Chapter 77. The Last Days of the Axis
13 January 1945, Imperial Palace, Constantinople, the Empire
The damned Nazis conquered Constantinople and stormed the Imperial Palace. They were all prisoners of that madman, Hitler. She tried to protect her daughters but the SS threw them all in a gas chamber. With a sardonic laughter, Hitler himself opened the tap to allow the poisonous gas into the room. She began to asphyxiate, feeling a sharp abdominal pain. And she released a formidable scream, of terror, of fury, of pain...
Anne woke up in a puddle of her own sweat, her throat dry, her fists clenched on the bed sheets, her eyes wide open in terror, her nostrils flaring... A nightmare. Nothing but a stupid nightmare.
Elaine sat down by her side, enveloping her protectively with her featherly angelic wings, and offered her a glass of water, smiling serenely, as she always did. Anne drank and thanked her, cuddling in the soft embrace of her friend and guardian. Yes, it had been nothing but a stupid, absurd nightmare. They could not lose the war. It was preposterous for sure... Except the dull pain, that was very much real. Her abdomen was tender and it ached again. Oh, and the girls, and Mihai?...
Elaine: "They are fine. Still sleeping. Don't worry, I checked on them."
Anne mouthed a silent thank you and gently caressed her abdomen, trying to soothe the pain.
Elaine: "You should see a doctor. It won't go away by itself."
Anne: "I don't need a doctor to tell me what's wrong. I remember this pain very well. It's appendicitis. I know it cause I died of it once."
Elaine: "You fell in battle..."
Anne: "Yes, because I had appendicitis..."
Elaine: "May I take a look?"
Anne: "Sure."
Elaine: "Lie down, close your eyes, breathe regularly and try to relax. It'll be over in less than one minute."
************
Elaine: "Yes, your appendix is somewhat swollen and seems to be infected. It won't burst anytime soon but it won't heel by itself either. I'm sorry, but I think you need surgery."
Anne: "Damn... Sorry, I didn't mean that, it's just a stupid curse, devoid of meaning... But it's not fair! To die a second time of the same stupid disease!"
Elaine (caressing her hair): "No, Anne, you won't die. I won't allow it, you know that..."
Anne: "Yes, I know, sometimes the infection is contained and septicaemia doesn't occur but..."
Elaine: "Shhh, don't worry. You'll be fine. You'll be given penicillin, that stuff is wonderful, it kills all known germs."
Anne: "Yes, sure, whatever you say. You'll be there with me, won't you?"
Elaine: "Of course. Now try to get a little more sleep. It's not even four o' clock yet."
Anne: "Will you hold me? A few minutes, until I fall asleep?..."
Elaine: "Sure. I'll even sing you a lullaby if that helps..."
Anne (pouting): "Oh... Don't mock me!..."
************
The Angel was soft, warm and fluffy, like an oversized pillow. Anne managed to count less than twenty sheep until she fell asleep. She woke up alone in the bed, after four hours of deep, reinvigorating sweet morning sleep. Anne streched, minded her morning routine, checked the girls, who were still sleeping peacefully, then went to her husband's bedroom, quietly opening the door. Mihai was probably going to wake up soon anyway because he sensed her immediately and sat up, greeting her.
Anne smiled, kissed him and sat down on the bed, straddling her recently awaken husband. A few minutes later, they were making sweet, slow love, oblivious to the problems of the world...
************
Exhausted and in pain, Anne laid down besides Mihai, panting heavily with a tell-tale grimace.
Mihai: "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"
Anne (kissing him): "No, my love, not at all... It's just that... You know?... Ugh... I'm really sick, you know? Appendicitis. I'll have surgery soon. Shhh... Don't say anything. I had to do that. It may have been the last time... I had to, you know."
And Anne cried in Mihai's arms until they heard Victoria's voice calling for her mum in the adjacent hallway. Mihai ran to the bathroom while Anne quickly made herself decent, wiped her tears and welcomed her oldest dauther into her arms. Soon, Victoria and Mihaela were playing with their toys on the carpet while Anne was breastfeeding Cleopatra, slowly rocking on her favourite rocking chair. A new day had begun.
************
Anne: "Ouch! Don't be such a brute!"
Doctor: "I'm sorry, My Empress, my palpation was as gentle as possible but your appendix is so inflamed that the slightest pressure provokes a great deal of pain."
Anne: "How much time do I have? Until the surgery, I mean. I have to attend my cousin's wedding next week..."
Doctor: "I'm really sorry, My Empress..."
Anne: "You mean I can't go?"
Doctor: "Even if we could postpone the surgery, which wouldn't be a good idea, you would be in no condition to travel. We could give you morphine for the pain but the tenderness would make it nearly impossible for you to walk much less dance or entertain the guests. I'm sorry. There is no other way."
