Secrets of the New World (Infini Calendar) (Volume 2) Read Free

road from the north. It looked like just a regular carriage (no steam involved), but she knew better. It was, she thought, a good way to travel without attracting attention; just one nondescript horse-driven carriage, and no escort to speak of.
    It stopped a few yards in front of her. From either side two men in brown civilian suits and matching derby hats disembarked. They surveyed the area for several moments before turning their attention to her.
    The one on the right—a fiftyish man with salt-and-pepper hair—said to her in German, “Only the strong survive.”
    “Weakness breeds cruelty,” she replied.
    Although seemingly satisfied that she had delivered the correct half of the password, they nonetheless kept their guard up. The one on the left—perhaps in his late thirties with dark hair—said, “We still need to see your eyes.”
    “Watch how you speak to me,” she warned him.
    “We mean no offense, ma’am,” Salt-and-Pepper said. “While you match the description given to us for the most part, we need to verify your eye color.”
    She pulled up her goggles and let them rest on the tip of her forehead. “Satisfied?”
    Salt-and-Pepper examined her closely for a moment. “Brown,” he confirmed to his partner who then nodded and knocked softly on the door of the carriage.
    A young man with dark brown hair and a thin mustache on his upper lip stepped out cautiously. He looked, at least to Farahilde, like a small child brought into the big city for the first time. At least he doesn’t wear a powdered wig , she thought somewhat optimistically. Nor did he wear extravagant robes or any of that sort of thing; like his guardians, he was dressed in dull civilian clothing. He was already distinguishing himself from Louis XVI.
    He approached the steam cycle (which she had not gotten off of) and stared at her. He looked terrified, as if he had no idea what it was he was supposed to do next. “M-M-M-M-M…” He tried to speak, but couldn’t get any words out.
    She, likewise, was at a loss for words. “Um…”
    However, he suddenly bowed and blurted out in German, “My name is Frederick William III! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!”
    Lord, if you get me out of this now, I will atone for every bad thing I’ve ever done .
    Unfortunately for her, no salvation arrived. Instead, he remained bowed, evidently expecting some sort of response. She gave the only one she could: A sigh. “All right, all right; you can stand up now.” He did so. “I am Farahilde Johanna, as you probably know. We are to be wedded at some point in the coming months.”
    He nodded nervously. “It…will be a pleasure getting to know you.”
    She said to his aides, “I can take it from here. I’ll get him to the Hofburg in one piece.”
    They exchanged dubious glances. “We were expecting the prince to ride in something…a little larger,” Salt-and-Pepper said.
    “It’ll be fine.” She then addressed Frederick. “Hop in.”
    He looked at the side car attached to the steam cycle. “I-In that?”
    She furrowed her brow. “Don’t get any funny ideas. You’re not riding behind me on this thing. The side car.”
    He haphazardly maneuvered himself into the metal attachment. His aides both gave defeated shrugs, and then handed Frederick two suitcases she assumed were his. There wasn’t quite enough room in the side car for both, so Frederick simply stacked them on his lap and held the top one with both hands.
    When she was satisfied that he was as ready as he was going to be, she said to the aides, “Farewell, then.” Without another word, she brought down her goggles and started up the steam cycle. It rumbled and chugged to life, and Farahilde swiftly turned the whole thing around one hundred and eighty degrees. The steam cycle took off in the direction she had come from, back to the Hofburg.
    On the return trip, she decided she needed to know something about Frederick William III if she was going to marry him.