King of the Sea

Chapter 49

Chapter 49

The words he spoke were chilling to the bone, and the other two members of the inquisition began to tremble in Berengar's presence. Only now the priests of the inquisition noticed the ranks of men equipped in half-plate armor and armed with what appeared to be a weird mixture of a hand cannon and spear staring at them with indifferent gazes. Berengar had called the most loyal and elite of his men here, the grenadiers, especially for this meeting. Men who had already fought and killed for Berengar at the Battle of Mining Town. Men who would willingly lay down their lives for their Lord and Commander who had brought them and their families up from servitude and into the well-paying jobs of industry.

Outraged by the outright blasphemy in which Berengar spoke, or at least as far as he was concerned, Father Alphonso no longer acted politely to Berengar and blatantly threatened him.

"Blasphemy! I am warning you, if you do not submit to our Investigation, then we will deem you guilty by default, and we will return with a holy order to raise this land of heathens to the ground!"

This threat against not only Berengar but the land and people under his dominion was the last straw. He was no longer willing to politely negotiate instead he stood up from his chair and stared down at the priests below as he gave his command to Eckhard, who was currently leading the unit of grenadiers which acted as Berengar's personal guard at this moment.

"Vice Commander Eckhard, arrest these men for conspiracy to usurp the Barony of Kufstein."

There was no hesitation in Eckhard's voice as he motioned for his men to follow the Regent's orders.

"Yes, My Lord, I will do as you command."

Quickly, the grenadiers surrounded the Priests and lowered their Bayonets to aim at the Inquisitors' chests.

Father Gilles began to protest immediately as the bayonets were mere inches away from piercing his heart.

"I am an emissary of the Holy Father; you cannot do this!"

Berengar began to step down the stone steps in front of his throne and approach the three men in front of him.

"Father Alphonse, Father Gilles, by the power invested in me as Regent of Kufstein, afforded to me by my father, Baron Sieghard von Kufstein. I hereby convict you of espionage, sabotage, and usurpation. Henceforth you shall be sentenced to death by firing squad. Men! Take these would-be usurpers out into the courtyard, line them against a wall and shoot them!

Immediately his troops responded in unison without a hint of disobedience in their collective voices

"Yes, My Lord!"

Afterward, the priests of the inquisition were dragged out of the great hall and brought into the courtyard, where the men lined up into a proper firing squad. Berengar dragged Father Antonio over to the window to watch from above as his comrades were executed. The terrified priest begged Berengar to rethink his actions and spare the Inquisitors' lives.

"Lord Berengar, if you do this, you will be excommunicated and branded a Heretic. The church will consider you an enemy for eternity!"

Berengar merely looked over at Father Antonio with a look of indifference and raised his hand, signaling the troops to fire their shots. The thunder of gunfire and the smell of smoke filled the air as the priests' bodies were shredded apart by a dozen musket balls, their blood splattering the stone walls of the Castle Courtyard like a painting of death.

Antonio looked in horror as his brothers were gunned down by the mighty hand cannons; he was only awoken from his shock when the Iron grip of Berengar grabbed ahold of his shoulder, the young and princely man stared into the eyes of the priest with the ice-cold gaze of a born-killer and responded to his earlier words.

"When you return to the Vatican inform the Holy Father, that he may have the power to Excommunicate me and to brand me a Heretic, but ultimately when I finally perish from this world it is under the Judgement of God, not the Pope that will determine whether or not I enter the Kingdom of Heaven... You will tell him that, yes?"

Antonio began to tremble in fear as if he had been touched by the cold hands of death and stared into the eyes of the grim reaper himself. After struggling to find his voice, he eventually said nothing and merely nodded at Berengar's "request."

From this day forth, Berengar had made a powerful enemy, one who would never forgive him for his actions here on this day. The divide would only grow further as Berengar refused to bend the knee to a corrupt, and bloated church, and the Supreme Pontiff who presided over it.

: A Stern Warning

: A Stern Warning

: A Stern Warning

With the death of the inquisition, a gloomy atmosphere had fallen over the Castle of Kufstein. His family was not immediately aware of the fact that Berengar had just slapped the Church in its face and denied its authority in his family's lands. Adela was the first to find out about such a thing; having heard the gunshots from outside, she rushed to the Great Hall, where she checked to see if Berengar was uninjured. When she arrived she witnessed the scene of Berengar grasping onto Father Antonio's shoulder and staring at the priest with a cold and murderous gaze. Adela was unaccustomed with the ruthless expression on Berengar's face, for she had never before witnessed his wrath. This was not the gentle smile and loving eyes he showed to his loved ones. Rather it was the callous gaze of a vengeful tyrant who took pleasure in punishing his enemies. She had never seen such a side of Berengar before and as a deeply devout Catholic, Adela was concerned that Berengar had done something unforgivable.

