#house of hohenberg

[dreamconsumer]

Duke Maximilian of Hohenberg.

[theladysherlock]

"And you must be the boy from the Leviathan," she said, her English accent as posh as Zaven's. "My granddaughter's told me about you."

Deryn clicked her heels. "Midshipman Dylan Sharp, at your service, ma'am."

"From your accent, you were raised in Glasgow."

"Aye, ma'am. You have a good ear."

"Two of them, in fact," Nene said. "And you have an odd voice. Your hands, please?"

Deryn hesitated, but when the old woman snapped her fingers, she found herself obeying.

"Lots of calluses," Nene said, feeling carefully. "You're a hardworking lad, unlike your friend the Prince of Hohenberg. You draw a bit, and you do a lot of sewing, for a boy."

Deryn cleared her throat, remembering her aunties teaching her how to quilt. "In the Air Service we middies darn our own uniforms."

"How industrious of you. My granddaughter tells me you don't trust us."

Let's get that Read More in here now before I ramble the whole night away

1. Twice in as many minutes, Nene's mentioned Lilit talking about Deryn. Do we think she went home and just gushed about the handsome midshipman to everyone in the house. I would like to think so. I think everyone knows about Lilit's crush but Deryn.

2. It is astonishing how different Deryn's first meeting went compared to Alek's. Which opposites/foils context do we want to ascribe this to? Deryn is charming and people like her immediately, while Alek is awkward and needs to win them over? Anything Alek is bad at, Deryn is good at (and vice versa)? Alek, who pretty much has nothing to hide, isn't trusted; meanwhile Deryn is lying about quite a bit and is immediately trustworthy? There's so many.

3. I think Nene knows about Deryn's whole gender thing. I think she figured it out right here but has enough tact to know not to say anything to her about it. What I don't know is if Lilit also figured it out here, or if Nene told her, or if she knew right away. I like to think she didn't know until Nene spelled it out.

[archduchessofnowhere]

Do you know about the potential marriage between Crown Prince Rudolf and Archduchess Maria Antonietta of the Tuscan branch? Read (unsure if it's accurate) how Emperor Franz Joseph I because of her tuberculosis, but reminds of Ludwig I of Bavaria initially opposing his third son Prince Luitpold marrying Archduchess Maria Antonietta's own aunt Augusta Ferdinanda who although died young, she did also bare four children who had long lives of their own.

Hello anon! This is a subject I've tried to look into, and honestly I find it equally frustrating and fascinating.

Many of Rudolf's biographers state that his first love was Archduchess Maria Antonietta, the only child of Ferdinando, last Grand Duke of Tuscany, by his first wife Princess Anna of Saxony. The story goes that they fell in love around 1878, and as you said, that she was considered a potential bride for the Crown Prince until her tuberculosis became evident. Some authors choose to end the story there, but others go even farther and talk of a secret marriage in 1880 - which would make Rudolf's marriage to Stephanie of Belgium in 1881 invalid. Maria Antonietta eventually died in 1883, at the age of 25.

But what these biographers sometimes don't mention is that in 1937 a man called Robert Pachmann claimed that he was Rudolf and Maria Antonietta's secret love child, born a month before the archduhcess' death, and that since his alleged parents had been legally married, he was the real head of the House of Habsburg and not Otto von Habsburg, Emperor Karl I's eldest son.

While before the invention of DNA tests it was very common that a person would randomly pop out claiming they were someone famous' lost child, what I find particularly interesting about this case is how FAR the Pachmanns went, going to trial several times, to the point that in 1965 Theodor Pachmann, Robert's son, was legally recognized as a Habsburg by a Vienese regional court, and again - even more explicitly - in 1976, when a judge ruled that he was a great-grandson of Franz Josef and Ferdinando of Tuscany. All these veredicts, however, were based solely on the testimony of Robert Pachmann's mother, who in 1925 stated that her son was actually Rudolf's and Maria Antonietta's. It was only in 2013 when two of Theodor's sons finally compared their DNA against a Habsburg: Georg Hohenberg, Archduke Franz Ferdinand's grandson. Which came out negative. Despite this, Robert Pachmann's descendants still claim to be descendants of Rudolf, mostly because they don't understand why Robert and Theodor would've spent so many years at court fighting for their case if it wasn't true [x].

