Tyranny of Steel

While Berengar and Linde were preparing for the possibility of another war, the Byzantine Princess had an important guest visit her. Though At the moment, Honoria was entertaining herself in the courtyard with her pet Eagle Heraclius, utterly unaware that her fiance was about to see her.

Since Honoria was five, she raised the eastern imperial eagle as her pet, and it was quite honestly her only friend. She was the only daughter of the current Byzantine Emperor, and to say her relationship with her brothers was strained could be considered an understatement. 

Since a young age, she had been heavily sheltered by her parents, to the point where she had never even left the palace or its grounds. The only men she had met outside of her family were either her father's subordinates or the various suitors that had heard of her legendary beauty and traveled a long way to meet her.

Despite this, she found every man who attempted to gain her hand in marriage to be genuinely insufferable. Thus she had rejected them all ruthlessly, to the point where she was now fifteen and close to the age of marriage without a fiance. That is until relatively recently where her father had, against her wishes, engaged her to the Crown Prince of France.

Honoria wore a pretty smile and giggled as she played with her pet eagle. Its majestic wingspan revealed itself as it took off into the sky and hovered in the air, like a watchful guardian of its friend and master. However, seeing an unknown man approach Honoria's vicinity, the eagle instantly dived down and got in the man's path.

This man was Aubry de Valois, the Crown Prince of France and Honoria's fiance. He had traveled a great distance to meet the gorgeous young princess whom he was engaged to. However, the moment Honoria saw the man in front of her, a frown instantly spread across her exquisite face, and she merely snubbed the man.

Aubry was by no means a masculine man, even though he was said to be a talented warrior. The young man was overtly feminine not just in his facial features but also in the shape of his body. He was petite, slender, lean, and had the skin of a woman. He had long center-parted dirty blonde hair that went down to his waist and emerald green eyes. If one did not know his identity, they might mistake him for a woman upon first glance.

This was one of the reasons Honoria was not fond of the man; another was that he was a well-known pillow biter. Despite the Catholic Church's and society as a whole's intolerance for homosexuality, it still existed. Sometimes, there were instances of men like Aubry who, despite being infamous for such proclivities, held high positions and were not subjected to the harassment of the Church.

Seeing his fiance in front of him and an eagle blocking his path, Aubry put on a pretty smile as he maintained his distance, the sight of which instantly disgusted Honoria to the core of her being. Afterward, Aubry spoke in a voice so feminine it was virtually indistinguishable from a woman's.

"Honoria! I am so happy to meet you finally! I am Prince Aubrey de Valois of the Kingdom of France! Daddy said you were beautiful; it appears he was not lying; how do you make your skin so pale? It is gorgeous! I wish I had skin as fair as yours."

The man did not even try to hide the fact that he was not the slightest bit interested in Honoria as a woman. The way he complimented her was as if he was another girl seeking beauty tips. Honoria was convinced that if cross-dressing were not a severe offense in Europe, this man would undoubtedly walk around in women's clothes, and nobody would be any the wiser about his actual gender. 

As such, Honoria merely snubbed the man and lifted her arm before shouting a command.

"Heraclius, come!" With that, the eastern imperial eagle flew down onto her forearm and perched upon it, where the young princess proceeded to walk away from her fiance without paying him the slightest bit of attention. 

Seeing his fiancee flee in the opposite direction, the young man attempted to approach Honoria. However, the moment he got close to her, the eagle known as Heraclius, quickly splayed its wings and cawed at the French Prince.

Though Aubry was a battle-hardened knight, the overprotective nature of the eagle sent a shiver down his spine as he could very clearly feel its killing intent. He immediately became aware that with the eagle protecting Honoria, he would have no way to approach her and accomplish the goal his father had set for him, which was to gain her favor.

After all, the Kingdom of France needed a powerful ally. It was currently engaged in a war with England. Their neighbor to the East was presently embroiled in a civil war, with a notably problematic individual rising to power amid the Chaos. If France wanted to maintain its dominance over European affairs, they would need to cultivate an alliance with the major power of the Mediterranean, and that was the Byzantine Empire.

However, before he could even begin to accomplish such a task, the princess had snubbed him as if he were nothing more than ordinary refuse. Aubry quickly let out a sigh, and seeing that he was the only one around, he promptly began to pout as he expressed his thoughts.

"If only I could marry one of her brothers, it is much easier to seduce a man than it is to befriend a woman, and no man can resist my charms!"

After leaving Aubry behind with his thoughts, Honoria ran into the palace with Heraclius attached to her arm before leading him up to her room, where she quickly shut it behind her. Afterward, the eagle flew over to a perching post and rested upon it while gazing at his master with a mocking expression. 

The eagle was brilliant and was essentially making fun of the fact that Honoria would be forced to marry someone who was more woman than a man. Seeing the shit-eating grin on Hercalius' face, Honoria tossed a pillow at the bird before chastising it.

"What are you laughing at!?!"

Heraclius, of course, dodged the attack and landed on the bed in front of Honoria, where she was sprawled out and pouting. She clutched another one of her silk-covered pillows and began to scream into it at the top of her lungs. Of course, the sound was muffled, and nobody but her and Heraclius could hear such a thing.

After releasing her pent-up frustrations, Honoria felt a little bit better about the whole situation, and she began to think aloud, as she so often did when she was alone.

