Tyranny of Steel

The light of dawn shone down onto the burgeoning city of Kufstein; the star-shaped walls that protected the city and its inhabitants were split down the middle as the river Inn flowed through the center of the City. A large castle rose above the many tenements constructed in the half-timber style commonly found in the German-speaking regions. Though Berengar had plans to move into a more modern palace, at the moment, the Castel in Kufstein acted as the main residence for Berengar and his family.

Within the Dining room, Linde sat at the head of the table at the left side, which was the spot reserved for the Viscountess; of course, at the moment, there was no Viscountess of Kufstein since Berengar was unmarried, albeit engaged to Adela. However, since Berengar's parents abdicated and retired to the countryside, Berengar had allowed Linde to use the seat. Today was a rare occasion for the Castle in Kufstein, for it held a rather lively gathering. Just this morning, her siblings arrived from Innsbruck, in which they had been transported to Kufstein under the guise of "Berengar's protection" in reality, they were under house arrest, and Linde was watching over them.

Aside from Linde and her siblings, Henrietta sat at the table and was greatly uncomfortable with the whole situation. Liutbert was sitting in the spot Berengar used to sit at before his reign, which was closest to the seat reserved for the Viscount, which was currently vacant. He could not help himself from staring at Linde with confusion. This was not the sister he had grown up with; there was no coldness nor contempt in her eyes for everything around her. Instead, she wore a gentle smile and gazed upon her family with genuine fondness. It had been many months since she last saw her siblings, and though Linde's relationship with her father was strained, to say the least, she was willing to try to get closer to her siblings.

Eventually, Liutbert had to express his doubts over Linde's shift in character.

"Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?"

In the past, such a rude comment would have sent Linde into a fury, but now she merely laughed it off, as she recognized that her personality had changed greatly in the last year. Instead, she replied to Liutbert by asking about his meal.

"How are you enjoying your meal, Liutbert? Surely the breakfast here in Kufstein is better than anything you have ever had in Innsbruck!"

Liutbert fell for the sleight of hand and quickly took a bite out of the breakfast sandwich the kitchen staff had prepared before responding to his little sister.

"It is excellent; I did not know such fine cuisine existed!"

Linde chuckled at his remark and taunted him for his inexperience with Kufstein's culinary arts.

"If you think this is good, wait until you have had dinner! You will never want to leave this place."

As Liutbert and Linde discussed the meal Adelheid was glaring at Linde, she could not believe the changes in her precious big sister's personality over the past year. It was too dramatic, just what sorcery had Berengar cast to make her once proud and domineering big sister transform into such a sorry state. However, she did not wish to make a scene and, as such, kept her thoughts to herself.

Eventually, Linde's little brother Herman interrupted the ongoing conversation and steered it into deep waters; he was scowling at his two older siblings and scolded his big sister, who he had once looked up to, for her lack of loyalty to the family.

"I can not believe you betrayed our father! All for that traitor Berengar, who as we speak is currently ravaging our family's lands in an attempt to steal away father's rightful title!"

Herman was roughly the age of Adela; he had just entered his teenage years and was filled with intense rage every time he thought about his older brother's surrender at Innsbruck and his older sister's outright betrayal. After all, Linde not only slept with the traitor Berengar but had actively plotted against their family in support of Berengar's ambitions; to him, his sister's actions were completely unforgivable.

Linde glared menacingly at Herman; the boy clearly did not understand how wrathful Berengar could be; luckily for him and his siblings, they were all allowed to live peacefully in Kufstein under house arrest, where they could dine on the greatest food and live in absolute luxury while the war waged on.

Seeing his elder sister's fury, which he was all too familiar with, a cold sweat broke out on Herman's forehead as he shivered at the thought of what Linde might do to him for speaking ill of her lover. He immediately shifted his glance back to the plate where he ate the omelet in front of him. Linde, however, would not let such an accusation slide by, and as such, she addressed Herman's statement.

"Why would I ever support father and his damned obsession with becoming Duke? Since when had father ever paid the slightest bit of attention to us kids! Our entire lives, he has neglected us to pursue his dreams of being Duke of Austria, all because he has an inferiority complex about being part of the branch family and not the main Habsburg line. If you ask me, he deserves to lose his head for his treasonous actions. Berengar is not a traitor. Instead, he is the only one of Father's major vassals who has enough of a conscience to act against father's illegitimate rebellion!"

Though Linde's words were harsh, they were also true, at least regarding the parts about her father. Count Lothar considered all of his children as disposable pawns whose sole purpose was to advance his ambitions. He was never much of a fatherly figure to his children, which is one of the reasons why Linde had turned out so poorly before she met Berengar. Though Linde was spoiled growing up, it was only a way for Lothar to coerce her into acting in his treasonous plots. The reason Count Lothar was so enraged about Berengar and Linde's affair was twofold firstly the man saw Berengar as nothing more than low nobility unworthy of mixing with his family's prestigious blood. Secondly, Berengar had not only taken his daughter's chastity but also impregnated her, thus taking away the ability to make a powerful political alliance through marriage.

Though Herman wanted to defend his father's actions, he really could not find the words to do so. Instead, he sat in silence like a child who his mother had just caught with his hand in the cookie jar. There was a rift between Linde's family at the moment; this was due to the results of her actions and that of their fathers. As such, they continued the remainder of their meal in silence; this little family reunion turned out to be more awkward than any of them had realized. While Berengar was off at war, Linde was now tasked with not only looking after the affairs of the realm but also keeping a watchful eye on her family, ultimately the only member of her family who was completely on her side as her little half-sister Adelheid.