Hohenfels

Katharina was no stranger to heathen traditions. In fact, she was rather well-educated on them, given her expertise in Celtic and Germanic culture.

Still, it was one thing to read about those things in a book, and another thing altogether to witness a teacher repeatedly commit blasphemy. At first, it had been rather droll, but now, Professor Nowak was not even trying to sugarcoat it anymore.

“When Karl the Great waged his, ahem, Holy War against the tribes east of the river Ader, he did not stop at simply culling the men. He massacred the women, and even the children, too,” he ranted. “Countless ancient rituals were forever lost. What few survivors remained were forced to adopt the Christian faith.”

He turned around dramatically, stopping his frantic drawing on the blackboard.

“Today, we call their ancestral lands the ‘northern countships’. They were, unsurprisingly, among the first to adopt protestantism when it emerged.”

Now he was going from blasphemy to what could easily be understood as ‘endorsement of rebellion against the Emperor’. ‘I need to come up with an excuse for why I’m here if anyone asks,’ she nervously thought. Colluding with pagan sympathizers would be a great way to lose favor and credibility in the western regions, something she really could not afford.

Still, leaving was not an option. The enraptured face of Prince Arnold, who sometimes even nodded in agreement with the professor, made it abundantly clear that this course would be an optimal venue to engage with him. Whether or not it was a performance did not matter, for once. He was clearly signaling his aversion to Western customs and values, a statement so severe that the excuse of ‘faking it’ would be worthless in the eyes of the Emperor.

Not that she was surprised. House Hohenfels was actively aiming to upset the status quo through elevation to a duchy, and thus, Imperial electorship. Which meant that it could potentially end the centuries-long supremacy of House Altendorf by supporting the houses Falkenstein or Greifenhain as the next Emperor.

Because of that, they would never manage to get the western duchies – Altengau, Sonnenfeld, and Schwarzwald – to back them. They had prospered under the Altendorf dynasty.

Greifenau and Falkenstein, however, seemed to be in favor of Hohenfels’ elevation. Unsurprisingly, considering the Emperor’s reluctance to allow the import of steamboats and locomotives from Logres, both of which would greatly aid those duchies in developing their struggling economies.

Eisengrund was a wild card. They had an old feud with Hohenfels, but were defying the import ban just as brazenly as the margraviate.

‘Could that be an opportunity for me?’ According to rumors, Princess Klara and Prince Arnold had butted heads publicly the very day the Hohenfels scions arrived at the academy. If she could manage to improve their relationship as a mediator, she would gain favor with two major houses at once.

It would be extremely difficult, but if she succeeded, it would establish her as a valued diplomat in the up-and-coming eastern regions. If all went well, she could carve out a political niche for herself, becoming irreplaceable in the process.

This could very well be the big chance she needed to become someone.

The houses Sonnenstein and Altendorf would not like it, though. Tannburg would probably not mind given their own failed attempts at accomplishing the very same thing.

No matter. She could easily spin it as a naive attempt to help stabilize the Empire against the ever-looming threats from beyond the Eastern borders, should things go awry. The Sonnensteins in particular already thought her an ill-tempered hoyden after the incident she caused, so she did not have much of a reputation to lose with them.

She allowed herself a small breath of relief. ‘Finally, a plan.’

= = = = =

Arne was, once again, deeply worried. Just before the lecture ended, he had felt a pulse of relief, satisfaction and, most importantly, a terrifying amount of ambition from Lady Katharina.

Lord Hartmut’s warning rang in his ears as he desperately attempted to figure out what was going on.

‘What could she possibly have gleaned from simply sitting next to me? Even if she considers my expressions an open book, all I thought about were rituals…’

Though whatever the reason may have been, she was now positively brimming with anticipation. He would probably not have to wait long to find out.

And indeed, his attempt to bid farewell and leave the room was politely interrupted by an inquiry.

“Your Highness, would you perhaps be so kind as to offer me a moment of your time?”

‘No, please leave me alone.’ “Of course, Lady Katharina. What can I do for you?”

“I am afraid my knowledge of the territories east of the river Hassel is rather spotty, Your Highness. Given this lecture’s topic and Professor Nowak’s tendency to skip the basics, I fear that I might have missed out on quite a bit of context. Might I trouble you to…” her voice tapered out as she pretended to blush and turned away.