"Am I destined to be sold off to the sissy French Prince and live out the rest of my days as a trophy wife for that fairy?"

Honoria instantly began to bite her luscious pink lips as she continued to pout over the situation she was in.

"Won't somebody save me from this marriage?"

At that moment, she heard a knock on the door and the worried tone of a familiar voice came from the outside.

"Princess, are you in here? I heard that you ran off from the meeting with your fiance. Are you alright?"

Honoria instantly began to pout once more before yelling at the door.

"Go away!"

She knew exactly who was behind the door, and she did not feel like talking to him at the moment. The man standing behind the door was Arethas, and he heavily sighed when he heard these words before acquiescing to the princess's demands. 

"As you wish, your highness."

shortly after saying these words, Honoria realized something; she was curious about the conversation that Arethas had with her father not long ago in the royal gardens and thus quickly ran to the door and opened its latch. The act of which surprised Arethas and her subsequent actions further confused him.

Honoria blushed lightly and looked away from Arethas before muttering in a low tone.

"Come in... I have some questions to ask you!"

Hearing that he was welcome, he took the princess up on his offer and entered her room, where he quickly sat down on one of her chairs. The princess herself sat down on the bed and stared awkwardly at the man who had acted as an Uncle to her growing up.

Arethas was one of the Emperor's best generals and was a close personal friend of the family. Though he had been away on campaigns for the last few years, he commonly acted as a confidant for the princess during her childhood since she did not have any friends other than her pet eagle. 

After a few moments of silence, Honoria finally cleared her throat and spoke the question on her mind.

"I want to ask you about the man named Berengar..."

Arethas was even further confused when he heard this question; just where had the girl heard that name before? and why was she interested in a lowly Count from across the sea? Nevertheless, since she had asked, he had no choice but to answer to the best of his ability.

"What do you want to know about him?"

Hearing that Arethas was willing to answer her questions, Honoria became quite flustered; she had not thought through the questions she wanted to ask, and so she took a few moments to consider before the first question came to her mind.

"What is he like?"

Arethas thought about this question for a few minutes before giving an honest evaluation of the man.

"Berengar is a ruthless and ambitious man who will do whatever it takes and offend whoever he desires so long as he is capable of achieving his goals..."

Hearing this, Honoria was about to lose interest; though she wanted to be the wife of an ambitious and capable man, she did not care for cruelty. However, before she could entirely give up on the subject, Arethas continued his evaluation.

"Despite this, he is exceptionally benevolent to his friends, family, and the people under his protection. Every time I return to the city he has built, the people seem happier and wealthier than they were prior. He has spent a significant expense on building walls that rival our Theodosian walls around his city to protect his people and has even developed an enhanced system of plumbing and waste disposal to ensure the health of his citizens. 

From the interactions I have seen with his family, he seems to care deeply about their safety, health, and happiness. If I had to evaluate the man, I would say he is kindhearted and charitable to his allies but ruthless and tyrannical to his enemies. He will stop at no lengths to protect his loved ones, no matter how vile the actions may be or how powerful the enemies he may make. Berengar von Kufstein is undoubtedly a formidable man, one who is destined for greatness... Assuming he lives long enough to achieve it."

Hearing Arethas, the mighty General of the Byzantine Empire, so thoroughly compliment the man further fueled Honoria's sense of wonder in Berengar. A large twinkle appeared in her mint green eyes as she blurted out the next question on her mind.

"Is he handsome?"

Arethas was taken aback by the statement, though he never wanted to admit it; Berengar was exceptionally handsome and charming; those two aspects added to his natural charisma. Something that Arethas greatly envied about the man.

However, when the princess was the one to ask him the question, he had no choice but to answer honestly. He nodded his head in agreement rather than waste words describing Berengar's appearance. 

Hearing that Berengar was handsome on top of his exceptional character made Honoria even more interested in the man. Thus the last question was one of critical importance to her. Thus she began to blush lightly as she poked her index fingers into one another without looking Arethas in the eyes.

"Is he married?"

It took Arethas a while, but he finally understood why this girl was asking about Berengar; as such, he began to chuckle before giving her an honest answer.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, my dear princess. Not only is he engaged to a very caring young woman, but he also has a lover on the side who is equally exceptional. Her beauty is not inferior to your own; they also have a child together. I am sorry to say, but it would never work out between you and him.

Even if Berengar is a valued trading partner of the Empire, and one day becomes the ruler of significant power. Your father will never allow you to become a mere concubine, and I doubt Berengar will break his marriage to the girl he is set to marry. I hate to say it, Honoria, but you have to face the facts. You are now engaged to the crown prince of France, and despite your objections, that isn't going to change."

Hearing this news, Honoria's fragile heart nearly imploded, she felt like she had found the perfect companion, but he was already engaged and had a lover, which means there was likely no place for her in his life. On top of that, Arethas had reminded her of her dreaded betrothal. As such, her expression immediately soured, and she nodded her head with lifeless eyes. 

Seeing the state of the princess's depression, Arethas felt his heartbreak, but there was nothing he could do about such a thing. As such, he decided to leave her be to have some time to think to herself. After leaving her room and shutting the door behind him, Honoria slowly broke into tears. She would spend the rest of the day moping about her future.