Tyranny of Steel

It had been close to a week since Honoria and the galley she was on first departed from Constantinople; they quickly passed through the Bosphorus and into the black sea. During this time, she stayed entirely in the captain ’s quarters, where she was allotted as her personal space by Agnellus.

The man commonly brought her and her pet eagle, Heraclius, food, and water to sustain themselves. Honoria did not have much to do during this time, so she merely entertained herself by daydreaming about what it would be like when she finally arrived in Kufstein and met with Berengar face to face.

She was like a young girl who had her first crush; though she never met the man, she could already envision what he looked like. She imagined Berengar to have blonde hair and blue eyes as she mistakingly believed that all Germans had.

However, the image in her head was slightly different from the real Berengar. Her imagination of Berengar was not scarred from battle and lacked the eyepatch. He also had shoulder-length hair that was center-parted and was not quite as handsome as the actual man.

She would be greatly surprised when she finally met the real Berengar and realized he was even better looking than she thought he would be. Nevertheless, in her mind, she imagined all kinds of scenarios. Maybe he would leave his two women and marry her instead. Or perhaps he would do something scandalous like add her to his harem.

She began to blush as she imagined the thought of a lowly count keeping an imperial princess like her in his harem; it was simply too outrageous for her inexperienced mind to handle; as such, she quickly shook her head and stuffed it face-first into her pillow.

Heraclius merely gazed at the girl like she were an idiot and screeched in response. Hearing his voice made Honoria look out from above her pillow and glared at the bird. It was clear that she had taken offense to whatever the bird had said.

Whether Honoria understood the eagle ’s words or simply was so well accustomed with the bird that she knew his general intent by the pitch of his screech, the fact remained that she was not pleased with what Heraclius had said, and as such, she chastised him.

”I am not! You should mind your words Heraclius! ”

However, her fun was quickly interrupted by a knock on the door and the voice of Agnellus behind it.