From left to right: Crown Prince Rudolf, Robert Pachmann, Theodor Pachmann and Rainer Pachmann (Theodor's son). From Alles aus Neugier: 40 Geschichten aus 40 Jahren by Georg Markus

At this point I was so down the rabbit hole that I thought, ok, there must have been some kind of rumor about Rudolf and Maria Antonietta, and Robert Pachmann built his story around that. After all, his descendants insist that there is evidence of a "love story" between them. But here is the thing: I can't find a single mention of a potential engagement or a rumored affair between Rudolf and Maria Antonietta from before Pachmann made his claim. In fact I can't even find a single mention of Rudolf and Maria Antonietta ever being in the same room together, though I assume they must have met at least once in court. Of course, just because I haven't found it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, so if any of you ever come across any sort of story (it doesn't matter if it's just rumors!) about Rudolf and Maria Antonietta from before 1937, please let me know!

[master-of-the-opera-house]

thanks for the tag this is so fun and dire bc im actually jared 19

Last book I read: Hamlet by William Shakespeare ((I think?? trying to go off my last theatre class here))

Book I recommend: I think everyone's read it but if they haven't The Great Gatsby by F Scott. Fitzgerald.

Book I couldn't put down: Oh baby, executive dysfunction has made me put every book down..... K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude, Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America's Most Unlikely Tourist by Peter Carlson took me the shortest amount of time ((4 months??)) to finish recently.

A book on my TBR: Mad King: The Life and Times of Ludwig II of Bavaria by Greg King bc he wrote another historical biography that I really, really liked about a similarly misunderstood person ((with Sue Woolmans)) ((hehe)) and I trust him to handle my dear lad with grace, but because my attention span is a bitch I never got past the first 40 pages but I WILL. one day.,,,,,,,,

A book I've put down: HITLER AND THE HABSBURGS BY JAMES LONGO!!1! Sorry not sorry but SOD that son of a cunt NO footnotes so half the things he said could've been made up for all I care bUT THE LAST STRAW was him PERVING OVER poor sophie von hohenberg when she was ON HER WAY TO CONFRONT THE NAZIS like piss offfffffff

A book on my wishlist: BBC Ghosts Button House Archives *finger guns* ooh and 'Allo 'Allo!: The War Diaries of Rene Artois

A favourite book from childhood: I don't remember a favourite bc I was actually a voracious reader once upon a time so I tore through them like it was nothing but The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo destroyed me even if I am now morally opposed to the fundamental idea framing the narrative that rats arent cute little besties

A book you would give to a friend: Harry Clarke: An Imaginative Genius in Illustrations and Stained-Glass Arts by Hiroshi Umino bc I LOVE Harry Clarke's work and I think everyone should have a nice book full of pretty pictures to look at. It's also technically on my wishlist as well

A book of poetry/lyrics you own: I don't "own" any "books" bc im flat broke but a favourite would be that compilation of Oscar Wilde's nonsense quotations. I know he did real poetry but that's poetry in itself to me.

A non-fiction book you own: Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva by Rosemary Sullivan :)))))) this i actually DO own!1!

Currently reading: *sweats nervously in executive dysfunction*

Planning on reading next: Florian: The Emperor's Stallion by Felix Saltern bc it's got my meow meow in it and it's a kids book and I want to practice focusing enough to read like a normal human person again

tagging @pqnnier @alliluyevas whom I know for sure have read a lot and anyone who wants to do it bc idk whos a reader and who isnt!

Thanks for the tag, @enlitment!

Last book I read: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. Charming!

Book I recommend: Impossible question. Show me your soul and then ask me again.

Book I couldn't put down: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Grabbed me by the throat and would not let go. Sublime.

A book on my TBR: Vicious and Immoral by John Gilbert McCurdy is right up there; it looks fascinating and relevant to my research.

A book I've put down: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Surprising that I got as far as I did (the first 120 or so pages), since that could all have been covered in a two-page prologue.

A book on my wishlist: At some point I also need to drop €60 (🥲) on André Weibel's »Einen Spiegel hast gefunden, der in allem Dich reflectirt«.

A book on my wishlist: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. Unquestioned reigning champion of being read approx one million times.

A book you would give to a friend: Anything by David Mitchell or Scarlett Thomas, depending on the friend.

A book of poetry/lyrics you own: The Loeb Greek Lyric: Anacreon, Anacreontea & Early Choral Lyric. Bangers on every page. Very gay.

A non-fiction book you own: Tom Cutterham's Gentlemen Revolutionaries is well worth a read for anyone interested in late 18th century masculinity and culture.

Currently reading: Temeraire by Naomi Novik. An old favourite that I'm discovering brand new joy in.

Planning on reading next: I have almost no time for fiction in between academic reading and writing and work, but These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever has been waiting very patiently on my nightstand.

Tagging @permanenthistorydamage @iron--and--blood @nordleuchten @ouiouixmonami @clove-pinks and you!

