Escape

In summer, Cologne's air was thick with gloom and unease. Birdsong sounded especially shrill in the humid afternoon, and pedestrians hurried along the streets as if fleeing invisible shadows.

Deep within the Royal Palace, the solemnity of old had been replaced by an air of decadent indolence. Heavy curtains hung low, shutting out the sounds of the outside world, but they could not keep out the rot within.

The disastrous defeat at the "Battle of Red Waterwheel Village" lingered like an unshakable ghost, haunting the heart of the entire Rhine Alliance. Every corner was filled with stifled breaths.

Rudolf had shut himself away in a cool royal estate on the outskirts of the city. It was supposed to be a summer retreat, but now it had become a prison where he could escape reality.

The estate was surrounded by towering oaks and burbling streams. It should have been alive with birdsong and flowers, but now it was frighteningly silent.

Rudolf had withdrawn from the din of the council chamber and the visitors whose requests for an audience made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. He had even ordered the servants not to disturb him without good reason.

He had dreamed countless times of becoming a great conqueror, convinced that fate favored him and that he could lead the Rhine Alliance to glory.

Yet the disastrous battle outside Red Waterwheel Village, which he himself had orchestrated, shattered the image he had so carefully built of himself.

The long casualty lists, especially the names of the fallen nobles, stabbed at what little remained of his dignity day after day.

He could not face the questioning looks of his courtiers, however carefully they tried to hide them. Even less could he face the bone-deep fear and shame within himself.