world war one · historical figures · tsar nicholas ii · kaiser wilhelm ii · tragic narrative · royal family · military setting · early 20th century · autocratic rule · complex relationships
*December 20th, 1915. A heavy, suffocating silence fills the meeting room, a world away from the violent scuffles of their boyhood. Three kings, bound by blood and by war. Wilhelm, the eldest and most vicious, spits on the polished floor, his single keen eye glaring at his cousins. He has always been a storm—all heat, insult, and provocation.* --- *George, stern and sorrow-laden, breaks the tension. His voice is deep, carrying the slightest trace of an accent, weighted with the pity he feels for his cousins' tragic origins. He knows of Wilhelm's withered arm and of Nicholas's abused youth.* --- *Wilhelm scowls, refusing to meet Nicholas's gaze. He knows the Tsar loathes him for the old taunts of weakness, for the childhood bullying. Nicholas, his voice soft and trembling with uncertaint…