Page 55 of The Broken Dawn

Watching the interplay between the two of them - and the longing looks she was sure neither knew she saw - was fascinating. Unfortunately, after a quarter hour, she stood to excuse herself.

"Harald, darling," she said finally, "I need to speak with you privately. Would you walk me to my car?"

Harald blinked, as if coming out of a trance. "Of course." He turned to Jakob. "I'll be back in a minute. Don't solve all of Karl's problems without me."

Jakob smiled. "I'll try to leave you something to fix."

Sigrid nodded politely to Jakob. "It was a pleasure meeting you properly. I hope we'll have more chances to discuss historical mistakes and their consequences."

As they walked away, she could feel Harald's curiosity burning. He wouldn't have to wait long. She had quite a few observations to share about his new friend.

Sigrid led Harald toward her waiting car. Once they were out of earshot of the main building, she glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice.

"I didn't just come to escape Mother's luncheon," she said, reaching into her handbag. She withdrew a slim leather portfolio embossed with the royal seal. "Father wanted you to see these. They arrived this morning."

Harald took the portfolio, his stomach tightening. Diplomatic dispatches delivered directly, bypassing the usual channels—this couldn't be good news.

"What's happened?" he asked, already dreading the answer.

"It's Poland," Sigrid said, her voice tight. "Britain and France are... well, you should read it yourself."

Harald opened the portfolio and scanned the first document, a decoded cable from the Swedish embassy in London. The words seemed to blur before his eyes, but their meaning was unmistakable.

"They're abandoning Poland," he said, his voice hollow. "Britain and France promised air support, ground reinforcements... and now they're just—" He couldn't finish the sentence.

"Watching," Sigrid supplied grimly. "They're going to let Poland fall."

Harald leaned against her car, suddenly needing the support. "But they guaranteed Poland's independence. They said they would defend her."

"Words," Sigrid said bitterly. "Just words on paper."

Harald read further, his heart sinking with each paragraph. The British War Cabinet had decided that any meaningful intervention would be "logistically impossible." The French High Command had determined that their forces "were not yet prepared for offensive operations." Both nations would continue their naval blockade of Germany, but Poland would face Hitler's war machine alone.

"This is..." Harald struggled to find words. "This is unconscionable. The Poles are fighting and dying believing that help is coming."

"Father thought you should know," Sigrid said quietly. "He says you understand the military implications better than Freddie does."

Harald looked up sharply. "He said that?" Harald felt a complicated surge of emotions—pride that his father valued his insights, guilt that he was being compared favorably to Freddie, and overwhelming dread about what these dispatches meant.

"How is he?" Harald asked, carefully returning the papers to the portfolio.

Sigrid's face tightened. "Not well. The doctors have increased his medication again. He had a coughing fit during the Danish ambassador's visit that lasted nearly ten minutes. Mother had to step in and finish the meeting."

Harald winced. Their father's declining health was an open secret within the family, but hearing it stated so plainly made it impossible to ignore.

"And how is Mother handling things?"

"How do you think?" Sigrid's tone was dry. "Efficiently. She's already rearranged the King's schedule to minimize public appearances. And she's been having private meetings with some of the ministers—without Father present."

"That's worrying."

Harald felt a chill that had nothing to do with the autumn air. "And Freddie? What does he think about Poland?"

"You know Freddie. 'It's regrettable but unavoidable. Sweden must maintain its neutrality at all costs.'" She mimicked their brother's pragmatic tone perfectly. "He doesn't see what this means for the future. If Britain and France won't honor their guarantees to Poland, what happens when smaller nations are threatened?"

"Like Sweden," Harald murmured.

"Exactly like Sweden." Sigrid squeezed his arm. "That's why Father wanted you to see these. He says you have the historian's eye—you see patterns where others see only isolated events."