Chapter 118: A Sky Forbid for Ravens
"..." Isolde nodded. "They think of a bigger coalition. A holy alliance to march on you before your revolution can spread to the other territories. They want to cut off the head of the snake while you are still exhausted from the western roads. And they need Duke Wilhelm to deliver the killing blow."
Konrad looked down at his hands... he thought about Katarina again.
He thought about her standing in his study, promising to keep his secrets.
He thought about her braving the freezing pine forest to retrieve the dispatch from the Reiters.
Was that all just an act? A noble game of shadows meant to keep him blind while her father plotted his execution?
If she was playing him, she was the greatest liar he had ever met in his life.
But if she wasn’t playing him... if she was ignorant of her father’s treachery... then she was in just as much danger as he was.
"How did you intercept the raven?" Konrad asked quietly.
"My shadow-walkers maintain a net over the highest towers," Isolde explained. "A Vatican courier bird arrived from Munich just before the sun rose. It was carrying the official seal of the papal nuncio. We shot it down, replaced the message with a mundane blessing regarding the wedding, and sent a different bird down to the Bishop’s balcony."
Konrad let out a short breath. "So the Bishop thinks he is secure."
"He thinks the Vatican is merely offering spiritual guidance for the ceremony," Isolde confirmed with a smile. "He has no idea we are reading his ledgers."
"Give me the real message," Konrad ordered softly, holding out his hand.
Isolde stepped forward and placed the small piece of vellum directly into his palm.
It felt heavy, as if the fate of the entire Swabian valley was contained within the tiny scroll.
Konrad didn’t unroll it yet... he held it tightly in his fist.
He looked at his spymaster, his jaw tightening.
Duke Wilhelm was a greedy man. If the Duke was going to break a profitable marriage alliance, risk his daughter’s life, and start an all-out war with Swabian guns, the Vatican had to be offering him something completely staggering.
The Pope wasn’t just offering spiritual forgiveness; he was offering hard power.
Konrad needed to know what the price of his life was.
"...what exactly did the Vatican promise him?"
Isolde set her cup down on the small table.
She didn’t look away from his furious gaze.
"A seat, Konrad," Isolde whispered. "The Pope promised Duke Wilhelm a permanent seat right beside the Emperor’s noble family."
Konrad let out a slow breath... He dropped the crumpled piece of vellum onto the floorboards, as if the paper itself were suddenly toxic.
"A seat..." Konrad muttered.
"Of course, it is not a direct seat within the Habsburg bloodline itself," Isolde clarified smoothly, stepping closer to the warmth of the hearth.
"...the Emperor would never allow a mere Bavarian Duke to actually share his family name. But the Vatican is offering him the absolute next best thing.
They promised Wilhelm a newly created, highly prestigious position within the inner circle of the Imperial Diet.
It would officially elevate the Duchy of Bavaria above almost every other territory in the Holy Roman Empire."
If Duke Wilhelm secured that high seat, he wouldn’t just be a wealthy lord managing salt mines in Munich.
He would be an untouchable titan... he would have the direct ear of Charles V.
He could manipulate the massive imperial tax ledgers, crush his trade rivals, and secure incredible, highly lucrative marriages for his entire extended family.
It was a prize so incredibly massive, so game-changing, that Wilhelm would be willing to burn the Swabian alliance to the ground to get it.
"And all Wilhelm has to do to get this shiny new chair is wipe my forges off the map," Konrad stated.
"Exactly," Isolde nodded sharply. "Bishop Tomas sent the terms to Rome for Cardinal Morone to approve. If the Vatican seals the decree, Duke Wilhelm will immediately pack his wagons, take Lady Katarina back to Munich, and call his absolute full banners against you. The marriage contract will be voided."
Konrad turned away from his spymaster and stared into the flames of the hearth.
He had just spent the last week entirely consumed by the slaughter of the Savoyard vanguard... he knew exactly what his industrialized weapons could do.
However, the sheer scale of the Bavarian military machine was a different nightmare.
Even with his highly advanced army, he simply could not defeat a whole Duke like Wilhelm in a prolonged war of attrition.
"You have the Gatling carts." Isolde reminded him. "Marshal Eckhard just proved that Swabian iron can shred traditional mercenaries."
"Eckhard shredded an ambush of seven thousand unorganized Bohemians in a narrow mountain pass," Konrad corrected her.
"...Bavaria is an different beast. If Wilhelm marches on this valley, he will send fifteen thousand heavily armored Bavarian landsknechts. He will bring bronze siege cannons funded by endless salt money."
Konrad dragged his hands through his hair.
"If Wilhelm simply surrounds the keep and starves us out, or if he throws thousands of men at the walls in human waves... we will eventually run out of gunpowder."
Even so, the Swabian warlord was not a man who simply rolled over and accepted defeat.
If he couldn’t beat the Bavarian hammer with raw military strength, he had to short-circuit the board before Wilhelm could even draw his sword.
He needed a shield so powerful that not even the Vatican or the Duke of Bavaria would dare to strike it.
Konrad’s eyes slowly shifted away from the hearth fire, locking onto the door of his bedchamber.
Down in the courtyard, surrounded by her elite guards and heavily loaded transport wagons, was a woman who had just casually offered him a hundred thousand silver florins and the backing of the Habsburg royal family.
Margarita de Austria...
"Damn it," Konrad whispered.
He turned sharply, abandoning his moment of exhausted reflection.
He grabbed a fresh linen shirt from his wardrobe and pulled it over his head.
"Isolde," Konrad barked.
"Yes," the spymaster answered immediately.
Konrad marched over to the door and unbolted the lock.
He pulled the door open just a few inches. A young maid was currently scrubbing the floor of the corridor outside.
"You!" Konrad snapped, pointing his finger at the girl.
The maid dropped her brush and fell to her knees. "Yes, Lord Konrad!"
"Go down to the main courtyard right now," Konrad commanded. "Find Captain Ragnar. Tell him to immediately escort Margarita de Austria up to my private study. Tell him to leave her elite guards down in the mud. I want her alone."
"I... I will fetch her at once, My Lord!" the maid stammered.
Konrad closed the door, turning back to face the center of the room.
He walked over to his desk, quickly securing his wheellock pistol back into his leather belt.
He needed to be armed when he sat down to negotiate with a royal operative, even if she claimed to be an ally.
Though his plan was logical, Isolde was watching him with a skeptical expression.
The spymaster crossed her arms, her dress perfectly framing her face. She stepped into his path before he could leave the bedchamber.
"Are you sure about this, Konrad?" Isolde asked. "She is an imperial bastard, or an aunt, or whatever highly classified ghost the Habsburgs created. We have absolutely no idea what she actually wants you to build for her."
"...she has a hundred thousand florins, and she has the Emperor’s ear. Right now, she is the only piece on this board that is heavy enough to crush Duke Wilhelm’s ambitions." Konrad replied.
Isolde just stared right into his eyes.
"You are going to sit down in your study with a woman you just met ten minutes ago,"
"and you are going to negotiate the future of Swabia. But before you can sign her contract, she is going to demand transparency. She is going to want to know how stable your borders are."
Isolde leaned just a fraction closer. "If she finds out that the Vatican is plotting to wipe you out, and that your own Bavarian alliance is about to stab you in the back... she might just pack her wagons and leave you to burn," Isolde warned.
Konrad’s jaw tightened. He knew exactly what his spymaster was saying.
"Are you actually going to tell her the truth, Konrad?" Isolde asked, her voice focused.
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