Behind the Frozen Doors of the North

[Saaremaa]

St. Isidore Cathedral; Kuressaare

Queen Dowager Eha was standing in the first rows in the St. Isidore Cathedral quietly watching her youngest son changing in one ceremony from her little boy to the most important man in the state, at least symbolically. The old gothic cathedral was built during the reign of king Ott V of the Kuressaare Kingdom, the one who united in the end the other kingdoms and created modern Saaremaa.

The speaker of the Parliament approached prince Alvar while the ceremonial guards brought the crown of the Kingdom of Saaremaa. It was made of gold, with an orb made of turquoise opal representing the world in the middle, above the head, with four crosses on the extremities and a lion holding a sword above the opal. They placed it on a small table near the throne Alvar was seating. As the ceremonial march stopped, the orchestra outside the cathedral started singing the national anthem of Saaremaa. When the song began, the people in the cathedral raised, giving homage to the anthem that was first sung as a ballad during the northern crusade and now it’s a song representing the Saaremaan monarchy and state.

As the song stopped and the people took their seats, Alvar rose from the throne, raised his right hand and said: “I, Alvar, the sixth of my name, I swear that I will do anything necessary for the wellbeing and interests of the Saaremaan people. I will keep the constitutional status quo that created a concrete stability in Saaremaa for nearly two hundred years. I swear I will do anything so that the country will progress and the life of the people will improve. I will work with every party that is in power as long as the state of law will be kept and in their administration they will work only for the people. So help me God.”

As he ended the oath, the people in the cathedral began applauding. A ceremonial guard took the crown and approached it to Alvar’s face. Alvar approached and kissed it. When he distanced his head from it, a clear voice was heard shouting: “Long live the king!” Immediately everyone from the cathedral started shouting the hurrah for the new king.

As the king followed the protocol, he started leaving the cathedral to meet the Saaremaan people. As the White Guards- the Royal Guards of the Kingdom of Saaremaa, have opened the doors at the cathedral making way for him, shouting his whole title: “Make way for King Alvar, the sixth of his name, king of all Saaremaans, king of the North, grand duke of Kuressaare, duke of Puurmani and steward of Riiseku!”, the Queen Dowager and now Queen Mother Eha remained behind with his brother, Ott Andrus.

“You made a huge mistake with this, sister.”

“Have I? I had hope for you Ott. But I was disappointed when I heard that you refused the throne because you wanted to give it to your son.”
“Even if I would have accepted, when I died or abdicated, he would have still taken the throne.”

“Yes, Paavo would have taken the throne, but until then, he would have been better prepared for it. But you wanted him sitting on that throne instead of my son, but he isn’t ready yet.”

“And do you think Alvar is ready?” he asked beginning to get more and more angry but careful not to raise the tone.
“Alvar was my last hope. When I didn’t accept your son, the next on the succession line was my first born, Mihkel. But it seems that he prefers partying and staying more in the anonymity, not as a public figure. I know this is impossible, but obliging him wouldn’t make things better. He would have done everything with disgust. So, in the end, posterity would present him as a bad king.” She stopped and thanked the duke of Lohusuu for congratulating her on the investiture of her son. “So, Alvar was the one. He never disappointed me. And now, I put all my hopes in him and believe that he will be a good king.”

“You broke the law. The constitution says clearly that the succession is determined by seniority. I was the first in line, then my son and then your two sons and the last was my youngest child, my daughter Riina. Legally it should have been my son, your nephew. You had no right to say no to him. Since you abdicated, already people started talking about how you were the most authoritative ruler in all of the united Saaremaan history. And this, will only fuel those rumours.”

“And who would be the one to say that I was worse than queen Leena or king Koit, who both disbanded the Kuningkogu and ruled by decree?” She asked starting to get angry. “Or do I have the creator of those saying in my face?”

“This is preposterous! Are you accusing me of denigration?”

“Don’t forget your place, little brother! I may have abdicated, but I still am the old Eha you know, so don’t forget your place. You may accuse me of breaking the law when I said no to your son, but the law also doesn’t give you the right to refuse the throne, so let’s say we’re even.”
“I may have refused the throne, but you still were the one who changed our seniority laws in to giving the throne to the youngest of your sons. Not even primogeniture.”

“And if let’s say that instead of Alvar there,” she said pointing to the exist of the cathedral where the voice of the king could be heard giving a speech to the people assembled in the square, “you have heard the voice of Mihkel, do you believe you could have manipulated him?”

“This is too much…” he said theatrically as he left her. She put on her fur coat het went outside. There were around -3 degrees Celsius, a warm day for this part of the year, but the south of the country was warmer than in the regions in which she grew up- Loksa, where now there were around -30 degrees. She joined her son right when the parade of the White Guards was starting.

 

[Saaremaa]

Loksa

Mihkel was on the border between staying awake and falling asleep. The heat of the sauna was so pleasant and it gave him drowsiness. He was staying on the corner of the sauna, supporting his back on the angle formed by the backrest of the two benches. On a bench in the middle of the sauna was lying Maarika, a good friend of his. He didn’t actually knew what he feels for her, but it was definitely something else than with the other girls he had been with and they were many. He used most of the girls, as they used him. It was a symbiosis. He had sex; the others had 15 minutes of fame. But with Maarika was different. He looked at her. She had a perfect body, with long strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. She went in Frescania in the Christmas holiday and she got a nice tan. She was also struggling to stay awake, but as she lay, she was keeping her eyes closed, breathing rhythmically. He looked at her breasts for around a minute and then got up. She startled and looked at him.

