Tyranny of Steel

Chapter 31: The Aftermath

After the battle had occurred, there was much cause for celebrating the overwhelming victory gained by the militia forces. Having gotten their first battle out of the way with the new weapons, the men comprised of Berengar's forces were entirely confident of defending their territory from any invading force, and more importantly, in Berengar's command. The fact that the young Lord stood at the frontlines facing down wave after wave of enemies alongside his troops would be spoken throughout the villagers of Kufstein for months to come.

Berengar, on the other hand, promised a great celebration after they cleaned up the battlefield; they could not very well allow hundreds of corpses to lie on the fields to rot. As such, after much effort, the Militia had dug a series of mass graves where they buried Ulrich and his forces. Berengar would have difficulty explaining his overwhelming victory to his father if he told the whole truth. Despite the desire to brag bout his feats, he decided to lie about the battle and completely downsize the results. Because the men at arms and knights had by now fled the confines of the Barony of Kufstein, and the peasants who fought against them were round up, lined against the wall, and executed, there were no witnesses to the events that transpired aside from the forces loyal to Berengar, and as long as he gave the order to keep keep the telling of their war stories to what he had instructed there should be no problems with the leaking of how effective his firearms were.

The story Berengar told to his father about the attempt on his life by Ulrich, the mustering of his forces, how they built the defenses and defended the position from a few hundred peasant levies. The Lord's professional forces were very different from reality. Berengar spun the events, making it seem like Ulrich was unaware of hand cannons, and foolishly attacked the hill with a few men. The missing peasants were explained by running away from their homes and families in fear of reprisal from the Baron. It was a stretch, but judging by the fact that the knights and men at arms also fled the region, Sieghard had no choice but to believe it. After all, hand cannons were extremely effective against the peasant levies' light armor or lack thereof and frightening to those who were not accustomed to the sound.

As for the death of Ulrich, Berengar made it seem like a stray shot had pierced his skull when the visor to his helmet was open; with the Lord's death, his forces collapsed and routed. Sieghard sent a team to investigate the fields to confirm this information was true but found no traces of the mass graves and only the small ones Berengar had used to mislead the Baron and his brother Lambert. As far as anyone was aware, the battle was quite small and was set between 200 of Berengar's militia dug in at the mining town and armed with hand cannons against 300 of Ulrich's men who fled with the accidental death their Lord. After all, in this feudal world, it was considered unacceptable to kill a nobleman outright if it could at all be avoided. Men of higher birth were afforded the privilege of ransom. There was no mention of the use of cannons; due to Berengar's previous misinformation, the cannons were considered to be static weapons and largely immobile by the uninitiated. Thus he did not want to reveal how effective they really were.

After Ulrich's untimely demise, his son and heir, who was only a small child, was named Lord of Wildschönau; as he was so young, he needed a regent, which Sieghard placed from a dedicated member of his own court to ensure the loyalty of the young Lord who was now his vassal. He would not allow the grieving widow of the boy's traitorous father to skew the future Lord's allegiance to his liege.

As for the foreman who was captured, he was Berengar's only viable witness in Lambert's schemes against him; however, unfortunately, as the man was lead to the dungeons of the Castle of Kufstein, he was shortly thereafter found dead from asphyxiation, it was ruled a suicide as the man had supposedly choked himself to death with the chains that bound him. Berengar, however, knew that this was clearly the work of Lambert and his allies cleaning up their mess. The only witness he had to his brother's ploy was Linde, and Berengar refused to play that card; she was a valuable spy not only against Lambert but her father as well. He would not expose such a precious asset against his enemies in a rash attempt to expose Lambert's machinations. It became apparent that his father's army and the guard had been compromised. Clearly, there was a faction loyal to Lambert among them, and such a force would need to be purged when Berengar finally came to power.

It took a long time for Berengar to explain the volatile situation that had occurred to his father. By the time he was finally able to wash the dirt and grime off of his filthy body, it was late into the night. His paranoia that he had developed from being trapped in the darkness of the mine shaft for days began to take hold as he sat alone in the bath during the twilight hours. As he heard the door creak open and the light taps of footsteps approach his location, he felt like another assassin was nearing by. When the footsteps finally reached his vicinity, Berengar launched a surprise attack on the would-be assassin, dragging them into the pool of water and pressing their head beneath its surface.

For whatever reason, it never occurred to him that Linde was entering his bath to be with the man she loved. After all, she had been beside herself the past few days as she waited for news of Berengar's situation. Every day that Berengar was trapped, she was overcome with anxiety and despair, to the point where she could barely maintain the facade of Lambert's ally. It took a few moments for Berengar to realize he was in the process of drowning his own lover. When he finally came to his senses, he quickly released his hands and allowed the divine beauty to resurface from the filthy bathwater, where she struggled to breathe. Berengar looked upon her with shock and terror, as he had acted upon instinct, and did not recognize what he was doing until after he had harmed Linde.

