Valsian Succession Crisis IC

[Vals Hyrserd]

The serious look on the doctor's face warned Albert what he was about to hear, would not be good news. The young man waited in silence as the oncologist took a deep breath. "We will have to run some more tests, but it is pretty certain from the condition of your pancreas, that it is pretty far advanced. Why didn't you come to see me sooner?"

Albert seemed not to hear the last question, he was too busy contemplating the meaning of the diagnosis. Almost mechanically he answered the doctor. "I was in the wilderness up north, I couldn't get away." The doctor nodded as if he understood. Meanwhile, Albert was thinking about the future, not the future of the country, but his future. The political consequences only occurred to him later, for now all he thought was I am going to die.

Although Albert had been standing, he found that he was now sitting as the doctor explained the treatment options. "Sir, there is hope, albeit, but we will do our best. Is there someone you could call, it is best in these moments not to be alone."

Albert thought on the uncle who raised him, but he had died 2 years ago. His other uncle was now a monk in a far off cloister. His closest relative was his third cousin twice removed. "Yes" he said answering the doctors question. "Antoine" and after a pause "His Royal Highness must know eventually."

[Parina]

Parinan Embassy, Prinzenbucht, Vals Hyrserd
Ambassador James Quincy Addison carefully aligned the small stack of papers in the center of his desk, making sure everything was neat and tidy for when he would return to the embassy in the morning. Addison was a man of precision, who believed in a place for everything and everything in its place. Such attention to detail had been useful but not necessary in this position as ambassador to Vals Hyrserd. The small country was bound to Parina by an old treaty which had been renewed, with the occasional change at the margins, for centuries. In the past, it had served as a coaling station for the Crown Navy in its long-range anti-piracy patrols. Nowadays he doubted that most Parinans knew that their Crown Republic still technically held dominion over the Grand Duchy. It was certain that James Addison had not known much about Vals Hyrserd when he had been shipped off to the end of the world. It was his own fault, really – he’d made some enemies in university, the kind of enemies with long memories, influential families, and petty senses of justice.

It had ended up being something of a blessing. Rather than having to spend all his time dealing with crises or weighty issues, Addison could usually expect to work a short day and have plenty of time to read his books or go on walks through the wonderful natural vistas of the country. The biggest problem he had dealt with in his time as ambassador had been negotiating the release of a Parinan sailor who had been jailed for drunken loutishness while on shore leave a few years ago. It was the weekend and he had lined up a nice relaxing trip to the countryside. After one last check to make sure the office was nice and tidy – the cleaning staff of the embassy had both clear instructions and a well-established routine that would avoid rustling anything on his desk or the shelves along the walls – he turned off the lights and walked out of the office area.

“See you next week,” he said to the secretary who was manning the front desk. Jeanine – a lovely woman from the Lakewood Province who had arrived here a little while after Addison – smiled and waved as the ambassador neared the door that would let him into the parking lot where his car waited.

“Have a good trip, Ambassador,” she replied. “If the place falls apart while you’re gone, I’ll give you a ring.”

Addison laughed as he walked out the door. Vals Hryserd had gone about its own business with little in the way of disruption or excitement for decades. It was very unlikely, he thought, that anything would change now.

[Freiderichsland]

Several Months Ago

The grand cathedral in Koenigsburg was packed to the brim and surrounded by onlookers. Inside the venerable stone walls the full representation of Freiderichsland’s nobility was gathered in attendance, and the crowds of commoners outside craned their necks and clambered onto any perch they could find to catch a glimpse of the proceedings. Ducal weddings were a rare occasion, and a source of great patriotic pride and merry-making joy in the capital city. Heads of noble families had traveled from across the constituent duchies that made up Freiderichsland, everyone from the three most powerful houses down to the smallest barony, to be counted and noticed by the Grand Duke. They brought lavish gifts and spent vast sums of money on food and drink, both for themselves and the people of Koenigsburg. The city had swelled with farmers and other rural folk from the nearby towns and estates coming in to see the ceremony and revel in the afterparties.

At the center of it all was Eric von Warndorff and his wife-to-be, Martha von Gelstorf. Martha was Grand Duke’s middle daughter, one of five children and the third to be married. She had chosen her husband out of love, something of a rarity for the children of the feudal lords who had ruled the Grand Duchy. Martha and Eric had met at a ball years ago and begun a lively correspondence which soon blossomed into romance. The Grand Duke was happy to accept Eric into his family; the man had shown the mettle of a true noble during his military service with the Grenadier Guards and his family was well-established. This had not always been the case: scandal-mongers and family historians spoke in whispers of Eric’s great-great grandmother, a foreign woman who had been disowned by her family back home when she had fallen in love with a Freiderichslander nobleman. The woman from Vals Hyrserd had assimilated into her new home, but she had never forgotten the insult done to her by her so-called family.

Eric knew that the chances of ever pressing the claim that he now possessed, through blood, on the throne of the Grand Duchy of Vals Hyrserd was so miniscule that it wasn’t worth considering. And yet sometimes he wondered about the land whose blood, however diluted, still ran through his veins. Such thoughts were far from his mind today, as he waited at the front of the cathedral and watched with joy as his bride appeared at the other end. Today he not only gained a loving wife, but also a powerful father-in-law. His future was bright.