The Confectioner's Dragon

By Katharina Bordet

Legends long forgotten will catch up with you.

Wien is covered by a thick layer of snow, yet on the mountain that rises above it, the grass is still green and the ground still warm. With local scientists puzzled, Queen Lily heads out for an adventure to discover what is going on under the mountain and maybe find herself in the process. In the end she might not only find the beast within.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katharina Bordet
• Release date: Oct 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463473245

Katharina Bordet

Author of the novel The Coffee Legacy, Danube Waves and The Confectioner's Dragon. Co-author of Christmas Markets in Vienna and Christmas Markets in Austria.

Book preview

The Confectioner’s Dragon

Wiener Blut Book 3

by Katharina Bordet

Also by Katharina Bordet

Website: www.bruadarach.at

Novels:

The Coffee Legacy (Wiener Blut Book 1)

Danube Waves (Wiener Blut Book 2)

The Confectioner's Dragon (Wiener Blut Book 3)

Short stories:

The Ladder (A Wiener Blut Short Story)

The Siege (A Wiener Blut Short Story)

Donau Blues (A Wiener Blut Short Story) by Mick Bordet

The Princess and the Coffee Bean (A Wiener Blut Short Story)

Unterbrücken (A Wiener Blut Short Story)

A Very Gary Christmas (A Wiener Blut Christmas Story)

Every Photo Tells Vol. 1 (Short Story Collection, with Mick Bordet)

More at www.everyphototells.com

Non-Fiction:

Christmas Markets in Vienna and (far) beyond (with Mick Bordet)

Weihnachtsmärkte in Wien (with Mick Bordet)

Available at eBook vendors near you.

© 2018-2020 Katharina Bordet

To coffee.

Without you, I wouldn’t have been awake enough to write this book and for giving me the inspiration for it.

Chapter 01 - Keksteig

Keksteig

Cookie Dough

Once upon a time there was a young prince....

No. That's nonsense. I can't start at the end. Plus, I don't want it to be an autobiography. For whatever reason she made me do this, That won’t work.

Once upon a time there was a woman called Isabelle, who owned a café and had a big secret...

The thought of his mother made a big knot build up in his throat. Max knew this wasn't the beginning of the story either, though his mother definitely was one of the biggest parts of it, maybe even a catalyst.

Once upon a time there was a fainting goat called Gary.

Inadvertently, he chuckled at the thought of writing a book about his crazy friend. Maybe one day he would do it, but this was not that day. He deleted the line again, placed his fingers back on the keyboard of his laptop and took a deep breath.

Once upon a time there was a goat farmer, in the far away region of Kaffa, which is part of Ethiopia nowadays.

Your majesty? The words followed a knock on King Maximilian's office door.

Yes, James? The king looked up from writing at the man standing in the door.

The queen wishes to see you.

Since when does the queen send you to fetch me? She usually just shouts so I can hear it throughout the castle, he smiled.

Well, she did, but she is in the cooling room next to the kitchen. I assume you couldn't hear her from there.

Oh my. No, I didn't. But that's what the intercom systems are for. What is she doing in the cooling room anyway?

Looking for ice cream.

I thought the ice cream phase was over and she was onto cookies now?

Apparently not, your majesty, the butler said with a small smile and left the room.

When Max pushed open the door of the kitchen's cooling room, he found his wife sitting on the floor in what looked like an exploded ice cream truck. She was happily digging into a tub of cookie dough ice cream and didn't notice him coming into the room. He found her even more beautiful and sexy sitting there, hair dishevelled, ice cream stains everywhere and pregnant with his children, than when she was wielding a sword, fighting off attackers. Her Wächter training was still visible in her well-toned stature, though she was now also sporting a visible belly. Lily's pregnancy ice cream phase had left her slightly more curvy than before. The trained warrior that Lily was, she still moved with more grace than any woman four months pregnant with twins has ever shown.

Hi darling, the king crouched down to his wife, don't you want to come upstairs with your ice cream?

Kind of, yes, but I don't know how much I want and I'm fed up with walking up and down all the time.

You can get someone to bring you ice cream, we have plenty of staff that would be happy to help you, and I would too!

Meh, you know how I hate being waited on… Lily said, getting up nevertheless.

So you decided to spend the day in the cool room alone and catch a cold?