“Come on.” He said as he started walking towards her.

“No, Mihkel… I don’t want it. I want to go to sleep now.”

“After this we can both get some sleep, now come on.” He said with his sweetest tone, holding her with one arm by her back and with the other by the back of her knees. After a theatrical resistance, she accepted to be taken in his arms. Mihkel got out of the hot room and then out of the sauna itself. The -10 degrees hit them, as both startled as falling snowflakes landed on their still steaming naked bodies. It was a strange feeling, as they felt the atmosphere around them as being frozen, but still they didn’t feel the cold. Playing, she stretched her arm and took some snow and threw it, hitting him in the head. As a response, he raised his right knee, trying to hold her feet as he took some snow in his hand and started rubbing it of her back. The contact of the coldness of the snow with her body made her scream.

At the entrance in the villa of the Saare family, Mihkel saw Toomas Eenpalu. He was a man in his late 40s, short, plump and also beginning to get bald. He worked for the Saare family as their steward, administrator, seneschal; no one knew for sure, the thing is that he always was there to run errands for one of the members of the family. He first served King Alvar VI, then Queen Eha and for around ten years he served Prince Mihkel, when he was a child even as a babysitter and when he grew up, he was mostly an advisor of the prince but also the one who provided the link between Eha and her son. Sometimes he spied for her.

“I talked with your mother!” he shouted. When he heard it, Mihkel was so shocked that he accidentally dropped Maarika in the snow. “Come inside and take a shower! Quickly!” Mihkel took Maarika again in his arms, apologised and then ran towards the house.

“She said that your uncle barked during the coronation of your brother…” said Toomas as Mihkel passed him and entered the house with Maarika.

“I’ll take her to her room. Go, take and shower and get dressed.” He gave her a towel to put it around her body and then led her in her room.

“The entire luggage is prepared. Please quickly take a shower and get dresses. We must go.”

“Okay but… where must we go?”

“Back to Kuressaare!”

“Back to the capital?"

“Yes, we need to return there. The queen ordered it.” Toomas left her trying to find some clothes and then went to Mihkel’s room.

“Her Majesty ordered you come back to Kuressaare as quickly as possible.” He shouted to cover the sounds of the shower.

“Does my brother already started to give orders? For fuck’s sake, he was crowned only some hours ago! Toomas, prepare that black ski costume for the trip!”

“You mother ordered it. She also ordered you to return with your companion.” Shouted even louder Toomas. He started to look in the luggage and found the black jacket with the black padded trousers.

“Why did she want so desperately us to come back to the capital and also to meet Maarika?”

“She didn’t say. She just said it’s urgent and you must return with the first train.” Said Toomas as he left the room, leaving Mihkel to get dressed.

“Also, we must be discreet.” He said as he poked his head through the door. Good, now meeting the she wolf, though Toomas as he imagined the meeting with the Queen Dowager.

 

[Saaremaa]

Kuressaare Royal Palace

Mihkel was waiting in the hall in front of Alvar’s room waiting to be received by the king. Toomas was sweating as from the latter half of her reign Eha transformed into some sort of scarecrow for the servants, so he was expecting her to appear from hell again yelling or screaming at the servants for doing something under her expectations. Maarika was sitting on a small chair looking absently outside through the window.
“His majesty can receive you.” Said a servant as he exited the room and left.

As they entered, Eha was awaiting them seated on at her desk. They approached her and she raised and went first to her son. He made a theatrical bow, followed by Eha’s timid nod.

“We need to talk.” She whispered in his ear.

Eha then went to Maarika. After another set of bowing their heads timidly as a greet, she said:

“My dear, welcome to Kuressaare. How do you find it after the frosty steppes of the north?” She didn’t wait for a response. “How is your father?” Maarika was taken by surprise by the friendliness of the queen, as she was known for being a bitch.

“Okay, I believe…”

“Perfect. Toomas, take care of Maarika while I have a talk with my son.” She again didn’t wait for a response, but took Mihkel by the arm and pulled him to an adjacent room. After the pushed him in the room and closed the door, she returned to her stern face, the face that made her so easily recognizable in every part of the world.

“Do you know who this girl is?”

“Maarika Tamm. She’s from Imavere… Has three siblings, one elder sister and two young brothers.”

“Do you know who her father is?”

“His name is Andrus… But she never told me what is he doing for a living, or things like that… and I never asked.”

“Well… dear son, her father is actually a priest of the pagan god Peko. Do you understand that if you fuck things up, you might start a feud between the monarchy and the heathen communities from the north?”

“Wait… it mans…”

“It means that if you fuck her and then dump her, a scandal between the monarchy and the heathens and at worst even a religious destabilization of the country.”

“Oh, come on… Don’t you think you exaggerate?”

“Maybe, or at least I hope I am. But, either way… she is the daughter of one of the most influential members of the pagan community in this country. And I want that community to remain a friend of the Viridian throne.”

“So, it’s not like you really care of her emotions, nor about the national stability as we are not in a Potenzan tragedy in which broken hearts can lead to family or national feuds. You just want to use me for your dealings in befriending the old Saaremaan religion’s community.” As he finished she showed a big ironic grin on his face.