[pokadandelion]

Sophie Duchess of Hohenberg (1868 - 1914)

[germanaustriannoblesandroyals]

House of Chotek & of Habsburg: Countess Sophie Chotek of Chotkowa and Wognin

Sophie was born as the fifth child of Count Bohuslav Chotek of Chotkow and Wognin and his wife Countess Wilhelmine Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau. Her siblings were Count Wolfgang Chotek, Countess Zdenka Chotek, Princess Marie of Thun and Hohenstein, Countesses Karoline and Henriette of Nostitz-Rieneck, Countess Oktavia of Schönburg-Glachau and Countess Antoinette Wuthenau-Hohenthurm.

Sophie grew up in Dresden where her father had worked as diplomat. She had received an education and led the household of her father after her mother had died. When she fell for her future husband Archduke Franz Ferdinand, most of her sisters were already married and one of them even served Crown Princess Stéphanie of Austria-Hungary as a lady-in-waiting. When exactly the couple actually met for the first time is debated to this day. The time frame is somewhen between 1894 and 1897. However this may be, they were able to spent a few days icognito at Bad Neuenahr in 1898 with the help of a former lady-in-waiting of Franz Ferdinand’s aunt Empress Elisabeth.

The relationship only became public in 1899. The year before, Sophie had made clear she wanted to live closer to her lover, since she was still living with her father in Dresden. But Franz Ferdinand wanted to avoid the Viennese gossip and suggested she should apply as a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella, The Duchess of Teschen, who lived with her family in Bratislava. Isabella was supposedly a difficult mistress to please, so Sophie was reluctant but eventually did apply and received the post. From now on, Franz Ferdinand accepted every invitation of Archduke Friedrich’s family and visited them twice or thrice a week. Isabella hoped he was interested in her eldest daughter Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria-Teschen. One day, Isabella discovered a locket that Franz Ferdinand had dropped on the tennis court and opened it. She had expected to find a picture of her daughter in it but instead she found one of Sophie inside.

As soon as the relationship became public, the court tried to separate the couple. Sophie was not of high enough rank for a member of the House of Habsburg’s main line and heir to the throne, although her family had been nobles since the middle ages. Only when Franz Ferdinand’s stepmother Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal spoke to Emperor Franz Joseph, the couple received permission to marry morganatically on April 8th, 1900, which they did less than three months later on July 1st. The condition was that Franz Ferdinand signed a document which effectively removed his future children from the line of succession and prevented him from crowning, in case of a succession to the throne, Sophie Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia or any other Habsburg realm or even making her an archduchess. This was especially important since Hungary did not practise the concept of morganatical marriages but instead viewed all marriages as equal. For her wedding, Sophie received the title of Fürstin (Princess) of Hohenberg and the style of Serene Highness. Nevertheless, Sophie was treated as a second-class noble by the Viennese society. The only one she was closed with in the Imperial family was Crown Prince Rudolf’s widow Princess Stéphanie of Belgium.

Only in 1909, after the birth of all of her children, she received the elevation to Duchess and the style of a Highness. She received many congratulation letters for it, one of them came form the German Emperor Wilhelm II who was a friend of her husband. But while her husband ranked only below The Emperor as his heir, she ranked behind all the archduchesses as well as the mediatized princesses and countess of Austria and Hungary. This difference in rank kept some courts from hosting the couple as it was difficult to do so without making any mistakes. But this did not keep the Romanian King Karl I. and his wife Elisabeth of Wied in 1909 and the British King George V and his wife Mary of Teck in 1913 from hosting them.

A little more than half a year after their visit to Britain, Sophie and Franz Ferdinand were dead. They were assassinated in Sarajevo. While he was shot in the neck, a bullet hit her in the abdomen. Their last recorded conversation was her asking him what had happened to him and him begging her to stay alive for the children while calling her by her nickname Sopherl. The murder of Sophie and Franz Ferdinand is regarded as the spark that set World War I in motion. Even in death, protocol took presedence. Franz Ferdinand had the right to be buried in the Imperial Crypt but Sophie did not. Instead they had requested to be buried together at the Habsburg’s summer home of Arstetten castle.

Their children Sophie, Maximilian and Ernst were raised by Sophie’s sister Henriette while their legal guardian became their uncle and good friend of their father Prince Jaroslav of Thun and Hohenstein. Sophie and Maximilian decided to forgive Nedeljko Čabrinović for the murder of their parents after her showed regret for doing it while Ernst did not sign the letter they wrote to him. Ernst and Maximilian were later imprisoned in a concentration camp in Dachau for making anti-Nazi statements after the Annextion of Austria by The Third Reich. But they survived their imprisonment. Through her daughter Sophie is an ancestor of the actors Friedrich and Max von Thun. The latter actually played Franz Ferdinand’s cousin Crown Prince Rudolf in a miniseries in 2006.