Well, I did send for you…

To catch a cold with you?

No, it's just, I'm bored.

The queen took her husband's hand, leading him into the kitchen where she sat down on the massive oak table. He sat down next to her, half expectant, half worried.

You can't put your health at risk just because you're bored. I mean you are queen; you shouldn't be bored!

God, Max, it's just a title, an estate, money. It's not as if it's a job.

Lily, he took her hands in his, you knew the world was going to change. I thought you agreed that the elections were the right choice.

Yes, for Neu Meidling, for peace and all that. It's just that I am bored out of my mind!

Because you can't protect and save me from villains anymore?

No, she stood up again, hands on her hips, I never wanted to be just decoration, someone the tabloids could speculate about.

Even if I was still reigning over all the countries, they would always be interested in you.

Yes, I know. In theory I always knew. I knew the world would change…

We changed it together darling.

Maybe, but I am not just a queen.

You'll be a mother soon.

Yeah, thanks. Not helping, forcing me into another stereotype.

Lily turned away from him, looking at one of the kitchen cupboards. On top of it was a round, red, tin box which she stretched out to pick up. Max jumped up to help her.

I'm not an invalid, Max! I can get a bloomin' cookie jar on my own!

Sorry, geez. I was just trying to help.

Hands up in defence, he took a few steps back, tripped over the cat that had settled down behind him and lost his balance. Both of Max’ arms waved feverishly as he fell backwards, but it took Lily only a split second to jump forward, grab her husband with one hand and pull him up straight again, whilst still holding the jar of cookie dough in the other.

Who needs help now? she sneered, walking through the kitchen door into the garden with the cookie jar under her arm.

Maximilian was still shaking his head as he arrived back at his office. He had wanted to work on the story for his 10 year jubilee that was only a few weeks away. Unlike his wife, he rarely felt bored, he had so much to catch up with. Especially all the things his grandfather never taught him before he died. His role as king was less as a ruler and more a head of state, a representative and diplomatic one, but there were still other worlds that were part of his kingdom that he hadn't known about until the day he became king. Since beginning his reign, the whole political system of his country had changed and, as well as adjusting to the new order, he had to find out about all the other worlds he didn't know about. Very few people in his kingdom even knew they existed. Lily understood his plight and helped him as best she could, but he understood that she wanted to do something for herself, not just be the queen at his side.

Despite his best efforts, there was no way he was going to write another line today. He got up to open the secret door in his study's bookcase and went through to the small room that held all the stories and histories, legends and hidden truths. Taking his place on the cushioned nook in the wall, he opened the large, oak-bound tome he had left there the previous day and continued to read.

Wien, August 1683. The Siege, Part 1

Franz sat down on the edge of the fountain while the younger Dorde stood up straight, constantly checking left and right. The Beschützer was nervous, impatient and thoroughly unhappy with the man he was supposed to protect. In Dorde’s opinion, merely being a member of the royal family didn’t prevent Franz from being stupid. Dorde was in his mid-twenties. Tall, strong, well-muscled and assigned to protect the older man, Franz, who was a Wächter - a keeper of the secrets of coffee. It was in this role that he was currently sitting in the middle of Austria’s capital, Wien, on this particular hot summer afternoon. After weeks of the air being unbearably hot, a fierce summer rain had fallen over Wien the previous night, cleaning the dirty city streets as well as cooling the air. The Beschützer was more nervous than Franz had seen him for a long time, pacing up and down the length of the fountain, perfectly alert, but with a sheen of sweat clearly visible on his forehead.

„Dorde, we can’t go back just yet. Our mission is too important, we need to stay."

„What else do you think we can do here? Almost all of Europe is at war! There are hordes of Turkish soldiers in front of the city gates. Should we go there and brew them some coffee?"

„No, of course not! But maybe we could be of help in some other way! We have lived in Turkey for such a long time... maybe we can... I dunno..."

„This is not what we came here for! We were supposed to come here and stay for a year or two, spread the knowledge about coffee amongst the people here and then return safely. You and I have already spent several years in Turkey and I do understand why you wanted to come to Wien, but seriously... you know as well as I that we have to go back to our world. You are ageing more rapidly here and by the time we get back to Neu Meidling you’ll be an old man! Have you thought about your kids? Your wife?"

