《Heidi vs The Free Nations(dropped)》 Chapter 01 Chapter 01 Part 1 A young girl was hiding in a cupboard watching through its keyhole how her parents were bound on two chairs tortured by a man with a red coat and a Russian accent. His eyes gave a disgusted look at them. He asked: "Where have you hidden them? Where are they?" Her father, a man with an immovable personality, said with a scary grin: "You will never find them this way. Only I know where they are." After her father made this statement the man broke the finger of her mom. *crack* A hurtful scream squeezed the little girl''s heart. "I will do this with every one of her fingers when you don''t give me what I ask for." *crack* A scream. Tears blurred the sight of the girl. "I will ask you another time: Where are they?" "The empress knew what was on the line when she married me. Even if she dies, I won''t say it. Long live the monarchy." *crack* A scream. Tears appeared in the proud face of her father. "When you don''t say it I''ll take her arm." A saw was put onto her shoulder easily scratching the smooth skin. "Empress, I''m sorry." "I know emperor you did everything you can to save our family and the future of our kingdom." *ratch* Blood sprinkled the floor The saw buried itself into the meat. "Where are they? She won''t have any damage which can''t be fixed when you tell me now." "Never! When you would know, it would be the downfall of our whole empire! All our family has worked for, for all these generations" The girl, quietly sobbing, looked at the spectacle outside. Her mother two *ratch* away from losing her arm. She waited for the sound. And then it came. *ratch* *ratch* The arm fell on the floor. "Next I will take her eye sight¡­. Where have you hidden them?" "Empress, Heidi will have a good life without us. I have organised everything so she will become a strong, gorgeous empress. Even my great great grandfather will be a side note in history compared to her." The red one laid a toothpick on the table. The mother smiled when she thought about her beautiful little daughter hiding in the cupboard. She looked at the tip of a toothpick between the thumb and the forefinger of the anarchist bastard. In the next moment her sight became black. Warm liquid ran down her face. She felt an intolerable pain in her head. Suddenly blue light and a serene. The red man made a complicated face: "We won''t get anything out of him in time. Have you found the girl?" "I''m sorry. We looked everywhere but we didn''t find her." A grim expression spread over the face of the man in red. "Okay then, kill these two! We don''t have the facilities to bring them into the Free Nations. At least we can celebrate the death of the royal couple at home. Take their heads. For mother Russia, for father China, for the Free Nations." Two *sing* were heard then the knocking on the floor of two heavy objects. The girl nearly let out her voice. Then fast steps away from the site of crime. 2 January 2003 Vienna On this day the heads of the house van Habsburg were found dead. Only survivor: Adelheid van Habsburg, the 10 year old daughter. The police found the girl in the arms of her mother''s dead body. The heads were cut from the bodies. They weren''t found at the site of crime. Several fingers were broken. The arm of her mother was separated from her body. The girl under shock couldn''t give a report. She was given to her aunt, a relative of the house van Habsburg. Part 2 After the police found the girl in the lap of her mother she was brought to the police station. There she sat on a bench, a glassy look, tears on her cheeks, a hot coco in the left hand and a blanket around her shoulder. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. In her head the scenes of the disaster repeated over and over. When someone talked to her and wanted to free her from her miserable state, he didn''t get an answer. When she closed her eyes the red overwhelming evil haunted her. No escape. The screams of her mother had become her nightmares. The knocking on the floor had become the ghosts haunting her. The girl wept till soft sleep surrounded her. When she awoke she laid in a bed. Her aunt, her uncle and her two best friends the gardener''s Son and the little maid stood at the edge of it. She knew the gardener''s son and the little maid since she was born. They were the same age as her and children of their personal. The servant¡¯s daughter had blonde smooth long hair and was a bit chubby. The boy on the other hand was thin like a stick. Her aunt was a woman who looked, bluntly speaking, like an insect. She had long, thin fingers, striking, big glasses and her hair was shoulder long. She looked with caring eyes at Heidi. Heidi''s best friend, the gardener''s son made a complicated face. Probably he didn''t know how to handle the situation. He only knew that he was one of the most needed persons now. Her uncle, a man in his 40s, laid a hand on the shoulder of his niece and