Tyranny of Steel

Nearly a fortnight had passed since Berengar had returned home from the War for Austrian Independence. After securing a complete and total victory over the Empire, Berengar and his armies had completely shocked the European world with their brutal efficiency during the conflict.

Not only did Bernegar secure a flawless victory on Land, but he even managed to annihilate the massive armada that belonged to the Kingdom of Italy and its vassal states on the sea. However, Berengar did not care about the reputation of cruelty he had gained after his immense success during the war.

Instead, he spent the last few weeks preparing for a significant occasion, one that would mark the beginning of a new Age in Austria and its Vassal State. The coronation ceremony of King Berengar von Kufstein was finally at hand, and Berengar had invited every prominent nobleman in the Kingdom of Austria and his allies from the East and West.

As the weeks passed, his visitors had arrived in the hundreds, and now the day for his ceremony had come. At the moment, Berengar was entertaining his guests in the Great Hall of his new Royal Palace. The degree of luxury within Berengar's new abode put every other Monarch's home in the western world to shame.

Berengar drank from a chalice filled with fortified wine to entertain his friend and ally Sultan Hasan Al-Fadl. They had traveled from Granada to attend the coronation ceremony of his partner to the east.

At the two Monarchs' sides were a string of beautiful young women; Berengar was flanked by his lovers and younger sister. On Hasan's peripheral were his two wives and his older sister Yasmin. They were all dressed in the formal attire of their countries and quite luxurious clothing at that. Hasan was the first to speak as he introduced his gorgeous older sister to Berengar.

"My friend, it is good to see that you are finally a Monarch in your own right; you are truly deserving of such a position. Allow me to introduce my beautiful older sister Princess Yasmin Al-Fadl. I believe I have mentioned her to you in the past, yes?"

Berengar was stunned when he saw the woman standing before him; she was dressed in a Tyrian purple kaftan embellished with gold embroidery; she also wore a matching face veil that was translucent as such Berengar could roughly see the outlines of the woman's pretty face.

While enamored with the foreign beauty, Berengar did not notice Adela and Linde glaring at him with murderous intent; as such, he grabbed ahold of the woman's hand and kissed it before speaking to the woman.

"Princess, it is an honor to make your acquaintance."

The foreign beauty smiled beneath her veil before Berengar released his grip over her hand. She, too, was quite attracted to the Austrian King. She had heard much from Hasan about his ally to the East, and until now, she had hardly believed her brother's words.

While Adela and Linde were glaring daggers at Berengar from behind, Honoria observed the color of the woman's dress. The young Princess from Byzantium was quite enamored with the Tyrian Purple kaftan; after all, she had acquired and sold an ample supply of the expensive dye for a small fortune.

For some time, she had some difficulties with the hair powder treatment that she had been using to disguise her appearance; to put it simply, it was not the most resilient form of masking when it came to water. However, seeing the beautiful color in front of her, Honoria suddenly got a brilliant idea about dying her hair with such a luxurious substance.

After all, she was in actuality royalty and had garnered the nickname of Pirate Queen by the enemies of Austria during her tenure as a privateer. Would it not make sense for her to dye her naturally chocolate hair to a deep Tyrian purple? Unlike the other girls, she honestly did not care that Berengar's eye had been gazing upon the massive bosom of the foreign beauty who was in their presence.

However, the awkward scene of Berengar's first meeting with the Princess of Granada abruptly came to an end as Emperor Vetranis of the Byzantine Empire made his way through the Great Hall to greet the soon-to-be-crowned King of Austria.

After stepping into the fray, the Emperor of Byzantium boldly approached Berengar as a fellow monarch, but more importantly as a man whose realm was deeply in debt to Berengar. Thus he put on a respectful appearance as he greeted Berengar.

"King Berengar von Kufstein, I have wanted to meet your acquaintance for some time now. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Emperor Vetranis Palaiologos of the Byzantine-"

However, the man's words were instantly cut short as he gazed upon the white hair beauty standing next to Berengar. Though the young woman's hair color was different, and she was more physically mature, there was no mistaking it; this woman was his long-lost daughter, who had until now been believed to be dead. As such, the proud Emperor of the East began to break out into tears as his voice cracked.

"Honoria!?! Is that you?"

This sudden revelation shocked the Court as they gazed over at the white-haired beauty from Byzantium, who they all knew by the moniker of "Valeria Zonara, the Pirate Queen of Austria."

Honoria's angelic face seemed shocked as she saw her father standing before her; the man did not appear to be vengeful in the slightest as he gazed upon his runaway daughter. Instead, he seemed to be filled with disbelief.

