Chapter 11
July
18th,
2009
Zurich
A
soft knocking on his door warned Konrad of the time. He fixed his
gaze again on the wooden beams and wondered how many times he had
done it. The other side of the bed was still empty and he knew it
would remain like this. He didn't feel like getting up and only
wanted to be left alone with his sorrow. He had had no time to mourn
in private and now he would have to do it in front of a hundred
people invited for the private ceremony. All of them were good
friends of Guntram, but he couldn't face them. Each face would remind
him or a particular moment spent with him. Whenever he was seeing
Michael Dähler at the bank, he remembered when the man had betted
against Ferdinand some money telling that “the Duke wouldn't have a
teddy bear at home. The lad must have a lot of character; a small
blue eyed Dachs.”
Ferdinand's presence brought many images back like when he had
pledged his loyalty to Guntram or his eyes brimming with true
happiness when Guntram had showed him Cecilia's portrait.
A second knock, louder than
before, forced him to face reality once more. “I'm coming,
Friederich. Just a minute,” he shouted and left the bed to get
ready for one of the longest days in his life.
* * *