said: "We''ll show these bastards what it means to make an enemy of the royal family. We''ll show them." He gave a hard look which nobody would be able to stand very long. These few words gave the girl''s eyes their light back. She felt the longing for revenge, the unbearable hatred against the red man. The last pictures of her mother''s and father''s death became red: Her personal colour for revenge. The red man should pay for what he did. He should be crushed under the shoes of her family and together with everyone who stands over and under him. Everyone should feel her wrath and no one should escape. She will do the same to the red man what he did to mother: crack his fingers, cut his arm, steel his sight and crush his head. She will become his personal monster. What was it? Mother Russia, father China? She will steel his parents the same way he had stolen her parents. Then she will crush them in front of his eyes, without him being able to do anything. The red man should wimp for forgiveness because he took the life of such a great man, of such a great woman. Seeing the spark in her eyes her aunt bowed her knees and said: "The way you are now you can''t do anything. You could make war but you will fail. Let us help you avenge our great monarch. We will guide you to victory, my empress!" After these words everyone in the room bowed in front of the little girl their knees. The young empress thought long over these words. In the end she lifted her head. "We will wait our beloved subjects. We will learn the arts you consider useful for your future empress. We will feed our hunger for revenge until the day of our coronation. At the age of 20 we will start our plot. Our loyal suspects, revenge will become after these long 10 years so much sweeter. Wait for the day we will avenge our beloved Lord, our father. Please do what you consider necessary because we are nothing but a little girl." After these words the young but wise empress lay back onto the bed. All tears disappeared from her eyes. A decided expression dominated her facial features. They began to discuss what had happened and what they had to do in the future. So everyone was ready in 10 years. Most of it was considered, but there were many unknown factors. So they decided what to do for the next 4 years and then to hold a gathering of the whole royal household. Heidi decided to go to her aunt''s place learning about politics and tactics. Late in the evening after a long discussion they went to her new home where she immediately fell asleep. Chapter 02 Heidi''s new home was a big villa. Like most of the Habsburgers her aunt was a very rich person. The house had many rooms but the most crucial mark was that there were a lot of statues. There were Christian Statues but the majority were roman statues. There were some stray Egyptian statues too but they were the minority. The rooms of the mansion were all facing to the main hall which was wonderfu for parties. The building had a big wonderful garden with a fountain in the middle. The gardener really knew his stuff. The flowers were in the most beautiful colours and the hedges were cut in the most abstruse forms. The house was simply speaking: a pearl, which someone wouldn¡¯t easily find with an estate agent. Heidi was still sulking in her bed. She was thinking about how best to massacre the red man when her friends came by. They knew Heidi well enough to know that this girl wouldn''t grieve after such an event. She would think about a way how to best obliterate her enemy. Grieve was in her eyes lost time. Everyone who did the empress wrong and was it only in a make-believe game had to pay the consequences. She would always hear the other side out before the punishment. If her verdict was that it was not justice then the other party had a harsh time before itself. Royality and her own intrests had an exceptional status in her eyes. But these two, the little maid and the gardener¡¯s boy, were an exception. She could forgive these two almost anything. The reason was maybe that these two were always included in her own interests. So every time they got together they made plans how to obliterate their enemy. Who ever it was: Sometimes it was the butler who forgot the sugar for her tea or sometimes it was the new maid who shouted at the little maid. Everyone had to feel the children¡¯s wrath. Sure this way the gardener¡¯s boy and the little maid became alienated from the other staff but this didn''t concern them much. These two enjoyed the position of power the same their empress did. So these 3 stuck together like nobody before. They told each other everything. These two were the only ones who dared call Heidi by her real name. The other people, except her deceased parents, had only called her: Princess, Young mistress, future empress... The little maid and the gardener''s boy sat themselves on each side of the bed. The empress¡¯ eyes hidden under the blanket. The gardener''s boy laid the hand onto her head and began to pet her softly. He said with a smile on his face: "Up, up my lord! The sun is smiling!" A little girl glanced out under the blanket. *moan* "What time is it?" "It''s already 10 o''clock. It doesn''t fit an empress to sleep that long." A smile came to the gardener''s son''s face. It was a running choke between the 3 of them. Heidi loved to sleep long and nearly every holiday the 2 of them had to wake her up. But now "princess changed" into "empress". Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "Yeah, yeah what''s for brunch?" A smile cracked on the surface of the girl¡¯s features. The girl stretched her limbs. "The usual...I''m sure you can''t wait to teach the new servants, what decency is when an empress is present." "Yeah we can''t wait for it. It will be a gorgeous feast!" The excitement of yesterday seemed forgotten but it lurked in every ones head. "Heidi, have you already found the perfect punishment?" The little maid asked at last with a bit of a timid look on her face. "Not yet, our friend. It has to be something big and unbearable. Otherwise it won¡¯t satisfy our hunger for revenge." The little girl looked composed. Every other girl would be devastated but not her. Her mind wouldn''t break, her judgement wouldn''t cloud. These are the traits of a perfect empress. This girl was able to put even major events like the death of her parents easily beside and then when the time came her revenge would be this more satisfying. The little maid adored her for this feature. "Anyways. Do you have plans what you want to do in the future?" Heidi asked. The little maid and the gardener''s boy gave her an incomprehensive look. They thought it was clear what they would do after yesterdays meeting. "We will do what we have done up to now. Learn how to best serve you. We will start this year a servant¡¯s school after primary school has ended. When we are 14 we will see in the royal meeting what is decided." Heidi made a happy smile and said: "With everyone else we wouldn''t have a problem when they choose to serve us because it''s their duty. But you 2 should have a free choice. You our only true friends shouldn''t be bound by fear or duty. You should have your own free will." With these words both of them got tears in their eyes. They embraced their dear friend and the gardener''s boy said: "It will never be a duty to serve you in public, our empress, but in private we will have an equal standing. We will not be your servants but your dear friends." "Okay thanks this is what we wanted to hear. Let''s quit with these corny lines and turn to more urgent matters: brunch!" With a *hop* the empress stood and went in her night clothing into the closet. There she put her usual clothing on: A blue dress, blue shoes and a hair band in her black hair. Although she had the same clothes as every other girl her age there was a spark of royal elegance. Everyone who went by would turn around to see who she was. After she was ready the three of them went down and had brunch. Chapter 03 I have edited this whole thing a bit.....I have exchanged larva with maggot and I have made out of the great grandfather the great great grandfather, because Emperor Franz Josef died 1916. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1 Heidi knew her aunt her whole life long. She was living nearby her home and so she had met her at every bigger celebration or, what was more common, when she came by to have a glass of wine with her mother or father. She and her husband didn''t have any children because they had too much work to do. Their jobs and the management of their land took pretty much all the time they had. Her aunt had worked at the University of Vienna as a history professor. Her special subject was politics of the K&K monarchy. She was excellent in her subject because she knew all the dirty ancestor¡¯s secrets first hand. When Heidi came into her household she reduced her university courses to some in the afternoon. So she could teach the next empress everything what was needed. She was one of the few who were able to teach the top of the feudal pyramid, how to use the ones beneath her. It was planned that in the morning she would teach Heidi politics. After lunch her husband would take over. He was director of the military academy in Wiener Neustadt so military strategies was his subject. In the evening the child would take martial art lessons. Heidi was a pretty skilled martial artist because her parents sent her to a famous trainer. Sunday was the only free day when she could hang out with her friends. It was a harsh curriculum but Heidi was the one who decided on it. Part 2 Her aunt pitied her. Such a young child, emperor over half of the world and no one except the royal family knew it. The lifes of billions in these little hands. No father, no mother who could teach her what was needed. On top of that the enemy of the monarchy killed them. Heidi''s life won''t be a