// Florinda Bolkan in The Day That Shook the World (1975)

______________________________________________________________

Requested by anonymous

[venicepearl]

Princess Sophie Marie Franziska Antonia Ignatia Alberta of Hohenberg (24 July 1901 – 27 October 1990) was the only daughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his morganatic wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, both of whom were assassinated at Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Their assassination triggered the First World War, thus Sophie and her two brothers are sometimes described as the first orphans of the First World War.

[royal-confessions]

“Franz Ferdinand and Sophie are two of my favourite royals. It's a shame most people know them only as "those people whose deaths started World War 1", if they remember Sophie at all.“ - Submitted by Anonymous

[incorrect-leviathan-quotes]

Alek: What should I do?

Volger: Oh...this is where I give you advice and pretend you're going to listen to it. I like this part.

[tiny-librarian]

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his daughter Sophie.

Source

[dreamconsumer]

Ernst von Hohenberg (1904-1954).

[theladysherlock]

Dalek Week 2024: Day One

Meet the Parents

Deryn-

Ma will have told you about cousin Margaret's wedding by now. I know you don't want to come, but I'd appreciate it if you did. Last time I laid eyes on you, you were careening about in a Huxley Ascender, so I'd like to see you in a regular, low-stakes situation for once. Besides, if I have to sit through Aunt Edith's preening about being the mother of the bride on my own I may just throw myself off a barking cliff.

You should bring that Clanker boy of yours along. Ma and the aunties have too many questions and I can't answer any of them. Barking rude of you to finally get a boyfriend when none of us are here to see him, you know.

-Jaspert

---

The trip to Glasgow from London was several hours long, but it wasn't nearly long enough to settle Alek's nerves. Deryn had opted not to have anyone pick them up from the station, instead choosing to have them walk halfway across the city to her mother's house. He had no idea where they were going, no idea how long he had to steel himself.

"How much longer will we be walking?" Alek finally asked.

"What, tired already?" Deryn asked, grinning.

"I'm just making sure you aren't sending us in circles, Mr. Sharp," he said.

"Aye, we're close."

Alek rolled his eyes. "You said that at the station," he said.

"And I meant it there, too," she said. "We'll be fine, alright? I know you're worried about showing up late to dinner."

"It's not that." Or at least, not entirely that. "It's just very important to me that your family approves. Of us."

"Of course they will," Deryn said. "They'd be idiots not to. You're smart, handsome, polite, rich-"

"Not anymore."

"Aye, but they don't know that."

That wasn't particularly reassuring.

Deryn gave him a warm smile. "Don't worry about it, aye? There's nothing they can say that will change my mind about you."

"Well I'm not worried about you," he said. "I'm the one with a history of catastrophically ruining families."

"Don't be daft. That wasn't your fault, you were a wee baby. And besides, I already wrecked everything long before I met you. Here we are."

She turned towards a red stone townhouse, climbing the steps towards the front stairs. Alek hurried to catch up, caught completely off-guard by how quickly they had arrived. They had been close, after all.

She knocked three times on the door, then took a step back, rocking back and forth on her heels. Alek tried to remember to breathe.

The door opened to reveal a tall man with the same sandy colored hair as Deryn. He looked to be somewhere in his twenties and was dressed casually, as though they'd woken him from a nap. The man broke into a huge smile when he saw her.

"Hello, Jaspert!" Deryn said.

"Ah, just look at you!" Jaspert cried, taking her by the shoulders. "You've broadened out a bit, haven't you? The zoological society must feed you better slop than the air service."

"Aye, or it's all the climbing." She grinned.

Jaspert turned to look at Alek. "And this must be the Clanker boy!" he said cheerfully. "I'll be honest, Deryn, I didn't think you'd actually bring him."

Deryn rolled her eyes. "Jaspert, this is Aleksandar Hohenberg. Alek, this is my brother, Jaspert."

"It's very nice to meet you, sir," Alek said, holding his hand out for Jaspert to shake. Deryn had told him specifically not to bow to her brother or she'd get an earful, but a handshake didn't seem like the right choice either.

Thankfully, Jaspert took it, though the man's handshake was a little more firm than was strictly necessary.

"You know," Jaspert said, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. "I really thought you'd be taller."

Deryn punched her brother in the shoulder. "Oh leave off!"

He laughed again. "Come on in, let's get you two settled." Jaspert opened the door to let them into the townhouse.

It was smaller on the inside than Alek had expected, but it wasn't cramped. To his right, a set of fabricated wooden stairs stretched up to the second floor. To his left, there was a well-lit parlor with enough mismatched furniture in it to seat an entire council meeting. The wainscoting must have been fabricated wood as well, but unlike the wood in the Leviathan, the wood grain looked more natural, without the patterns grown in. Pictures hung on every wall-- some were photographs, most were landscapes.

