Tyranny of Steel

Cualcoatl stood by his mother's side as they watched the previous Aztec Emperor's corpse be lit aflame. The entire city of Tenochtitlan had come out to watch the funeral ceremony of the man who had led them to conquer all their neighbors.

By now, the Aztec Empire housed not only the surviving natives from North America but also those who had endured the conquests of the German Army and been pushed out of their homes in most of South America, as well.

It was a massive native Empire, where various tribes and ethnic groups had gathered in one Kingdom. The world had so rapidly changed in the past few decades with the white man coming across the sea and bringing with them weapons of war which the natives could simply not comprehend.

It was a miracle that the Aztecs had even managed to survive and integrate so many tribes into their Empire. The only reason this had occurred was because Berengar had found Tlexictli to be sexually attractive, and had given her multiple children, the oldest of which stood before the massive pyre which burned his grandfather's remains, with a solemn look in his eyes.

Like Ghazi, Cualcoatl had light brown skin, and golden hair, but unlike the Iberian Sultan, he did not have amber eyes, instead his irises were an emerald green. In many ways his facial features were far more German than they were native Aztec, and as the crown Prince of the Aztec Empire he had a harem even larger than his father's.

But today, he was no longer a prince, but the new Emperor, and thus after his grandfather's remains had turned to ash Cualcoatl stood proudly before the gathering masses of his people, and wore the crown that his ancestors on his mother's side had worn before him.

As far as his people were concerned, Cualcoatl was the son of the feathered serpent, a true god in the flesh, but he knew better. He had spent many years in the city of Kufstein in his mother's villa. His father would visit once or twice a week, where after spending some time with his bastards, he would make love to the Aztec Princess in what was probably the most rough sex that Cualcoatl ever had the displeasure of accidentally witnessing.

Still, Cualcoatl was no mere savage, but nor was he a full-blooded German, and thus he had returned to the New World upon reaching adulthood to help his grandfather lead their people with the knowledge he had obtained after growing up in the German school system.

While the German army had nearly finished their Conquest of North America, there was one area in South America which laid unconquered, and thus, Cualcoatl desired to incorporate the fledgling Inca Empire into his own domain before the Germans could bring war upon them.

Thus, now that he wore the crown of his people, Cualcoatl made a shocking announcement to them all, one which had the men in the audience howling in support of.

"I am Cualcoatl, son of Quetzalcoatl, and the new Emperor of the Aztecs. I hereby utter a new decree as my first act as the Emperor. We hereby declare war on the Inca Empire to the south! We will invade their lands, and annex their homes, so that our Empire may grow stronger! Glory to Quetzalcoatl! Glory to the gods!"

The Aztec warriors throughout the crowd raised their steel short spears, and banged on their steel scale vests, as they chanted a single war over and over again.

"War! War! War!"

Tlexictli was immediately concerned over her son's declaration, and quickly grabbed hold of his arm before asking him if he had gone mad.

"Did you even bother asking your father for permission to do this? If Berengar wants control of the Inca, then he will have it one way or another. That man is not afraid to put his sons in their places, and if you defy his orders, you will pay!"

However, unlike Tlexictli, who had witnessed just how devastating the German Army could be when engaging in war, Cualcoatl was unafraid of his father, who sat on a throne across the Atlantic. Of course, he knew how powerful the Wehrmacht was. He had grown up in the Reich, but Berengar had a soft spot for his kids, and wanted them all to be mighty emperors in their own right. Thus, he Cualcoatl gently placed his palm on his mother's chin before assuring her everything would be okay.

"Father might be angry with me, but he would never harm me. He loves all of his children and wishes for his sons to be emperors like him. Now is the time to show that I am every bit as capable as my brothers.

So mother, do not worry, I will return to you alive, and well, and I will convince my father to accept my conquests."

After saying this, Cualcoatl left his mother standing on the top of the pyramid while he descended its steps alone.

Tlexictli did not hesitate to rush back to the Reich, though her father had passed away, she was still the official ambassador of the Aztec Empire, and thus she had rushed into the palace with an urgent stride, before prostrating herself before her lover in the deepest kowtow possible.

Berengar was not surprised to see the woman behave in such a manner, and thus he simply smiled before giving her the order to rise.

"Tlexictli, after all these years of being together, do you still fear me to the point that you think I am capable of harming my own son? I see no reason to prevent the Aztec and Inca Empire from unifying into one state. After all, with the massive influx of natives from other regions, your Empire needs more land to expand. Our son knows this, and was wise to take action before asking for my permission to do so."

Tlexictli looked up at her lover with shock in her deep brown eyes. There were even tears streaming down her face as she had prepared to offer everything she could so that Berengar would spare their son for his insolence. She was so shaken by this whole ordeal that she could not help but question if this was reality.

"So you're not angry?"

Berengar simply scoffed when he heard this, before speaking of how he felt at this very moment.

"Angry? No, but I am severely disappointed in you. Even after all we have been through, you still see me as a monster. It is such a pity, perhaps I should have bestowed you with more favor, then you would not be so afraid of me at this point in our relationship...."

Tlexictli averted her gaze, unable to even look at Berengar after hearing her words. She was quick to apologize for her actions.

"I'm sorry?"

However, Berengar responded in a way she did not expect him to. There was a hint of sorrow in his voice as he did so.

"You shouldn't be. I showed you a particularly monstrous side of myself when we first met all those years ago. At the time, I was so used to being in control of everything that the moment your people managed to kill a few of my men, I went crazy.

You are one of the few women that I love who has witnessed what evil I am capable of committing when I am truly angered. Of course I knew you would have some lingering trauma, but to think that after all these years, you are still so afraid of me, that you would think I have it in my to harm my own son, because he did something which I disapproved off. If you are only with me because you are afraid of me, then feel free to go back to your homeland and stay there, I won't stop you...."

It was in this moment that Tlexictli realized the only thing she feared more than Berengar's anger was the idea of losing him altogether. Thus, she quickly approached the man, and began to kiss him with a level of passion that she had never displayed before.

Berengar was slightly surprised when Tlexictli did this. After all, he had been prepared to lose her forever after the fear she just displayed towards him. Still, he did not deny her. If she wanted to prove her loyalty to him was not one of fear, but genuine respect and love, then she was doing a good job of it.

Thus, Tlexictli quickly undressed herself and Berengar before showing him her loyalty. The two of them would continue to fuck like rabbits well into the night.

I wanted to thank you all for supporting Tyranny of Steel up to this point. From here on out, until the very end of the novel, updates are going to be less frequent with one chapter a day. Instead, I would like to invite all of you to read my new novel Interstellar Age, at https://www.webnovel.com/book/interstellar-age_ 26235247006730205

Which will be receiving my primary attention from here on out. Thank you all for the support you have shown me, and I look forward to writing novels for you all for years to come!