Re: Steel and Gunpowder

Chapter 83: The Wittelsbach Treasury

Isolde shook her head, "...Duke Wilhelm... is suddenly acting very erratic." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

Konrad’s eyes narrowed. "Erratic how? Did he accept the Pope’s bribe regarding Salzburg?"

"No, it’s the exact opposite," Isolde said, looking genuinely troubled. "The Duke of Bavaria is ignoring the Pope’s envoys. In fact, he just sent a heavily armored courier to our borders. The letter hasn’t reached your desk yet, but my spies read it before the courier even crossed the river."

"What does the letter say, Isolde? Cut the theatrics."

"Duke Wilhelm isn’t waiting until May," Isolde stated flatly. "He is demanding that the wedding happen immediately. Next week. He is already packing his royal carriages and moving his personal guard toward the Swabian border."

Konrad stared at her.

A royal wedding in 1526 required months of planning, thousands of silver florins, and a delicate balancing act of inviting the right nobles without insulting the Emperor.

For a proud Catholic Duke to suddenly rush a wedding with a recognized heretic... it made zero sense.

Unless the Duke of Bavaria was terrified of something...

After the conversation with Isolde about the shifting landscape, Konrad’s body simply decided that it was done.

The compounding weight of balancing military ledgers, designing horse-drawn Gatling cannons, and orchestrating a fake Fugger silver convoy had finally caught up to his mortal flesh.

He walked back to his private chambers... he collapsed onto the feather bed and let the darkness take him.

Fourteen hours passed in the blink of an eye.

When Konrad finally dragged his eyelids open, the bright sunlight of the late afternoon was streaming through the narrow glass window of his chamber.

He sat up slowly, rubbing his face and feeling the unshaven stubble on his jaw.

However, the rare peace of his bedchamber didn’t last for more than a single minute.

"Lord Konrad!" Marshal Eckhard’s voice shouted from the hallway, "My Lord, please tell me you are awake in there!"

Konrad swung his legs over the edge of the bed, wincing as his joints popped. "I am awake, Eckhard. What is burning now?"

The door creaked open, and the Marshal stepped inside, looking bewildered.

"Nothing is burning, My Lord," Eckhard panted, trying to catch his breath. "But you need to come down to the main courtyard. The Duke of Bavaria is here."

Konrad stopped rubbing his eyes and just stared at the older veteran. "Here? You mean he sent an envoy to the border camps?"

"No, Lord Konrad," Eckhard corrected him, "I mean Duke Wilhelm is literally sitting on a horse in your courtyard right now. He brought his royal carriages, his personal household guard, and half the Wittelsbach treasury wagons. They just rolled through the main gates."

Konrad quickly splashed some freezing water from a washbasin onto his face, grabbed a clean black doublet from his wardrobe, and strapped his wheellock dag to his hip.

"Did they bring the halberdiers?" Konrad asked as he marched out into the stone hallway.

"Just his elite personal guard, roughly two hundred men," Eckhard reported. "They look like they rode straight through the night. The horses are blown, and the Duke looks like he hasn’t slept in days."

"He is running from something," Konrad deduced. "Get the quartermaster. Tell him to secure the Bavarian horses and offer the Duke’s guards hot stew."

"At once, My Lord."

Konrad pushed open the doors that led out into the freezing Swabian air of the main courtyard.

The immaculate drilling yard of the von Frundsberg keep was currently clogged with lavish, gold-gilded Bavarian carriages, exhausted warhorses, and heavily armored knights looking around the fortress.

In the center of the chaos, sitting tall on a brown destrier, was Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria.

Beside him, riding a smaller white mare, was Lady Katarina.

Konrad walked straight up to the Duke’s horse, "You are early, Duke Wilhelm, In fact, you are months early. The eastern borders were supposed to remain static until May."

Duke Wilhelm forced a tight smile. "Viscount von Frundsberg," the Duke greeted loudly, "We decided that the fresh mountain air of the Swabian valley would be a much better environment for my daughter to prepare for her royal wedding. It is a father’s right to see his daughter properly wed."

Konrad stared up at the Duke. "You brought twenty heavily reinforced treasury wagons and your entire elite guard," Konrad pointed out, "let’s cut the noble theatrics. What chased you out of your own capital?"

The Duke’s face flushed a red at the blatant disrespect... several of the Bavarian knights instinctively reached for the hilts of their broadswords, offended by the Swabian tone.

"My father simply wishes to see our union finalized, Konrad," Katarina said, "The Holy Roman Empire is shifting rapidly. Promises made in military camps can easily be broken. A marriage signed before the Church and the Fugger bank, however, binds our armies together permanently. Surely, a man of your intellect sees the necessity of speeding up the timeline?"

Konrad looked at Katarina.

She was correct, and she knew how to speak to his mind... If the Bavarians were bound to his house, he would have legal authority to deploy their remaining halberdiers in his upcoming invasion of Savoy.

Konrad let out a short sigh. "...you need to understand something right now, Duke Wilhelm. I have no time for your tedious, month-long noble festivals, jousting tournaments, or endless feasts."

Duke Wilhelm frowned, deeply insulted. "A royal wedding of the Wittelsbach house demands proper respect and celebration. We cannot simply sign a paper like common merchants."

"That is exactly what we are going to do," Konrad countered. "You will have three weeks to prepare whatever fine clothes and miserable priests you want to bring. After three weeks, the wedding will be done. It will take one afternoon, and then I am going right back to my armory."

The Duke looked like he was about to argue, but Katarina placed a gentle hand on his arm.

"Three weeks is acceptable, Lord Konrad," Katarina agreed quickly, "We only ask for the hospitality of your keep until the vows are spoken." freёweɓnovel.com

"My stewards will show you to the guest wing," Konrad said, dismissing them. "Keep your guards out of the lower forges. If they wander near the engines, my men have strict orders to shoot them on sight... welcome to Swabia."