The Toy Prince

8. Ursula

She read the journal. Of course she did because even though she didn't trust Niklaus he had had a point. She should learn as much as she could about Konigreich and from a source that couldn't lie to her.

I found the perfect weak point to rip open a doorway into a new reality. It's in a mansion of all places which means I'll have to secure access to it before even attempting to create the doorway. That is why I haven't recorded anything in her since my last entry. I've been securing access by courting the daughter of the house. Her name is Maria Silber and she's already madly in love with me. Soon I will be able to complete my first experiment and open a doorway into a new world.

Ursula snorted in disgust even as she told herself that this was the journal of a very young Axel. He'd lived a long time since then and no doubt had grown up a lot since the days of this journal.

With that in mind, she pushed aside her emotions and skipped forward to a more modern time. The entries she next read chronicled the time of the war.

I feel nothing but pity for Conrad. He doesn't understand that not just anyone can do what I do. He certainly cannot and yet he insists I teach him my secrets. I have but he is still not satisfied. Now he whispers with conspirators in shadows in the hopes of bringing an army to take over Konigreich. I will not allow him to destroy what I have worked so hard to build. I must prepare myself for what I must do. I can only hope that my brother's poison has not infected my nephew.

I despair of what to do about Conrad. His rebellion is in flames, I have taken my nephew from his care and still he attempts to create trouble at every opportunity. In some ways I think my taking Nik is just another way in which Conrad is punishing me. The boy is completely uncontrollable and challenges me at every turn. I have no choice but to put him somewhere that will cool his temper and make him think on his mistakes. Putting him inside of a prison doesn't sit well with me but I have no choice. I am a King and Konigreich must come first. I thank the Gods that Maria is by my side. I swear that if she wasn't then I would no longer be here.

Ursula allowed the book to fall shut in her lap. Most of the journal entries after that had taken on a melancholy tone that she didn't particularly want to emphasise with. Instead she turned back to the more technical parts of Axel's journal. She was particularly fascinated with how he had created the doorway but he struggled to explain how he was able to do this. He suggested that it must be some kind of magic because no amount of scientific investigation he'd done had come up with another answer.

She was so engrossed in reading that when Josephine came and knocked on her door she was angry at the interruption. She managed to hide the journal in the covers of the bed before Josephine spotted it. Ursula hoped that she didn't look to guilty as Josephine entered the room.

"I thought you'd want to know that Axel has received a note from his brother."

"I'll be right down," Ursula said, her heart jumping with happiness.

When Josephine was gone, Ursula took the journal out again. She didn't want to part from it so instead of hiding it in her room, she put the journal in the front pocket of her hoody. It was big enough that it could comfortably hold it and baggy enough that no one would notice.

After that she hurried downstairs. It took her a minute of searching before she found everyone had congregated in the library again. The conversation lulled when she entered the room. Felix was in his position nearest the exit and Josephine and Adler were hunched over the map. The only person missing was Axel.

She looked at each of their grim faces in turn. "What's happened?" she asked, taking a seat that gave her a clear view of everyone. Her hands tightened on the journal in her pocket as she waited for someone to speak.