As such, she struggled to find the words, fearful that her father would drag her back to Constantinople. Berengar, of course, feigned ignorance to this fact. It was best not to reveal that he knew of Honoria's identity this entire time. As such, he stood by silently with a shocked expression, despite being the architect behind this father-daughter reunion.

Berengar had specifically invited the Byzantine Emperor for two reasons; one was that the appearance of the Eastern Emperor at Berengar's Coronation spoke volumes about the legitimacy of his title. Secondly, it was now time to advance his plans with the Byzantine Empire as a long-term ally.

After all, Berengar had become aware of Linde's agreement with Andronikos and his mysterious backers. Thus he was not afraid of making his play. After several moments of silence, Honoria rushed over to her father and gave him a big hug.

"Father! I did not expect to see you here..."

The entire Great Hall was silent as they heard this news; straight from the Pirate Queen's mouth, she had admitted to the fact that she was the runaway Byzantine Princess. Vetranis struggled to cope with this news as he grasped ahold of his errant daughter. It took him a few moments to come to his senses before he asked the flurry of questions on his mind.

"Are you alright? Why are you here in Kufstein? Did anything happen to you?"

After hearing this, Honoria broke away from her father's grasp, where she put on a friendly smile before assuring him that she was ok.

"I'm alright father, without King Berengar's kindness, I would be dead, or worse by now..."

Hearing this news snapped Vetranis back to reality, and he instantly made his way over to the Austrian King with a look of fury on his face.

"You bastard! You kept my daughter here this entire time, and you did not once notify me that she was alive! Just what are you planning!?!"

However, before Vetranis could take a swing at Berengar, his arm was dragged away by a pleading Honoria. She could instantly tell by the shocked facade that Berengar and the others were putting on that they planned to deny knowing her true identity. As such, she quickly played the part.

"You're wrong, father; King Berengar was ignorant of my true identity. I told him I was a noblewoman from Antioch! All he has done is show me kindness!"

While Honoria played the part well, only one man in the crowd was unconvinced of her charade, and that was a particularly powerful nobleman from the Byzantine Empire. Though Berengar had no way of knowing it, this man was one of the backers of Andronikos. He had journeyed with the Emperor to Kufstein to assure that the scheme to place Berengar and Honoria's son on the Byzantine Throne went smoothly. As such, he quickly came to Honoria's defense as he approached the enraged Emperor.

"Your Majesty, I know you are currently conflicted, but think about this rationally. I mean, just look at King Berengar; he seems just as baffled as you are about this whole situation. I suggest we discuss these matters in private after the Coronation has ended; after all, you are making a scene..."

After hearing the advice from his counsel, Vetranis looked around. Where he saw that the entire attention of the Great Hall had been shifted to him, and his outburst, as such, the Emperor coughed before speaking to Honoria in a more friendly tone.

"I expect a proper response from you about what has happened since you foolishly decided to run away and what exactly the nature of the relationship is between you and this man!"

With that said, the Emperor withdrew from Berengar's presence and left the Great Hall; for now, he needed some time to think things through, and the advice of his counsel would play a role in how he treated this new information. The mysterious noblemen who calmed the Emperor's wrath approached Berengar before bowing respectfully.

"I apologize for the Emperor's behavior; since Arethas' untimely death, he has been a bit on edge. I hope you can forgive him for his violent outburst on this special day of yours."

With that said, Berengar nodded his head in silence while observing the man closely. After seeing the King of Austria's reaction, the mysterious nobleman raised his head before departing.

"If you will excuse me, I believe it is my job to counsel the Emperor when he is distressed. I assure you, whatever is the nature of your relationship with our princess, I will ensure that the Emperor accepts it."

After saying this, the man followed after the enraged Emperor of Byzantium, leaving Berengar and Honoria in a confused state. Honoria gazed at Berengar with tears forming in her eyes, that began to stream down her perfect ivory cheeks. It was at this moment Berengar realized that he had not informed her of Arethas' demise. With this in mind, the girl choked on her words as she attempted to find out for certain.

"Ar... Arethas is dead?"

In response to this Berengar grabbed ahold of Honoria and tucked her head into his chest while stroking her silky white hair. As he did so he apologized to her profusely.

"I am so sorry, I thought you knew..."

As such Honoria spent the next thirty minutes staining Berengar's luxurious attire with her tears. Throughout this entire time, Berengar comforted the princess on the loss of her Godfather. The beginning of the day of his coronation had not gone as planned.