WWI-verse Anarchist AU

[ay_my_lord]

*Horatio has a room in a lodging-house not far from the castle; he shares the house with three other men on his floor and an extended family on the floor above him. his belongings, he has largely left in Wittenberg, on the (perhaps vain) hope that the war will soon be over and he will be able to return within a few months' time at most.

with his fellow-lodgers at work, though, he has the narrow front room to himself--or rather, in this case, to himself and Hamlet. he is pouring out tea for them, his spectacles slipping down his nose* I'm glad you came to call today. I'd been hoping I'd hear from you soon--it's been awkward trying to get back to the castle without a wedding invitation.

Comments

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

What are you going to need them to do there?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I imagine we'll need military working close to and inside the castle, to secure it and to divert the opposition we'll meet, and we'll need support, from the people and from the nobility, from students and workers and heads and state, to ensure that the exchange of power is seen as legitimate, and happens with as little bloodshed as possible. *not too confident* Something like that.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

*encouragingly* No, that sounds good. I mean ... you might want to study Catherine the Great. She managed a coup successfully, and she was more or less in your position ... although you might not want to use her ruling strategy. *blushes again*

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*-- that's hopelessly endearing :D takes his hand* Tell me about Catherine the Great?

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

I don't know very much ... she helped incite the Tsar's personal guard to revolt, with a lover. It was bloodless, mostly ... they assassinated her husband, but more or less, people survived and were happy.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*laughs, smiles* That's a good ending.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

And now you've got to find your own good ending. *gentlepoke*

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I'll think it through. *is going to die. it's Hamlet!*

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

*smiles, encouragingly* It doesn't have to be right now. Coups take time to plan correctly.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

It would be nice, though, if I could see the end, and see it clearly, and spend the all that time in-between on details.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

What do you want the end to be?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I don't know.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

*gently prodding* Do you want the king ... dead, or just out of power?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I want him dead. But ... my mother ...

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Is there any way that you could convince her that you're right to do it?

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I don't know -- *laughs the way he does when he's forcing himself to* It'll be easier convincing the royal guard.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

We can do that first.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

I don't see how she can love him. It wasn't even two months -- it was barely one. Was it that easy forgetting father? I don't see how she could love him without forgetting, not when my father had been so ... *stopping, catching his temples between his fingers* I'll have to talk to her, eventually.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

*encouragingly* You should. Who knows--maybe she doesn't even love him. Maybe it's political.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

Maybe. Maybe.

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Until then, just ... try to put yourself at ease. At least part of this is out of your hands now.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*nods, slowly, taking his hand away from his temples, smoothing back his hair*

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

*small smile* You look handsome today.

[willnotbenow.livejournal.com]

*surprised* I do?

[ay-my-lord.livejournal.com]

Except for the bruise.