King of the Sea

Chapter 52

Chapter 52

"Oh little Adela, you are quite wrong about that; I have only ever shared my body with one man. I am quite the opposite of what you claim..."

Due to the cryptic nature of Linde's refutation, Adela could not help but blurt out the question digging at the very essence of her soul.

"Oh yeah, and who might that be!?!"

Linde was waiting for this response and ended the argument with another vague answer that was sure to antagonize Adela further; this was her way of punishing the little girl for daring to call her such a wicked term.

"I'll leave that up t your imagination."

With that said, Linde walked away from Adela with a sinister smile on her face; she knew she had won this argument. Of course, Adela was fuming with fury as she watched Linde leave her behind. However, she quickly realized that she had never been able to get the answer from Linde about why she was allowed to stay in Kufstein. She could not help but curse herself after Linde had disappeared.

"That b***h!"

On the other hand, Linde had pressing matters to attend to and proceeded to her quarters, where she began to communicate with her subordinates in the spy network she had helped establish, informing them of boosting p********a efforts across German-speaking regions. Sooner or later tales of Berengar's benevolence to his people and the crimes he suffered at the hands of his little brother with the backing of the church would spread by word of mouth through Tyrol and Trient, from there travelers and merchants would spread the stories across the entirety of Greater Germany. These stories of Berengar's treatment of the common people within his realm would make the Barony of Kufstein, a common destination for refugees when the war finally broke out. Even Linde had no idea how effective these stories would be as they were passed around inns and taverns across the land.

On the other hand, Adela was ruing the forthcoming day when she would have to return to Graz and was currently spending more time with Berengar; at the moment, she was complaining about Linde and wanted an official answer from Berengar on why she was allowed to stay.

"Berengar, why is Linde allowed to stay now that Lambert is gone and disowned? She's no longer engaged and has no further ties to this Land!"

Berengar saw the pouting face of Adela and could not help but pinch her cheeks as he reprimanded her for approaching Linde about such a question.

"I know you're jealous, but don't worry, she has a valid reason to be here. Her father was a backer in my brother's plots and does not trust I will continue to conduct business in good faith now that his involvement has been revealed. Thus he has decided to leave her here in Kufstein to oversee our trade. Besides, it's not like she can get married anymore now that she's pregnant. The least I can do is take care of my ba... brother's bastard considering that he is no longer around to raise it."

Berengar almost had a Freudian slip at that moment, and it did not go unnoticed by Adela, who frowned deeply as she heard Berengar proclaim that he was going to be raising Linde's child. She cursed that she was still too young to get married; otherwise, it would be her who was pregnant with Berengar's child at the moment. Such thoughts immediately caused her face to flush red with embarrassment. She quickly stormed out of Berengar's room in an attempt to hide her shameful thoughts, leaving Berengar staring at the doorway, thinking to himself.

'What did I do to upset her now...?'

The minds of the fairer s*x were truly unfathomable to men...

: Joining the Teutonic Order

: Joining the Teutonic Order

: Joining the Teutonic Order

Currently, Lambert was still within the confines of the prison carriage constructed for his transport to the Teutonic Order. They had traveled for several weeks with a Caravan to Malbork Castle within the Pomerelia region to maintain the transported prisoner's safety and integrity. Lambert sat in his cage with a blanket over his shoulders. The only thing keeping him alive throughout his journey was the idea that he would return one day and exact vengeance upon his family for what they had done to him.

The State of the Teutonic Order oftentimes referred to as the Teutonic State, was currently embroiled in a series of wars against the eastern European populations. Whether they were pagans or eastern orthodox, the fanatical crusaders of the Teutonic order did not care and used whatever excuses they could to justify their wars of conquest. Pomerelia, however, was far closer to the borders of Germany and was merely used as a training ground for recruits. To foster them into the Order and their way of life over time.

As a Militant Order of the Catholic Church, the Teutonic Knight required all full brothers to take monastic vows. They would become celibate and father no children, nor could they ever marry. If they were noblemen, they would give up all claims to their family's lands. This was a genius act by Gisela to spare Lambert's life while making him no longer a threat to Berengar's position.

On the other hand, Lambert saw this as a chance to rise in the ranks of the Teutonic Order and gain enough power to enact vengeance upon the family that had abandoned him. Especially that w***e Linde, he would never forgive her for her misdeeds. After all the time and energy he had spent courting her, she threw it all away for his despicable brother. He was utterly disgusted with himself for being such a fool as to think he could be with a girl like Linde and putting up with her degrading acts because of it.

