Imperial Cauldron is a trilogy, plus a booklet of Appendices and background information. Volume 2 very roughly covers the period from 1880 up to 1890.
To escape…
Those who belonged to the Habsburg imperial family were privileged beings, placed on pedestals and glorified by their subjects. Yet even as they played their individual parts in the imperial dance, they each in their different ways longed for escape. And if it was not possible to escape, then they craved the illusion of escape, at least temporarily. But if you are one of the most watched people in Vienna is escape possible, and if it is where do you escape to?
For the Empress, horses and England offered magical adventures where her spirit soared. For Crown Prince Rudolf, in the end, there was a hunting lodge on the edge of the Vienna Woods. Here at Mayerling he loved to listen to the wind in the branches of the black fir trees all around rustling up a hiss described as pure melody. But from here, there will be no going back. He will drag an unwitting girl along with him and their deaths will send waves
of shock across Europe.
But a fairytale prince cannot die. His image, his memory, his spirit must be sustained and protected even if he is gone. And others must be made to pay the price so that his good name can never be sullied.