Tyranny of Steel

Within a dimly lit castle sat a short yet burly man. This man had a long brown beard combed to perfection; his hair was in a similarly long and straight state. The short man was dressed in attire that would be luxurious for his Kingdom but when compared to the wealth of his neighbors, across the English channel was more fitting being worn by a pauper than a King. 

The Banners of the House of Lancaster were proudly displayed behind his throne, and despite this, they appeared to be in a rather unkempt state. It would appear that Father Time had not been the most generous of benefactors to the Royal House of England. Despite the lack of wealth, one thing remained certain. King Lawrence of the House of Lancaster was a mighty foe, one who had made his French counterparts bleed dearly over the past decade since he had assumed the mantle of King of England. 

At the moment, two servant girls sat in his lap as he drank from a massive goblet that appeared to be made of pewter. Embossed on this cup were depictions of the Arthurian Legends. Should the chalice been made of gold, it would be quite the exquisite piece, and yet despite his martial prowess, and his successful campaigns against the Irish, King Lawrence could not well afford such a magnificent drinking device.

Despite his early advances into France and the rebelling Duchies swearing loyalty to him and him alone, he was not exactly in the best mood. After all, the French had recently employed firearms in significant numbers, something that he had not expected to occur after his dastardly plot had succeeded.

Kneeling before the English Monarch was a man dressed in far more luxurious attire. This aging and feeble man was bound with a cloth gag and rope ties. He was none other than the French King Giles, who had disappeared from the Royal Court in Paris weeks prior. Lawrence, ever the ruffian, snapped his fingers, and in doing so, his guards immediately released the restraint that prevented the French Monarch from speaking.

Giles immediately panted for breath; after all, he was a mouth breather and was not well accustomed to breathing through his nose. Having secured his breath, Giles immediately unleashed curses upon his rival across the English Channel.

"Lawrence, you bastard! You have kidnapped me from my home! What is it you plan to do with me, exactly?"

The English King immediately began to break out into laughter as he abruptly stood up from his seat; in doing so, casting the two servant girls aside, with his pewter goblet in hand, he approached his primary enemy and backhanded him across the face. After doing so, he grabbed ahold of Giles's long grey hair before pressing his head to the cold stone floor. 

"Initially, I had planned to execute you and overcome your pathetic son with my forces. However, before I do such a thing, I am curious. As soon as you disappear and your twink of an heir assumed control, thousands of firearms were deployed to the battlefield! While your soldiers are not exactly the most trained and capable men, these weapons have proven to be a great deterrent to my armies! This leaves me wondering if you had such weapons stashed away. Why did you refuse to use them?"

Giles immediately spat on the ground in front of him before chastising the English King.

"Oh, that foolish bastard! I knew I should have raised him better... I'll have you know, the Kingdom of Austria provided those weapons! However, I refused to use their vile weapons on the field of battle; after all, what idiot would sell his soul to that devil?"

It was apparent that Giles referred to Berengar when he used such terminology. However, this only intrigued Lawrence further; after all, he had yet to reveal his secret weapon. After hearing such valuable intelligence, he released his hold over his French counterpart and left him struggling with his bindings. 

In a fit of mad laughter, Lawrence had concluded about the state of the ongoing war with France. When Giles looked at him as if he were insane, the English King immediately whistled; in doing so, several crates were brought forward where the contents were laid bare for the French King to see.

Several hundred firearms fell out of the crates and onto the ground, which astonished Giles; though these firearms did not bear the Proof Marks of the Kufstein Armory like the ones delivered to France did, there was no mistaking that they were manufactured in the Southern German Kingdom. Upon seeing Giles' confusion, Lawrence explained what had occurred to the French King as if he had uncovered a grand conspiracy.

"A while ago, I was approached by men who identified themselves as ambassadors of the Iberian Union, as were the Dukes of Burgundy and Aquitaine. They gave us these firearms as a gift and were willing to sell more to allegedly fund their war against the Austro-Granadan alliance. Naturally, I accepted and purchased much of these weapons for my troops.

Until now, I have been ensuring that my soldiers are properly trained in these weapons before deploying them to the battlefield. Unlike you, I prefer my soldiers to have a degree of discipline appropriate for a proper army.

Curious enough, even after the Iberian Union collapsed, the same men approached me once more with intent to sell; by this time, they claimed to be representatives of the Kingdom of Aragon. Thus, I kept buying the weapons. I never thought until this moment that the entire time I was purchasing these weapons, the true mastermind behind their delivery was King Berengar von Kufstein and his Austrian War Machine. 

Tell me, Giles, what is his goal if that madman will arm all sides of this conflict? To make the most money from us as possible? Fat chance, nobody in the Western world is more wealthy than the King of Austria, so what other purpose could he have in arming all of us with more efficient weapons? What exactly are Austria's plans for France?"

When presented with such evidence, Giles struggled to comprehend Berengar's plot; like his rival Lawrence, he wrongfully assumed that Berengar had his eyes on conquering the French Kingdom. For how could they realize Berengar held a vendetta against their country based upon grievances suffered by his ancestors in another world? 

Upon seeing Giles come to a similar conclusion, Lawrence laughed again as he unsheathed his sword from his belt. After doing so, he raised it above Giles's neck while taunting the man.

"Take solace from the fact that I will prevent Berengar's conquest of France in your stead!"

Upon hearing this, Giles spat on the floor. There was a tint of blood in his saliva as he did so. With a smirk on his face, the French King accepted his fate.

"Go ahead, Kill me! I'll be dead in six months, anyway..."

With this said, the English King brought his sword down, decapitating the King of France. A satisfied smile was on Gile's severed head as the life instantly faded from his eyes. Having finally killed his rival, the English King tossed his bloody sword aside and chugged the wine in his goblet. After doing so, he returned to his throne, where he barked orders at his servants.

"Clean this mess up, and bring my marshal. it is time we bring this war to new heights! Now is the time to launch our attack!"

Shortly after that, the servants cleaned up the French King's corpse and the bloodied stone floor; as they did so, the Marshal of England presented himself where he and his Monarch discussed a new invasion plan. They would soon march on France with all the might the Kingdom of England could muster, in doing so bringing a new era of chaos and suffering to the French Kingdom.

Despite his bold claims to repel Berengar's future invasion, Lawrence had unwittingly played into Berengar's hands.. Without Giles keeping the Kingdom together, the various duchies of France would soon begin an all-out battle royal for control of the crown. After all, what man was foolish enough to follow the commands of the disgraced Prince Aubry?