Re: Steel and Gunpowder

Chapter 84: In Three Days

Without another word, Konrad marched back into the keep, bypassing the busy kitchens and heading for his private study.

Isolde was already there, waiting for him.

In her pale hand, she held a small piece of vellum, the dark wax seal already broken.

"I assume you saw the royal circus in the courtyard?" Konrad asked.

"I saw them," Isolde replied quietly. "Duke Wilhelm looks like a man who just saw a ghost."

"He saw an army," Konrad said, "Did your whisperers in Munich send a bird?"

"They did," Isolde confirmed, holding the ciphered letter out to him. "It arrived while you were asleep. I deciphered it just as the Bavarian carriages crossed the drawbridge."

Konrad’s fist tightened around the expensive vellum, crushing the ciphered words into a ball.

The Bohemian mercenaries... Friedrich hadn’t just bought a few wandering companies; he had bought the most notoriously brutal sell-swords in the eastern half of the Holy Roman Empire.

However, before Konrad could even begin to calculate the amount of lead required to shred a Bohemian heavy infantry charge, the doors of his study were pushed open once again.

Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria strode into the room, looking thoroughly annoyed.

He had clearly grown tired of waiting in the courtyard while the Swabian stewards tried to figure out where to stable two hundred exhausted Bavarian warhorses.

Katarina followed closely behind her father, her eyes locking onto Konrad’s clenched fist.

"Your stewards are running around like headless chickens. I demand to know where my personal guard is supposed to sleep. And what is that you are reading? Do you have tidings of war that you are keeping from your allies?" Duke Wilhelm barked.

The Duke and his men clearly didn’t know what Konrad was holding...

They couldn’t read the shorthand cipher of Isolde’s shadow-walkers anyway, but the tension radiating from Konrad’s shoulders was impossible to hide. freёweɓnovel.com

Konrad tossed the crumpled vellum into the roaring hearth.

"It is nothing you need to worry your royal head about, Wilhelm," Konrad replied, "Just endless complaints from the Fugger clerks regarding the weight of our silver shipments. The bankers are always whining about something."

Duke Wilhelm frowned, clearly not believing a single word of it.

He stepped closer to the drafting table, "I did not ride for three days to be treated like a foolish child, If my daughter is to marry you in three weeks, I expect transparency."

"What you should expect right now is a warm bed," Konrad countered, "Your men are exhausted. They are shivering in my courtyard, and tired men make stupid mistakes."

Duke’s jaw tightened in anger, but he couldn’t deny the truth.

"My father merely wishes to ensure our accommodations are secure." Katarina chimed in softly,

"They are," Konrad stated. He raised his voice, shouting toward the open doorway. "Guards. Get the head maid in here!"

A servant girl practically tumbled into the study.

"Take the Duke and Lady Katarina to the newly heated guest wing," Konrad ordered her, "Tell the quartermaster to feed the Bavarian guards hot stew, give them a ration of our coffee, and put them in the eastern barracks. I want them rested and out of the way. Do it now."

The maid nodded. "Yes, My Lord! Right this way, Your Grace!"

Duke Wilhelm glared at Konrad for a long moment.

"Whatever is burning in your mind, Konrad... I hope you put it out before the wedding bells ring," Katarina whispered, offering him a smile before she swept out of the room, closing the doors behind her.

Thus, the study was finally plunged back into silence.

"Well," Isolde said quietly, "That was unpleasant. He suspects you are hiding something."

"Of course he suspects it," Konrad muttered, "He is an arrogant traditionalist, but he knows I wouldn’t crush a simple merchant’s ledger like that."

Isolde walked over to the desk, "The Bohemian mercenaries are a massive problem, Friedrich just doubled his military strength with a single bag of papal silver. If they march south and link up with the Teutonic heavy horse..."

"They won’t march south yet," Konrad interrupted, "It takes weeks to organize mercenary companies of that size. Friedrich has to assign captains, distribute the holy silver, and organize supply trains capable of feeding thousands of hungry Bohemians. We have a brief window."

Even so, the window was closing rapidly... the math was clear.

His four thousand and one hundred men were enough to shatter any traditional army, but if Friedrich managed to consolidate the Teutonic Knights, the Bohemian sell-swords, and whatever defecting Catholic lords he rallied along the way, the numbers would heavily skew against Swabia.

"We proceed with the original plan," Konrad declared, setting his cup down. "Is the border clear?"

Isolde’s eyes gleamed. "It is completely bare, my shadow-walkers sent the final confirmation while you were asleep. I had hoped to spare you the grim news, but Wilhelm’s circus ruined any chance of a quiet morning. The critical matter now is the Duke of Savoy’s mercenary army has already crossed the river. They are marching into the Burgundian Free Counties."

"And the fake Fugger silver convoy?"

"It departed our western gates yesterday morning," Isolde confirmed, "The panicked Hanseatic clerks are riding with it, completely oblivious. The greedy little Savoyard border barons have already taken the bait. My spies report they are saddling their horses to ambush the wagons before tomorrow night."

Konrad nodded, "Get the Marshal back in here," Konrad ordered, "Tell Eckhard to quietly assemble the officers. We march on Savoy in three days."

Isolde stood by the desk, looking at Konrad with a deeply amused expression.

"Is there a problem?" Konrad asked, frowning at her hesitation.

"The Duke of Bavaria," Isolde stated plainly. "You just agreed to let the most suspicious Catholic Duke in the south live inside your fortress for the next three weeks while he waits for a royal wedding."

"How do you plan to keep this invasion a secret?" Isolde continued, "You can’t just quietly sneak four thousand men, a supply train, and twenty-one bronze cannons out the front gates."