Tyranny of Steel

The clear blue skies shone above the province of Istria. Within the city of Trieste, Berengar stood at the port. In front of him was a large three-masted clipper. This ship was a transport vessel Berengar used to sell his wares across the Mediterranean over the last couple of months.

Though Berengar intended to create a massive Royal Clipper for his family's travel in the near future, it was secondary to the concerns of establishing a Naval Armada and a large trade fleet. All he could do for now was to use one of his standard trading vessels that had been completed as his means of transport.

Despite the fact that Berengar was inching ever closer to his dreams to discover the new world in this timeline, it would still be a few months before he was fully prepared for such a venture. Thus, Berengar intended to construct a large and powerful fleet before he ventured westward into unknown parts. At the moment, Berengar was working towards his other goal of independence by establishing an alliance with the Emirate of Granada.

Not only were the moors who inhabited the region instrumental in distracting Iberian Catholics from joining in on the upcoming crusade against Berengar and his Duchy, but by providing them with sufficient arms to protect themselves against their Catholic neighbors, Berengar could delay the Reconquista.  With this, Berengar could prevent Spain and Portugal from becoming significant rivals in the colonization of the new world.

After gazing upon the mighty vessel with a sense of admiration, Berengar felt a pair of dainty arms wrap around him; these, of course, belonged to his future bride Adela. The young girl had grown immensely in the past few years since Berengar first arrived in this world.

Though she was not as busty as Honoria or Linde, she had developed into a stunning young woman. Adela had a solid B-Cup-sized chest and a petite stature. She was slim, and in a way, Berengar found this quite appealing. If one were to have a harem of women, it would be ideal to have some variety.

Adela was dressed in a sapphire blue dress with golden accents. The jewelry she wore was a mix of fine gold and sapphires, which highlighted her matching eyes perfectly. She still wore her twin-tail hairstyle, and Berengar found this to be quite adorable.

After taking in the breathtaking image of his young fiancee, Berengar smiled before greeting the young woman.

"You have truly become a gorgeous young woman Adela; I can hardly wait until the day we are married."

Throughout these past few years, Adela had worked hard to become someone who could aid Berengar in his work as a Head of State. Thus she had become quite efficient in Diplomacy and Administration. Berengar was aware of her growth in these aspects and had personally requested her for this diplomatic visit to Granada.

When Adela heard Berengar's kind words, she bowed respectfully before responding with a formal greeting. After all, they were still in public, and thus she felt it inappropriate to refer to Berengar by his first name.

"You honor me, your grace!"

After their initial greeting was over, Berengar grabbed ahold of Adela and hugged her; he did not care for formal etiquette, especially when it was with one of the girls he loved. Adela, on the other hand, began to flush red with embarrassment, but she did not pull herself out of Berengar's grasp; after all, she craved his attention, and now she was finally receiving it without any form of interference.

After holding onto Adela for some time, Berengar whispered in her ear.

"It's been too long..."

The couple shared the intimate moment for a few moments before Berengar finally broke away and got down to business.

"Well, are you ready to depart?"

To this, Adela nodded her head silently before her servants began to carry her luggage onto the vessel. Berengar walked alongside Adela while holding her little hand in his own as they stepped onto the ship that would transport them to Granada.

After stepping onto the vessel, Berengar led Adela below deck where her quarters were awaiting her; while the two of them were on board the ship, the captain's quarters were allotted to Berengar, and the first mate's cabin was given to Adela.

These cabins were large enough to host a queen-sized bed within them; as for the ship's captain, he stayed in one of the other cabins, and so too did his officers. After settling in, the boat began to depart. Berengar stayed within the saloon alongside Adela for the time being, where they continued to catch up on the events since their last meeting, which was not long ago on her fifteenth birthday.

Days would pass before they finally arrived in Granada; due to the unrivaled speed of the clippers, the journey from Istria to Iberia was substantially shorter than if they took one of the more contemporary vessels like the carrack or caravel.

When the three-masted clipper finally docked at the port city of Motril, they did not stay long. Instead, they immediately got into a caravan and rode up to the capital city of Granada, where the Sultan and his family resided.

After several days of travel, Berengar and his host arrived at the Granadan Royal Court, where the Sultan welcomed him with open arms. The man was even younger than Berengar, from his appearance, he was no older than nineteen.

Hasan had recently inherited his position from his late father. He had a handsome clean-shaven face with lightly tanned skin and shoulder-length dark hair. The young man also had eyes the color of chocolate.

As the Sultan of Granada, Hasan was an ethnic Berber. Medieval Europeans used the term moor to describe a group of people from North Africa mainly comprised of a mix of Arabs and Berbers, and to a limited extent, their sub-Saharan African slaves and mercenaries that were primarily taken from the areas that would be known in Berengar's previous life as Mali, and Niger.

Upon seeing the extravagantly dressed Duke of Austria enter through his Palace Gates, the man who ruled over the Emirate of Granada greeted Berengar in a traditional Islamic fashion.

"As-Salaam-Alaikum, oh great Duke of Austria!"

Though the man spoke in Arabic, Berengar had a translator nearby, however much to the surprise of everyone present, Berengar returned his greeting with an appropriate response.

"Wa-Alaikum-Salaam, mighty Sultan of Granada."

Due to Berengar's tenure in Afghanistan, he knew a bit of the Arabic tongue. Despite the fact that Arabic was a minority language in Afghanistan, Berengar had spent many of his years there learning the language.

The reason was that it was a more common tongue throughout the world than Pashtun or Dari, and thus after his service, he could potentially bring it into his professional life. Though it was a far more modern variant than the version spoken in Medieval Iberia; he could still vaguely get his words across.

Adela was also surprised that Berengar seemed to know how to speak Arabic, at least to some degree, and gazed curiously at her fiance as he addressed the Sultan as if he were a long-lost friend.

"When I received your invitation to visit your Royal Palace, I was quite excited. I think there is much our two peoples can accomplish if we work together."

Upon hearing this, Hasan began to chuckle and nodded his head

"I look forward to discussing our people's future together. Tell me, who is this beautiful young woman next to you?"

Berengar grabbed ahold of Adela's shoulder in response to the Sultan's words and dragged her in close to him before declaring her position in his life.

"This is Adela von Graz, daughter of Marquess Otto von Graz and my fiancee. We will be married next year."

The Sultan nodded his head as he heard this before responding to Berengar's claims.

"You are truly a lucky man, Duke Berengar; I also have a beautiful bride; it would appear that we have more in common than I initially thought."

After saying this, the Sultan personally led Berengar, Adela, and their host into his palace, introducing the magnificent structures and grandoise furnishings along the way. After a while, they stopped at the dining hall, where a meal was being prepared.

"Come, sit, enjoy Dinner with my family and me; you must be starving after such a long journey."

Upon hearing this, Berengar did not refuse, and as such, he nodded politely before pulling out Adela's seat, allowing her to sit down at the table gracefully, where he then sat next to her. Before long, Berengar and his host as well as the Royal Family of Granada had gathered in the dining hall to share a meal.

This would be the first of many discussions that would occur during Berengar's visit to Granda. With Adela by his side, Berengar was confident in coming to an agreement that would be beneficial to both himself and the Emirate of Granada. Though whether such an alliance would occur was yet to be seen.

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