Blood Brothers

Kasimir

A/N: I am not a native German speaker.  Technically, I've never even taken German.  But from what I've learned from Google I can give you a pronunciation tip.  'S' in a name is pronounced 'Z'.  So, Kaz-i-meer and Lee-zel.

"Kasimir, we're moving to France."

The declaration was so sudden I froze, midway through lifting the spoonful of mush up to my mouth. I slowly dropped my spoon back down into my bowl of breakfast as I studied my lover of almost two years. I was used to her making grand proclamations and far reaching plans. But she didn't usually get much further than the dreaming and planning phase. "What? Why?"

Liesel waved a hand, discounting any and all questions coming out of my mouth. She delicately rouged her mouth and smoothed a dark wisp of hair back into her perfect style as she checked her appearance in her compact mirror.

"Don't ask questions. Just be thankful I've decided to bring you with me when I go."

I gaped for a moment, not quite sure how to cope with this life changing decision that was apparently being made without any sort of consideration for my own feelings on the matter. "Germany is my home-"

She gave an unladylike snort, interrupting me. "Germany is going to war. All of bloody Europe is going to war. Some say the entire world. Considering how well that went the first time, I plan to be on the winning side. And it just so happens that I have managed to secure an audience with the King himself. I fully intend to go and offer my services in whatever capacity he may need, if he will accept me into his family."

She frowned as she snapped her compact shut and eyed me, blue eyes sharp and cold. "You should be down on your knees kissing my feet for even thinking of you at a time like this. Most well to do women such as myself wouldn't even waste time with a nineteen year old orphan like you. With no family and no money, your only choice is to be drafted. And then what? You march off to war to die in a ditch somewhere?"

I swallowed, fingers clenching around my spoon. She was right. Liesel was the one with the small fortune to her name. With a name at all. It was a miracle she had even bothered with me, when there were so many more suitable men waiting to wine and dine her. I had always just assumed she preferred the younger men, and the wild life that went along with the youth. She was considered strange among the wives around town, as she was almost thirty with no plans of settling down to start a family.

She smiled when she saw the inevitability on my face and reached over the table, lightly smoothing my dirty blonde hair out of my grey eyes. "There's a good boy."

I sighed. "When are we going?" If I was going to be dragged off to France, I at least wanted to say goodbye to the few friends I had here. Tell old Mr. Wulfe that I wouldn't be able to work in his grocery anymore.

"The train leaves in an hour and a half."

I gaped. "What? I can't be ready to go that soon! I haven't packed or told anyone goodbye or-"

"You don't need any of that. You'll take nothing because you need nothing. And I wouldn't worry about your little friends here. They'll figure it out soon enough. Everything will be handled when we arrive in France. Trust me."

A feeling of hollow remorse made it hard to breathe. Everything was spiraling out of control. My entire life was being ripped out of my hands and tossed to the wayside, like my entire existence here was nothing but garbage.

"Liesel, I-"

She huffed in impatience as she cut me off. Again.

"What's more important here Kasimir? Your pathetic existence here, or me? Make your decision now, but know that you will live with the consequences. Not me. I will be on my way to the lap of luxury, without a single thought wasted on this horrid little city. Will you be with me? Or not?"