The rain hammered outside of the war chamber on the windows, inside maps lay scattered across a long oak table covered with ink marking troop movements and encirclements.
The Marshal General burst into the room, his uniform scorched and splattered with mud and eyes wide with a panic he could barely restrain.
"Your Highness our allies have surrendered. The coalition's bombardment has flattened entire divisions and casualties are beyond count, their own people revolted and forced an armistice." He drew a ragged breath. "Our frontline is faltering. If this continues… the enemy will be at our capital gates within weeks."
An unnerving silence fell in the room.
The man on the throne ****REDACTED**** remained perfectly still. No tremor of fear, only a controlled calm persona that unnerved even the hardened veterans in the chamber.
"Until our men hold the line," he said, every word echoing with iron resolve, "we do not bend, we do not kneel, we do not surrender, we owe the finish line, we will fight and fight and we will see another day no matter how many buildings are flattened or castles are destroyed." His voice grew louder, carrying the desperation and pride of a great dying Empire. "If our armies fall, then every man, woman, and child shall take up arms, we will make sure the invaders will yield to our resolve."
The officers around him lowered their heads in respect and obedience.
But when ****REDACTED**** was left alone the mask of an unshakable leader slipped and his eyes shifted away from the map to the pistol resting on the desk beside him.
In the dim firelight, it seemed almost inviting.
BANG.
**********
"You know," Karl sighed as he typed the last line on his screen, "they used to tell me life would get easier once I finished my engineering degree."
His colleague laughed without looking up."Yeah? How's that working out for you?"
"You know how well it is working out, seriously don't get me started"
He checked his wristwatch, an old habit, though he was always on time.
"Well, I'm heading out. See you tomorrow," he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Enjoy the grind", his colleague muttered.
Karl forced a tired smile and stepped out of the office. He walked to the bus stop, boarded the same overcrowded evening bus, and sank into a window seat. The city blurred past, neon signs, traffic lights, this was his routine, so predictable, so lifeless, he felt nostalgic about older times.
He closed his eyes.
Just another day, just another bus ride home.
The bus lurched forward and then he felt a violent jolt.
A loud clank of metal could be heard.
Something slammed into the bus hard enough to rattle it.
Pain shot through his body and tore the world away.
Everything went black.
And then-
Light. Blinding lights.
Karl stood in chains before the Empress's throne, memories flooded his mind from a life that wasn't his, memories that were never his.
Prince Heinrich von Ravenwald, third son to the Empress
He stood in chains before the Empress's throne, a vaulted ceiling arched above him, it had marble ribs, gold inlay, frescoes of angels and clouds, it was beautiful to say the least, gas lamps hissed softly along the walls, their glow warm.
He was in a throne room.
Before him, seated atop a dais of carved oak and bronze, was a woman draped in crimson and gold. Her crown glittered; her posture was calm, commanding, terrifyingly regal and authoritative.
Empress Katerina sat rigid upon her throne, draped in black velvet and imperial crimson. Around her stood members of the court, Duke Matthias, the Chancellor, General Hohenstein, and Lady Veronika, the Empress's spymaster, watching him with eyes like a hawk.
"Heinrich von Ravenwald, third Prince of the Empire. You stand accused of sedition and high treason against the Crown."
Karl's-Heinrich's-heart hammered. The memories of the body he inhabited came back to him inf fragments. He knew this body's previous owner had been framed, but the details were hazy, like trying to remember a dream.
"Your Majesty, I-"
"Silence." Her hand rose. "Evidence has been presented to this court, letters bearing your seal, found in the possession of Volstarian agitators, correspondence with known revolutionaries, fomenting unrest among factory workers."
"Those letters are forgeries!" The words burst from him. He could feel it, even if he couldn't remember the specifics. "Mother, I would never-"
"You will address me as Your Imperial Majesty," she said coldly. "I have no son who conspires with enemies of the state."
Duke Matthias stepped forward, unrolling a document. "Your Highness was seen multiple times in the factory districts during the recent strikes. Witnesses place you at clandestine gatherings, and these letters" he held up sealed parchments, "are detailed plans to undermine the imperial war effort and spread discontent among the lower classes."
It was a perfect trap. Karl's fragmented memories showed him Heinrich's genuine compassion for the workers, his visits to understand their plight. Someone had twisted that charity into conspiracy.
"I went to see their conditions," Karl said, forcing himself to think like a prince. "To understand the people we rule. Is that now treason?"
"When it coincides with sabotage at munitions factories?" General Hohenstein's voice was gravel. "When it aligns with Volstarian timing? When your 'charity' inspires riots that have cost us production and weakened our front lines?"
The Empress raised her hand again, and the hall fell silent.
"I am Empress before I am your mother," she said. "The Empire is at risk of war, our enemies loom beyond our borders, I cannot show weakness,I cannot harbor a traitor, even if he shares my blood."
She stood, and every person in the hall bowed, except Karl, held by guards.
"Heinrich Leopold von Ravenwald, I strip you of your rank, your titles, and your inheritance. You are hereby exiled to the Province of Nordgau, effective immediately. You will govern as Administrator and you will remain there until such time as you prove your loyalty to the Empire, or until your death, whichever comes first."
Nordgau. The name echoed in Karl's borrowed memories, it was a frozen wasteland at the empire's northern frontier, it was poor, rebellious, a mining province populated by resentful subjects and hostile countries beyond the border
"You will be given a stipend barely sufficient to maintain a household," the Empress continued. "No imperial guard, no retinue. You will have one assistant and whatever local militia still functions in that forsaken territory. If you restore order, if you prove the prosperity of Nordgau, if you show me you serve the Empire and not yourself..." She paused. "Then perhaps, in time, you may earn your way back."
She descended the throne steps, stopping before him. Up close, he could see the lines of exhaustion on her face, the weight of a crumbling empire.
"But know this," she whispered, only for him. "There are those who want your head. I have given you exile instead. Do not waste my mercy."
Then, louder. "Take him. See that he is on the northern train by dawn."
He wanted to scream, to protest, to demand answers.
But Heinrich's memories told him a darker truth, no one here would listen, no one here cared.
So he said nothing as they led him into the darkness below.
*Just another day*, he thought bitterly.
Except this time, there would be no going home.