It was strange, thinking of this as the place Deryn had grown up. It was strange to think of her before the Leviathan at all.

"Ma's just finishing up dinner." Jaspert lowered his voice conspiratorially. "She's a wee bit nervous about cooking for a barking prince, so go easy on her, aye?"

"Does she want help?" Alek asked.

"No!" both siblings cried in unison.

He blinked, a little surprised by the force of their response. "O-oh. Um. Why not?"

"You're a guest," Jaspert said plainly. "She can't have you cook your own food in our house, it's rude."

"And Ma's a barking tyrant in the kitchen, besides," Deryn said. "She'll throw you out on your ear if you chop the carrots too large."

"Ah. I see."

Deryn caught his eyes and her expression softened. "Don't you worry, Alek, we'll find something else useful for you to do," she said.

"After you put your luggage away," Jaspert added.

Deryn rolled her eyes and started upstairs. "C'mon, your princeliness, I'll give you the tour."

Alek followed quickly. The steps didn't creak under their weight-- the only sound was the soft thump of footsteps against fabricated wood. He didn't think he would ever get used to that.

"Alek's in the guest room, remember," Jaspert called up after the two of them. Deryn waved him off.

The guest bedroom was small, but cozy. There was room for a full size bed and a nightstand and very little else. The bed was piled high with blankets and quilts and pillows, more than any one person could possibly need. On the wall across from the bed was a large watercolor landscape painting of a rolling field overlooking the sea.

"Did you make this?" Alek asked, pointing at the watercolor.

"Ma did."

That made sense. He'd only ever seen Deryn use pencils. "It's very good."

"Aye, I suppose." Deryn shrugged. "She'll be glad to hear you say it."

He nodded, mentally storing the compliment for later.

"So I take it this wasn't your room, growing up," Alek said, setting his suitcase on the edge of the bed.

"Nah, I slept upstairs." Her eyes lit up. "It's the highest point in the house, without going on the roof."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," he said.

Deryn led him by the hand back through the hallway and up another set of stairs that didn't creak when they walked. He wondered how much easier it would be to sneak out of a place like this than his own childhood home had been, with every step echoing in the halls.

"This was my room," Deryn announced, pushing the door open. Her bed was directly in front of the one window in the attic space. Light from the setting sun streamed in through the window, filling her room with a warm golden glow. The ceiling sloped gently to match the pitch of the roof.

Despite being kept exactly as it had been before she left, the room was surprisingly sparse. Deryn's apartment in London was full of her sketches that she had tacked up to cover the walls. Even the lower floors of the townhouse had been filled with knickknacks and her mother's paintings. It was strange that her childhood bedroom was devoid of any decorations.

"And this-" Deryn said softly, picking up a picture from the nightstand. "-is my Da."

It was impossible to miss the familial resemblance. He had the same bright eyes and strong nose as Deryn, the same fair hair and slender build as the siblings. He had a serious expression on his face in the picture, but it was the exact same face Deryn made whenever she was trying not to laugh.

"He looks just like you," was all Alek could think to say.

"Aye, that's what everyone always said," Deryn said. "I really wish you could have met him, Alek. You'd have loved him."

"I'm sure I would have. You speak so highly of your father."

"He was the best." Deryn sighed. "He was always telling stories, you know. Things he'd seen, people he'd met. Ma always said he was full of clart, but it made for a good story all the same."

"That sounds like someone I know," Alek said, and Deryn elbowed him in the ribs.

---

Dinner was a small affair, consisting of Alek and the three immediate members of Deryn's family. The food was delicious, though he hardly had a chance to eat any of it between answering Mrs. Sharp's constant questions. She had, unfortunately, read about him in the papers (it seemed that she kept tabs on both her children's airships in the news), although she had blessedly chosen not to ask him about the night his parents died. In fact, she hardly asked about his parents at all. She focused most of her questions on what London was like, and how different it must be from Austria-Hungary. Alek spent most of the time describing the castle in which he grew up, a fact which delighted her to no end.

Of course, once Mrs. Sharp had run out of things to ask Alek, her conversation turned towards Deryn.

"You brought something decent to wear to the wedding, I take it?" she asked.

Deryn picked at her dinner plate. "Aye. I've brought a suit," she said.

Mrs. Sharp sighed. "Deryn Sharp, you are not wearing a suit to your cousin's wedding-"

"Why not?"

"It's not the done thing," she said.

Alek looked over at Jaspert for help, but the man was intently focused on his food. Brilliant.

"You should still have dresses in your closet, you can wear one of those."

"What, from two years ago?" Deryn said. "There's no chance those still fit me, it'll look like we can't afford to get me proper clothes. That's loads worse than the suit."