The girl's sky blue eyes were filled with tears as she stared at Berengar in fear; she could not help but ask why she was so severely punished.

"What the hell! Why would you do that?"

Berengar, who was in the middle of a panic attack because of his actions, struggled to breathe, which was incredibly painful due to his fractured rib. As such, he grabbed ahold of his side and winced in pain as he struggled to give the girl an explanation.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I... thought you were an assassin."

Linde gazed upon the deep sense of dread that was spread across Berengar's immaculate visage and instantly forgave him; she could not imagine the sense of distress and agony that Berengar had suffered while being trapped in the darkness of the mines by his lonesome for days on end, wondering when he would finally enter death's embrace. As such, she approached him cautiously and wrapped her warm body around his, placing her head on his shoulder.

"I'm here for you if you want to talk about it..."

It was only after he felt the warmth and love of Linde's heavenly body that he began to calm himself down and realize that he was not still in the cavern waiting for death. He was finally home, and though there were enemies in his midst, those who loved and cared for him far outnumbered them. Quickly, the sense of paranoia and dread was changed to one of intense wrath as he gained control of his emotions and began to plot his brother's downfall. At the moment, he still did not have enough evidence to bring charges against the treasonous little brat. He had been on the defensive for too long against Lambert, and now he would conspire against his own little brother and bring the little bastard to justice. Yes, justice, not vengeance. He could not very well kill his own brother and be labeled a kinslayer for the rest of his days.

If Berengar so desired, he could easily have his little brother assassinated by Linde, though that would not be good for his conscience. Berengar would not stoop so low as to engage in fratricide, at least at the moment. If Lambert truly crossed the line, there was nothing Berengar would not attempt if it meant achieving his goals. Instead, he would target his brother's allies and cut off Lambert's support one by one. Aside from the Count of Tyrol, Lambert's allies were largely among his father's vassals and the armies that supported them. If he could identify them, he would have a much easier time dispatching them to the afterlife. As such, he began to share his scheme with Linde, who was Berengar's most valuable asset in the shadow war with his brother.

"My dear Linde, I have a task for you..."

Linde had sparkles in her eyes, though she had yet to be rewarded for her previous actions; she knew it was only a matter of time, and with a new task meant an even greater reward. As such, she instantly replied obediently.

"Yes, master?"

Berengar narrowed his eyes; within them contained a great sense of wrath and a desire for retribution. He was a man who would show no mercy to his enemies, and this recent attempt on his life had made him particularly vengeful, even if he told himself it was a desire for justice.

"I want a list of names of every single person who has ever aided my brother in his attempts to gain the inheritance. Who they are, where they live, their weaknesses, and the extent to which they aided him. If someone so much as entertained the idea of taking my life, I want to know about it in exact detail! I trust this is something you can handle?"

Linde nodded with a deep smile on her face as she cuddled up against Berengar.

"Anything you require, Master."

Berengar gazed down at the peerless figure of the gorgeous young woman next to him and smiled deviously.

"By the way, I need to reward you for saving my life. Do you have any particular desires that I may fulfill?"

Linde blushed at the words with embarrassment, though deep down she had been waiting for this moment, as such, sat atop his lap and began to make out with him. The remainder of the bath session was filled with sounds that, if overheard by others, would cause a great scandal. Nevertheless, those who dwelled in the castle noticed not a single noise as the couple enjoyed the time they spent together with great passion. By the time the two left the bathhouse, they returned to Berengar's chambers, where they spent the rest of their waking hours continuing their fun.

On the other hand, Lambert was wide awake and filled with terror as he hid within the confines of his large stone room. The attempt on his brother's life had failed, and the foreman used his name during the act. If Berengar was unaware of his previous endeavors, then he was certainly aware now. Not only that but one of his greatest allies was now dead, all because the fool carelessly had his visor open. Surely if the visor to his bascinet were closed, the rocks fired from the hand cannons would have glanced off, right?

Of course, Lambert had no way of knowing the real way in which Ulrich had perished, nor was he aware that the lead balls fired from the musket would have penetrated the bascinet either way if fired from an appropriate distance. Instead, Lambert felt he caught an unlucky break; his plans were leaked to Berengar, possibly from someone under his command. Still, it could have also come from one of the many workers Berengar brought with him, who were suspicious of the foreman's actions. He had no way of knowing how the militia and rescue force arrived so quickly to Berengar's aid. All of these things contributed to the overwhelming sense of angst he felt deep in his stomach.

Nevertheless, the worst part was that Lambert now had to fear his brother's reprisals and with how things have been going lately, he could not help but be afraid of divine intervention on Berengar's behalf. Because he was unaware of Berengar's schemes to target his allies, the teenage boy dreaded an attempt on his own life by his elder brother as an act of retribution. Thus while Berengar was enjoying his time with Lambert's fiancee, Lambert did not get a wink of sleep as he was too fearful of what might transpire while he slumbered.