“Yes. It has to do with politics. Mihkel, understand that since my brother openly declared war on our family, I must do anything to unite the society behind us. And most importantly I must show him that the people stand by us, so by seeing that, he won’t be motivated to do god knows what and let Saaremaa become a second Boganhem. Please Mihkel, understand. This girl is not like the others. She must not be like the others. Make sure that you will stand by her.”

“Mom, I love her. I won’t wrong her. Just, please, have some faith.”

She smiled and returned to the room with the prince.

Kuressaare- Queen Leena Boulevard

Colonel Jaan Sokk slowly parked his car on the parking lot situated between the trees in the middle of the boulevard- between the two lanes going on opposite directions. With him was Sergeant Hendrik Tamm.

“Now, let’s see the show.” He said as he turned off the engine and opened the door. The cool air made the nausea he had from the emotions to disappear. Two men approached the car. One was wearing the police uniform while the other was wearing civilian clothes.

“There. That Black Borgward… and the two men who now got out of it. They are the ones.” Said the man in civilian clothes as he seated himself in one of the back seats of the car.

“We already know. The perimeter is surrounded. What else can we do? Shut up and look at the show.” Said Tamm with a slight hateful tone. He hated that man. He was an opportunist and a traitor. That man was a member of the National Salvation League. He hated this type of people who continuously stood against all progress shouting about moral decadence and about the better days that passed many years ago. He came a few days ago telling the police that from the order of Prince Ott Andrus, the National Salvation League wanted to take action against the state by placing a car bomb in front of the headquarters of the Democratic Liberals because they were the one who first asked for the decriminalization of homosexuality and some other laws that they saw as decadent and a threat for the moral life of the people.

Since the coronation, the police was on high alert, as there were many threats from the prince and the fascist party. Now, it was time to see if this man from the party really was against them and told them about the bombing just to have them waste some money.

As they looked at the car, cops appeared and immediately handcuffed the two men who got out of it. The sudden move was met with surprise by the passers-by and with fights from the two men. When they were immobilized, the policemen started inspecting the car, finding the bomb in the trunk.

“So, it seems you were right.” Said Sokk as he turned towards the man whose name he forgot.

“Yes, I told you. The Prince is behind it. He had a showdown with Koppel. They are talking about splitting the party, with Koppel going with ones which still want to remain legal, while the Prince wants to start an underground cell.”

“Like in Boganhem…” said the colonel with a sight. “We must report this to the headquarters and to Queen Eha. We must stop them before they do anything else.” He then turned to the other policeman standing in the back of the car. “Take him out of here.”

“Colonel, do I get my reward?” Shouted the man desperate as the policeman pulled him away.

“Be happy that you are not condemned for being an accomplice!” Shouted Jaan Sokk as he turned on the engine of the car, proceeding towards the police headquartes.

 

[Saaremaa]

King Mihkel International Airport Kuressaare

Colonel Edvin Allik entered the main office of the garrison’s headquarter. He had a light blonde hair and just entered in the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] decade of his life. He greeted the adjutant seated on a small chair near the door and then approached General Andrus Masing. As the colonel prepared his arm for a shake, the general, around 15 years older than him, approached more an hugged him.
“Edvin, I can’t believe it. I am so happy for you. Tell me, what did you tell them?”

General Masing was a good friend of the colonel’s father and when Edvin graduated the Military Academy, he became something like a mentor for him. He taught him everything about how the general staff works, who are the responsible and good officers, who were the craven ones, who were the proud ones, whom should he avoid and whom should he befriend. This happened around ten years ago, right after the crowning of queen Eha. And now, there’s a new king. Time passed so quickly. And his “student” now finally got the command of the King Mihkel Airport’s Military Garrison.

“So?” repeated Masing as he poured coffee in two cups.

“Well… General Padar and Vitsut were there. And queen Eha. Vitsut was sceptical on the appointment while Padar was enthusiastic to say the least. But from what I believe, the queen was the one who chose me from the list. And when she said something like… we already talked… or something like that… she nearly shouted it to Vitsut, he finally gave his consent. So, I was asked to sign some papers in which I declared that I will do everything to protect the interests of the state and the people of Saaremaa by protecting the airport.”

“Hm… it’s interesting that Vitsut was against you, as he always preferred younger people in command of such things as they can be taught easier and are more open to new ideas than an old man who still believes that he lives at the turn of the century. Also… interesting for Eha to be there…” here, Masing couldn’t abstain and started laughing. “It seems that the extremists from both sides are right. Eha really misses the power she had as a queen and now tries to do everything and to be everywhere just to show everyone that she still is who she is.”

“Some really believe that she chose Alvar as a king because he can be easily manipulated. So, in the shadows, she may still be the real boss. Ott, please leave us,” he then said to the adjutant. “The real shit will start soon…” he continued after the soldier left the room.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t be so naïve, Edvin. I’m talking about politics and the upcoming elections. We are divided. We have the conservatives and fascists on one side and the socialists and liberals on the other. The monarchy as an institution is hated and this is because of Eha. She wanted power when she was on the Viridian throne, fine. But when shit got real she abdicated. But if she was a smart woman she wouldn’t have intervened so much after Alvar was crowned. She believes that she helps him but everything she does fuels the anti-royalist hate. Alvar will have a hard reign because he is now seen as weak. I spoke with him a few times. He is truly strong, but it doesn’t really matter if the people see you as a weakling, as a doll, especially of your mother.”