However, she never would have guessed that Berengar had executed two priests in his courtyard. When she looked out the window to see what had transpired, she was horrified by the b****y mess that remained from the scene of the Inquisitor's execution. She could not contain her terror and shrieked as she gazed upon the merciless display of Berengar's authority. When Berengar heard the screams of his fiancee, he looked over to her in shock; and wondered why was Adela there at this particular moment. This was not something he intended for the young girl to witness. In her dismay, Adela quickly ran over to Berengar and Father Antonio and inquired why such a horrific scene occurred.

"Berengar, what have you done!?!"

Berengar was well aware of Adela's extremely religious nature and had never actually talked to her about his views on the subject. After all, he was afraid she would react poorly to his thoughts about the Church. However, he could not lie his way out of this one; he had just executed two emissaries of the Vatican in his own courtyard. As such, he put on a stern expression and scolded the little girl for recklessly making assumptions.

"The church conspired against me and aided my brother in his attempts to usurp my birthright. These men came here as part of my brother's final ploy to have me convicted as a heretic and executed. They even threatened to raze my family's lands to the ground when I refused to recognize the legitimacy of their so-called investigation. As such, I had them executed. Isn't that right, father Antonio?"

Berengar gave the Inquisitor an oppressive gaze implying that if the Priest did not admit to his crimes, Berengar would have him suffer the same fate as the shredded corpses in the courtyard below. The truth was despite being an excellent torturer, Antonio was a cowardly man who deeply feared death. As such, the inquisitor quickly crumbled and admitted to Adela the crimes of the Church.

"What Berengar says is correct... Lambert, while sponsored by your Local priest, petitioned the Bishop of Innsbruck to request an investigation from the Inquisition into accusations about Berengar's heretical views. We knew the charges were false but were afraid that Berengar would not follow the will of the Church. Thus, we planned to frame and convict him anyway. Which we would have done if he had allowed us to investigate the charges against him."

Adela was shocked to hear this news; all her life, she looked up to the Church as a beacon of hope and viewed them as the arbiters of truth. Yet these men had conspired against Berengar to install a puppet onto the seat of power in Kufstein. It was as if the image she had in her mind about a flawless church came crumbling down around her as she listened to the wicked priest confess to the crimes he had committed. She could tell the man was speaking the truth, even if it was under duress.

Berengar noticed the stunned expression on the girl's face and could tell that she was in the middle of an existential crisis, and as such, he walked over to his little fiancee and hugged her while patting her head and whispered his utopian p********a into her fine ears.

"My sweet Adela, I know you are faithful, and I respect that, but men rule the Church, and no man is above corruption. As long as you have faith in Christ and follow his teachings, you will be a good Christian woman."

Father Antonio could not help but mutter the word "Blasphemy!" under his breath. However, the moment he did so, Berengar stared fiercely at him, and the man instantly shut his trap. After hearing Berengar's words, Adela wanted to know more of his view of Christianity; however, she realized that he was currently dreadfully busy and decided to contemplate his words while praying to the Lord about which path to follow. After thinking it over for a few moments, she looked up at Berengar with her shining sapphire eyes and thanked him for his comfort.

"Thank you, Berengar; I do not know what I would do without you..."

Afterward, the girl released herself from his embrace and returned to her room. She had many things to think about and prepare for. She knew Berengar's actions would invoke the ire of the Church, and as such, she wanted to protect him to the best of her abilities. Thus she began to write a letter to her father, who was currently in his castle in Graz and inform him about the recent events within Kufstein. She would remind him to honor the terms of their alliance with the von Kufstein family if such actions were needed.

Berengar remained with Father Antonio and continued to exude his authority while in the priest's presence.

"If I see you or any other members of your wicked order entering the confines of my family's lands, I will have you and your ilk shot on sight! Is that understood?"

Father Antonio had nearly soiled himself in fear at this point. He had witnessed the power of the muskets as their volley fire mangled the bodies of his fellow members of the Inquisition. He had no intentions of ever returning to this godless land and would make sure to warn the other members of his order to avoid Kufstein at all costs. With his departure, Berengar had seized absolute authority over this Barony comprised of roughly , people and now reigned supreme.