Tyranny of Steel

At the moment, Berengar and Hasan were sitting across from each other in the middle of the Villa that had been given to Berengar. The two men had a scribe draft up a copy of the alliance agreement that was to take effect between the two Realms.

Berengar and Hasan sat for several hours and debated the clauses and stipulations added to the treaty. By the time the sun began to set, the document was drafted in its final state and was fully agreed on between the two parties. After several re-readings to ensure that everything was one hundred percent correct, the two men signed it into effect. 

This was more than a mutual defensive pact; what the two rulers signed would later become known as the Alliance of Gibraltar. This treaty stipulated several essential factors, one of them guaranteeing independence between the two realms. 

The other portions of the treaty included a mutual defense pact, and a comprehensive trade agreement, to ensure the prosperity of both nations. After it was signed into law, Berengar had done the unthinkable. A Christian Duke had established a long-term alliance with a Muslim Emirate.

As part of the trade agreement, Berengar would supply the Emirate of Granada with arms, armor, and munitions at a discounted price of 25%.. It was a better deal than he was giving the Byzantines, and though Hasan was not aware of this, he did suspect it. 

Berengar's reasoning for this was simple, the Byzantine Empire was mighty enough without his weapons and could be a bulwark against his enemies. In comparison, Granada was pretty weak, and as such, Berengar had to bolster their strength as quickly as possible if they were going to prove to be a menace to their Catholic neighbors when the time for it was needed.

After signing the defensive pact, Berengar pulled out a bottle of fortified wine and opened it on the spot, pouring it into a pair of crystal glasses. Though Hasan had previously seen such prominent glassware in the market, as Berengar had already begun trading in Granada, he did not own a set himself. 

After swirling the red liquid in his cup for a few moments, Berengar sniffed the aroma that the alcoholic beverage provided before taking a sip from it. He swirled it around his tongue for a few moments before swallowing it and exhaling as he did so.

"Wine does not get better than this..."

Hasan began to drink from his glass similarly; he seemed to enjoy the product. As he swallowed from the cup's contents, he exhaled before exclaiming the thoughts in his mind.

"I trust that this wine will be included in our trade agreement."

Upon hearing this, Berengar broke out into laughter and made a jest towards his new friend.

"Of course! Though I doubt it will sell well in Granada. After all, it is forbidden in your holy book to drink alcohol."

Hasan also began to chuckle as he heard Berengar's comment. However, he knew that there were still plenty of men who drank wine, and as such, he decided to inform Berengar of this.

"That is true, and most people adhere to such strict principles. However, there are still quite a few among us who love the taste of wine. I assure you, those noblemen who care for such things will pay a premium to get their hands on this."

After hearing this, Berengar nodded before drinking from his glass once more; after he finished sipping on the fortified wine, he agreed to sell the product in Granada.

"Well, if that is the case, I will have no problem selling you this wine. Of course, I have plenty of other types of alcohol if you are interested, some are even stronger than this...:

After Hasan heard this, his eyes nearly jumped out of his sockets; this was already stronger than any drink he had ever tasted, at least in terms of alcohol content. He had trouble believing Berengar's words. 

However, the next moment Berengar pulled out a small bottle filled with an amber substance; it was some of the whiskey he had been distilling in Kufstein for some time now. After pouring the beverage into a small shot glass, he downed it in one go. Berengar proceeded to directly pour another one for Hasan with a cruel smile on his face.

However, Hasan did not know what Berengar was planning and instead was looking at Berengar as if he were an idiot. When he saw the minuscule amount of liquid Bernegar had provided him, he could not help but be offended. 

"My friend, is this a joke, or are you just being stingy?"

As Berengar heard this, he had a wicked grin on his face as he challenged Hasan to drink it whole.

"If you can drink everything in that small glass in one go without choking, I will give you five whole bottles for free; how about that?"

Seeing Berengar just downed the contents of the small glass as if it were nothing, Hasan felt pretty confident, and as such, he smiled at Berengar before grabbing ahold of the shot glass and dumping the contents down his throat.

The moment he did, he instantly regretted it as he felt all of the cells in his mouth immediately dehydrate. As Hasan choked on the liquid for several moments, Berengar laughed and clapped in the background. 

While the two men were having a foolish bet, Adela was down on the beach below, playing with the crabs on the beach. Berengar occasionally watched her do so, and he was not the only one. Hasan was surprised that she was wearing so little clothing.