“When I was coming here, the Queen Leena Boulevard was again closed because of another “March of Normality” of the National Salvation League. Have you heard that prince Ott Andrus was exiled in Imavere and put under house arrest for the failed bombing?”

“Yes, I did. What an idiot. The people are sick of this shit and people like the fascist Alexander Koppel and the communist Riina Sepp are just fuelling their hate for the monarchy. And above all this shit Eha fucks the image of the institution even more, while Alvar is away, representing Saaremaa in Ivernia. Ugly times are approaching.”

“You sounded like some old witch from the north.” Said Allik grinning.

“Well, if you don’t like the term ugly for them, let’s call them… interesting. I am close to retirement. In such times I love the status quo, but those interesting times have the potential of destroying everything I worked for since I was twenty, so nearly 40 years.”

“Come on general, there may be some street fights, in the worst case there may be some wounded or someone killed but you must think that the people are passionate about what they believe in. And they are like that because the shroud of Eha’s reign fell and now they see that Alvar will fully democratize the nation as it was before his mother’s reign. And the world is changing also. Look at Ostweg, a constitutional monarchy; look at Boganhem, again democracy. Look around you; all the dictatorships and absolutist monarchies are falling. People are now feeling liberated and taste he political ideals for the first time in more than a decade. After the upcoming elections, everything will return to normal, you will see.”
“How much I’d love to see the things like you. But I fear, that the fight between Ott Andrus and Eha will make us be seen like a second Boganhem, a nation in which the royal family fights for the throne like it did in the feudal age and the rhetoric of hate that you can hear on the streets, I feel that the elections will bring the shit to a boiling point from which all hell shall break loose."
"We’ll live and see what happens…”

“Yes, we will…” sighed general Massing as he touched the cup of coffee. It was cold already…

 

[Saaremaa]

Colonel Edvin Allik smiled to the soldier who gave him the envelope. He looked at it and saw the stamp of the White Army. He first sent the soldier away and then opened the letter. It was from General Masing. He started to read it:

Edvin, pay close attention to anything you do. I have been made to sign this declaration with a pistol at my head, figuratively. I don’t support this coup but I still can’t help the monarchy from inside as you can imagine, Kalda and his friend Soosaar don’t trust me, so they won’t really tell me any of their plans only if it’s necessary for me to know about them too. The coup is led by Kalda and Soosaar, I believe that Kalev was the mastermind behind it and he uses Kalda just for his image in front of the soldiers, but I’m not sure. That is what I observed at the meetings.

I don’t know or understand why first Laht, then Lepp and Vaino joined this rebellious clique; they may have been coerced, or they really believe in their chance to get rich by plundering the whole nation. I don’t know. The main problem is that in this waiting time, more and more units of the White Army join the clique, instead of aligning with Kuressaare. When I imagine that everything could end if a unit would arrive here in Raasiku and arrest them all… and still it isn’t happening… I know that with such an event I will also pay, but at least this nightmare will end for the nation.

As you can imagine, I lack information regarding everything. All we, the “lower” ones know is from rumours. And the problem is that rumours say that most of the White Army is backing this clique and only the three divisions of the Kuressaare garrison, the Knights of the Viridian Cross remained loyal to the monarchy and the civilian government. I was unexpected to see that in no more than 24 hours more than three quarters of the army would support them. Also, what shocked me more was the fact that many people sincerely see the Kalda and Soosaar as heroes because they fight against the monarchy, against Queen Eha. It is clear that she destroyed much of the people’s faith in the monarchy and Alvar is seen as too young, too inexperienced to take the throne. I believe the thing which fuelled this hate is the fact that the succession laws were supporting seniority and Alvar is the youngest in the family. But I don’t know for sure.

Don’t forget. As much as we hate it, if the people support this clique, we must also support them. We swore our fealty for the people of Saaremaa, not for its head of state. In other words we are obliged to support a military dictatorship, if the people are manipulated into believing that the army will save them from their problems. I don’t want to think about it…

I trust you the most in this. I need you to send this letter to the general staff of the Kingdom of Saaremaa. Make them understand that as soon as they can send soldiers here, they can arrest them all and save the state. If not, every wasted moment literally brings our doom closer and closer.

The letter was signed simply as Andrus Masing. No title, no rank. Allik stood a moment to think about it, then took a sheet of paper, a pen and started writing:

Old friend, thank you for warning me about the impending danger. I tried to do anything to try to stop this. I went to the ministry of national defence right when the declaration was issued. You can’t imagine what chaos is there. Everyone is scared of what happened, of what might happen. Everyone wants all this to end, but no one would move a finger to do it. And the desertions are high it’s true… I went in the early hours of the day and spoke with one general and three hours later another man presented himself as being the head of the general staff. In the evening when I went there again, there were different persons holding offices in the general staff. People that I barely know or never saw in my life… young people, freshly taken from the desks of the military academy that are too unimportant to be seen as worthy of trying to be persuaded to join the rebellion but still “trained” enough to try to hold the state from not disintegrating.

We received nearly no response from the commanders when we asked them to reaffirm their loyalty, so unfortunately, the rumours are right. Other than the Knights, no one is with us. The marines tried to rebel and to take the city. There were fight in the port and many of them were arrested but things like this only fuel the rebellion, as it surely made more soldiers of the White Fleet join the rebellion. This happened only in the Kuressaare Port. I don’t even want to imagine what happened in the Oru Military Port. I am pretty sure that I can convince the Knights to attack the city of Raasiku, but I’m afraid that I will leave then the capital undefended. We still have only three infantry divisions against and army for more than 25 divisions with armour, artillery and other things.

