Tyranny of Steel

Berengar sat in the gardens of his Imperial Palace while dressed in a rather simple outfit. He was wearing nothing more than a silk dress shirt, a pair of nice tailored slacks, and some leather oxfords. Meanwhile, the man sitting across from him was a dear old friend.

Eckhard was a man well past the prime of his life at this point. In fact, he was in his seventies now, and had grown quite feeble over the years. In truth, he did not know how much longer he was for this world, and as a result, he wanted to visit the Kaiser one last time before finally entering the grave.

It had been over thirty years since these two men first met, and at the time, Eckhard was swayed by Berengar's vision for the future, but no matter what the man may have told him, the wayward knight never would have believed that within his lifetime, the world would change so vastly.

The two men sat at a table in the gardens. The air was nice and warm, but cool enough that the small breeze was nothing but soothing. While sipping on some tea, the two men played a game of chess, which Eckhard could not help but curse with each move he made.

Ultimately, as time passed, he focused less on the game, and more on the conversation he was having with the Kaiser, who seemed to be in quite a cheerful mood despite both of them knowing this was likely the last time they would ever meet.

As the game came to a close, Eckhard sighed heavily, and gave voice to the thoughts he had kept locked away inside his heart and mind for so many years.

"I look around the world today, and I must admit that I do not recognize it. So much has changed, and in such a short time. I wish I had been younger, so that I could see all that your children will accomplish after you have retired, but unfortunately I fear I am not long for this world."

Berengar did not say anything for the longest time, and it appeared at first that he was focused entirely on the game of chess, and how to best his opponent. However, just when Eckhard thought he might never be able to beat the man in a noble pursuit, Berengar made a gesture of solidarity, as he advanced his King straight into one of Eckhard's pawns.

Eckhard gasped as he saw the Kaiser make such a suicidal move. And was quick to voice his disagreement with it with a rather foul tone.

"I do not need your pity, Berengar! Thirty years we have been playing this game, and I will be damned if the one time I win is because you felt pity for me and decided to give up!"

These were just the words Berengar wanted to hear, as he wore a bitter smile and posed a question to Eckhard that the man was not the least bit expecting.

"Are you sure I am the one giving up?"

At first, the meaning behind these words went straight over Eckhard's head until he realized just what Berengar was asking him. When he heard this, his expression turned into a frown before the elderly man scoffed in disdain.

"Is that what you call it? Berengar, from my perspective, I should have been dead a long time ago, and if not for your damned medicine, I would have! Are you trying to tell me to keep living when my body has practically given up on me? What would be the point of such suffering?"

However, upon hearing this, Berengar responded to Eckhard's remark in the same way he had done to him, a scoff filled with disdain.

"Yes, it is the medicine I introduced to this world that has allowed you to live well beyond that which men are supposed to. But does that mean you can throw yours away so easily? I know men in their eighties who are still vibrant and healthy despite being older than you are now.

You have no terminal illness, so what is your excuse for wasting away these past thirty years? If I knew this was what you would become in your old age, I would have ensured you had a personal trainer whose entire job was to encourage you to maintain a strict workout routine!

Your mind broke long before your body did, and that is where the problem lies. You retired at such a young age, for a man with such a prominent position, and it was because of what you had seen in the wars I waged. Something which haunts you even now. Am I wrong?"

Eckhard did not speak, instead he simply looked away from Berengar and clicked his tongue in disagreement. Which Berengar immediately spoke up against.

"Try as you might to deny it, you have given up, and you did so decades ago. How many grandchildren do you have Eckhard? As far as I know, you took five wives, and over the last thirty years, you had several children with all of them.

By now, some of them must have gotten married and started families of their own. Do you not look forward to the smiles on those kids' faces each and every day? Are they not a reason to get out of bed in the morning, and ensure that you are healthy, so you can see them grow up, and get married?

When I finally die of old age, I hope it is when I have lived to be a hundred, or perhaps even older, and can gaze upon four or five generations of my family, and the world they have built together. That is my reason to get up each and every morning, and fulfill the same daily exercise that I have been doing since I was twenty.

Have you ever considered that by allowing yourself to waste away to such a state, you were engaging in the ultimate form of selfishness? So, you have two options Eckhard, you embrace your death, and enter the grave at the age of eighty, or you can get out of that damned chair, and run across these gardens with me and live another thirty years, and see just what this world has to offer, now that our people no longer have to worry about war, or famine, or disease like we used to!"

Eckhard stubbornly refused to answer Berengar's question, and sat still for several moments in complete and utter silence, so much so that Berengar thought perhaps death had come for the man at that very moment. But when he saw the man finally breathe, Berengar couldn't take it any longer and began to yell at Eckhard.

"Damn you, old man! My father is even older than you, and he is still running around with his two wives, as if he could not possibly be happier! Even after all the guilt he has had to suffer through for the way that Lambert turned out, he still has the strength to live! So why don't you? Explain to me, just what you have done that is so horrific, that you must embrace your death, when you could still live another thirty years!

We did what we had to, against a world of enemies, to create the world as it is today! Look around you Eckhard! And you tell me, if the world would have been better off, without the actions you took! Without the wars you fought! Would the world be any better under the tyranny of the Papacy? Because I assure you, far more men would have died in the coming years if we had not stepped up and took control!"

After hearing all of this, Eckhard stood up from his chair and knocked the chessboard onto the stone tiles which sat beneath his feet. He then stared at Berengar in silence for the longest time, before saying the words that Berengar wanted to hear.

"Damn you Berengar! Damn you to hell for making an old man suffer through another thirty years of aging! Alright, fine! You want to me to run around this garden! I will show you just who has gotten old!"

After saying this, Eckhard began to jog at a pace that was considerable when taking into account his current feeble state. And though Berengar who was in the peak of physical condition, even in his fifties, could run laps around Eckhard, he strolled by the man's side, matching his speed, while taunting him, knowing that every venomous word he spoke, would inspire the man to live, and improve his condition.

By the time Eckhard had run a single lap around the garden, he collapsed to his knees and stared up at the setting sun with a smile on his face. After thirty years of wasting away, he had forgotten what it was like to get his blood pumping so fiercely, for which he could not help but shake his head and sigh in lament, while commenting about his current physical state.

"So weak... How did I ever let myself deteriorate to such an extent? Damn that woman!"

Obviously he was referring to his first wife, who he had married for political purposes, and had caused him quite a bit of grief throughout their twenty odd some years of marriage.

When Berengar heard this he chuckled, before making a comment which Eckhard could not help but laugh at.

"It's like I always say, a woman can either make or break a man! Clearly Martha has taken a toll on you, one you should not have had to endure. Well, you can't let the bitch have the last laugh now, can you? Live Eckhard, and together we can enjoy the peaceful world that we have created through our sweat, blood, and tears..."

Eckhard took a deep breath in order to get his heart rate under control, and after inhaling and exhaling for several moments, he finally responded with a single word.

"Aye..."