It was a blatant excuse to talk to him, and he knew that she knew that he knew.

Still, refusing her would be unjustifiably rude, no matter how much he wanted to.

“It is no trouble at all. I shall answer your every question to the best of my abilities.”

“Thank you so much, Your Highness!” She perked up, her radiant smile indistinguishable from a real one.

They spent the next hour discussing the northeastern regions. At first, Lady Katharina feigned ignorance, probably just to keep him talking. However, once they got into the finer points of cultural tensions and the territories’ shared history, her aura betrayed her.

Arne was not particularly surprised by that. She was clearly trying to gauge his position among the upper nobility, particularly the eastern houses.

It was already common knowledge that Hohenfels had strong ties with their direct neighbors: The landgraviate of Marbach, and the imperial countships of Rotenbach and Liesen. So, Lady Katharina’s subtle inquiries were mostly related to Eisengrund’s relations with Marbach, as well as their short border with Hohenfels. Said border was a major point of contention in the houses’ ongoing rivalry, with more forged documents involved than the bleak region had inhabitants. What it did, however, have, was an abundance of iron mines.

He had to stop himself from ranting multiple times, worried that he might let slip something important if he got too heated. She radiated disappointment and frustration whenever he changed topics, which confirmed that this was exactly what she was aiming for.

Arne couldn’t wait to take a hot bath and curl up under his blanket.

= = = = =

“I’m afraid I will have to refer you to my cousin, Lady Katharina.”

Dealing with Young Lord Friedrich von Hohenfels-Steinberg was neither more enjoyable nor easier than dealing with his princely cousin, Katharina noted. The hulk of a man was staring at her, woodenly repeating the same three lines whenever she tried to subtly inquire about… anything, really.

Had Prince Arnold given him instructions on how to deal with her?

Friedrich himself was not a conversationalist. He clearly preferred to communicate with his blade. A type of man she had vast experience dealing with, thanks to her mother’s instruction. Yet, he circumvented all of her attempts by simply stonewalling her.

It was infuriating. She had expected him, the son of a lesser count not holding imperial immediacy, to treat her with a lot more deference. However, he did not care about that in the slightest. His entire demeanor screamed aversion and condescension.

Interestingly, this disdain extended to the majority of the lesser noblemen he had been sparring with when she found him, which meant that it was not a matter of gender to him. A very important distinction, since it drastically reduced her options. The classic ‘naive damsel’ act wouldn’t work on him, for example. He seemed to view everyone who did not meet his standards – whatever those were – as a damsel of sorts.

Still, that line of thinking gave her an idea. From what she heard, the bout in the colosseum had not been directly between Prince Arnold and Princess Klara. Instead, Lord Friedrich had faced her in the arena, rising to the insults given. That fit in very well with her assessment of both cousins, with the prince not seeming prone to spontaneous outbursts.

“I shall endeavour to take it up with His Highness, then. Thank you, Lord Friedrich.”

He did not even deign to bid her goodbye, simply nodding and turning away instead.

“Oh, excuse me, one more thing, Lord Friedrich,” she said, trying to keep any irritation out of her voice. She hated to be so crude, but those damnable cousins left her no choice.

Once again, he made no attempts at hiding his deep sigh. Annoyance was written all over his features, but despite his obvious misgivings he could not ignore someone of her standing.

“Yes, Lady Katharina?”

“I heard from a friend that Princess Klara von Eisenberg–” her words suddenly seemed stuck in her throat as Friedrich’s expression went from moderate annoyance to sheer fury.

“Yes?” he growled, his aura expanding and very rudely pressing against her own. The oppressive magic he radiated was like a herd of charging bulls, enraged and ready to trample anything in their path.

She cut through it with her own; a slim and elegant dagger clearing just enough space for her to breathe freely.

Friedrich’s demeanor changed drastically, the change so sudden that Katharina found herself taken aback. He was still openly furious, but the condescension had vanished in its entirety.

“Ahem. I heard that Princess Klara von Eisenberg delivered some rather severe insults. Is that true?”

“It is,” he replied darkly.

“I… I see. Will there be another duel?”

“Maybe. Take it up with my cousin.”

‘Back to stonewalling me, hmm?’ “I will do that, then. Have a good day, Lord Friedrich.”

“Likewise, Lady Katharina.”