Tyranny of Steel

Hartman stood at the forefront of his soldiers, who had gathered in a small woodland town within the Duchy of Luxembourg. Reports of rebels coming and going from this city had reached the ears of his spies, and though the information could not be confirmed, the Bastard of Luxembourg did not care.

The assassin of his mentor had escaped, and the Catholic Church had given him some much needed firepower. Despite Hilmar's best efforts to console the Duke, the moment his grief disappeared, it was replaced with an insatiable wrath. Thus, in his state of fury, the Duke had given the village an ultimatum: hand over the rebels, or die with them. 

Currently, there was a standoff between the Knights of Luxembourg, and the poor peasants who struggled to live their lives in this unforgiving feudal landscape. The chief of the village was an elderly man, who had many years of experience speaking on behalf of his people to the local lordship. He peacefully negotiated with the enraged Duke as the soldiers huddled his people into the center of the village.

"Your Grace, I do not know what you heard, but I can speak on behalf of the people of this town.  " There are no rebels here, nor have we aided them. We are simple farming folk who enjoy a peaceful and secluded life. We have no desire to get caught up in this conflict between the nobility.  If there were rebels here, we would surely hand them over, but there simply aren't any."

Hilmar stood by Hartman's side. Since Renault's death, he had assumed the position as the Duke's right hand. More importantly, he was working with an Austrian spy in secret to overthrow his liege, and thus he knew well that this village was innocent of the charges laid against them by the Duke. It was because of this that he was more than happy to intervene on their behalf. 

"Your Grace, with all due respect, we have searched the village for weapons and supplies, and have found nothing. I believe your spies' reports are inaccurate. There is no evidence to support the claims that this village is associated with the rebels in any capacity.  It is in our best interest to leave them be, and resume our quest to find the men actually responsible for Renault's death."

Despite hearing such a logical argument, Hartman was not in a state of reasoning, instead there was only bitter hatred in his eyes as he unleashed his dagger from its scabbard, and grabbed ahold of a small village girl, placing his blade to her neck before screaming at the local villagers in fury.

"If you do not hand over the rebels this instant, I will cut this girl's throat, and then I will order my men to raise this town to the ground! You have five seconds to comply!"

The parents of the little girl fell to their knees and pleaded with the Duke to see reason.

"My Lord, let our baby girl go. She is innocent! How could such a small child bear the sins of the traitors!?!"

Despite this valid reasoning, the Duke was too outraged to listen to it, and instead began to count down while the villagers protested his ruthless actions.

<br/>"Five!"

The village chief tugged at the Duke's bracers as he pleaded with the man to show mercy.

"Your Grace, please, she is but a small child!"

Despite these protests, Hartman did not give in, and instead continued to count down.

"Four!"

More villagers called out to the lord to rethink his actions.

"My Lord! You're being unreasonable!"

Despite this call for a reason, Hartman continued to count down further.

"Three!"

With the girl's death fastly approaching, several villagers began to panic, and attempted to wrest control of the innocent child from the vicious Duke. However, they were met with a firm kick from the surrounding knights and were easily repelled. 

"Two!"

With only two seconds remaining, the father of the girl fell to his knees and grasped ahold of Hartman's hand, begging for mercy with tears in his eyes.

"My Lord, let me take my daughter's place. If you must punish someone for the rebels, punish me!"

A sneer of disdain formed on Hartman's lips as he counted the final number. 

"One!"

After saying this, he dragged the sharpened steel blade across the girl's throat, severing her arteries and causing a fountain of sanguine liquid to spill forth. The look of panic in the girl's eyes as her life faded away would forever etch itself upon the mind of Hilmar, who gazed in horror at his liege's actions. When the girl fell to the ground, lifeless Hartman issued a decree to his soldiers.

"Time is up! Kill all of these traitors, and burn this village to the ground. I want their bodies to serve as a permanent reminder to my people what happens to them when they aid the rebels!"

The Knights beneath the Duke's command did not hesitate. They immediately lowered their matchlock muskets and fired upon the villagers. As the thunder spew forth from the weapons, their lead projectiles flew into the bodies of their victims, spilling blood across the field.

Hundreds of villagers lay lifeless from the initial attack, and the survivors began to panic and flee for their lives. Despite this, those mounted horsemen rode them down with their lances, skewering them into the fields they once tended to, leaving behind a ghastly scene of an unnecessary massacre. 

The blades of the Knights slashed into the torsos of their victims and severed the heads of the fallen as Hilmar gazed at the crime against humanity with horror in his eyes. In a fit of fury, he latched onto Hilmar's blood stained gauntlet and screamed at him.

"What have you done? These people were innocent!"

However, despite these protests by his most senior advisor, Hartman merely shook off the man's grip and stared at him with hate-filled eyes before issuing a threat.

"You will do as I command, or you can join these filthy peasants in the afterlife!"

Hilmar could hardly believe that the man he once called a friend had turned into such a heartless monster. Witnessing such a ruthless slaughter, and gazing into Hartman's hate-filled eyes had hardened Hilmar's resolve. He swallowed the saliva pooled up in his throat and nodded his head in obedience.

"As you command, your Grace..."

After saying this, he gazed upon the sight of the Knights desecrating the bodies of the slain villagers, and hanging their corpses from the trees while lighting the village, and its fertile fields ablaze. Such a gruesome scene engrained itself within his mind, as he swore he would do whatever it took to avenge these poor, innocent villagers who were so brutally killed for no reason.

Shortly after the massacre took place, the Retinue of Knights and its commanders returned to the Castle of Luxembourg, where Hilmar quickly approached his resident spy, who was struggling to enjoy a bath in the primitive wooden tub that existed in this backwards realm. 

When he intruded upon the scene, the woman held a chalice in her hand as she soaked naked in the tub. She frowned upon seeing that her servant had interrupted her before declaring her displeasure.

"This better be important Hilmar, you are interrupting one of few things I can enjoy in this filthy backwater you call a home!"

Hilmar had no time to maintain pleasantries. Instead, he spoke of what he had witnessed only after closing the door and ensuring nobody was listening to their conversation.

"You must get into contact with your superior as quickly as possible, and inform them that Hartman has begun to massacre innocent villages in retaliation for the rebel's activities. If King Berengar and his army do not intervene soon, there won't be a Luxembourg left to conquer!"

When the mature beauty heard these words, she dropped the chalice in her hands into the pool of water she was soaking in. She immediately reacted by stepping out of the bath and displaying her curvy naked body to the Count before wrapping a silk robe around herself.

If it was under any other circumstances Hilmar would have enjoyed the sight, but after witnessing such brutality, he had no stomach for the desires of the flesh. The spy patted Hilmar on the shoulder as she whispered something in his ear.

"You have been a good little soldier. I will report what you have said to my superiors. It is up to them how Austria responds to this news. I will reward you for your efforts later..."

After saying this the woman quickly absconded from the scene, eager to get in contact with her handler who would relay the news the Department of Intelligence, only after such a thing was confirmed would the news be reported to the Director, who in turn would inform the King of such grave news. One thing was certain, Hartman's crimes against his own people would speed up Berengar's time tables forcing the man to react.