Tyranny of Steel

The young Austrian King sat in his office. Standing in front of him were his second wife and their eldest child. By all means, the mother was not pleased with the news she had received. Though Berengar had attempted to hide what happened in the mountains, ultimately, he could not prevent Linde from finding out the truth of the matter for very long.

The redheaded beauty was crossing her arms beneath her substantial bust, with a scowl on her face. Despite her unpleasant appearance, she was still quite beautiful. Thus, Berengar was far from intimidated as he sat behind his desk with a calm expression, his hands pressed together in contemplation. It was at this moment that Linde chastised her husband for his behavior.

"You brought our son into the mountains alone, so that he could learn to shoot? You do realize he is five, right? On top of that, he was attacked by a wolf under your watch. What if he got hurt!?!"

Berengar had been dreading this conversation since the event first happened. He knew it was only a matter of time before his spymaster found out about their child's near death experience. Rather than address the woman's concerns, Berengar glared at his son with a troubled expression before interrogating the boy about how his wife knew about this incident.

"You told your mother what happened?"

Hans stared at his feet, unwilling to meet his father's gaze. Though he had initially attempted to lie to his mother about how he obtained the wolf pup, under the inquisitive gaze of his conniving mother, the boy quickly broke down and revealed everything that had happened in the mountains.

Upon seeing her son's defeated expressions, Linde kneeled down and hugged the child, embracing his small head into her substantial bosom as she stroked his strawberry blonde hair while glaring at her husband for his overbearing attitude.

"Don't lecture my son for telling the truth about the matter. What did you think I would not find out about this? Even if he had not revealed what had happened to him, I would have become aware of this incident, eventually. Are you not ashamed of yourself for putting your eldest child in danger?"

Berengar did not back down, and instead stood up from his seat and gazed down at his wife with a tyrannical expression, he did not feel like he was in the wrong, and he refused to apologize to the woman simply because she felt that he was. Instead, he defended his actions vehemently. 

"As you have said, the boy is five. It is time for him to learn the fundamentals of handling a rifle. How was I supposed to know that a wolf would pounce on him? I did everything I could to defend the boy. I even wrestled with a wolf!

Look at him! There is not even a scratch on our son, and yet you chastise me for rushing to his defense? It is you who should be ashamed. I understand your fury as a mother, but to blame me for an act of god, is utterly nonsensical. I expected more of you, Linde...

Your son, despite being a mere child, showed bravery in face of death, and has learned a valuable life lesson, that most boys don't come to understand until they have marched to war. You should be proud that he showed such fierce resistance against a stronger opponent which sought to claim his life.

In fact, because of this incident, I have realized that it is time for the boy to learn martial arts, I will enroll him in Austrian Wrestling, and Kickboxing, so that if he ever finds himself in harm's way without protection, he will have the knowledge to defend himself."

Linde immediately pouted as she protested this statement. 

"He is too young to learn such things! Let him enjoy his childhood some more!"

However, Berengar remained defiant. His will be ultimately greater than the boy's mother, thus he walked towards the woman and grabbed ahold of her perfectly sculpted chin, and looked at her in the eyes, with a fierce gaze.

"Because of my love for you, I have allowed you to pamper our son, but the world is cruel, and he needs to learn the skills to protect himself and those he cares about. I know about your conspiracies, how you scheme behind my back to place Hans on the Throne, despite my wishes for the most competent of my successors to inherit my domain. 

If you want your son to succeed me, then he needs to learn some discipline. The sooner he comes to understand this virtue, the better; and there is no better way to teach him than through the struggle of conflict! The boy will learn martial arts, and that is final!"

The second Queen of Austria did not meet her husband's gaze. Instead, she continued to pout. It surprised her to hear that Berengar was aware of her schemes. Perhaps he was more formidable than she had initially estimated. Despite her actions, she deeply cared about both her husband, and her son, and Berengar's words made sense. 

In fact, the more the woman thought about it, the more she realized Berengar was trying to help Hans in his future struggle to obtain the throne. Thus, a sultry smile formed on her luscious lips as she wrapped her arms around the King's neck and whispered in his ear.

"To think you would show favoritism to our son. I wonder what Adela would think if she found out about this?"

Berengar merely chuckled and grabbed ahold of his wife's plump, but toned bottom with both hands as he kissed her passionately. After unlocking his lips from her own, with a slight hint of drool upon his pink tongue, the king whispered in his wife's ear.

"This will be our little secret..."

Hans witnessed the intimate display between his parents with a stoic expression, throughout his entire life, he had become accustomed to seeing his parents act in such a manner, to him it was a normal part of life, thus he thought nothing of their brief conflict, and intimate display after making up. Instead, he was more curious about what his father had said about learning martial arts. 

Until now, Hans' greatest talent was his superior intellect over other children his age. He was five years old, and yet he had practically finished his elementary education. Now his father planned to enroll him in martial arts. Now was the time to prove that he was not only an intellectual prodigy, but an athletic one as well. 

Thus, the boy had a hint of determination in his eyes, as he nodded his head in agreement with his father's words. Discipline was necessary for character growth, and despite his young age, he looked forward to the man he would one day become. 

As for Berengar he released his hold over his wife, and sent her on her way, he had much work to be had, with the formation of the Grand Duchy of Poland, and its annexation into his Kingdom's borders, there were many reforms that needed to be enacted, and Eckhard was the man to institute them. 

Linde ultimately left the King's office, in a much happier mood than when she had entered. She was even humming a song while walking down the halls with her son in hand. As if after a brief conversation, she had replaced all the anger that she held towards her husband with undying love. She no longer cared about the incident with the wolf, and instead saw it as a way for her son to grow into a man capable of succeeding his father. 

Hans looked up at his mother with a smile. It was good to see her so happy. She was such a terrifying woman when she was angry, and he would rather not be involved with such feminine wrath. Ultimately, he concluded that his father's actions of refusing to kneel and beg to forgiveness was in fact the appropriate response for when a woman was angry with you. 

How the old man changed his mother's attitude so swiftly, the boy did not know, but clearly it was a skill he would need to learn for the future. Thus, after a brief bout with death, the boy had learned many life lessons that would help him on his quest to become his father's successor. 

As for Adela's children, they were still much too young to even begin to comprehend their own sentience, let alone worry about such future power struggles. Whether Berengar would show his children with his High Queen the same degree of discipline and training that he had afforded to Hans; that had yet to be seen.

Perhaps Berengar would take a different route of parenting for Adela's children. After all, their mother had a very different attitude and morals than that of Linde.. The possibility of the High Queen accepting such a harsh and rigid upbringing was likely non-existent.