Tyranny of Steel

After spending the night with Honoria, much to the ire of Linde, Berengar had successfully cemented his relationship with the young Princess of the Byzantine Empire; as for his plans for her identity as a privateer, he decided it would be best for her to keep up the ruse of Valeria Zoanara.

Berengar had even helped her create a convincing persona that others would not look into, the days of Lady Valeria of Antioch were long gone. Now Honoria pretended to be Valeria Zonara, an Orphan from Constantinople who grew up as a captive of pirates.

For the next few days, Berengar had spent much time with Honoria. Now that they were a couple, he wanted to show her some love. As such he spent a great deal of time with the girl, going on dates, and taking her to bed.

After a few days, Berengar got back to work; he had more important things to worry about. Thus while Berengar was working on expanding his navy to compete with the arms race that had appeared with the Venetians, Honoria was set to task recruiting an all-female crew.

She had decided to promise wealth and glory to young women and girls who were down on their luck, orphans, prostitutes, bar wenches, any number of ordinary women who dreamed of a better life than what they currently had.

As for Berengar, he was currently sitting in his study once more; while Linde was sitting in front of him with a scowl on her face.. She was well aware of what Berengar and Honoria had gotten up to in the past few days, and she was displeased.

Until now, she had Berengar entirely to herself, and though she knew eventually Berengar would marry Adela and sleep with her, she wanted to hold onto the fact that she was Berengar's only partner for a bit longer.

Seeing that his lover was upset over the lack of attention he had given her over the past few days, Berengar began to tease the young woman.

"You know, dear; you could always join us... Nobody is preventing you from climbing into bed with Honoria and myself..."

By now, Linde thought there was no shameless thing Berengar could say that would make her embarrassed. However, when she thought of such a scenario, her mind went blank, and her porcelain cheeks began to flush red with embarrassment.

Seeing Linde was pondering the decision, Berengar merely chuckled before shifting the topic. Eventually, she would come around to the idea. Out of all of the girls Berengar had by his side, Linde was by far the most open to new ideas.

Even though he had not spent any intimate time with Adela and had just recently gotten to know Honoria in such a sense; he knew enough about their personalities that Linde would be the easiest to coax into group sex. For now, he placed the document in front of Linde and smiled devilishly.

"Your sister Adelheid has proven exceptional in counter-intelligence. The Emperor's agents have attempted to infiltrate Innsbruck and sabotage the factories. Luckily she caught them before they could do any damage, and they have been interrogated extensively, confessing to their crimes.

I will have them publically speak of their crimes and pin the blame onto the Emperor and thus erode the confidence his vassals have in him. If he is willing to sabotage my factories out of fear of my rapid growth, then it has become apparent that the Emperor is my enemy. A war for independence is inevitable, and I need to know that our Agents are up to the task."

Linde looked at the report. Briefly, she was already aware of the issue as the Director of Intelligence and thus gave an honest situation report.

"The Department of Intelligence has extended into Northern Italy, including Florence, where the Emperor resides. We can easily strike at him within his home territory. The real question is whether our armies are ready for war. I know you have 50,000 soldiers at the moment, nearly half a dozen vessels, and enough sailors and marines to arm them.

But a war for independence against the Holy Roman Empire would drag the Italians and the Swiss into the conflict. We have no allies; what exactly is the timeframe for this war of yours?"

To this, Berengar rose from his seat and walked over to the window, where he looked out upon the city he had created. After gazing into the distance for a few moments, he made his stance clear.

"It is not as simple as you make it seem. When the war in Bohemia ends, the entire Catholic world will shift its attention onto us regardless of who wins. When they do so we will be beset by all sides by enemies, and few allies to call upon.

To ensure our victory in the upcoming Crusade; My plan is twofold. First and foremost, we can take a preemptive strike against the Italians, and by extension, the Swiss. We can wage war for independence against the Holy Roman Empire where we will destroy the Venetian and Genoan Navies while crushing the Italian and Swiss armies in battle.

If they are weakened before the Crusade is declared, we will have dealt with our two closest adversaries and have given ourselves a fighting chance..."

After hearing this, Linde straightened her back and put down her wine cup. She provided her earnest attention to Berengar before asking the question on her mind.

"What is the second part?"

Berengar sighed as he heard this and pressed his forehead into his palm. Seeing that her lover was visibly stressed, Linde rose from her seat and approached Berengar's back, where she began to rub his shoulders. While she was doing so, Berengar stated the second part of his plan.

"As for the second portion, I will not lie; it is going to be difficult; as you know I am far from a skilled diplomat, and this plan requires effective diplomacy. Essentially we would need to secure alliances with the enemies of my enemies.

In particular, I have my eyes on Iberia. Despite the ongoing Reconquista, the Catholic Iberians are a fiercely zealous people and would indeed send an Army into Austria. To ensure that they are preoccupied, I will have to travel to Granada and gain the support of the Moors who live there.

This has its downsides, as such an action will only further justify the activities of the Vatican when they declare a Crusade against me, at least in the minds of the Catholics. Openly supporting the Moors against Reconquista will indeed invoke the ire of the Iberians.

However, the benefits of this action are not just a matter of keeping the Catholic Iberians occupied; building an alliance with the Emirate of Granada, who is inhabiting the Strait of Gibraltar, is crucial to my plans. As I will have a friendly nation in charge of the access to the Atlantic."

When Linde heard this, she was confused, she had no idea why Berengar would care about access to the Atlantic, but she did not pay more than a second's worth of attention to such a thing. Instead, she nodded her head in agreement.

What Berengar said had made sense to her. Berengar was always a big-picture kind of man; he constantly plotted ten steps ahead of himself. While Linde was thinking of the short-term consequences of a war with the Emperor, Berengar was already planning for the upcoming Crusade, which they both knew loomed over Austria and Southern Germany as a whole.

Linde ceased rubbing Berengar's back as he turned around and faced her, cupping her beautiful face in his hands as he soothed her worries.

"You asked me what the timeframe for my war for independence is? Within a year, I intend to have a Navy large enough to contend with Italy. By then, my Army will have grown significantly more, and I will not have to fear the combined might of the Swiss and Italian forces.

After we have crushed the Emperor and his allies, I will declare myself King of Austria, and in doing so, secure my independence. When that is over, I can hold my head high as I marry you, three girls, knowing that I am the sovereign of my realm."

Hearing Berengar speak of his grand ambitions always made Linde excited; few men would have the courage to stare down the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in a war of intrigue, while preparing for a full-scale military conflict.

Such boldness was attractive to Linde and affirmed her choice of partner. Even if she had to share Berengar with others, she did not mind; after all, Linde was convinced that one-day Berengar would become a figure remembered for all of history. In her eyes, it was better to be one of several wives that belonged to an extraordinary man than the single wife of a great man.

With that said, Berengar had much to plan for and little time to do it. As such, he dismissed Linde before getting back to work; he would have his fun with her later in the night. As for Honoria, she was free to join the fun, though whether she would do so was another story.