A Battle Unseen

[Doc]

2307 Lolla Blvd, Crown Prince's Townhome, Kaliburg
May 3, 5668

"Welcome to my home, Aunt Meg," said Fredrick. "It's been a while since you were here."

"I see you've painted in here," said Margret, looking around. "I always did like the ceilings in this place."

"That was Jenn's doing. She prefers this color, and she loves the crown molding, so, we kept that."

"Very elegant," said Margret, "and understated."

"It'll be sad when we have to leave this place, but that won't be for a while, I'm told."

"I think your mother wants to go for 65," said Margret with a smile. "But if you ask me, if she loses the Athosian house, she'll find her beloved redwoods calling her back, and she just might quit early."

"Well, heaven forbid," said Fredrick.

"How do you mean?" asked Margret.

"She makes it all sound like such a drag. I'm enjoying my life, I'm learning a lot, Jenn and I are very happy together, I don't know if I want to have to deal with all that..."

"Well," said Margret, "to her it is, I should say, always has been a drag. She is still very much a hippie at heart. She was not really cut out for this job, but she still has done it well. But she thrives in nature, and so when she disappears into the woods, we don't start getting worried until she's not back in like four days... She has her moods, you know..."

"Yeah, that's true. Lady Victoria is a very patient woman. My father was not so much..."

"Is the wedding almost ready?" asked Margret, making small talk.

"It's all set, Meg. We have a few more people to invite, but everything else is done." The Prince paused, and decided to get to the point. "Then, what brings you out to Lolla today?"

"Thank you for asking. I know you have this big plan to visit the world in September, and talk with various governments. But I just want to warn you..."

"Let me stop you right there," said Fredrick. "I have already had this talk with my mother, and I am going. We have to do something else in this country, or we are going to be isolated..."

"I know, I know... But it's just that, some of the people who are planning to meet with, let's just say we haven't always been on the best terms with and..."

"You sound like my mom, Meg," said Fredrick, sitting back into his chair. "Or rather: She sounds like you. Often times, I have wondered, which one of you is actually calling the shots."

"Fredrick, that's a hell of a thing to say," said Margret. "My sister has relied upon me for advice, and that's all. I've given her the advice she asks for, and I have been candid with her. It's not my fault if she doesn't care for international relations. She asked me to commit my entire life to her service, and I have done so, but the decisions, all of them, are always hers, and nobody else's, just as they will always be yours when it is your time..."

"Well, Aunt, you will forgive me if I know enough about the world to be able to recognize that our policy toward other nations makes strangers of them, and think I would like to do something different. We can't keep alienating everyone. We need to fit into the world, not stand against it."

"Standing against the world is what has kept Kalistan safe this entire time," insisted Margret.

"Maybe too safe. Where does this obsession with security come from anyway? Has Kalistan been attacked within the last 40 years?"

"Fred, your mother was attacked when she was a baby." shot Margret back. "You know that park over on the other side of Wilson's Hill? That used to be where this family lived. That home was torn down because it was so poisonous and unlivable from when Kaliburg was struck by chemical weapons during the war. While your mother and grandparents slept. Keeping Kalistan a fortress has prevented any attacks since then, but she was one or two when that happened, and says she still remembers that night."

"That's her memory, not yours, and not mine," said Fredrick. "I know how I want to govern this nation. She does really well for her people here. But we could also be friends with the rest of the world too, most of whom do not wish to be our enemies. I believe that." Fredrick paused. "Did my mother send you?"

Margret leaned in, "Your mother doesn't know I am here. And I am only trying to warn you: Some people's agendas are not as pure as you think they are. It's a sad truth, but this world is full of sharks, and sometimes you can mistake them showing their teeth for a smile. Some people's motivations are as foreign to you and as strange to you as if they were to come from the moon. And you don't have a lot of experience dealing with world leaders, so it will be very easy for you to screw it up and create problems for yourself."

"Are you saying, Meg, that I am naïve? That I will be taken for a ride by some foreign President."

"That is precisely what I am saying," shot back Margret.

"Well, then you are far too cynical," answered Fredrick. "You see the world as us against them, against everyone. And I just don't see things like that. I am going out to meet my peers in the world. I am just going to talk, to let them see a real Kalistani for the first time, not one filtered by state media or a bunch of sycophants who tell people what they think the people want to hear."

Margret continued, "I think you are untested and green... and you have a good heart, and good intentions. But it is important to remember that some will try to take advantage of that, and to roll you. So please be on your guard. Smile back at them if you like, shake hands if you like, but always remember: Everytime you meet someone who smiles at you and shakes your hand, there is one of me right behind them reminding them what this meeting is really all about, for them, not for you. We do not live in the world that is governed by rules. Our world is governed by interests. Whatever they teach you in school about a rules-based world order and international law.

"Your mother doesn't like this fact, as much as she lives by it. She was taught that lesson during her very first test as Empress. Those who whined about how Kalistan was fighting a war, then turned around and complained that Kalistan was attempting to make peace. Because their interest was neither war nor peace, it was to knock Kalistan down a few pegs. And that's all, and she fell for it, and they accomplished their mission. The world has not changed one jot or tittle since then. You have to be on your guard when you speak with these people. That's what I am trying to say. And I can speak from my experience. I am the IBSI Director after all."

Fredrick thought for a moment. "I'll keep this in mind, Meg, and I will try to keep to interests as well, but I would like Kalistan to be better regarded in the world, because that's what is in my interest."

Margret smiled. "Well, then I suppose that is the best I can hope for: It's what's in all of our interests. But," she paused, "One other thing. You will be the Sovereign of the Empire of Ananto and Kalistan and the Anantonese Empire. Not a single one of the people you will meet is your peer. Remember to keep that in mind as well. When you are Emperor, all law springs from your every utterance, all right and privilege from your very breath. There is not another soul on this planet that possesses that sort of pure power over an entire nation, over an entire empire. There is not another sovereign that is as unchecked in the exercise of their power as you will be."

"And yet," laughed Fredrick, "I am not allowed to refer to myself as I or me."

"It's a small price to pay, really," said Margret as she returned the smile. "I've said what I came to say."

Fredrick sensed she was getting ready to leave. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" He asked, though he already knew the answer. "Jenn will be home tonight and I'm making roast chicken for supper."

The old spy chief smiled. "I would love to, but I have to return to Lhasa. We are in the process of interviewing replacements."

Fredrick said, "Are you... retiring?"

"Yes, I am 55 this year. I am retiring. I have done enough."

This was the first time Fredrick had heard this news about his aunt. "But, I was hoping you would stay on until I was crowned, maybe a few more years after that even."

"Well," said Margret. "I suppose you could order me to stick around. Your mom would."

"Well, then I order you to do so. I need your help, Aunt Meg."

"Sorry, nephew" she said with a smirk, "You aren't your mom yet." With that, Margret stood up, nodded a familiar sort of lite-bow to the future Sovereign of the Empire, and took her leave.