...

Konrad sat in the hall, sealing the laws for the iron-working, when Lady Katarina approached.

She had stayed at the keep even after her uncle rode away, acting as the chief envoy for the great tide of Bavarian silver paying for Konrad’s expansion.

"The secret letters from Munich bring dark tidings, Konrad," Katarina stated, taking a seat opposite him. "My father’s voices in the Emperor’s Diet meet fierce anger. The Emperor is wrathful over the Inquisition’s failure... He sees your mastery of the new arms not just as heresy, but as a bold strike against his crown."

"He cannot march his host into this valley without suffering bloody ruin. We have proven that the old ways of war are broken here." Konrad replied.

"..." Katarina frowned. "...you ignore the courts. The Diet is a nest of vipers. If they cannot break you with steel, they will seek to break you from within. They already look for friends among your father’s old councilors."

Konrad paused, he had foreseen unrest in his own house. His tearing down of the estate’s old ways had angered the proud lords.

"Name the threats, Lady Katarina." Konrad demanded quietly.

"Lord Waldemar," Katarina replied at once. "The Master of Horse for your father’s old host. He was greatly angered when you named the armored knights useless... He has been passing hidden letters to the remnants of the Swabian League."

"The threat will be silenced," Konrad stated, returning to his writing. "...the headsman’s axe would spark a revolt among the older men. His end must be... quiet."

Katarina watched him, "What do you plot, Konrad?"

"...we need a finer lead for the new bullets. The boiling yields foul humors. A white salt of lead, easily melted in wine, and bearing a sweet taste."

Katarina stared at him. "You mean to poison him..." she whispered.

"It is a quiet, sure end to a thorny trouble of the court..." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Before Katarina could grasp, the doors of the hall swung open.

Elise, Konrad’s younger sister, entered the room. She walked beside a young knight wearing the colors of a lesser Bavarian house.

He was one of the many envoys sent by Katarina’s father to seal pacts of trade.

She laughed lightly at something the knight said, her eyes bright.

"Elise." Konrad called out,.

Elise started, her laughter dying instantly. She quickly composed herself, dropping a brief curtsy. "Yes, Konrad?"

"The harvest tallies of the clover fields are unfinished," Konrad stated, his gaze hard. "I require the final yields by nightfall. The grain stores must be counted before we feed the swollen watch."

Elise’s face fell, the joy draining away... She knew Konrad was purposely breaking her courtship.

"I... I will finish the ledgers at once, brother..." she murmured, casting a quick glance at the Bavarian knight before hurrying out of the hall.

Katarina watched the exchange with amusement. "You guard your sister fiercely, Konrad."

"Elise’s true aim is the keeping of stores," Konrad replied smoothly. "Matters of the heart ruin her focus."

Katarina leaned forward, "Is that the only reason? Or do you fear that if she weds a Bavarian knight, her heart might turn from this keep?"

Konrad did not answer at once. He knew well the shifting winds of the courts.

A marriage between Elise and a Bavarian lord would bind their houses, but it would also plant a foreign spy directly in his inner circle.

Before he could speak, the doors opened once again... This time, it was Lady Isolde.

The former Duchess of Württemberg moved with her usual quiet grace. She walked directly to Konrad’s side, paying Katarina no mind.

"The tidings of Lord Waldemar are certain, my Lord," Isolde reported, "His letters to the Swabian League prove he means to ruin the new blast furnace during the next forging."

Konrad nodded. The peril was near. The quiet doom must be delivered at once!

"We will begin the drawing of the lead salt tonight. See that the sweet poison is secured." Konrad stated.

"It will be handled with a sure hand, my Lord," she promised.

Katarina watched them. The bond between Konrad and Isolde was deeply unsettling.

Katarina saw, with sudden clarity, that she was truly an outsider... She was a prized merchant and envoy, but Isolde was the blade Konrad wielded to guard his realm.

"Konrad..." Katarina murmured, "You are surrounded by vipers, and you are breeding your own."

Konrad turned his to Isolde, a faint smile touching the corners of his mouth. "Prepare the sweet salt, Lady Isolde."

***

Clank... clank... The beat of the water-driven grinding stone was the only sound in the hidden proving ground.

It was set deep within the woods, a mile from the forges, ringed by a high wall of heavy timber.

Konrad stood with his arms crossed, watching a small knot of master smiths under Dieter’s watchful eye.

They were not building falconets or wheel-lock pistols. They were forging something far more cunning...

A thick-walled iron barrel, near four feet long, was set upon a strong wooden carriage.

It looked like a lesser siege gun, but it lacked the flared mouth and the great, slow weight.

"The breech block is set, Lord Konrad," Dieter reported, stepping back from the weapon. His face was tight with worry. "The sealing rings are lead, as you bade. They should flatten upon the fire and hold back the foul breath. But the force..."

"The numbers prove the iron will hold," Konrad stated flatly, "Begin the firing trial."

Captain Eckhard, standing a safe distance away, he had seen the falconets tear the Swabian vanguard to bloody rags, but this new beast was entirely strange!

The gunner did not ram powder and a solid ball down the mouth.

Instead, he pulled a heavy iron arm at the rear of the gun, swinging open a block of steel. He slid a bound linen bag of powder into the belly of the gun, followed by a pointed iron shot.

He slammed the block shut and locked it fast with a heavy iron wedge.

"The pan is primed!" the gunner called out, stepping back and holding a long cord.

"Loose." Konrad ordered.

The gunner pulled the cord.

The blast was far sharper and louder than a common cannon... A great tongue of fire leapt from the mouth, followed by a thick cloud of white smoke.

But it was the striking of the mark that truly shattered the quiet of the woods.

Two hundred paces down the field, a heavy mark built of four layers of oak planks, backed by a wall of sandbags, was utterly ruined. The sound of the strike was terrifying, followed by the dull thud of broken wood raining down.

"By the Saints..." Eckhard lowered his far-seeing glass, his hands shaking slightly. "It punched straight through..."

"The breech-loading block quickens the rate of fire threefold against muzzle-loading guns," Konrad explained, "...and the grooved barrel ensures the pointed shot flies true and strikes with terrible force over vast distances."

"It held!" Dieter wiped soot from his face, a grin breaking his fear. "We built a breech-loading gun!"

"It is a field gun," Konrad corrected. "Swift to move, swift to fire, and deadly at ranges the Swabian League cannot even fathom. Begin the forging at once... I require two full batteries before the winter snows."

Konrad knew the peace was merely a breath... He needed to use the time to wholly remake his host.

Returning to the keep, Konrad found the air sharply different from the cold focus of the proving ground.