The morning sun filtered through the high windows of the Berlin Palace, gilding the marble floor in pale light.
Outside, the city moved with calm precision, trains on schedule, factories humming, airships tracing contrails over the Tiergarten.
But inside the Kaiser's palace, the heart of the Empire's command beat with quiet intensity.
Reichsmarschall Bruno von Zehntner sat before the great table of maps and reports. The Kaiser sat opposite him, draped in a dark field-grey tunic despite his age.
The two men shared an afternoon of tea while attended by the royal staff. Eva sat off to the side, silent yet proud, while her husband and son did the same.
Though newly returned from Sicily, Bruno the Younger had been summoned for his grandfather's briefing, still carrying the tan lines of the Mediterranean sun.
Bruno's voice broke the quiet first.