After all, she was dressed in the hemp bikini Berengar had made for her, and as such, the young Sultan was attracted to her. Noticing his Hasan's gaze, Berengar snapped him out of it with a sharp response.

"Don't even think about it..."

Hearing the chilling tone in Berengar's voice, the slightly intoxicated Sultan realized he had done wrong and apologized.

"I am sorry, it must be the alcohol; that is some wildly strong shit! Still, I have to ask, why do you let your woman dress in so little clothing?"

Berengar merely laughed at this comment as he responded to Hasan's inquiry.

"Because I enjoy the sight. Also, she's on the beach. What else is she supposed to wear? There are few better sights in this world than a pretty girl in a bikini!"

Hasan had no idea what a bikini was, but he could guess by the context of Berengar's statement that it was the item of clothing that Adela was wearing. As such, he thought of a brilliant idea.

"How much for these bikinis? I want some for my wives!"

Berengar chuckled in response to this; few men could resist the allure of a pretty girl in a bikini; as such, Berengar decided to do Hasan a favor.

"Send me your wives' measurements, and I will be happy to get a few of them made for your women. I will send them with the next shipment to Granda for no extra charge."

Hasan immediately began to smile as he decided to drink more whiskey. He could already imagine what his beautiful wives would look like in such little attire.

After drinking for a while longer, Berengar and Adela began to see Hasan off. The man was reasonably intoxicated at this point and looked at Berengar with fondness.

"Until we meet again, my friend, it is just a shame you have to return to your home so soon!"

Berengar nodded and sighed.

"I enjoyed the time we spent together; I look forward to your future visit to my homeland. When you arrive, I can show off all of our cuisines; I am sure you will enjoy it."

With that said, Hasan got into his carriage and began his journey back to his home in Granada. As for Berengar and Adela, they would be sailing back to Kufstein in the following morning. As such, Berengar wanted to spend a little bit more time with his fiancee.

Berengar grabbed ahold of Adela's dainty hand and led her down to the beach. Where the couple walked along the soft sand barefoot while gazing up at the moon and the stars above, Berengar had a lot to say on his mind to the girl before they returned home, and would not see each other for some time, thus Berengar immediately stopped turned around, and looked Adela in the eyes while conveying his thoughts.

"I am sorry..."

Adela was slightly confused when she heard this, and as such, she asked for clarification.

"For what?"

Berengar sighed heavily before revealing the regrets he had contained deep within his heart since the first time he cheated on his little fiancee.

"For starters, I am sorry I am such a piece of shit. We were engaged and set to be a happy couple, and like every relationship I have ever had with another person, I had to fuck it up. I couldn't keep my urges to myself, and I slept with Linde, then I lied to you repeatedly about it. 

When my lies were finally exposed, you stuck beside me, and I ended up repaying your kindness by taking in another girl before I ever had the chance to be with you. I know it doesn't change anything; I have to take responsibility for my actions after all. I just wanted you to know that I am sorry for treating you so poorly and forcing you to go along with my selfish desires."

Adela looked at Berengar with a complicated gaze; she took this statement as Berengar's way of admitting he had already slept with Honoria, which she did not know about until now. As such, she looked away from Berengar before asking the question on her mind.

"Berengar, be honest with me; why did you take me on this trip? You seemed to have handled everything on your own the entire time..."

Berengar sighed before gazing off into the moonlight; after doing so for a few moments, he smiled bitterly before revealing his thought process on the matter.

"I wanted to spend some quality time with you. Since you departed from Kufstein, I have not spent as much time with you as I would have liked. I honestly had no idea we would be caught in a conspiracy and have to witness such horrific scenes. I am sorry for that as well; if I had known such a thing would have happened, I never would have brought you here."

Adela sighed heavily before lying down on the beach and staring up at the stars. Berengar took the hint and lay down next to her, where Adela grabbed ahold of his hand and said with a bitter smile on her face.

"One more year... Just one more year, and we can finally get married..."

Berengar could see the tiny tear forming in the girl's sapphire eyes as she said this, and as such, he forced a smile upon his face as he spoke the truth.

"I look forward to it!"

After saying that, the couple had a long conversation on the beach; What exactly was said on that fateful night has been lost to history. However, one thing was certain the relationship between Adela and Bernegar improved afterward.

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