peaceful one. The aunt had seen these burning eyes at the police station once before. It were her brother''s eyes at the funeral of their little sister. She knew that this was the day when he swore revenge to the Free Nations. And so the circle of revenge turned once more. A sigh escaped her mouth in the middle of her lesson. Her student, a 10 year old girl, threw a questioning look at her. Ignoring it the aunt said: "Let''s repeat your highness: What is your rough territory?" "You can make a boarder at the EU including the neutral members. The EU was originally formed by the Habsburger family to make it easier to manage this big block consisting out of many little countries. Then there is North America, most of South America and in Asia Japan, South Korea and a big part of the south of Africa. ¡° ¡°But Misses aunt in America and Europe are the richest countries of the world. Does this mean that the politics of our father and our grandfather were so favourable for our empire?" "Oh my child, the Habsburgers only make rarely politics nowadays. The last time they made politics themselves was under your great grandfather. Yeah there was one exception: A relative of yours who wanted to go into the Austrian parliament but he hasn''t really managed anything there up to now. We only give our people rough ideas and they have to sort out the rest." "But how do we manage our lands then? How can we state that we are an empress when no one will listen to us?" "For this your highness you have to hear the most important story of our family: One day, a few days before the First World War, a UFO crash landed in our kingdom. The aliens on board wanted to talk to our emperor. So your great great grandfather Emperor Franz Josef went to them to recruit them. The aliens agreed to it but only for certain conditions: They were in a desperate situation. Their hosts weren''t able to survive very long in the atmosphere of earth and they knew that if their queen made a symbiosis with a human body their royal family would be forever bound to our blood. The aliens described your great great grandfather their abilities precisely and in the end he happily accepted their conditions. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. After this we won the war... bla, bla, bla." "Won the war?" "Yeah it''s another well-kept secret which only our family knows. Through a well-placed infiltration we were able to put king-maggot into the ears of our opponents. Through this maggotlike creatures the royal family was and is able to control their lands." "The aliens look like maggots? and we too have a maggot in our head?....Yuk!" "Yes in their portable stadium they look like maggots but after they enter the head through the ear their main body becomes indistinguishable from your synapses. The only thing which is visibly different from a normal human is the organ which they lay eggs with." "What? We have a maggot in our head and there it lays eggs?" "No not in your head but in your blood. The eggs circulate through your whole body." "Oh much better, I haven¡¯t got eggs only in my head but in my whole body....." "Yes and you can make someone your loyal subject after an incubate time of one day if they come in contact with your royal body fluids." "Are you kidding? We become their empress if we spit at them." ¡°Or kiss them¡± Heidi made a face of disbelieve. "No my empress, that¡¯s not the whole truth." Heidi'' made a relived face. "Not only your body fluids. The body fluids of the royal family, your kings and knights have the same effect." Heidi''s face returned to the state of disbelieve "My empress it goes like this: Your body fluids and my body fluids make kings. The body fluids of the kings make knights And the knight makes common folk. Common folk can''t reproduce itself through body fluids. Only the children of the infected are common folk too." "Okay let''s pretend we could believe this ridiculous story. Why are we your empress and not you ours?" "Because only you can give me hypnotic-like suggestive orders after the age of 20 and I can''t. It would be different if I could use actual hypnosis. At your coronation you will be able to give orders to the royal family.¡± The empress had heard the entire story patiently. Now was the time to react accordingly. Heidi''s face became deep red. What was this person thinking? Yeah she was only a 10 year old child. But was she thinking that Heidi would buy everything. This person claims that her great grand father was having contact with aliens and that she herself was part alien. Aliens in Austria? What idiot would believe such nonsense? ?Green men? Suggestive orders? You want to tell us that we can hypnotize everyone of our subjects after our coronation. We are sorry but we can''t belief this. Not only this but that our great grandfather had contact with aliens. How gullible do you think we are? The next thing you tell me is that the Christ Child puts presents under the Christmas tree! And the Easter Bunny is real! Are we in a cabaret or what?" There was no holding. The empress had gone wild. She threw her desk over cried curses at her aunt. ¡°And a person like you wants to teach us? Do you think we are an idiot?