"This is a formal event-"

"My suit was good enough to meet Lord Winston Churchill," Deryn said, crossing her arms. "I think Margaret and her new husband will be just fine."

"Did Lord Winston Churchill know who you are?"

"He didn't think to ask."

Alek cleared his throat, hoping to get a word in before things escalated further. "I don't mean to speak out of turn, but does the entire family know about Deryn's career choice?" He asked.

"Aye, they know." Mrs. Sharp shook her head. "It was meant to stay in the family, but Edith went ahead and told all the new in laws."

Jaspert groaned quietly. "Of course she did."

"So then it wouldn't surprise anyone to see Deryn in masculine clothing, would it?" Alek asked. "If we needed to keep it a secret, that would be one thing. But it sounds like we don't need to."

The table went quiet for a moment, three sets of eyes locked on him. He must have said something wrong if it silenced all three of them.

Finally, after agonizing seconds of his stomach twisting into knots, Jaspert spoke. "He has a point."

Mrs. Sharp frowned. "Margaret won't be pleased-"

"Margaret will be too busy getting married," Deryn said. "Aunt Edith won't be pleased, but you think she's a nosy gossip anyway, so who cares?"

"I suppose..." she sighed. "I just don't want you to be questioned all night."

"It's my first time being back in years, of course there's going to be questions," Deryn said. "I can handle it, Ma."

"Aye, but you shouldn't have to. You should just be able to have a quiet night with the family."

Deryn snorted out a laugh. "A quiet night? Do you know what family we're in?"

---

Alek had been warned about kilts on the way to Glasgow, but he still had to force himself not to stare. Being told that the masculine garment looked like a skirt was one thing, but actually seeing it in person, on Deryn's older brother, was another. He had to force himself not to react.

Jaspert looked Deryn up and down, frowning. Alek felt her stiffen next to him under the weight of her brother's scrutiny. "You're not wearing a kilt for the wedding?" He asked.

"I don't have one."

"You don't have one?" Jaspert asked, incredulous.

Deryn crossed her arms, glaring. "Well I don't get much use out of a kilt in London, now do I?"

"You could if you weren't a coward."

"I'm not a barking coward!"

Jaspert rolled his eyes. "I think I have an extra. Let's get you properly fitted out."

"You're serious?"

"Dead serious," Jaspert said. "C'mon, we don't have all day."

Deryn grinned and took off for Jaspert's room, taking the stairs two at a time. Alek elected to stay behind-- she was the expert when it came to her own tailoring, after all, and Alek couldn't do much besides get in the way. It would be better for everyone if he stayed down here.

"It's good to see her smiling again," Mrs. Sharp said, once both siblings were safely upstairs and out of earshot. "I haven't seen her like that since before the accident."

He realized with a start that he had been left alone with his partner's mother, and if any uncomfortable conversations were going to happen, they would happen now. He tried to brace himself.

If Mrs. Sharp noticed his nerves, she didn't show it. "When Artemis died, we all took it very hard. But Deryn took it the hardest."

Alek nodded. "She told me she didn't speak for a month."

"Aye. Poor girl was in such a bad way, we were lucky we got her back at all." Mrs. Sharp shook her head. "We tried to keep her busy, like the doctor said, but it didn't seem to work."

Alek remembered how often Deryn would complain about the tea parties she had been dragged to after the accident, but now didn't seem like the time to mention that.

"It seems strange to think of her that way," he said.

"It's like night and day." She hesitated for a moment, drumming her fingers on the arm of the chair she sat in. Time stretched out for long, painful seconds before she continued to speak. "I wanted to thank you, Alek."

Alek blinked. "Pardon me?"

"For getting Deryn out of the Air Service." Mrs. Sharp said.

Did she think he had dragged Deryn kicking and screaming off the Leviathan? Or maybe that he had charmed her like some faerie prince, luring her away from the airbeast into some far-away kingdom? Neither option sat well with him.

"I hate to disappoint you, madam, but when I asked her to leave the air service for me, she turned me down flat," Alek said. "Deryn got herself a new job with the Zoological Society and was gracious enough to take me with her."

"She turned you down?" Mrs. Sharp raised an eyebrow.

Alek nodded. "It was the right choice. I didn't have a plan for what she would even do in New York, I just didn't want her to leave," he said, smiling softly at the memory. "However fond she may be of me, she loves flying twice as much. I could never take that away from her."

"But the new job was enough to convince her?"

"The Zoological Society doesn't care if she's Dylan or Deryn, only that she's clever and gets the job done," Alek said. He didn't want to tell her too much about their actual work. It was the kind of thing that Dr. Barlow liked to keep quiet, and he didn't want to be blamed if suddenly half of Glasgow knew about their secret missions. "And she gets to personally test all the new Huxley subspecies, which I think is the main appeal at the moment."