Anne: "Good. Let's have this done then. When can you cut it out?"
The Empress' surgery was scheduled for the 16th of January, three days from then. It was impossible for her to attend Peter's wedding (on the 21st of January) but, hopefully, she would be well enough by the start of the German invasion (on the 23 of January) to at least be able to follow the progression of the hostilities.
************
Mihai: "No, I won't go alone. I want to stay here with you."
Anne: "Come on, Mihai, be reasonable! He's your first cousin, you cannot skip his wedding. Besides, I'll be out of danger by then, you needn't worry so much..."
Mihai: "May God be with you!"
Anne: "He will, Mihai, He will. And Elaine, whom He sent to look upon me. I'll be all right."
Mihai: "But you know that I don't approve of Peter's marriage with that...
woman."
Anne: "Yes, I know, but they musn't... My God, you're such a bigot!
That woman has a name, she's called
Olivera and she's a very fine girl, I'm quite sure about that. If we keep marrying among ourselves we'll have two-headed children in a generation or two! Have you forgotten the infamous Habsburg chin? Or the haemophilia problem? We need fresh blood, marrying commoners in not only acceptable, it's recommended and it should become mandatory... You'll go there and you'll behave and poor Olivera will never even feel your contempt! Are we understood?"
Mihai: "It's not only that she's a commoner, I understand your reasoning. But an unemployed aspiring actress and singer, for God's sake!..."
Anne: "No, Mihai, listen to me. I'll have surgery in three days and I may die... Shut up and listen to me! Hitler will invade in ten days and hundreds of thousands of our subjects will be killed. Our cities and factories will be bombed to rubble. Our daughters will be cared by strangers while I'm sick and Cleopatra will be nursed by someone else. I have enough problems to worry about. Some of our relatives will boycott the wedding and others will only show up to scorn Olivera. You'll have to promise me that you'll be nice to her. Please, Mihai, I need that. Please."
Mihai (hugging his wife): "Sure, my darling. I promise. Don't you worry. I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you cry... Everything will be just fine."
14 January 1945, Imperial Palace, Constantinople, the Empire
Marshal Ion Antonescu: "My Empress, I must insist, King Mihai ought to remain in the capital. Belgrade is not safe."
Anne: "Sorry? What are you talking about? No enemy bomber can reach Belgrade!"
Antonescu: "No, but the German missiles can and there is nothing we can do to stop them."
Anne: "What? We are not at war with Germany yet! The war won't start until the 23rd. Don't you trust our intelligence or what?"
Antonescu: "Hitler may change his mind at any moment and order a missile barrage. We don't know..."
Anne: "But you were fine with us attending the wedding until yesterday. What has changed?"
Antonescu: "Since you are not going, the Holy Angel of God who is protecting you won't be there to stop the missiles."
Anne: "Oh, I see. But those rockets have extremely low accuracy. They may miss Belgrade altogether and the chance of hitting the Royal Palace is minute. Anyway, don't you worry, I'll ask her to keep an eye on the situation. See, problem solved. Anything else?"
Antonescu: "No, My Empress. If you say so, so be it."
15 January 1945, Royal Palace, Belgrade, Serbia, the Empire
King Peter II of Serbia: "Both my cousin and the Empress' brothers have confirmed that they would attend our wedding. See, they don't hate you, my love, I told you that."
Olivera Đorđević: "But the Empress won't be here, would she?"
Peter: "I've told you she's sick. Anne is probably your greatest supporter."
Olivera: "Yes, I know that, my darling. And I appreciate it, I swear. I'm just stressed, that's all... And I love you very much." (sharing a kiss with the king)
16-20 January 1945, Imperial Palace, Constantinople, the Empire
Anne's appendectomy was performed by eight of the best surgeons of the Empire. Because Anne was unconscious for less than one hour, no Regency was installed. Elaine stayed in the operating theatre for the entirety of the procedure, albeit in her invisible form lest her presence unnecessarily stressed the surgeons. Mihai furiously paced the adjacent room, accompanied by Anne's parents and brothers.
Anne's infected appendix was successfully removed and, after briefly waking up, she remained in intensive care for the next 48 hours. Important doses of penicillin prevented the development of potentially life-threatening infections and, four days after the surgery, Anne was feeling well enough to walk in the Palace's gardens and even talk to her generals about the upcoming war.
Anne realized that living in the 20th century had some advantages compared to the 17th. One of them was that an appendicitis was not a death sentence anymore.
20 January 1945, Imperial Palace, Constantinople, the Empire
After a very emotional parting with her husband (Mihai), eldest daughter (Victoria), parents (Margaret and René) and brothers (Jacques, Michel and André), who left for Belgrade, Anne strolled to the nearby Hagia Sophia and prayed for the safety of her family, her subjects and her Empire. One hour later, Elaine put a hand on Anne's shoulder, waking her up from her reverie.