¡± Her aunt could feel the wrath of the emperor maggot which crushed onto hers. Although Heidi was so young her aunt could clearly feel an effect. It felt like her own maggot wanted to withdraw into the deepest depth of her brain. There was no end to her rampage. She knew when the same would happen 10 years no even 5 years from now her maggot would mean death. But what to do? Hitting? No chance. Not against the empress. Talking back? Not against the one who had the emperor maggot in her head. The only thing she could do was to wait until the storm was over and make afterwards arrangements to proof her innocence. The storm rampaged for another 30 minutes or so. She was quietly hearing everything about it. After Heidi calmed herself again her aunt said: "I could proof it to you by making someone into a subordinate of my empress." The now calmer other party responded accordingly. "When you can proof your innocence we will apologize for our unfitting behavior.¡± With this the empress¡¯ first lesson came to an end. Chapter 04 Part 1 Later that day Heidi and her aunt walked next to each other to find a target. The sun was already going down. Heidi''s aunt was worried. The child would discard her as a teacher if the woman wasn''t able to win her trust. The aunt would have to beg another family member to teach her. Many of them weren''t content with the path of action Heidi''s father and grandfather had taken. They had wanted the cold war to escalate. They wanted to see the Free Nations crushed at any costs. But the old emperor preferred his kingdom to recover and bind Russia to his economy. So they could in the right moment damage The Free Nations more efficient. Deep in thoughts about the past and the future of the little girl a mad face met her eyes: "What do you want to proof by bringing us to these poor parts of Vienna? We already have seen these parts of society. Our father has taught us about them" They passed a cube like building. In it were flats for people who couldn''t afford any individuality. Her aunt made a smile and gave her a proud look. "I know you won''t believe me, but in the richer parts of Vienna nearly everyone is under the influence of your highness." "You want to tell us that nearly everyone has maggots in their heads?" Heidi turned her eyes upside down. "Yes it goes back to the second world war. Or what would be more accurate: This was the reason for the Second World War. Your ancestors wanted the control of their whole population. So they made an exceptional mighty king: Adolph Hitler. He should make a kingdom within our kingdom and build the infrastructure needed to control everyone but like you know it was a failure. Since this time everyone who is related to someone of Hitler Germany is under your control your highness. " Heidi became really angry by these words. Her aunt hadn''t only taken her for a fool but also said that her great grandfather was a mass murderer of innocent people. But Heidi held herself back. First she wanted to see what would happen tomorrow. Then she could judge. It was something her dad taught her: A wise emperor always looks at problems from every angle and Heidi had really liked her aunt until this day. She was now after the death of her parents the only family she had or rather she knew. The woman, who could enthusiastically tell the story of every emperor and every king who came from her house. The woman, who had the same caring look her mother had when she watched her. The woman, who always gave her respect although she had never done anything to earn it. Why should she misguide her with such a plump lie? What was the reason for it? Maybe she wanted to teach her about trust? Heidi knew that her aunt really cared about her. She knew there was a reason for her lies, but this reason would only become apparent when she would follow her and when she would swallow these lies and be quiet. "You are telling us that our great grandfather was a mass murderer but why did he put a king on the top and he didn''t take the position himself?" This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Her aunt showed Heidi a wirily smile and answered: "Hitler is dead isn''t he?" A curtain fell from her eyes. Heidi now understood why the Habsburger had other people than themselves on the top. How should the people rebel against a leader who no one knew the existence of? It is hard enough to find a culprit in a parliament, where everyone can put the blame on another person. But it would be impossible if an outsider had the strings in his hands. Yes, they had most of the people under their influence, but there were exceptions. It was something like a life insurance for the real royal family. "Hitler has killed himself because he