Tyranny of Steel

The Emir of Tlemcen sat on his throne, as his messenger reported the news. The Sultanate of Morocco had fallen to the Iberian Empire's conquest. In doing so, any and all previous treaties and agreements between their two realms were now null and void.

This included the betrothal between the gorgeous Princess Amara Al-Haqq and his own son. While the Emir was a wise man, who could tell that times were changing out of his favor two decades ago, his son was a gluttonous, and lustful man, who cared little about the balance of power. Worst yet, there were many players in the Emir's court who wanted to do away with him and place his son on the throne as a puppet.

To tell his son that one of the women he had been eying for several years was no longer going to marry him would only cause a tantrum of epic proportions. Still, it's not like much could be done. The Sultanate of Morocco was conquered, and to the victor goes the spoils.

With this in mind, the bride price had already been paid, and despite the betrothal being broken, there were no signs of Iberia repaying Tlemcen for this voiding of their contract. Just when the Emir was thinking about how best to approach this dilemma, his rotund and lecherous son entered the room with a furious expression on his face.

"Father, I just heard from Nazir that the Iberians have conquered Morocco and have taken my fiancee hostage! What are you going to do about this outrage?"

The Emir did not immediately respond to his son's outburst. He knew that as a result of Iberia's close ties to the Reich, that they would not be an enemy that could be easily defeated.

The proof of this was in the fact that the Sultanate of Morocco, which was a much larger and more powerful state than the Emirate of Tlemcen, had fallen in under three days' time to the Iberian Army. The man's silence only further enraged his son, who was quick to voice his outrage once more.

"Father! What are you going to do about this insult? I won't let it stand!"

With a heavy sigh the Emir gazed upon his fat son and shook his head before voicing his decision.

"We have been invited to the wedding between Sultan Ghazi Al-Fadl and his new bride, Princess Amara Al-Haqgq. I suppose all that can be done now is visit the ceremony and convince the new Sultan to pay back the dowry which the previous sultan of Morocco has taken from me."

This was not the answer which the Crown prince was looking for, and thus he was quick to respond with anger, as he approached his father, and grabbed hold of the man's robes with a furious expression on his chubby face.

"Unacceptable! There is no woman in all of Africa who is as beautiful and fair as Amara. She will be my bride! Who does this filthy halfbreed think he is? Stealing my woman from me! I shall have his head!"

Despite wanting more than anything to strike his son for his insolence, the Emir restrained himself, knowing that if he angered the young man enough, he would turn to those more sinister factions in the royal court.

If such a thing were to occur, then it would not be long before the Emir lost his own head, and at the hands of his eldest son, no less. Thus, after taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, the Emir gave his eldest son a stern look, before doubling down on his decision.

"We will attend the wedding, and you will be on your best behavior. I do not want you causing trouble for the Iberian Sultan, or his new bride. The betrothal has been broken, and it is out of our hands now. All we can do is pay our respects and ask for the return of the dowry we have paid. That is my final decision. I will not hear another word about this!"

The fat young man was furious that his father was not willing to go to war for the sake of the woman who should be his bride, and immediately let go of the man's robes before storming off from the room. The Emir could only sigh in silence, as he reflected on his failure as a father.

While the Arabic world was preparing to visit Ribat for the wedding between Ghazi and his new bride. The man in question sat upon the Moroccan throne with a chalice in one hand, which was filled with distilled spirits imported from the Reich.

The boy, like his siblings, was raised as both a Muslim, and a Christian, and yet he believed in neither faith. At leat not whole-heartedly. Still, for the sake of appeasing his people, he openly practiced Islam, even if he was a secular man.

Even then, he did not allow the Islamic traditions to prevent him from drinking alcohol, or eating pork. After all, bacon was delicious, and he would not allow a religion to prohibit him from eating such a delicacy.

Naturally, the fact that he was openly drinking alcohol in front of the Moroccan nobility was something which he knew would displease many of his new devout subjects, and yet he did not care in the slightest.

Instead, he was more interested in the upcoming wedding ceremony, which would take place within only a few days. He had invited his entire family to the occasion, as well as many of the rulers over those European Kingdoms which aligned themselves with the Reich. He had also sent out invitations to every major Muslim ruler who were all already on their way to Morocco.

While Ghazi was half heartedly listening to one of his subjects announce the costs of the ceremony, a sudden disturbance occurred. The great hall of the Moroccan palace was immediately made more lively as a loud, and masculine voice echoed across its halls.

