Chapter Text
26.01.1802
The morning in Berlin remained in the same tense atmosphere as yesterday. As was the case, in fact, throughout Europe. The threat of Napoleon’s conquests hung heavy in the January air. Everyone knew perfectly well that prolonged wars would begin sooner or later.
Wilhelm sat at his writing desk, holding a cup of already cold coffee in one hand, while drumming his fingers on the table with the other—probably for about five minutes now. All the paperwork from the past week still lay before him, unsorted. Right now, he didn’t care about time or paperwork, because all this time he had been thinking about the entire situation. That damned Frenchman was clearly up to something, and on top of that, this king with his indecisiveness—they should just form an alliance already, instead of hesitating, because with every minute of such indecision, Francis’s forces only grew stronger.
Lost in thought about possible solutions, he ran through potential allies, though clearly no one cared about defending his state; everyone was gathering armies to defend their own territories—well, as usual, one’s own skin comes first. Maybe he could still negotiate with the Russians? At that thought, he did not forget the Russian Empire itself—perhaps he could still come to an agreement with her? The main thing was that Friedrich Wilhelm not interfere. Maybe he should write a letter? Exactly, he hadn’t written to his long-time ally in a while; she seemed to have gotten a new emperor? And she hadn’t been pleasing him with her letters either—he wondered how things were going in Petersburg?...
The cold coffee nearly spilled onto his new uniform and the leather upholstery of his chair when the door suddenly opened without a knock, and into the room walked—no, even ran—the very king himself, Friedrich Wilhelm III. Thank goodness for reflexes—the coffee was successfully caught and left sitting on the table, waiting to be remembered again sometime later. And what did the king want?
– To what such urgency? Friedrich, is something important? – inquired the nation, studying the unexpected guest, who held a gilded letter in his hands. Now that was interesting.
– Nothing urgent, I simply wish to share some rather joyous news—a letter has arrived from the Russian emperor—an invitation to visit Petersburg. – The king gave a restrained smile and handed the letter to the personification of the state.
Saint Petersburg, January 15, 1802
My dear cousin, I wish to strengthen the bonds of friendship between us and our states, and therefore I hope that you will accept the invitation addressed to you, to the queen—your beautiful consort—and, of course, to your state—Wilhelm Hohenzollern. Ekaterina will be very glad of his presence and wishes to speak with him during the visit. I propose you visit Saint Petersburg for a few weeks. I will be very glad to show you my capital and discuss various topics. We await your favorable reply; we greatly respect and honor you. Alexander Romanov.
Prussia ran his eyes over the lines of the letter, pausing slightly at the mention of the Russian Empire’s anticipation of him, already smirking inwardly.
– Truly joyous news, have you already agreed? – inquired Wilhelm, not even considering a negative answer to the proposal.
– No, but I shall go write a reply this very minute, so I shall take my leave.
After he was left alone in the room, the nation exhaled calmly and no longer hid his joy from anyone. A visit to Petersburg—that was just what he needed to distract himself from everything happening and possibly seek out allies. A pity that was all in the future, probably in May or June. But ahead lay a meeting with his dear Katarina. Hmm, and couldn’t this Frenchman have staged his revolution and conquests a bit later? It had only ruined all relations, and yet one couldn’t go against him.
Wilhelm himself didn’t even understand what they were to each other, he and the Russian Empire. Her attitude toward him changed with almost every change of ruler—except, perhaps, Peter III? Yes, she definitely disliked him and Prussia at that moment. Even in the last couple of years, they would either constantly correspond about something distant or be slightly at odds. Even now, she hadn’t written to him because of his indecisiveness regarding the confrontation with Napoleon and Francis—only diplomacy through the rulers. Yet her desire to see him meant that not all was lost.
Should he write a letter or wait for the visit itself? Wilhelm clearly doubted this. But waiting five months wasn’t particularly appealing, and the political situation was improving—so he should write, ask about affairs in the country, the well-being of the family, the emperor, and a thousand formalities, but finally understand whether he was awaited in Petersburg or if it was just a formality. Well, and he should probably sort through all that paperwork anyway and get rid of that damned coffee.
07.02.1802
Life in the Winter Palace of Petersburg passed as measuredly and routinely as always: constant receptions, balls, celebrations—all this monotony had greatly bored the Russian Empire. For about a month now, she had been awaiting a reply letter from the Prussian king to her country’s emperor.
When Katerina, after her weekly Sunday liturgy attendance at church with the tsar’s family and the Sunday secular dinner, could finally attend to her own affairs—not even paperwork, but actually sit with her daughter—that was when the reply letter from Berlin arrived. The emperor himself informed her of this and then left. It wasn’t that she had expected a negative answer or none at all, but she was nevertheless very pleased.
The empire’s demeanor was also noticed by her brother, who entered the room right after the emperor left.
– Dear sister, what has made you so happy? – he inquired, leaning against the wall, already understanding everything but wishing to hear his sister’s version, deliberately addressing her formally.
– Alexander received a positive reply from Berlin to the invitation for the Prussian king, his wife, and Wilhelm to visit, – answered the nation, stroking the hair of her peacefully sleeping young daughter, not even looking at her brother.
– Are you so happy about the upcoming festivities and balls, or about the establishment of diplomatic relations against Francis? – said the non-ruling empire with a smirk.
– Nikolai, tell me honestly, do you have nothing better to do, and you came just to mock me?
– Not entirely, but that too. I came to ask how you and my niece are doing.
– Wonderfully, but why weren’t you at the morning liturgy? – now it was her turn to ask questions.
– I wasn’t feeling well, – the young man tried to excuse himself.
– Oh really? Wouldn’t it have anything to do with yesterday’s ball? Perhaps you should have retired earlier?
But the empire received no answer; her interlocutor left the room, and only the slam of the closing door was heard, which made Katerina laugh. Still, there was joy in her heart because of the upcoming visit of Prussia. Now correspondence about the details of the visit would begin, but the empire hoped for more time spent by the kingdom in her capital. They clearly had much to discuss now: about Napoleon, and about… other topics of interest.
25.05.1802
Evening on the road
Preparations for the trip had long been finished. New outfits were sewn for the royal family and the numerous retinue, parade rehearsals were held, and a host of other preparations that had greatly bored Wilhelm, who wanted to set off as soon as possible but showed this to no one outside. Only the king, having lived his entire life with him in the palace, could clearly see his agitation.
All this time, renovations were carried out in the Winter Palace, guards’ uniforms were prepared, dresses were sewn for the court ladies, and preparations were made for the reception.
The royal couple had set off on the twentieth, but along the way, various balls and receptions awaited them in the towns they passed—Königsberg, Memel, and Riga had already been visited. Overall, the road wasn’t bad—certainly better than 50 years ago. One could even nap on the road; the book had already bored him by the third day, and on top of that, there were balls every day.
Still ahead were Narva and other towns; in short, by the time the whole couple reached Petersburg, they would need a couple more days of rest from the entire journey with its daily celebrations.
The upcoming meeting—that was the only thing that cheered the kingdom. Out of boredom during stops, Wilhelm casually sketched various court ladies from the towns they passed through.
Lost in thoughts about the road and what lay ahead, gazing at the passing countryside, Wilhelm fell asleep. No one woke him until morning, until the carriage entered the next town with a stop at the local nobility’s estate. And then the same cycle again: reception, inspection, ball.
Thus the procession moved on until it reached Petersburg, where they had long been awaited.