Tyranny of Steel

A report sat on Linde's desk as she rubbed her weary eyes and drank her sixth cup of coffee on this morning. Her usual lively and attractive appearance was marred from three days of hard work investigating the assassination attempt on her husband's life. She refused to face her husband until after she had identified all the conspirators, for the veteran spymaster knew the king would vent his wrath upon her, and not in the fun way she had come to love. 

After taking a sip from her coffee mug, Linde gazed over at the detailed report, which, based upon the information received from interrogating the assassin, who was currently located at a hidden government black site. While the Austrian Government lauded itself for its forward thinking justice system, the reality was there were certain criminals deemed too dangerous for a trial, and thus they would eventually find themselves missing.

These dangerous criminals would wake up imprisoned at one of many secret internment camps, where government agents would interrogate them for information regarding their criminal activities. After their usefulness was exhausted, these agents would dispose of the criminals and bury them behind the institution. For those few who were aware of these facilities' existence, they commonly referred to them as black sites. 

As Linde read through the report, which was conducted only after vetting the assassin's claims. She noticed several prominent figures in Austrian society who her agents had deemed as conspirators involved with the plot on Berengar's life. 

Not only were there high-ranking army officials who unlawfully sanctioned the sale of decommissioned arms to the black market, but there were even a few members of Parliament who had invested in the black market that facilitated the sale of the pistol to the assassin. At the bottom of this report was a note by the agent in charge, who detailed his thoughts on how Royal Intelligence should respond to these discoveries.

Under Normal circumstances it would be difficult to arrest a member of Parliament without extensive evidence, and a warrant signed by a judge of a federal court. However, Linde had recently declared martial law, and temporarily dissolved parliament, in doing so forsaking any rights the politicians of the Austrian Federal Government may have. 

Thus, with a smug smile on her face, Linde signed her approval for the Agent's recommendations of mass arrest, and public execution of the individuals on the list. There were one hundred and twenty-three names on the list of targets, which included three members of parliament, a General in the Austrian Royal Army, and a variety of corrupt law enforcement officials. 

Although many of these people were only loosely associated with the unlawful trafficking of arms which resulted in this assassination attempt on the King's life, examples had to be made of all of them. Thus, Linde had immediately dispatched orders for their arrest.

After handing off the documents to her Deputy Director of Internal Security, who was Hemma's counterpart to intelligence affairs that took place inside the borders of the Kingdom of Austria and its domains, the woman named Maria Flecken looked at her boss with a hesitant expression before espousing her views on her orders. 

"Your Majesty, if we do this, it will surely cause civil unrest. The Constitution clearly dictates that there are certain rights afforded to the people. If we go through with these arrests, it will display the crown's disregard for the rules it has set forth in our society." 

In response to this assertion, Linde merely scoffed before reminding the Deputy Director of who was really in charge of society.

"The constitution exists solely because of the King's benevolence. In this time of crisis, he has declared martial law. In doing so, the Crown has temporarily dissolved parliament, and voided the rights of criminals. If we do not make an example out of these people, then I assure you, the discontent of our citizens will be the least of our worries..."

There was a hint of worry in Linde's voice as she spoke this last part. Evidently, Berengar's wrath was something she feared. After all, she had witnessed the brutality that her husband had inflicted on the would-be assassin, and did not desire to find herself in a similar situation.  Upon hearing these orders, Deputy Director Maria sighed heavily before nodding her head in agreement.

"Very well. I will dispatch these orders to our agents and the local police immediately. I assure you that the men and women responsible for this attack will be arrested by the time the sun rises." 

Linde nodded her head before dismissing her deputy director. Now that she had dispatched orders for the immediate arrest of the hundred and twenty-three individuals involved in this conspiracy, she could return to her husband and check on his condition. Surely by now he spent all of his tears. 

