Free The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki

heels as they crossed the marble floor. The three of them paused several feet before their hostess. Sisi was close enough now that she could smell Sophie’s perfume, a potent mixture of sweet floral scents. Up close, Sophie was wider than Ludovika in the bosom and hips, most likely as a result of the imperial banquets she now enjoyed with her son. In fact, the table at which she sat was cluttered with teapots, biscuits, miniature cakes, and platters of nuts and fruit. It struck Sisi how hungry she was after their hours on the road.
    A small cream-colored dog sat in the imperial mother’s lap, haughtily observing the three silent visitors from his perch before the tea service. Sophie’s ringed fingers stroked the pet’s thick fur, and at one point she picked up the small animal to whisper an inaudible phrase of affection into its pointed ear.
    Ludovika cleared her throat, and Sophie turned from her tiny dog to look at them once more. “So, the Bavarians have arrived.” As this statement left little opening for a reply, the three visitors remained silent.
    “What is this?” Sophie continued, “Ludovika, are you so interested in my palace floors that you won’t even look up at your old sister?”
    At this remark, Ludovika lifted her eyes and smiled at her sister. “Hello, Sophie. It’s good to see you.”
    “Hello, Ludie. It’s good to see you, too. I was beginning to think you didn’t recognize me, these imperial cooks have caused me to get so round.”
    And with that, Ludovika let out a laugh, gliding toward her sister’s chair and reaching forward in a greeting that was half a bow, half a hug. The two women embraced, and the display of affection served to noticeably slacken Sisi’s frayed nerves; Sisi hoped Helene found the same effect.
    Would this be her and Helene someday? Sisi wondered. Sisters meeting like strangers after decades of prolonged separation? Babies, and husbands, and different homelands pulling them apart as if they had never shared a bed and nighttime whispers and a childhood home? No, Sisi decided. Helene would never become remote. She’d never be the type to use her authority and power as a perch from which to look down upon her former life. And Sisi would never let so much time lapse without the two of them seeing one another.
    Sisi used the distraction of the reunion to study her surroundings further. As she’d noticed before, Sophie was flanked by two men, both of whom had stood upon the entrance of the ladies. On one side stood the older of the two, a wigged man wearing a suit of dove-gray silk and tight white curls: a minister of some sort, Sisi guessed. He did not watch the meeting taking place before him, but kept his eyes fixed forward at the table in a look of cool disinterest. On Sophie’s other side stood a young man in the full military uniform. Apparently a military aide or advisor, though young, by the looks of it. Young and quite handsome. The officer had pale-blue eyes, auburn hair with just a hint of a wave, and a thin mustache. He had a narrow frame, but Sisi had to admit that he made quite an arresting impression in the sturdy red and white uniform, its details trimmed in gold thread. The young officer looked up in time to catch Sisi staring at him. Quickly, she averted her eyes, but not before her cheeks had grown warm. Oh, how she would have to watch herself at court, suddenly exposed to all of these handsome men! No, she could not allow herself to be distracted by Aunt Sophie’s military aide, or any other man, when she had to help Helene secure her place as the emperor’s wife.
    The two sisters now separated from their embrace. Sisi noticed that both women had tears on their cheeks, though Sophie quickly brushed hers aside and sat back down in her chair.
    “Well, Ludovika, step aside so that I may see your beautiful daughters.” The cold edges of Sophie’s authority had been thawed, slightly, by the display of familial affection. But an intangible sternness