Mrs. Sharp let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear it. It's difficult enough, you know, having one lad in the service during wartime. Especially after what happened with their da. But with Deryn..." she shuddered. "Anything could have given her away. Even a little bump on the head could have been the end of it. If she'd been found out, they would have thrown her in chains. Or worse."

Alek nodded slowly, the pieces slowly falling into place in his mind. All that fighting, the arguments, years of trying to stuff Deryn back into skirts... she was just trying to keep her daughter safe, in her own way. He thought of Volger, how he had tried to keep Alek away from danger by hiding him away in the Alps. How horrible it would have been to stay in that castle, alone, for years. Even though they both meant well, their ideas of safety would have been a miserable experience for the very people they were trying to protect.

"My father would often say 'the perils of life are infinite, and among them is safety.' " Alek said. "It's only natural that you'd be worried about Deryn, but you don't need to protect her from everything. She's the most competent person I know. She'll be fine wherever she goes."

For another long moment, the woman didn't say anything, and Alek worried that he'd said something wrong.

"Well. I'm just glad she has someone like you to go with her." Mrs. Sharp smiled at him and Alek felt almost dizzy with relief. He hadn't torn apart a second family.

Any response he may have had was interrupted by the sound of Deryn barreling full speed down the stairs before coming to a dramatic stop.

"Ta-da!" She wheeled about and struck a jaunty pose, showing off her new wedding outfit.

Just like Jaspert, she was wearing socks that went up to just below her knees and what looked like a dark green plaid skirt, but Alek knew better than to say that out loud. It was a good color on her, brighter than the air service uniform he had gotten used to seeing her in. The kilt hung to just above her knees, which was shorter than anything he'd ever seen her wear before, but instead of thinking too hard about that he found himself staring at the massive scar on her knee from her crash landing in Mexico. Between the socks and the helm of the kilt, her knees were the only bit of exposed skin, and one of them was covered with a huge scar. It was difficult not to notice. Although that probably worked in her favor as well-- Deryn loved any excuse to tell another story about her adventures, and people would surely ask about it now.

"Well?" she asked, grinning from ear to ear. "What do you think?"

"You look amazing," Alek said, unable to hide a smile of his own. "The kilt really suits you."

"Aye, it does, doesn't it?" She said. "You'll need to get us invited to more formal events so I can wear it more often."

Alek chuckled. Her enthusiasm was contagious. "I'll see what I can do," he said, taking her hand and brushing a kiss against her knuckles.

Deryn's cheeks turned the faintest bit pink. She shot a quick look over to her mother, who didn't seem to disapprove of her behavior more than the usual amount.

"Alright, don't just stand there," Jaspert said, coming down the stairs behind her. "Margaret might not care about what Deryn wears, but she will care if we show up halfway through the ceremony." He started to usher his sibling out the door.

"Oi!" She cried as she was jostled along. Her grip tightened on his hand and Alek was pulled along, out the door and into the bright sunlight.

[archduchessofnowhere]

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg at the wedding of Franz Ferdinand's nephew Archduke Karl and Princess Zita, October 21 of 1911.

[pokadandelion]

Princess Elisabeth and Princess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg

[germanaustriannoblesandroyals]

Master Post - Members who married into a royal or noble house

Disclaimer: If a person married someone from the same house as they were born into, I have not listed them in this list. Please look at the list sorted by birth for them. Houses that rule(d)/reside(d) in other countries but originally came from German and/or Austrian territories and/or are generally regarded as belonging to this cultural room are listed among the German & Austrian Houses.

German & Austrian Houses

House of Babenberg

Princess Eudokia Laskarina of Nicaea, The Hereditary Duchess of Austria

Princess Theodora Angelina of Byzantium, The Duchess of Austria & Styria

Princess Theodora Komnene of Byzantium, The Duchess of Bavaria & Austria

House of Castell

Baroness Ottilie of Faber, Countess of Faber-Castell

House of Coburg (Cadet branch of the House of Wettin)

Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, The Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1st marriage)

Princess Mary of Teck, The Queen of the United Kingdom & British Dominions, The Empress of India

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (wife of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)

House of Faber

Ottilie Richter, Baroness of Faber

House of Habsburg (incl. Habsburg-Lorraine)

Anna Plochl, Countess of Meran

Princess Charlotte of Belgium, The Empress of Mexico, Archduchess of Austria

Infanta Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress, The Archduchess of Austria

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress

Elisabeth in Bavaria, The Empress of Austria

Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress

Queen Joanna of Castile, León and Aragon (Consort of Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria and The Duke of Burgundy)

Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria, The Archduchess of Inner Austria-Styria

Maria Beatrice d’Este, The Duchess of Massa & Carrara, Archduchess of Austria

Mary, The Duchess of Burgundy

Princess Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria

Countess Sophie Chotek of Chotkowa and Wognin, The Duchess of Hohenberg

Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, The Crown Princess of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia

House of Hanover (Cadet branch of the House of Welf)

Princess Adelaide (Adelheid) of Saxe-Meiningen, The Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover

Princess Caroline of Ansbach, The Queen of Great Britain

Princess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, The Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover

Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, The Queen of Great Britain, Ireland and Hanover

Frederica (Friederike) of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, The Queen of Hanover, The Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale (3rd marriage)

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, The Duchess of Kent (2nd marriage)

House of Hesse

Princess Alice of Great Britain and Ireland, The Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, The Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

Princess Christina of Saxony, The Landgravine of Hesse

House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Princess Feodora of Leininigen, The Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

House of Hohenstaufen

Irene of Byzantium, The Queen of the Germans, The Duchess of Swabia

House of Hohenzollern

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, The German Empress

Princess Augusta Victoria (Auguste Viktoria) of Schleswig-Holstein, The German Empress

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, The Queen of Prussia

Princess Elisabeth of Wied, The Queen & Princess of Romania

Princess Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria, The Queen of Prussia

Frederica (Friederike) of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princess Louis Charles of Prussia (1st marriage)

Princess Hermine Reuß, “German Empress”

Jadwiga Jagiellon, Electress of Brandenburg

Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, The Queen of Prussia

Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, The Queen in Prussia

Princess Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland, Princess Royal, The German Empress

House of La Marck

Jeanne d’Albret, The Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg

House of Limburg-Luxemburg

Elizabeth of Pomerania, Holy Roman Empress

House of Nassau

Princess Sophie of Württemberg, The Queen of the Netherlands

House of Oldenburg

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, The Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

Princess Juliane of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, The Queen of Denmark and Norway

House of Supplinburg

Richenza of Northeim, Holy Roman Empress

House of Thurn and Taxis

Helene in Bavaria, The Hereditary Princess of Thurn and Taxis

House of Welf (without the British Hanover branch)

Princess Elisabeth of Brandenburg, The Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen

Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg aka Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Russia

House of Wettin (without the Coburg branch)

Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria, The Queen of Saxony

Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, The Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria, The Queen of Saxony

Sibylle of Cleves, The Electress of Saxony

House of Wittelsbach

Elizabeth Stuart, The Queen of Bohemia & Electress Palatine

Kunigunde of Austria, The Duchess of Bavaria-Munich

Princess Louise d’Orléans, Princess of Bavaria

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, The Electress of Bavaria

Princess Marie of Prussia, The Queen of Bavaria

The House of Württemberg

Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Württemberg

Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis, The Duchess of Württemberg

The Ottonians

Adelaide of Burgundy, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Italy

Theophanu, Holy Roman Empress

Foreign Houses

House of Bourbon

Jeanne d’Albret, The Queen of Navarre and The Duchess of Vendôme

Archduchess Maria Antonia “Marie Antoinette” of Austria, The Queen of France

House of Braganza

Archduchess Maria Leopoldina, The Empress of Brazil, The Queen of Portugal and the Algarves 

Byzantine Imperial Family

Konstanze “Anna” of Hohenstaufen, The Empress of Nicaea

House of Ivrea

Elisabeth “Beatrix” of Swabia, The Queen of Castile, León & Galicia

House of Lorraine

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, Princess of Lorraine and Bar

The Archduchess Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia) of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (marriage formed new House of Habsburg-Lorraine)

House of Medici

Archduchess Johanna of Austria, The Grand Duchess of Tuscany

House of Radziwiłł

Princess Luise of Prussia, Princess Radziwiłł

House of Romanov (incl. Romanov-Holstein-Gottrop)

Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine aka Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia

Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, The Empress Regnant of Russia aka Catherine the Great

House of Tudor

Anne of Cleves, The Queen of England

House of Valois

Elisabeth (Isabeau) of Bavaria, The Queen of France

House of Vasa

Princess Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, The Queen of Sweden

Minor Nobles

Anna Constantia of Brockdorff, The Imperial Countess of Cosel

Helene Baltazzi, The Baroness of Vetsera

Maria Anna Mozart, The Imperial Countess Berchthold

Marie Karoline of Mollard, The Imperial Countess of Fuchs to Bimbach

Sophia Botta, The Dark Countess of Hildburghausen

Sophie of Pannwitz, Countess of Voß

[incorrect-leviathan-quotes]

That’s the secret to my relationship with Volger. He talks a lot, I pretend I’m listening, and then I do what I want

Alek