Not long after having these thoughts, Castle Malbork came into sight, and the sentries of the Teutonic Order rode out to meet with the approaching Caravan. A knight in full plate armor, with a white tabard and black cross emblazoned on it, stopped before the carriage and gave his commands.

"By orders of the Grandmaster, all outsiders are f*******n from traveling beyond this point! State your business or be on your way!"

The Caravan Guard was not the least bit threatened by the knight and calmly stated his reasons for being in the area.

"By decree of Sieghard von Kufstein, the Baron of Kufstein. This young man Lambert has been convicted of the crimes of assassination, treason, and attempted fratricide and hereby sentenced to join the Teutonic Order where he may redeem himself in the eyes of God in righteous crusade!"

Though the Knight's face could not be seen beneath the visor of his great bascinet, his exasperated expression could be heard in his voice as he sighed deeply.

"Another one? Alright... We will escort the Prisoner from henceforth."

The truth was Crusading was not nearly as popular as it was in the previous centuries; after the French conspired against the Templars for their wealth and burned them all at the stake as heretics, many people had no desire to suffer a similar fate. Nowadays, the ranks of the Teutonic Order were filled with either convicted criminals, refugees, orphans, or disillusioned noble youth. Despite the success of the Crusades to the Holy Land within this timeline, the Northern Crusades were not exactly popular in the eyes of the people of Christendom. In many countries, one might even say they were unpopular, especially now that the heathens of the Baltic had mostly been conquered and were in the process of being Germanized, which was a polite way of saying that they were being wiped out entirely and replaced by ethnic Germans.

Regarding the other so-called Holy Crusades, Reconquista was a matter of Iberian pride; as such, the Militant Orders of the region swelled with the ranks of zealous young men who wished to drive the moors from their lands. However, unless one were particularly hateful of Muslims, they would not venture from another region to join the fight to reclaim Iberia.

The ongoing Crusades in North Africa, if you could even call them such a thing, were mostly handled by the might of the Byzantine Empire's vast army, who wished to reclaim lost territory in Egypt and Lybia. Despite being Orthodox, the Byzantines and the Orthodox Church were far more cordial in this timeline with Europe and the Vatican. As such, they had gained the support of the Hospitaller order in the efforts to reclaim North Africa for Christendom. This was far more popular than the Northern Crusades among Catholics and Orthodox alike, as they were reclaiming lost land instead of venturing into backwaters and forcefully converting the natives.

Upon hearing the Knight's orders, the Caravan guards quickly got down from their Carriages and released the lock on the gates which confined Lambert. Where he was swiftly dragged out of his cell and handed over to the Knights of the Teutonic Order, who carried him off to the Castle of Malbork, this would be the last time the boy saw the Banners of House von Kufstein for some time. He would forever engrave them in his memory as he desired to see them burning along with his land.

After arriving in the Castle, Lambert was led to the recruit's quarters, where he acquired the attire of an initiate and had his head shaved. For the next few months, his life would be a grueling hell as he toiled and slaved away to prove himself worthy of the title of Brother. Luckily for him, he was already a competent swordsman and would quickly make a name for himself among the initiates and the order members alike. After having a simple meal for the evening, he returned to his quarters, where he began to drift into a dee slumber; the thoughts of vengeance were the only thing that would allow him to survive this ordeal.

: Supplying the Militia

: Supplying the Militia

: Supplying the Militia

Berengar was currently standing in one of his many Nitraries, formed to produce Saltpeter from common manure. It was the primary ingredient in the creation of gunpowder and was very rare in Europe as a naturally occurring substance. However, with the knowledge he gained from his previous life, which was far more advanced than this world, he knew of a way to create it from manure, ash, plant greens, and of course, cow urine. Though this was an extensive process, and as such, he had been relying on the trade networks throughout to import the material for the use in his militia's weapons.

However, after nearly four months of producing the material, his first batch of grown saltpeter was about to come to fruition. Since he initially constructed his industrial district, he had set aside an area to produce potassium nitrate, also known as saltpeter. These facilities were called nitraries. With an ever-increasing demand for gunpowder, he had expanded his nitraries throughout the industrial sector and even into dedicated plots of land outside the burgeoning town.