Tyranny of Steel

Adela was currently within her room reading a letter from Berengar; Despite the fact that Berengar was off at war; he made sure to send letters to his women as often as he could, informing them of his massive victories in Tyrol. The teenage girl twirled one of her golden twintails as she lay belly down on her bed with a smile on her face. The news she was reading was excellent; the Northern Lords of Tyrol had all surrendered to Berengar, recognizing him as the current authority in Tyrol, and was providing him with what little support they could manage.

Ever since her older brother Gerhart had made a fool out of himself and invoked their father's ire in his failed attempt to demolish the relationship between Berengar and Adela, the young girl had mostly stayed to herself. Aside from eating meals with the family, she would stay within the confines of her room and repeatedly read the letters Berengar had written to her. She wished she was in Kufstein to provide some aid to the man she loved, but unfortunately, she was in Graz for the time being. Though Vienna was under siege and her father was at war, Graz was in a state of peace, albeit one of vigilance.

Oddly enough, Adela and Linde had been corresponding through a series of letters and had seemingly grown closer. However, there was still a rivalry between the two as they both desired to monopolize Berengar's attention for themselves; despite this rivalry, there was some form of amiability among the two young women as they both discussed their concerns over Berengar's safety and desire to be with him again.

After reading Berengar's latest letter for the third time in the past three days, Adela sighed and voiced her concerns aloud.

"Stay safe, Berengar..."

Afterward, she heard a knock on her door and quickly stashed the letter away underneath her mattress before opening the door. In the doorway was her second brother Heimerich; the teenage boy was dressed in a baby blue doublet with a matching jerkin over it. His entire attire was set up in the fashion sense in which Berengar had introduced across the entirety of Austria, which greatly resembled the Tudor style from his previous life. There was a stern look on the handsome youth's face; his facial features were charmingly robust much like Lambert's. He truly exemplified the archetype of a young Knight. He was seventeen this year and carried an aura of martial authority. Noticing the expression on Heimerich's face, Adela instantly became worried about what might have transpired to force the youth into such a state.

Before Adela could ask what was wrong, Heimerich said in a grave tone

"Come to the Great Hall; I have news about father to report to the family."

Adela knew something must have gone wrong if Heimerich forced her to meet up with her family in the great hall. As such, she quickly put on her slippers and followed her older brother to the Great Hall. When she arrived, she noticed the various expressions on her family's face, especially the anxious look on her mother Wanda's exquisite visage. The only person who did not appear to be worried among her family was Gerhart, who was rather upset that his position of Regent was stripped away from him and given to his little brother. After Heimerich sat down upon the seat of power in Graz, he cleared his throat before making a declaration about the news in which he had received.

"Father is currently on his way to Vienna, he was trapped in a Blizzard within the Bavarian Alps for the past few weeks, which is why he was out of contact, he has lost a fifth of his forces due to attrition, as such he suspects that he will be vastly outnumbered when he tries to take Vienna back from the traitorous Count Lothar. As for the state of Vienna, the Castle has yet to fall, but the city has been completely taken and ravaged by the occupying forces. Father expects heavy resistance and has asked for our prayers..."

Adela's family immediately broke out into fits of prayer as they frantically prayed for the Lord's protection for the head of their household. The only member in the room who was not overly concerned about this news was Adela, this was because she was aware of the destruction of a quarter of Count Lothar's forces at Kufstein. After all, she had already been informed of the events that transpired by Linde. Though her father would have to lay siege to Vienna to defeat Lothar, he would have the advantage in numbers even with his losses from attrition.

War was a dangerous business, and no matter how protected one might seem, anything could happen that might lead to their deaths on the battlefield. Thus the lives of their loved ones who were off fighting in some distant region of Austria were in the hands of the Lord, and they could only pray for his mercy. As a pious girl, Adela joined her family in prayer to the Lord to protect her father, as well as Berengar, as they both continued to fight for their family and nation.

After being informed of her father's situation, Adela realized that she had the ability to aid in her father's siege by asking for support from Kufstein; as such, she returned to her room, where she quickly wrote a letter to Linde informing her of the current situation with Vienna. Due to Berengar's conquest of Tyrol, Adela doubted whether or not he would be able to receive her request for aid before it was too late; as such, she sent the letter to Linde, who she knew was currently acting as Berengar's stand-in within Kufstein.

The letter contained a formal request for material aid to Count Otto's forces to eliminate Count Lothar and his allies at Vienna. Adela knew that Kufstein was in no position to split its armies and attack Lothar where he was at his strongest; however, she also knew that Kufstein's agricultural and industrial sectors were greater than any other region in Austria, and as such, she requested logistical support from Kufstein to her father's siege of Vienna.

Adela was quite worried; though she and Linde were no longer outright enemies, they were not exactly allies either. She was asking the young woman to act on behalf of her romantic rival to capture or eliminate her own father. Though Linde had already greatly betrayed her father and his schemes, those actions were on behalf of Berengar, who she was deeply in love with, whether or not she would provide logistical support to Count Otto and his forces was yet to be determined.

After signing the letter with her signature, Adela quickly handed it off to a messenger who would travel across the Duchy of Austria, where he would hand it off to Linde in Kufstein. Hopefully, the young teenage girl could receive Kufstein's support and greatly enhance her father's chances of victory and, more importantly, survival.