Elaine (whispering): "Let's go home, Iulia. The merciful Creator has forgiven us both."
Anne: "Why now?"
Elaine: "Unlike your previous military campaigns, the upcoming fight against Nazi Germany is undoubtedly a
just war and you have now His blessing. We shall rejoice."
And the young Empress jumped and yelled with joy (and a little post-surgical pain), disregarding the old priests who gently scolded her for her display of impropriety.
21 January 1945, Belgrade, Serbia, the Empire
21 years old
King Peter II of Serbia and his bride, the beautiful 19 years old Serbian actress and singer
Olivera Đorđević, were joined in Holy Matrimony by Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo V in Saint Michael's Cathedral. An unpleasant incident occured when Caliph Abdullah vocally reprimanded several younger members of the Iranian and Egyptian Royal Families who had attended the Christian matrimonial service in the Cathedral. When a rebellious young Iranian prince showed the Caliph the sole of his shoe, their peers had to stop the two men from engaging in a physical fight.
In the end, most members of the Royal Families of the Empire attended the wedding with only a handful having declined the invitation, the most noteworthy of them being Empress Anne (who was still recovering after her surgery) and Queen Mother Helen of Romania. The wedding was a glamorous event, with over three hundred royal guests vying for the attention of the cameramen or simply trying to have fun. A second troubling incident took place when Anne's parents castigated their oldest son Jacques for dancing and flirting with Ethiopian Princess Aida Desta (the 17 years old granddaughter of the exiled Emperor Haile Selassie), the only reason offered being that the princess was an African native.
After having learned of the incidents, Anne realized with great sadness that her dream of unifying widely disparate peoples into one country was going to be a difficult multi-generational effort. Of course, the Imperial Effect prevented most instances of violence and outright hatred but ancient and profound bigotry (religious, racial and classist) was surely not going away completely anytime soon. After the end of the hot part of the war, Anne would attempt, with various degrees of success, to tackle those problems.
21 January 1945, Berlin, German Reich
Hitler, Goebbels and Bormann were listening attentively to the evening programme of the Imperial Broadcasting Association (the German edition) which included a rather detailed account of the Royal wedding taking place in Belgrade.
Hitler: "They really don't have a clue! Two days before the victorious Wehrmacht will smash through their defences, those bastard mongrels are busy throwing parties!"
Joseph Goebbels: "Yes, Mein Führer. They are soft and indulgent, not a martial race like the Aryans. Their Empress has more balls than all those pitiful kings and princes."
Hitler: "Yes, you're right. And, at least, she has the decency to refrain from making a public spectacle... In fact, they didn't even mention her..."
Goebbels: "I think that she's not even in Belgrade."
Hitler: "Yes, that is possible. But I really wonder why..." (raising his voice) "Wait!... If the Empress is not in Belgrade, that means that whatever deity is protecting her is not there either!"
Martin Bormann: "What deity, Mein Führer?"
Hitler: "That's not important right now. Belgrade is unprotected. We can kill them all! Throw the Empire into chaos! Yes! Now! Martin, contact the OKW now! This is our great chance! Yes! Kill them all!"
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Hitler: "There is no time for that! I want all the available rockets to hit the centre of Belgrade tonight! Not tomorrow morning, tonight, as soon as possible, now! All of them!"
Wilhelm Keitel: "Yes, Mein Führer. I'll rely the order right now. "
22 January 1945, Slovenia, German Reich
At 02:25, almost five hours after Hitler decided on the missile attack, 837 V-3 ballistic missiles were ready to be deployed against Belgrade in the greatest concerted missile attack in history. During the next 17 minutes, 829 of them successfully took off, speeding towards their target.
Hitler had enjoyed, once again, an unbelievable amount of luck. Normally, he couldn't do anything to surprise the Imperial Army because all German plans were known to the Empire soon after being drafted, either due to decrypted Enigma messages or due to the work of the numerous Imperial spies. However, that time, nothing had been planned in advance (with the exception of the placement of the V-3 rockets close to the Imperial borders). Hitler had acted on the spur of the moment and the Empire was caught completely wrong-footed as the order to deploy the missiles was successfully decrypted less than ten minutes before the first rockets started to rain on Belgrade.
22 January 1945, Constantinople, the Empire
Marshal Tügün: "Forgive me for waking you up, My Empress, but the Germans have attacked Belgrade with hundreds of missiles and at least two have hit the Royal Palace."
Anne: "What?... No?... No!!... NOOOOO!!!"
Anne yelled and actually banged her head against the door until she bloodied her forhead.
They will pay for this. I will kill them. All of them.
The situation in Belgrade (and other related events) will be presented in the next chapter.
(Imperial flag)
(National flag)