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"Where is my son? Where is Ghazi?"

It was at this moment, Ghazi realized that his father had arrived, meaning the rest of his family were with him. He quickly got up from his seat, and rushed out to meet his loved ones, much to the dismay of his subject, who was still listing off the expenses.

Ghazi immediately saw his father, mother, and full-blooded siblings standing in the middle of the Great Hall with prideful expressions on their faces. Yasmin immediately hugged her eldest son, while Zara teased her big brother about his upcoming nuptials.

"Big brother is really amazing. He is finally getting married to a woman, and all he had to do was conquer her home and take her hostage to get her to agree. Truly, even Daddy's legendary skills with the ladies do not compare to yours, oh great Sultan of Iberia."

The sarcasm that was practically dripping out of Zara's delicate mouth did not go unnoticed by her elder brother. If not for the fact that they were siblings, then Ghazi would have demanded some respect from the young woman. But he could never stay mad at Zara. As for Berengar, he was quick to lecture his daughter for her blatant disrespect.

"Zara, watch your tongue. Need I remind you that you are still being punished for watching that kickboxing fight, even though I explicitly forbade you from doing so?"

Naturally, Zara pouted when she heard this, causing her to argue with her father about the cruelty of her punishment.

"But daddy promised Zara she could watch the fight at breakfast! Daddy is being unfair!"

Berengar did not remember giving permission to his daughter to escape her punishment, and unfortunately for her, none of her siblings were willing to come to her defense. Zara's sisters were envious of the attention their father gave her, while her brothers knew better than to meddle in the affairs of their sisters.

If they were to speak up on Zara's behalf, then they would be invoking the ire of their other sisters. Thus, it basically came down to Zara's word, and Zara's word alone. Something Berengar was not inclined to believe. After all, she had a history of being untrustworthy when it came to escaping punishments.

So while Zara was able to watch the fight, in which her favorite fighter won decisively, and made himself the number one contender in the world. It had come at the cost of being punished for an additional month on top of her three-month sentence. Ghazi was entirely unaware of all of this, and was quick to ask why his beloved little sister was being punished.

"What did Zara do exactly?"

Berengar shifted his stern gaze from his errant daughter before looking back at his son with a curious expression on his face.

"Oh, I am sure you are already aware of what Zara has done to deserve her punishment. After all, she did it for your sake..."

This single statement was all that Ghazi needed to hear, to know that the girl was being punished for breaking into the war room and hijacking a number of military satellites. Zara's actions were something that Ghazi had never asked for, but they proved to be invaluable to the war effort. Wich Allowed Ghazi and his men to identify and eliminate the enemy army without suffering a single loss, and thus, unlike the rest of the girl's siblings, he was more than willing to speak up on her behalf.

"If you are punishing Zara for that, then I am afraid you are indeed being unfair to her, father, for she is not the one at fault. I was the one who requested it. And like the good little sister she is, Zara was more than willing to follow my orders. If anyone should take the blame, it is me..."

Berengar eyed his son carefully after hearing his remark. The boy had never once stood up to him like this before, and to take the blame on Zara's behalf would immediately turn this little family dispute into an international incident.

After all, Ghazi was now the Sultan of Iberia, and if he had coerced Zara into committing espionage and treason. It would immediately destroy the alliance that existed between the two nations, as well as condemn his sister to death. This was a fact that Ghazi knew, hence why he did not deliberately say what Zara had done. Thus, leaving the ball in Berengar's court.

Either you can let my little sister off the hook, or you can execute her as a traitor. Which will it be, old man?

This was essentially what Ghazi was telling Berengar, and because of this, Berengar had no choice but to end Zara's punishment prematurely, because he would never, ever, intentionally bring harm to his family. Thus, with an exhausted tone in his voice, Berengar admitted defeat.

"Well, if that is the case, then I see no reason to continue to punish Zara..."

Zara looked at her brother and father with disbelief in her amber eyes. She knew exactly what had happened in this brief exchange of words and was surprised that her elder brother was willing to go so far, just to see her let off from her punishment. She quickly hugged the young man and thanked him for his support.

"Thank you, big brother!"

Berengar was naturally not pleased with this outcome. He had been defeated at his own game by none other than his son. It was perhaps the first time that he had suffered a defeat since entering this world. At the very least, it was a trivial matter that did not affect his life in the slightest. Thus, he could only resign himself.

The next few days would be extremely lively, as Berengar and his family prepared for Ghazi's wedding.

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