Tyranny of Steel

Emperor Vetranis gazed upon the sight of his mangled son with an expression that was filled with pity. Decentius had invoked the ire of the Austrian Crown and, in doing so, paid a hefty price for his hubris. However, the true identity of the perpetrator of this attack was left unknown to the Byzantine Emperor. Instead, an Austrian Intelligence report had successfully pinned the blame on the neighboring Mamluke Sultanate for the attack on the Second Prince.

Few people in this world knew the truth about the attack, and one of those men was none other than Decentius. However, he would never outright inform his father that Austria had maimed him and killed his supporters; after all, to do so was to announce his guilt in attempting to assassinate his sister. If his father were to become aware of such a nefarious plot, he was liable to lose more than just his hand and leg.

Instead, the two men stared at each other in silence, neither one wanting to speak first about the circumstances they found themselves in. With the great Warrior Prince of Byzantium maimed, the hawks in the Byzantine Court had lost their candidate for the throne. Despite this, now more than ever, they were adamant about going to war with their neighbors.

Though Vetranis was not the wisest man, even he could see that there were holes in the report that Austria had made about the origins of the attack, if not for the support of Palladius and his spy network, he never would have believed his allies to the west. However, he was still uncertain, and thus the aging Emperor broke the silence within the room.

"Tell me the truth, Decentius, who is responsible for your current state?"

The Second Prince of the Byzantine Empire immediately turned his head towards his father, in doing so revealing the massive wound that existed on his once handsome face. Not only had the explosion blasted apart one of his hands and lower legs, but it has also severely damaged his face and blinded him in one eye. Decentius refused to elaborate further and merely retorted with a rhetorical question.

"Who do you think?"

Though there was not an outright admission, Decentius' words were enough to convince Vetranis that the attack on his son was not, in fact, from the Mamluke Sultanate but rather from their most prominent ally. This caused the father to be stricken with a combination of grief and rage as he pounded his hand upon the table nearby.

"Why? Why would he do this?"

There was a tinge of guilt in Decentius' one good eye as he avoided his father's gaze before trying to deny his fault for such vicious retaliation.

"Your guess is as good as mine..."

Vetranis curled his fist, so much so that his fingernails began to dig into the palm of his hands, causing him to bleed. He did not understand what his family had done to Austria to warrant this vicious attack. Were they not allies? The pitiful Emperor steeled his resolve the next second as he began to voice his discontent with the situation.

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"If that bastard seeks to harm my household, then it is only fair that I do the same to him!"

This reckless comment was so loud that it had garnered the attention of a passerby, who silently made his way into the room where he watched his brother and father conspiring against the King of Austria and his family.

Quintus leaned against the edge of the door, going entirely unnoticed by his father, and brother until the point where he interrupted their little meeting. He had a wide smirk on his face as he began to intervene on behalf of their western allies.

"If Austria attacked Decentius, and the men who support him, then there was a proper reason for doing so. Berengar is not reckless and would not take such violent action against an ally unless provoked. As for his little spymaster, she is even more cautious; the real question is, what did my dear little brother due to warrant such a vicious attempt on his life?"

Quintus was aware of the allegations against Decentius; after all, Palladius had come to him for support after the Second Prince had murdered the late Strategos Arethas in cold blood. However, he lacked any significant proof on the matter and thus Quintus stayed out of these affairs.

Despite this neutrality, there was now an attack on the Byzantine Imperial Family, and he could no longer ignore the accusations against his brother. As a significant rival in the war for succession, Quintus made sure to take advantage of this crisis and use it against his little brother, who sought to usurp his birthright.

Decentius gazed at his older brother with a look of contempt across his wounded face, he knew exactly what Decentius was implying, and he was hoping to avoid this conversation with his father for as long as possible. However, his brother was a sly bastard and had begun to kick him when he was down. Immediately the second prince denied any fault, with an innocent expression on his face.

"I have done nothing to warrant such a ruthless attack on my life! You best be careful, brother; you are close to speaking slander against my character!"

In response to this, Quintus merely smirked before tossing a document on the bed, where Vetranis immediately gazed upon it with wide eyes. His first instinct was to question what he was reading.

"Is this true?"

Quintus did not hesitate and instead nodded his head before further digging a grave for his little brother.

"Palladius has confirmed it, and his spy network, one of my brother's dear underlings had placed a bid for our dear sister's assassination, and the Austrians had even made arrests of the potential assassins.

They likely were unaware that Decentius was meeting with the scoundrel responsible when they launched their attack. You could say this is Austria's way of gaining justice against the perpetrators who tried to kill Honoria.

Whether or not Decentius was involved in this conspiracy remains unknown. Though it does beg the question, why exactly was Decentius meeting with a group of people who were responsible for an assassination plot against our sister?"

Vetranis immediately ignored his eldest son's implication and instead switched the subject; he could not bear to think that Decentius had knowingly taken part in an assassination attempt on his sister. Instead, he asked the second most important question on his mind.

"Then why did Austria pin the blame on the Mamlukes?"

Quintus broke out into a brief fit of laughter; he did not believe his father was indeed so foolish as to ask such an obvious question genuinely; after seeing the perturbed expression on the Emperor's face, the Crown Prince immediately bowed his head and responded obediently.

"My guess is the moment they found out that Decentius was wounded in the attack, they began to panic, fearing that you might dissolve the alliance between our two realms. Such a thing would neither benefit them nor us.

I suggest we accept the Austrians' gift and use this as an excuse to annex the remainder of the Mamluke Sultanate. After all, this appears to not have been an intentional attack on Decentius; he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Vetranis thought deeply about what had transpired; if what Quintus said was true, then the maiming of his second son was unintentional, and as a result of his son associating with conspirators who attempted to murder his daughter.

Even then, few men in this world knew the actual perpetrator behind the attack; if they wiped this incident under the rug and accepted the casus belli against the Mamluke Sultanate, it could aid them in reuniting long-lost portions of the Empire. After careful deliberation, the Byzantine Emperor nodded his head and turned to gaze at his wounded son.

"There must be war! We will pay back the Mamluke Sultanate tenfold for what they have done to you, and as far as anyone is concerned, they are indeed the responsible party. Make sure you take this as a life lesson; I would hate to see what becomes of you, my son if you were to further associate with traitors to the Empire."

After saying this, Vetranis left, leaving Quintus and Decentius to stare at each other with mutual hatred. Ultimately Quintus was the one to break the silence.

"Consider yourself lucky; if your attempt on Honoria's life had succeeded, then there is no force in this world that could protect you from the wrath of the Austrian King. His armies are far more powerful than ours, whether it is the result of witchcraft or divine inspiration, I do not know, but you have stepped on the tail of the devil, and if you ask me, he let you off easy..."

Having said this final thought, the First Prince of the Byzantine Empire retreated from his brother's quarters, leaving the second Prince alone and bitter with his fate. Little did those present know that Berengar was on the other side of the world, entirely unaware of the events that had taken place.