The Silver Seer

Chapter 10: Premonitions & Suspicions

"A peace conference? Now? Was my letter not clear enough?" A man, dressed in a decorated black military uniform, walks down a hall with a woman by his left side.

"I am positive Switzerland's Army General has a translator that helped to express what you wrote in the letter, General." The woman stops at a pair of large white doors, marking the entrance to the conference room where two of Switzerland's officers are supposedly waiting.

At least that is what the man has been told.

"Do you know who these two officers are? They aren't just some soldiers the Army General sent to hide their cowardice and remain ignorant about the approaching deadline? I'd say a month is quite generous." The man raises his hand as the woman puts her hand on the leftmost door's handle, and she pauses.

"I only know one of them is Friederike, and she'll be serving as a translator." The woman receives the okay to open the door, and once it is fully opened, the man dismisses her with a wave of his hand, and he walks inside.

Immediately, the two officers in the room- Friederike and a rather young man rise from their seats and turn to face the General. Friederike is dressed in a simple full black uniform with a white button down underneath. She wears her blonde hair up in a bun, and she manages a smile and a polite bow when the man looks at her.

But the young man's features catch the General's attention. A navy blue uniform with a white collared shirt underneath, along with a black tie, compliments the long overcoat with golden buttons that lay over the uniform. White combat boots- oddly pristine- nearly go up to just below the man's knees. His black hair is neatly brushed back, and he, like Friederike, smiles and bows.

"So, you are the two officers Switzerland's Army General sent over for the peace conference? Huh. Better than what I was expecting. If you weren't already told, I am Grand Marshal Konstantin, commander of Russia's military." The man rounds the large oak table the meeting will take place around, and as soon as he sits, the two officers take their seats. "You two are free to speak whenever- this is a meeting between just us three." The man continues when he sees Friederike glance at the man sitting to her right.

The woman speaks to the younger man in what he assumes to be German, and he speaks back to her in the same language. She then turns her head back to face the General, and clears her throat before talking, as the man picks up a glass of ice water from in front of him and takes a few sips, listening to what the woman has to say.

"Greetings, General. My name is Friederike, and I serve as the Major General of the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland." She gestures to the man beside her. "And this is General Adelric, the commanding officer of the Canton of Bern and the Army General of Switzerland." The General watches as the woman listens to the young man tell her something in German before looking back at the man across the table. "He says it is a pleasure to meet you, and he hopes an agreement can be reached, but even if one cannot be, he is honored for you to have set aside time for such a meeting."

The man nearly chokes on his water. The Army General of Switzerland is in Moscow, Russia, taking part in the peace conference? If he knew Russian, would he have come alone? He takes a moment to compose himself before speaking. "I was not expecting someone of your stature, General Adelric. I apologize for my initial underestimation."

Smiling while dismissively waving his hand, the young man speaks in German, which Friederike translates quickly. "There is no need to apologize, sir. If you do not mind, though, I would like to speak about the letter you sent to me."

"Ah, yes, I suppose that is the main reason you came here, and I'm sure you have a lot of errands to attend to, so I will make this quick. What- or rather who- I desire is the mechanical soldier, whose last whereabouts were reportedly in Switzerland. I would suspect he is under your command, either directly or otherwise?" The older General watches the younger man's expression for any change to determine if his verbal answer will betray any nonverbal signals, but he is hard to read.