„I think about them every day, Dorde, but there is a greater goal to be achieved here. They are perfectly safe, back in our world, but the people here are suffering. This is already the SECOND time the Turks have tried to take over Wien. Our wealth comes from spreading the knowledge amongst the people here. We can’t just pack our bags and leave!"

„You have been here for too long, become too attached, Franz. It is time to go, believe me."

Franz wasn’t listening to his companion anymore. His thoughts trailed off, back to the time he spent working in Turkey, teaching them coffee-brewing techniques as his sister, the queen, had assigned him. It was a long-standing tradition for the members of the royal family to spend a few years in this world, teaching about coffee and working with coffee before returning to Neu Meidling. One of the reasons no-one stayed longer than two years was that Wächter aged much faster in this world than the people here did, even more than the Beschützer assigned to them. He thought back to his wife and kids; he certainly missed them a great deal, yet her also loved this new world he was in, the people and everything around him. If he were being completely honest with himself, he had already thought about sending Dorde back to Neu Meidling alone, but something deep inside told Franz that his Beschützer was not going to budge one tiny bit from his side. „It doesn’t matter now, Dorde. We need to go back to the others."

The general sat at his desk, his brow furrowed in a combination of worry and concentration as he pored over an array of maps and reports spread out in front of him.

„What’s wrong?" Dorde whispered to the soldier standing closest.

„The Turks are closing in and the Emperor’s army is still too far away. The general is getting nervous, King Sobiesky too. They need them to come to our aid quickly but have no idea how to get through the Turks’ camps."

„Hmmm..." while Dorde was still deep in thought, he saw his companion slipping out of the mass of people, approaching the general.

„I’ll do it, said Franz. „I am an interpreter, fluent in Turkish. It would be easy for me to blend in and get through the camps.

„No..." his Beschützer whispered, unheard to the people around him.

It was settled. Franz Kolschitzky, an interpreter in the king’s army, was to walk through the Turkish camps and get the message to the Emperor’s army that they must free the city. Dorde was so deeply worried that he could hardly speak. Living in this world had taken its toll on Franz and it was his job, after all, to protect him and get him back safely. So far, he had failed with an unforeseen perfection. He reached into his pocket, touching the cold metal of the pendant inside. Since the war began, Dorde had been carrying Franz’ pendant in his pocket. The older man had given it to him for safekeeping, almost as if he didn’t want anything to do with it anymore, as though Franz had passed the decision over to his Beschützer. The decision when the day would arrive that they would finally head back to their world, but that could not be far enough away for the Wächter.

For Dorde, it seemed that the pendant was much more valuable. It was the ticket back to their world, their Schlüssel. Traditionally, it was the Wächter who carried the Schlüssel with him. Once it was time to travel to this world, a century-old ceremony was executed to find out what a person’s Schlüssel was. It was certainly not just any random thing, but that physical object which meant the most in the world to the bearer; something that would keep them grounded and get them back to the other world. For Franz, it was the pendant his grandfather gave him when he was a little boy. Schlüssel were not immediately obvious, but nobody would have needed a ceremony to figure out what it was going to be for Franz.

„I knew this wasn’t going to work! What a stupid idea!" Dorde exclaimed.

The two men were bound together, hands and feet chained, sitting on the dirty floor of a Turkish army tent. They had been caught right outside the city walls, with their horse and small carriage in tow, loaded with goods that were strange and foreign to the soldiers who were laying siege on Wien. Naturally, they assumed that those two strange men, though able to speak to them in their own tongue, must be the enemy.

„Don’t you trust me?" Franz asked, his voice completely calm.

„Hmmmm. Let me think. Instead of being back in Neu Meidling with our families, we are sitting in the middle of a war, bound together as prisoners in a Turkish tent. So, NO, I don’t trust you anymore."

„I see your point," Franz replied, but his thoughts, voice and look trailed away again.

„Are you even listening to me?"

„Yes, yes. Of course I’m listening to you. I am just trying to think of how we’ll convince them that we aren’t Austrian. That’s all. I will get us out of this. When this is all over and done, we’ll go home. Okay?"

„Pf! If only I could believe you!" the Beschützer grunted.

„I told you months ago that you could go back without me."

„Yes, at the same time I told you that I don’t think I can go back with your pendant. Nor could I leave you behind without a way to get