didn''t want to fall in the hands of the Americans. So why did our great grandfather wanted to kill him?" The aunt replied enthusiastically: "My grandfather knew that the structure which the king had built wasn''t sustainable for longer periods. The people knew they weren''t free. It was one of his greatest achievements to make the people think they were free although it was and is completely different. Here in Vienna only foreigners from The Free Nations can be called free. This is the reason why we are now in one of the poorer parts and through a well thought system this won¡¯t be the case for very long and the fastest way was to kill Hitler." Heidi and her aunt passed some skin heads that were tattooed over their whole body. Their faces had so much iron in it that they could open a store. The mood was pretty good under them. They talked about last night how they roughed up some foreigners. After they passed them Heidi¡¯s aunt said: "My Lord, when you are in trouble in a similar part of the town look for Neo Nazis. They normally are under our jurisdiction." "What? Are you kidding us? We should look for this kind of guys when we are in trouble?" The aunt nodded with a serious expression. The child''s forehead already showed crinkles because she used the same expression all the time. Part 2 Her aunt stopped in front of a building which was a well-known center for refugees. There she waited until a big man came out. He had a large back. His hair was short and black. He had a brown burned skin. He looked really fatigue. Heidi''s aunt stopped before the man she looked him directly into his eyes. She gave him a soft smile, placed a hand on his shoulder and said: "After today everything will become better." She kissed him on the cheek. The man''s expression changed into a confused one. The aunt continued: "Come the day after tomorrow at 10 o''clock to this place." She gave him a paper. Then she turned around taking Heidi at the arm. The man looked after the two of them. When the two of them were out of range of audibility Heidi asked: "Why the day after tomorrow and not tomorrow? We thought it would only take one day for the maggot to take effect." Her aunt answered: "You will see. I want to show you our whole might and I won''t let there be any space for doubt." Chapter 05 exchanged I with with the royal we. It''s pretty hard to keep track of it...but it''s necessairy.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1 The day after tomorrow 9 o''clock. The little maid woke Heidi up. She sat down onto the canopy bed. Heidi''s feet showed bare spots of skin from beneath the blanket. The little maid began tickling the empress'' toes. One leg tried to scare the imaginary fly away but it always landed on one of the two legs. After the third landing the empress'' legs vanished under the blanket. The next landing areal was her ear. A hand appeared and tried to scare it away, but the fly was stubborn. After the second landing the eyes opened a bit. The little maid cried out: "Up, up you rabbits don''t you hear the hunter''s trumpets?" Heidi turned around so she didn''t have to face the nuisance. A grumpy voice stated: "Little maid, you are annoying." The little maid answered: "Besides: It doesn''t fit an empress to sleep this long on a Sunday." "Yeah, yeah church we know, we know." Every emperor has to go to church. It is tradition and a duty because normally the pope crowns an emperor. This means the emperor has to do this for the Catholic Church. Heidi opened her eyes and looked at the chubby girl besides her on the bed. Heidi remembered: At 10 o''clock her aunt wanted to show her the might of her house. What will she show her? She remembered the exchange between the aunt and the man. She looked at the smiling face of the little maid and asked: "Little maid, what will you do if it''s true and we all have maggots in our brain?" The little maid made a disgusted face. "It would be pretty disgusting, but on the other hand: better maggots than straw." Heidi showed a tired smile when she heard the bad joke. "No.... jokes aside, what I really think is that I would get scared if I knew that not only you would have control but everyone from your family." Heidi had heard stories about her relatives but not every story was a good one. She knew that some of them were quite frightening figures. "You know little maid: If our aunt didn''t pull our leg we''ll handle it with our family once we turn 20, but now we"ll only tell our aunt and uncle. So they won''t give you hypnotic orders." The little maid gave Heidi a hug and said. "That would be wonderful." A smile appeared "Let''s get up otherwise you won''t get any breakfast!" Part 2 Church was boring. Heidi knitted different kinds of knots into the ribbons of the singing book or played with her white dress. Although her mother always warned her that she would go straight to hell if she would do something like this. But Heidi didn''t fear hell. Better an eternity tortured with good company than to live for an eternity with idiots. 