache curled at the ends. Ferdinand walked with a cane, only because of injuries he’d gotten from the Russo-Riessan War and the First Spanish-Dutch War. Ferdinand was tasked with greeting the ambassadors and diplomats and then guiding them into the various ceremonial carriages they they would ride in during the funeral’s procession.