- Our story opens with a view of Darwinist forces amassed against those of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire.
- Then we find out that those forces are Prince Aleksander's desk accessories set up for a mock battle—and here we thought decorating our lockers was cool.
- Prince Aleksander is having to make do with pens and ink bottles because his parents left him at home while they went to watch military maneuvers. Weak.
- But wait… Prince Aleksander hears noises in the hall and sneaks back to his bed to pretend to be asleep. Is it an assassin? A thief?
- Nope, it's just Otto Klopp, his master of mechaniks, and Count Volger, his fencing master.
- The two men tell Prince Aleksander to come with them for some nighttime training exercises in his walker, which is not something little babies and old people use, but a sweet war machine.
- They all sneak out of the palace—something we at Shmoop do all the time (j/k—no palaces for these nerds).
- As they're getting their sneak on, Alek (his name's Alek now) reflects on his position: because his mother isn't royal, his parents' marriage doesn't count. This means that Alek will never be able to inherit his father's lands and titles unless he defies his great-uncle, the emperor. First world problems, right?
- Oh, and Volger, as a noble, doesn't really respect Alek the way commoners like Klopp do.