Tyranny of Steel

Weeks had passed since the night Berengar and his troops had repelled a native attack on their private island, and during this time he had returned to Kufstein, where he quickly got back to work. After all, many exciting things had occurred during his absence and his immediate input was required.

Initially, the girls were shaken up by the bloody events, but they eventually calmed down when they returned to the sanctuary of the Imperial Palace. Still, for some of them, it was their first time seeing such bloodshed and it would haunt their memories for many years to come.

Upon returning to the Fatherland, Linde immediately took back her position as director of intelligence. There was no doubt that she was now pregnant, but it would still be a few weeks before it affected her daily life, and thus she dedicated that time to fulfill her role as Berengar ’s spymaster.

At the moment, Berengar was gazing over three reports from Imperial Intelligence with a frown on his face. Two out of three of his ongoing theatres of intelligence operations had some relatively unfavorable news.

While the Spanish were marching into a trap designed to annihilate their professional army, and allow for a rapid German-Granadan conquest of Iberia, the Timurid Empire had failed to do the same. The cautious attitude of the Timurid Sultan had caused Berengar to order an immediate investigation of the man, and his background. It had been a while since he had such a rational opponent.

While he waited on results from such espionage, there was a more important matter to attend to. France was in a state of temporary unity, as the rebelling Dukes and the English alike ceased hostilities for the time being.

By Berengar ’s count, Sibilla must have returned home by now, and she was likely going to instigate conflict with Germany as a result of her harsh treatment. Though Berengar was fully unaware of just how brutal her sentence had been. After all, the operation of the Labor Camps was something he did not personally look after, and the corruption that plagued the system had gone unnoticed.