Few are fortunate to pass out of Earth with little pain. Many fall to Pluto’s Stygian scythe in great agony: riddled with wounds of battle or from some unforeseen domestic accident. Others go with great internal carnage; a plague or even a heart rent in twain. But after a merriest Christmas and a joyous new year, gorged on many roast birds and chocolates and tanked with more drink than a sailor in port, His High and Well Born Lordship; the Steward of the Commonwealth; Lord van den Heydenkerk-Withek, Baron Heydenkerk of Elandbrug was taken into God’s Kingdom. His head of full grey hair hung back in his leather office chair where he had died: in his residence’s principle study at the desk. The remnants of a choice cigar from the territories lay in the ashtray next to half a glass of Breixad Tandour -whisky. The nib of his swan feather quill pen had leaked over three documents of state he had been in the process of signing, the glasses he had needed in his old age to read still rested on his nose. He passed in the attire of the rural aristocrat he was: a green tweed jacket with burgundy trousers and brown brogues. A silk blue ascot necktie too. And no less were his surroundings; the walls of the study lined with bookcases filled with ancient literature, encyclopædiae and biographies of the leaders of old, whilst hung between book shelving were stuffed heads of quarry: local beasts of these rugged highlands; stags, wild ram and boar, bison, wolf, lynx and bear.
Taking careful strides, a household servant arrived at the double oak doors with a tray of coffee ware for the Steward.
“The Steward’s 15:30 coffee.” He announced to the two guards outside the door; corporals of horse from the Garde des Chevaliers -a guard regiment of one battalion but equally fit for combat as an armoured battalion. They stood in their white tunics and breeches, with purple capes, high black jackboots, steel cuirass and the combed steel helmet with gold livery. The guards nodded and opened the doors.
“Good Afternoon My Lord.” Said the servant jovially, entering the room. He noticed that the elderly aristocrat was unresponsive.
“My Lord, your coffee?” He tried again, placing it on a low lying mahogany coffee table by the sofas and creeping towards the desk.
“Sire, wake up sire.”
One of the guards clanked in, his heavy boots sinking into the soft green carpet and his cumbersome heavy cavalry sword catching the end of his spurs occasionally. Removing his glove he placed his hand on the Steward’s. He looked at the servant before placing two fingers on the neck pulse.
Res Publica CotidianoStatement from Hoornrots Castle: the Steward has passed away peacefully at his desk
(pictured above: Hoornrots Castle)
Tragic tidings emerged from the winter residence of Hoornrots Castle this evening as the Baronial family of Elandbrug confirmed the death of the head of the household and our Steward: Lord Boudewijn van den Heydenkerk-Withek; Baron Heydenkerk of Elandbrug. Whilst this paper cannot ascertain the cause of death it has been reported as 'unsuspiciois and natural' with many pointing the finger at his old age, burden of work and a mighty appetite for food, drink and cigars. The First Secretary; Sir Constance Haerstra takes the helm now as both head of government and caretaker of state until the House of Lords elects from noble membership a new Steward for anoinment. Sir Haerstra has cut short his month-long tour of the overseas territories in order to take on this brief role. According to our Zilvernia Correspondant Ulysses Vrenckx the First Secretary was shocked at the news and said that the 'prayers of the Commonwealth go out to the family.' A gendarme air corps aircraft will fly the Steward's body to Wijdburcht where the state funeral will be held at the Nostra Domina Pascocastrum (Our Lady of Wijdburcht) Cathedral and where he will be buried alongside many other Stewards. The Requiem Mass will be celebrated by the Pontiff of the Holy Catholic Church of Batavia Thaddaeus XI and will involve several thousand personnel of both branches of the armed forces; the Fleet and the Gendarmery.It is the first time in over 70 years that a Steward has died whilst sitting on the Throne of the Commonwealth; the last being Count Heijdrik of Stachouwersdorp in 1946.
The late Steward was undoubtedly a servant of these realms, a rural aristocrat and a cunning mover of men. Born in 1945 to Lord Herman van den Heydenkerk and Lady Juliana Withek: the Baron and Baroness of Elandbrug -an ancient local dynasty with two previous Stewards in their name and many Secretaries of the Realm, Military commanders and even a Pontiff. Lord Boudewijn's father had been merely a politician in the House of Lords most of his life save for a brief naval stint. When he wasn't in the chamber he was in his Wijdburcht Club: The West Ocean Club -a gentleman's club named after the company that built it: the West Ocean Company at one point the largest mercantile enterprise regionally: trading in tobacco, coffee, slaves and cotton.
Boudewijn was raised in his early years by a private home tutor at Elandbrug Castle before being sent to St. Hieronymus' Cathedral School in Wijdburcht for most of his education where he excelled chiefly at rugby, the trumpet and Batavian literature though was described by tutors as a 'conjuror of mischief.' He left to attend Xaarl University to read Classics, where he continued rugby and began his spiritual life as a server at his college (St. Aloysius) chapel. Being a young nobleman, handsome and wealthy with a notable name, young Boudewijn became a public figure. It was in this limelight whilst at university that he became a sartorial icon, a flagbearer for rural fashion, even when in the (albeit mediaeval) city of Xaarl. He hosted enormous parties at hotels and around the campus, but never fell prey to scandal. Whether this was his own morality or careful manoeuvring will likely not be known but it set a standard for times to come for the aristocrat.
After university, Boudewijn attended the Naval Academy at Mosselhaven in 1968 where he finished with many distinctions and was transferred to the Fleet Aeronautical College at Houàdmeil (Breixia) where he learned to fly Sparrowhawk attack jets from the decks of carriers, before being commissioned as both a naval officer and pilot. He served 6 years aboard the carrier SBG Odysseus, serving in the counter insurgency operation in New Batavia and the attempted Soviet invasion in the north of that territory. Boudewijn was credited with 4 confirmed enemy aircraft of the Soviet airforce shot down and was the CO of a CAS sortie against a rebel village. Boudewijn left the Fleet in 1977.
His father died the following year and Boudewijn became a sitting Lord in Parliament. Whilst at university he had become politically conscious, he had been more focused on studies, parties and his future wife, Jkv. Valentina de Waersma who he married in 1973. Boudewijn remained an unaligned member of the House of Lords all his career, voting only in his 'conscience' as he put it. He had a largely conservative voting record, in line with most of his colleagues, but was always one to seek new technologies; perhaps stemming from his career as a pilot aboard a brand new carrier. Due to his military experience, the Baron was invited to chair the parliamentary War Committee, where he aggressively pursued an increased budget and was a key figure in streamlining the marines into a small but elite fighting force, namely through its air assault division. In 1999 he stood for election as Steward and won, seeing in the Commonwealth to the new Millennium. As Steward, Lord Boudewijn saw the Commonwealth develop digitally and face global terrorism. He maintained the sartorial leader as all leaders ought to be and his charisma allowed him to connect with even the most common of folk. Few Batavians will forget when he visited a negro shanty town after the 2003 Hurricane. He has seen several First Secretaries, mainly from the Batavian Ox Party, but he also weathered the brief governments of the Libertarian lead coalition and the threat of the fascist Ijzenvuist (Iron fist) movement, which gained 6 seats in the 2012 general election. A skilled politician, brace soldier, loving father and husband and ever a Batavian gentleman, he died a popular leader and of course a Knight of the Commonwealth.