We will try to evacuate everyone whom we believe that the clique will execute after everything is over. And we will try to defend the capital by any means necessary. At least I hope… but the morale of the soldiers combined with the lack of experience and incompetence and cowardice of their commanders will surely make our “army” disintegrate at the first meeting with the White Army.
He signed it only with Edvin Allik, again no rank. He sent his adjutant to search for the courier who gave him the first letter to send this one to Masing and then he left, going to the ministry of national defense.

 

[Saaremaa]

Colonel Edvin Allik was interrupted from his thoughts when in the conference room in the Ministry of National Defence entered a mad with a square face and a beer belly in the uniform of the elite divisions of the Knights of the Viridian Cross. The jacket of the uniform was barely holding, as his belly was continuously putting strain on its buttons. Edvin didn’t know him. Behind the bulky man came Prime Minister Anna Sepp. Compared to this “bouncer”, the woman was something like a dwarf from the old pagan legends.

“Colonel Allik, let me present myself. I am General Tiitus Sibul. From now on, the supreme commander of the loyalist forces,” said the man grinning as he shook hands with Edvin.

“General Sibul, pleased to make your acquaintance. I never heard of you until know… and I thought that at least I could recognize all generals from the White Army.”

“General Sibul was also the head of the general staff of the National Security Agency…” said Anna Sepp entering the discussion.

“Hm… the secret services… I see… most of their officers already ran south to Ivernia…” As Allik said that, the grin on Sibul’s face disappeared.

“A bunch of cowards, of craven traitors!” shouted the huge man. “You may question my past in the secret services as much as you want colonel Allik, but the main thing is that I have now joined your…now our and our people’s forces, to fight for our freedom. And I’ve ordered the officers to start plan White Flare as quick as possible. We will go to catch those traitors.”

“It is risky. If they are so confident that on their forces that they didn’t pushed the attack on the capital yet, it means they are slowly preparing an attack against us that will overwhelm us, contrary to what many believe that the battle for the capital would be a prolonged siege.”

“There won’t be any battle for the capital, Allik. We will go to Raasiku to arrest the signatory generals and put them to justice.”

“Like I said before, if they are so confident on their positions and forces, it surely means that Raasiku is heavily fortified and defended. It will be a suicide march.”

“The plan has been approved!” The giant’s voice was stern. “I didn’t come here to beg for your opinion. The general staff has approved the mission when you were their chairman. It is your plan. And the problem is that you were reluctant to do it. Now, I must clean up this mess and I came here just to tell you that I will leave you the command of the rest of the garrison, to defend Kuressaare.” As he finished the sentence, he left on the table the paper on which the order was written and he left the room without saying anything more. Anna Sepp remained.

“The secret services? Seriously? Do those jesters know anything about military life and war and battles?” Said the colonel after Sibul left the room slamming the door.

“I’m sorry Edvin. It was an order for me to appoint him. I received a telegram from Aldeburgh… from Queen Eha. She told me to appoint him chairman of the general staff and to start operation White Flare.”

“It is suicide. What do we have? Three infantry divisions. What do they have? They have infantry, artillery, airplanes. And above that, in the port, there are two carriers and two battleships. The crew on those ships are loyal to the signatory generals. We know that, but we make no crackdown because we were afraid of what the generals might do… like launching the offensive on the city. If this onion is leaving with the divisions, leaving me with no more that the garrisons from the airports, meaning 1 thousand men and the police to defend the city… what would stop the marines to try to rebel again and this time take control of the city?”

The prime minister stood silent. “Nothing…” she said in the end.

“I hoped… that we would receive help. But it seems that no one is important but the Saare family for the foreigners. Everyone simply stood and waited to see what will happen. We now know for sure… It won’t be the greatness of the generals that defeated us, as they will surely say that in their propaganda. It will be our incompetence and the ignorance of the others. Fennia, Swieczema… Saaremaa will become exactly like them…”

“Eha killed us all with this last order of hers…” said Sepp with a forced smile.

“Eha signed our death sentences eight years ago. Now, she stands safe in Ivernia and we now defend a lost cause, while even our people hate us. And the thing that annoys me the most was the fact that Alvar really had the potential of being a great king, but he was given no chance by his mother…our great queen Eha…”

“So, the end is near. Three hundred years of democracy and constitutional monarchy wasted for this… Fennia, Bantyr, Boganhem and now us… Scania is slowly turning into a Himyar with a cooler climate…”

“Yes, when the soldiers will march to their death, leaving the city, everything is over. I want you to be on the first plane that leaves the city, if there are still some planes left, when Sibul leaves the city towards Raasiku.”

“It would be nice to run south like our great queen… But still, even if we were outgunned, outrun and outmanoeuvred by the generals, even if the people hate me because of them. I still am their elected prime minister and if needed I will talk to Laht or Soosaar and I will surrender the city, and thus I will stick the last nail on the coffin of the kingdom…”

 

[Hugoland]

General Jaan Kask Airport, Raasiku, Saaremaa
06:27 - 11/05/2013

The airplane of the Royal Hugolandian Airlines was about to land in that calm and sunny morning. The Captain informed that the landing procedures were about to start.