4 people sat in a row: the aunt, Heidi, the gardener''s boy and the little maid. They were in the front row of the half full church. The divine service came to a closure. The priest was referring to different management topics and then something unexpected happened: "Now the aunt of the house Habsburg wants to share some words with you:" The aunt stood up and with light steps she ascended the pulpit. When she arrived at the top, she looked in the round. Then she opened her mouth. No words came out. Only clicking sounds. Suddenly everyone present stood up, bowed their heads and put their right hand to their breast. They didn''t face the aunt but Heidi. One man came out of the many rows. He stood before the front bench where the young girl was sitting. She had a sure and unmoving expression. Her posture was straight. She put her chest out. A posture fitting for royalty. The man was the same one as they have seen the day before yesterday. He bent his knee in front of her, bowed his head and said: "My empress." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.*Silence* A warm smile appeared on the empress'' features. "What is it our beloved subject?" "Your honored aunt told me before the service began that you had doubts about my loyalty. I remember that I was lost the day before. I remember the burden to get a visa in Austria and the uncertainty if I had to go back to my country. All this changed with the words your aunt told me here today. Every burden fell off my shoulders, because only one thought crossed my mind: How to serve you in the best way possible. Please give me a chance to clarify my devotion towards you." With these words he pulled out a pocket knife. With a *click* it sprung open. He cut his black shirt open. Slowly he moved the blade towards his breast. It touched the skin where the bones of the ribcage started. The pressure on the blade became stronger; a thin red line ran to the floor. The knife moved towards the right side. It stopped when the wound was 10 cm wide. Then he let the knife fall onto the floor. A sound louder than every word that had been spoken until this moment was heard. Onto holy ground red blood sprinkled. The first blood under Heidi''s reign. The man approached with his right hand the bleeding wound. He forced it into himself. He cried. No tears were seen on his face. He grasped something. He slowly breathed out knowing what will happen. He said with a sure voice: "I will gladly give my heart to my empress...... For the monarchy!" He tore. In his hands a red moving muscle. Red blood splattered onto the white dress of the empress. He presented his life to his ruler. The eyes of the young child met with his own. A warm smile was seen on her features. "My knight, I will never forget your sacrifice as long as I live." Her little hands closed tenderly around the still pumping heart. She didn''t mind the blood trenching her white robe red. The only important thing was the person offering her his most precious possession. The man had a smile on his face. He was content seeing this face of the empress. All the life left in his body vanished. He fell to the floor. The only still living thing was the pumping heart in the hands of the little girl. Part 3 Every other person hadn¡¯t changed the position the slightest during this whole event. The only ones whose faces visibly became white were the gardener''s boy and the little maid. Their eyes were widened and locked onto the spectacle before them. The aunt still on the pulpit said with clicking in the background: "The empress will now take a leave. You on the other hand will forget that we were here and as soon as we leave this place you will perform your duties towards the Empire." With these words the aunt came down. She took her purse from the front row and a medal appeared from the insides. The front showed the family crest. She laid it on the forehead of the dead. Heidi still in the now red dress with the pumping heart in her hands was pulled by her aunt to the exit. The little maid and the gardener''s boy followed them. In front of the church a limousine parked. Everyone jumped in. The driver started the car. They heard loud screams from the inside. The people came back from their hypnotic state. Without minding them Heidi asked: "Was this real devotion or was it the maggot?" Her aunt looked at the blood drenched girl. She had a serious expression on her lips. "When your people get infected the maggot becomes indistinguishable from them. They are the maggots and the maggots are them. So this was real devotion towards you." Heidi looked at the heart in her hands and said quietly: "Aunt, please teach us. We want the whole world to give us its heart." The eyes of Heidi shined dangerously. This attitude pleased the aunt. She said: "My empress I will teach you everything I know. I will help you fulfill your dream." With this they went home.