Re: Blood and Iron - Chapter 959: Warhorse

Heidi found Bruno out by the estate’s stables. One of the privileges of being royalty, and all the wealth that came with it was owning vast amounts of land and the ability to care for beasts that were no longer the primary form of transportation or burden.

These days, Bruno found himself out by the stables more and more than he had ever been in his life.

And to Heidi it was obvious. Bruno kept only a specific kind of breed in his stables, they weren’t draft horses or thoroughbreeds. These were warhorses, who like him were now out of an occupation, as their eras had both come to an end.

The one in particular that Bruno felt the most kinship with was a bay Trakehner stallion, with a black mane, tail, and lower legs. Along with a white blaze on its forehead.

The horse was named Falka, partially after the nickname his grandson had earned during battle as an airborne officer during the second world war, and partially as a reference to the legendary steed of Dietrich von Bern.

And Heidi found Bruno gently brushing the Falka’s coat, laughing subtly with a sigh at its end.

“You know, I’m starting to think you’re better with animals than you are people… Strange that I’ve never seen you have a fascination with horses until just recently. You’ve always preferred the cold precision of machinery….”

She knew the answer to the hidden question, as much as Bruno did. But the man didn’t cease his act, he instead chuckled and shook his head.

“I can’t go hunting in my own mountains anymore without an escort, the Leibgarde stands watch at all times outside these very stables, and there are so many people in my own home now our family is looking more like a small town. This is the only place a man my age can get any peace these days.”

The horse snorted after Bruno’s statement, almost as if in agreement with his words. Causing Heidi to chuckle, she, of course, posed the question playfully, that she already knew the answer to.

“And your office? In years past, you would seclude yourself in there, why now has that location shifted to the stables?”

Bruno didn’t say anything, he didn’t need to. His personal study had become a mausoleum to a past that no longer existed. Banners, medals, rifles, swords, uniforms, and worst of all, photographs of a lifetime of war fulfilled.

The world was changing around him. The next generation had come to take his place, he was a relic holding, merely guiding the transition to the next era. And his office was proof of this.

The continental project that was undergoing was not his doing, it was his son Erwin’s vision, he had just played his small part in the diplomatic efforts to see the international collaboration cemented.

Germany’s wars were no longer fought by the army he once lorded over, they were outsourced to the very men who could no longer live without that life.

His enemies in this life had been many, his equals were none. And because of this, Bruno now stood alone at the end of the path he had travelled so long.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips, but no words followed. Heidi nodded, it was answer enough to her question.

She, however, refused to let Bruno standalone at the end of the path, and stepped forward, grabbing the crook of his arm and interlacing her own between its gap.

She dragged him in tight and latched onto him like a lamprey. Whispering in his ear something that forced him back to the present.

“Well, then… How about we take Falka out for a ride and disappear for a moment, just the two of us?”

Bruno scoffed and rolled his eyes at the suggestion.

“The last time I tried such a thing, I nearly caused a statewide emergency….”

Heidi pouted as she yanked on her man’s arm even more forcefully.

“Well then, this time have the Leibgarde secure the perimeter, they only need to be close enough to keep threats at bay, but not so near as to disturb our peace, no?”

Bruno stood there in silence, absolutely flabbergasted by the woman’s suggestion. It was a simple solution to his dread, one he had never thought of because he still maintained the instincts of a soldier.

She smirked when she saw the astonishment on her husband’s face. Letting go of his arm only after he began to speak again.

“Heidi… has anyone ever told you that you may very well be a genius?”

Heidi harrumphed and sighed heavily. Shaking her head in feigned disappointment as she cast the blame where it lay.

“Sadly, no, my superior intellect has always been outshined by your glory….”

She seemed so serious, so poised, so indignant that for a second Bruno actually believed that she believed her own words.

And then they broke out into laughter together, the absurdity of the statement, and the perfect delivery worthy of an actress. It was too much for either of them to bear.

Bruno sighed after recovering, nodding his head three times.

“Alright… fine, let’s go elope, my love, shall we?”

Heidi struggled not to laugh at the equally preposterous proposal her husband had just made to her, as if they were two unfilial children running off together in the heat of passion, irrespectful towards their duties.

She simply grabbed his hand, and before long the two of them rode out of the stables towards the mountains that lay in the backdrop of their estate. The Alps and their beauty forever stood stalwart in defiance of the world, and for a moment Bruno and Heidi used their peaks as an escape from the dread of daily life.

They never saw the Leibgarde once on their journey, but this time there would be no interruptions. No chance encounters. The Alemannic Alps were as secure as the greatest fortress. And only Bruno and Heidi could ascend their peaks on this day.