Princess Constança was now reading a book on Statistics, as she had already studied the diplomatic dossiers, and she wanted to alleviate somehow the stress by thinking about something entirely different.

The last-minute replacement of Prince Jorge, brother of King Bonifatius IV, with Pricess Contança taking his place as head of the Hugolandian delegation has forced the inclusion of another member in the delegation. Princess Constança, unlike her uncle, was not a member of the military - as she had not assumed the title and office of Princess of Lima, official heir to the throne - a high-level army commander, General Braz, was called to take part in the delegation, otherwise the Saaremaan counterparts would not take them seriously.

Constança was dressed elegantly, but not opolently. As she, followed by the commitive, left the plane and descended the stairs, was greeted by Colonel Vaino and Colonel Soosaar, who greeted her with a military salutation, to which she responded with a smile and a firm handshake. She knew that a firm handshake was a sign of strenght, and was exactly the sign she wanted to display. Indeed, with her intrepid stance, she was, even if implicitly, stating: «You think the royalty is an handful of weak idiots who lead their respective countries to decadence. That is not necessarily so, and you might be sure that is not my case».

Would the message reach its destination? Would it make any impact at all?

 

[Saaremaa]

As the Hugolandian diplomatic mission was slowly descending the stairs from the plane, the soldiers wearing the ceremonial uniforms stood at attention. In front of them, Colonel Soosaar, a short man, with red hair and freckled face with green eyes, in his early thirties and Colonel Vaino, a tall blonde man with light brown eyes, still in his late twenties were waiting for the royal princess and the diplomats to complete their descent.

As they came in front of them, both men greeted them in a military style, and then shook hands. Seeing live the replacement they have been notified of, Soosaar couldn’t abstained and grumbled a little, but Vaino knew that this was his, their chance. The Hugolandian princess was inexperienced, unlike her uncle, even if the diplomats were the same, if he would manage to make her see that the revolution is not what the hostile states think- a coup- but the rebellion of the people, he would succeed in his quest to go under the flashlights in the National Revolutionary State’s politics.

“Princess Constança, we are so glad that you arrived safe. Let me welcome you in the State of Saaremaa,” he said as he finished shaking her hand, and then he took it and kissed it afterwards letting it free. “Let me escort you to the motorcade that will take us to the government headquarters.” He said afterwards, while Colonel Soosaar was greeting the diplomats.

The military quickly drove them in the centre of Raasiku and left them in the best hotel in town. As it wasn’t the capital but a simple provincial municipality, Raasiku lacked the infrastructure necessary for such a visit, but in that hotel the members of the Provisional Government were also accommodated ever since they signed the declaration. After some time in which they will rest, the Hugolandian diplomatic mission was to meet the Government in the town hall of Raasiku.

 

[Hugoland]

Raasiku, Saaremaa
10:30 - 11/05/2013

Princess Contança had barely slept in the previous night, during which the long flight to Saaremaa had taken place. She could never sleep sitting up, so she took the chance to restudy the diplomatic dossiers – including the yet secret proposals of the Hugolandian Foreign Ministry destined to be presented to the Provisional Saaremaan Government – while also making some statistics exercises, as her Statistics exam was only one month and some days away.

She enjoyed the quietness of the town, despite the huge but understandable – in these circumstances - number of soldiers in the streets. While reaching her room, she rushed to have some sleep. Constança was woke up at 9:30, in order to attend a preparatory meeting with the Hugolandian diplomats.

Thus the delegation was assembled at a meeting room of the hotel. Before the meeting started, the two members of the Hugolandian intelligence services that were integrated in the delegation searched the room for listening or recording devices. The room was clear and the meeting proceeded.

The strategy for the meeting with the Saaremaan Government was discussed and agreed. First, some general talk in order to break the ice, and slowly lead the conversation towards the motives of the rebellion. Here some sympathy and understanding was to be displayed. An assessment of the situation would be demanded to the Saaremaan Government, namely the current military state of the revolution, what was the military strength of the rebellion and of the loyalist. A guarantee of respect for human rights was to be demanded, especially by avoiding executions and other war crimes.

After obtaining such guarantees, Princess Constança would address the Provisional Government of Saaremaa, making a speech moderately sympathetic to the rebellious military, but promoting the monarchy as a means to obtain national reconciliation. After the speech, a first draft of a Convention – named “The Convention of Raasiku” - would be presented, which included the possibility of restoring the monarchy by forcing the resignation of the deposed King in favour of his uncle, Ott Andrus. As the probability of acceptance of such proposal was deemed zero by the Hugolandian Foreign Ministry, a second draft would be proposed after 1 to 2 hours of discussion, where a high-ranked army officer would be chosen as King of Saaremaa, indicating the name of General Laht.

The diplomats believed the Saaremaan delegation would be divided by this offer, but would ultimately reject it. Thus, a new meeting should take place in the following day – the date should be set by the Saaremaan delegation - in order to obtain their response, which would probably be negative. Then the Hugolandian delegation should instigate a harsh discussion and threaten to abandon negotiations, before finally delivering a possible third draft of the Convention, the terms of which should be more clearly defined after the second meeting, after obtaining express approval from King Bonifatius of Hugoland.

"Diplomacy is an art of war", thought Constança, as she left the meeting room. She decided to take a walk by the neighbouring streets, praying the rosary as she walked.