---

Berengar kneeled at Henrietta's side while resting his head on the girl's bed. The princess had been in a coma for the past three days and nights. Aside from the first night where the King sulked with his wives. He had not left his sister's side. The Kingdom was under martial law, and rather than take matters into his own hands, he merely grieved by his dying sister's bedside. 

By now, the young king had spent all the tears that he could physically cry, and instead was resting his weary mind next to the poor girl who had taken a bullet for him. In his state of despair, Berengar spoke about matters that he had not revealed to anyone else in this world. Perhaps confessing his secrets was an act of solace for him. 

"You know Henrietta, when I first regained my memories of my past life, you were the first thing I saw. Despite being in a state of confusion as I juggled the memories of two lives, I instinctively knew you were my precious little sister.

It's funny, because of Lambert's attempt to assassinate me, I was dying just like you are now, but you stayed by my side and nursed me back to health. It was because of your efforts that I am here today. I just wish I could do the same for you..."

After saying this, Berengar sighed heavily as he held onto the girl's hand with a tender grip. It was at this moment he heard a knock on his door, though his first instinct was to turn away whoever dared to interrupt his precious moments with his dying sister, he knew it was likely something important thus he wiped his crusty eyes as he regained his composure before answering the intruder.

"Come in!"

The door opened to reveal Linde's disheveled appearance as she entered the room. The bag she had under her eyes caught Berengar by surprise. He did not even think about who was managing his Kingdom in his stead. Normally such a task would fall to his father-in-law, but apparently Linde had been hard at work for his sake. 

The redheaded vixen had an exhausted look on her face as she handed over a copy of the list of names of the people her agents were apprehending at that very moment. When Berengar gazed at the document, a look of confusion spread itself across his haggard face.

"What is this?"

Linde sighed heavily before answering her husband. 

"Those are the identities of everyone even remotely involved in the sale of the weapon that was used to harm the princess. It is a rather thorough list of a hundred and twenty-three high-profile individuals. From the leaders of the gangs that operate the black market to the corrupt law enforcement agents on their take.

There are even a few local and federal politicians who protected these gangs for one reason or another. However, the most dire of these criminals is the General in charge of storage, who not only was aware of his soldiers smuggling our obsolete weapons, but received a cut of the profits. 

I must admit, I am surprised that we could not discover evidence of their activity until now. It would appear the criminal elements of Austria have done a good job of remaining hidden after you enacted laws permitting law enforcement agents to actively hunt and eliminate gangsters. It is my understanding that the reason they have been able to avoid attracting our attention is because of the support they have received from within the government. 

Thus, it is the recommendation of the Agent in charge of this investigation that we use our current state of martial law to arrest and execute these offenders. I must say that I agree with this sentiment. Now is the time for the Crown to show the corrupt and criminal aspects of our society that we will not tolerate such behavior."

Berengar listened to this report with his full attention. After he had heard all the details, he nodded his head in agreement. A cruel gaze appeared in his one good eye as he gave his decree to his director of intelligence.

"I want you to arrest everyone responsible for this atrocity. After they are in our custody, I will have them publically executed in the town square! Let this forever be a reminder to those who would dare act against me. There is a price to pay for treason!"

Linde had a bitter smile as she bowed her head in respect to her husband. Truthfully, she just wanted this nightmare to be over. If over a hundred heads had to roll to appease the King's fury, then so be it. Thus, she responded in a tiresome tone.

"I have already done so. My agents have assured me that the offenders will be in our hands by the time the sun rises. As for how you wish to execute these traitors, I will defer to your judgement."

Berengar nodded his head as he heard this. He gazed over at his comatose sister one more time before grabbing hold of his wife's hand, where he led her out the door. There was much work to be done, and he could no longer afford to sit by Henrietta's side when those responsible for her condition ran free. Now was the time for action, and the King had a massive purge to undertake. It was only after the door shut behind him that the comatose princess opened her azure eyes in shock, a single phrase escaping her lips.

"Big brother?"

After noticing that Berengar was not present, Henrietta pouted before falling back to sleep.