 

[Saaremaa]

The conference room of the town hall of Raasiku was ready. On the opposite wall from the entrance, three flags were placed. One was the flag of Hugoland, one was the tri-colour with the symbol of power, the fasces, representing Saaremaa and the third one was a new flag, with a phoenix resurrecting from fire and flying on a dark blue background. It was the flag of the Supreme Leader of the National Revolutionary State, currently a vacant position until the next week elections, but General Laht made it quite clear that he wants that flag to represent an office held by him.

Colonel Vaino was sitting with the back on the blue flag. He hated the fact that Laht ordered the ordinances to put the flag there. He was frustrated that he observed so late that Laht was power hungry and thus an enemy of the revolution.

General Laht was sitting him on the head of the table, with the entrance door in front of him and the flags on his right, while colonel Soosaar sitting near Vaino. As the soldiers were opening the doors to let the Hugolandian delegation to enter, the three officers representing the provisional government raised as a greeting for the diplomats. As the Hugolandians were seated, the meeting was ready to start.

 

[Hugoland]

Princess Constança was seated in the middle of the table, being the first in rank of the Hugolandian delegation. For this meeting she was wearing a simple white dress, somewhat tightened, and wearing her royal ensigns, including a dark green sash, representing her current title of Duchess of Arcos.

After some casual talk, General Braz - as part of the Hugolandian strategy - demanded an extensive report on the conflict and the equilibrium of forces.

Princess Constança looked at General Laht with a smile, and was ready to take notes. The smile was returned.

The room was silent for a second, waiting for the Saaremaan response.

 

[Transabina]

Aanaari

With a population of barely over 300,000 souls, Aanaari was little more than a small and sleepy provincial town by international standards. But as the largest city Saamiland and the seat of government, it was, by Saami standards, it was a bustle of activity. In the city's government district this was no exception. Situated far from the ramshackle timber and log buildings and muddy streets of the outlying slums, or the reek and noise of the open-air fish market, the Saami government may have appeared removed from the bubbling daily rhythm of the city. Yet behind their flat, unadorned brick walls, the Saami government's many offices were likewise filled with the cacophony of many voices, with hurried comings-and-goings.

The buzz of activity within the Saami government of late had been driven by alarming reports of unrest across the border in Saaremaa. For almost a month, the Saami leadership had stood by as rumors of unrest grew into outright revolt. As the Saaremaan military had gone over to the revolution and the Saaremaan royal family fled to Ivernia, the Saami government had been presented with a serious dilemma.

The Saami had long regarded the Saaremaan Kingdom as their major regional rival. This view was born of a historic enmity between the two peoples, reaching back to the 18th century, generations before the birth of the Saami state. The Catholic Saaremaan monarchy was held in particular revile among many of the conservative and religious lower classes. Almost as soon as the National Revolutionary State had been proclaimed in Saaremaa, representatives of these groups had begun pressuring for a formal recognition of the the new government, optimistically decrying the end of the "Catholic menace" and calling for a re-evaluation of Saamiland's foreign policy towards its eastern neighbor.

While these voices had found considerable support both among traditional Saami religious groups and among the 70,000 strong Saaremaan minority in Saamiland, the President and members of his coalition government had vacillated. Representing a coalition of secular liberals, socialists, and Christian minority parties, they were less in-tune with the anti-Catholic rhetoric of the Saami right, and had made several abortive attempts to normalize relations between Saamiland and the Saaremaan monarchy over their near-decade in power.

For several days, then, the Saami government was wracked with internal divisions while events continued to unfold in Saaremaa and abroad. But after a grueling six hour debate in the Saami Congress, the President and his ministers had finally relented on the issue and agreed to extend formal recognition to the new National Revolutionary State of Saaremaa. While personally opposed to the measure as premature, particularly with news of an opposition government forming in Hugoland, President Isku Ooli agreed to sign the following declaration:

Today, the Democratic Republic of Saamiland formally recognizes the National Revolutionary State of Saaremaa and its duly appointed officers and representatives as the only legitimate government of of the Saaremaan nation. It is the hope of the Saami State and People that the momentous events of the past weeks heralds a new era of strengthened relations between our two peoples. At this time, I, Isku Ooli, President of the Democratic Republic of Saamiland, extend an invitation to representatives of the National Revolutionary State to meet myself and other representatives of the Saami government to discuss the normalized relations between our respective nations at such time and place as is agreeable to both parties.

With blessings of friendship between our two peoples,
Isku Ooli​, President of the Democratic Republic of Saamiland​

 

[Saaremaa]

“General Braz, let me explain a thing. There is no equilibrium of forces, as there is no conflict. The conflict was created by the resistance of capitalist-monarchist elements in the society that held Kuressaare hostage for two weeks. Afterwards, when they tried to come to Raasiku to stop the revolution, their soldiers defected to the people’s righteous cause and left the officers imagine that they still lead soldiers into battle. The conflict is over. The people have won. Saaremaa is now free of corrupt politicians and power hungry royal families.” Said General Laht with a smile.

The way general Braz asked the question, demanding the response and a report made Vaino angry. He didn’t like the attitude of the Hugolandian diplomats. They weren’t here to question the revolution and the state of Saaremaa and he will make sure they won’t do it again.

 

[Saaremaa]

Colonel Mihkel Vaino was sitting on his place in the great hall of the Royal Palace, now transformed into the headquarters of the National Assembly. On one side was Colonel Edvin Allik and on the other was General Andrus Masing. Allik, even if he was literally a leader of the monarchist forces, his friendship with Masing saved him from prison and then Soosaar and Laht found a way to make use of him. Allik was now transformed into a subject of propaganda of the stratocracy, presenting him as the honourable and idealist officer that after doing what he was trained to do – fighting for the monarchy, he finally was enlightened and joined the revolution, when Sibul left for Raasiku and he surrendered Kuressaare. Because of his popularity, he was elected to be part of the National Assembly. This move shocked both Laht and Soosaar, but Vaino loved it. He had his own plan with Laht and the upcoming election and he was happy to have a friend like Allik by his side.

“You see them?” Vaino approached Allik showing him the men in the front rows from the podium. “They are all Soosaar’s faction. They don’t really care what they do with Saaremaa, as long as they can manage to export the revolution. They are what Laht called dictators who simply consume the countries resources and when those are depleted, their regime falls. Many of them have plans for certain nation, I couldn’t find out exactly what they plan, but they want to rise up to their rhetoric with the exportation of the revolution.”

“I see… Hm… I always imagined that Laht and Soosaar were friends.”

“They are, but only when they can to set aside the differences in the way they imagine the ruling of the nation. Laht is more moderate, but his rhetoric is full of anti-austwegianism and anti-sylvanism. But Laht is just a cur. Masing, have you heard the rumours?”

“No, I’m not aware of any. What rumours?”

“Regarding the Hugolandian delegation. It seems that the Hugolandians continued with hoping that the Viridian throne would be occupied again. If not by Alvar, at least by Ott Andrus… and when they saw that we didn’t even accept that, it seems that they secretly talked with Laht, telling him that Hugoland would recognize and accept the Stratocratic and Meritocratic features of Saaremaa if Paavo Laht would declare himself king.” Andrus Masing was shocked when he heard it.
“Proclaim himself king? But that’s impossible. The whole army would be against him and not only the army, but the people will turn against us.”

“Yes, but he would receive the aid of the Hugolandians. If he would say the right things, maybe even from the Frescanians or Sylvanians or even Ivernians.”

“But that would also be against everything he said and done when he led the Provisional Government… It’s…its impossible…”

“Don’t be so shocked, my friend. You forget that some men would do anything to be powerful and rich. And if he promised things like that, even if we would turn against him, he would still have time to take as much money as he can carry and run with them to Hugoland or that banana republic to the south.”

“You are right… But what did he say?”

“We don’t know… The secret services believe that the last thing he said to the Hugolandians regarding this subject is that he would consider it…” he couldn’t finish the sentence, as the main speaker of the assembly interrupted him.
“Here are the nominees for the office of Defender of the State, head of state of the National State of Saaremaa: General Paavo Laht, Colonel Kalev Soosaar, Colonel Mihkel Vaino, Aleksander Lippmaa and Jaak Raud. I hereby invite all members of the assembly to come and vote.”

Each man had five sheets of paper with the name of each nominee. Each of them chose the paper with the name of his favourite and then put it into the urn. As the speaker called each district, three men came and put the ballots in the urn. Kuressaare was the last to be called. As the four men, Jaan Kalda, Mihkel Vaino, Edvin Allik, and Toomas Lepp sat down, the main speaker, helped by three other men opened the urn and took the first five ballots. He opened each of them and said the name written on it:

“Laht, Laht, Vaino, Soosaar, Raud.” He took another five: “Vaino, Soosaar, Vaino, Vaino, and Laht”. And another: Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, Raud. And continued: Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, Laht, and Vaino. And again: Raud, Soosaar, Vaino, Vaino, Laht, Vaino. The whole building was holding its breath; everyone in the hall was waiting and listening quietly, only the voice of the main speaker repeating monotonously Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, and Vaino with some disturbances when another name could be heard in the hall. Yes, it really transformed into a disturbance. The atmosphere was loaded with what literally transformed into a harmony, the continuous repeat of Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, and Vaino and when another name was heard it really felt as if it disturbed this harmony. Sometimes, when between the Vainos the name Laht was heard, a slight hiss of discontent was being heard from some of the parliamentarians. “Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, Raud and Vaino.”

And the Vaino quintet was heard again and again, Laht was getting angrier and angrier. “Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, Vaino and Vaino”. He knew that Colonel Vaino did something to destroy his plans to win the elections. But he couldn’t understand how Vaino manipulated everyone to stop voting him. “Vaino, Vaino, Vaino, Vaino and Vaino”. Every word started with the letter V made his headache worse and worse. “Vaino, Soosaar, Vaino, Vaino and Vaino”. He couldn’t stand it anymore. Afraid that he would lose control and go and kill Vaino, he went outside. He didn’t hear the whistles and hissing of the entire hall when he got out of it.

As he finally got out of the building, as he felt the cool air around him and he started to calm down, something thundered him. He now understood… It was the offer of the Hugolandians. Even if he never had in plan such a ludicrous thing as crowning himself… From the outside, if he was paying attention and there was a moment of silence, he could still hear the voice of the speaker repeating again the five words, in the same monotonous way. Again and again and again.

“Those were the votes of the members of the National Assembly.” Said the speaker as he finished counting the 601 ballots of the vote. The vote, hissing of the members of the assembly, Laht leaving the hall. Everything was perfect. “I won.” He said simply to Allik and Masing, who were still shocked by the results of the vote.