Chapter 528: A Public Display Of Authority

General Reyneke Trossingen kneeled in chains in the center of the Kufstein Town Square. By his side was a company of Royal Guards, ensuring his protection from the enraged mob that surrounded him. He knelt alongside several dozen other prisoners who were guilty of various crimes, including High Treason. 

Without a trial, or even evidence presented before him, the Royal Guard had dragged the General out of his home the night before and ruthlessly interrogated him. Despite this unlawful abuse of authority, he knew his guilt well and thus hung his head low as he waited for his turn to be executed.

While gazing upon the scene with an expression filled with despair, Reyneke witnessed the King take the stand, and publically declare the guilt of the gathered prisoners so that all who bore witness knew the depths of their sins. 

"I know many of you have been wondering why my Royal Guard had invaded the homes of your neighbors and dragged them into the streets last night. I assure you that each person gathered here today is guilty of the most heinous crimes.

Each citizen gathered here in chains today, are guilty of a variety of criminal acts associated with the assassination attempt on my life, which you all know has resulted in the grievous injury of my little sister, your Princess! For these most heinous of sins, I hereby sentence them to death!"

The enraged mob who had gathered to witness this event screamed at the prisoners as they heard this news while hurling objects at them. 

"Death to the traitors! Burn in hell, you criminal scum!"

Although this sentencing was technically in violation of the Constitution, a large percentage of the city's population did not care in the slightest. From their perspective, this was quite a simple matter. The Royal Family was attacked at a peaceful event designed to honor the sacrifices of the Kingdom's valiant heroes, and these prisoners were in part responsible. Only blood would sate the appetite of the mob. After raising his hands to silence the enraged mob, Berengar called out the first name on his list. 

"Harthman Schmalbaggs, former member of Parliament. I find you guilty of high treason. As a member of parliament, you have aided criminal elements that are in part responsible for the attack on my life. I, King Berengar von Kufstein, first of mine name, sentence you to death by firing squad!"

After giving the formal sentence to the man, he was quickly dragged from his spot by the Royal Guard and placed before a stone wall. The man's appearance was haggard and bruised, much like the rest of the prisoners.

Evidently, his interrogators had beaten him severely the night before. Despite this abuse of power, the mob did not care. Instead, they relished in it. After being placed against the wall, a squad of Royal Guards loaded their G-22 rifles with .45-70 Spitzer cartridges and slammed the bolts homes. Having loading their weapons, the sergeant in charge issued his orders to the firing squad.

"Present Arms!"

The moment he had issued this command, the Royal Guardsmen lowered their rifles and aimed them at the target, awaiting the next order that would seal the traitors' fate.

"Fire!"

Without hesitation, the squad of ten men pulled their triggers, in doing so unleashing their projectiles downrange and into the target's torso. Ten bullets riddled the chest of the former member of Parliament, ending his life at that very moment. 

As if like clockwork, the Royal Guardsmen pulled back their bolts, in doing so ejecting their empty cartridge, before loading another into its place. Having done this, they shouldered their rifles in unison like a well-oiled machine. 

After reloading their weapons and pointing them in a safe direction, several other Royal Guards dragged the corpse away. The former parliament member's corpse made a bloody trail as the guards threw it into an empty cart. After disposing of the carcass, they lined the next prisoner up against the wall, where the King declared his crimes for all to bear witness. 

"Curt Harder, I find you guilty of High Treason. As a ringleader of the black market which provided the weapon to my would-be assassin, I sentence you to death by firing squad!"

The moment the gangster heard these words, he fell to his knees and sobbed as he pleaded for mercy. As a lowly criminal, he lacked the courage to face his death like a man. 

"Mercy, milord, mercy! I beg of you!"

However, such actions only further increased Berengar's hatred towards the man, forcing him to spit upon the ground in disgust. With the sentence provided, the Sergeant began issuing a familiar order to the soldiers beneath his command. 

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"Present Arms!"

However, before the soldiers could pull the trigger, another command echoed in the air with far more authority.

"Halt!"

When the prisoner heard this decree, he felt a sense of relief overwhelm him. Believing the King had granted him a stay of execution, he fell to his knees once more and pressed his head against the floor. 

"Thank you milord! I promise-"

Yet, before he could finish his groveling, Berengar sneered in disgust as he gave a far more cruel decree, one that replaced the prisoner's relief with overwhelming dread.

"This worm's behavior sickens me. Clearly, he is not worthy of a quick and painless death. Sergeant, remove his head with a dull blade!"

The King's orders were absolute. As a Sergeant of the Royal Guard, he had worked his way through the ranks of the Royal Army and proven his absolute loyalty to his monarch. Thus, the thought of rejecting this act of unnecessary cruelty did not even register in the man's head as he issued an order to his soldiers..

"Hold the man down and fetch me a dull blade!"

Two men grabbed hold of the prisoner, who had broken out into a fit of tears once more. The cruel fate that awaited his man filled him with so much despair that he could not even curse out his executioners for their ruthlessness. 

Eventually, a member of the royal guard brought forth an old long-sword. The blade of this weapon had not seen maintenance in many years. Not only was it dulled to an exceptional degree, but it was pitted with rust from years of neglect. When the soldier handed the sword over to his Sergeant, the man did not hesitate to raise the blade in the air and swung it down with all his strength onto the neck of his target. 

The dulled blade cut through the man's flesh from sheer force, and despite this, he was not dead, instead he yelped in pain as another swing brought the cold rusty steel down upon his bare neck once more. After half a dozen precise strikes, the man's head was severed and thrown into the cart with the rest of his body. 

Despite this unnecessary cruelty, the enraged mob shouted with joy as they witnessed the traitor who had provided the weapon to the assassin lose his head in a ruthless display of brutality. This acted as a deterrence for all the other prisoners. Not a single soul would dare to beg for mercy from the King after what had happened to Curt. 

One by one, the Royal Guard gathered the prisoners against the wall, where the King would declare the crimes they were guilty of. The sounds of gunfire repeatedly echoed in the air on this day as 102 men and women were lined against the wall and shot. As for the other twenty guilty individuals, they had perished the night before, as they foolishly resisted the might of the Austrian Crown. 

Eventually only one man remained, and that was the Former General Reyneke Trossingen he had witnessed the deaths of everyone else before him, and by now stared lifelessly at the crowd which cheered for his death. The King gazed upon him with a sense of utter disdain as he declared his guilt to the mob.

"This man is a former General of the Austrian Army. Because of his talents, I had personally tasked him with overseeing the Storage Facilities which housed our obsolete weapons, specifically those which were kept as a reserve in the event that our enemies ever invade the Fatherland. 

Not only did he personally sign off on the smuggling of these weapons into the hands of the black market, in doing so, being guilty of supplying the assassin with the weapon he used to horrifically injure my sister. He is also guilty of the most heinous of crimes against you the people of Austria. 

By selling our strategic reserve to our enemies, this man has greatly undermined our Kingdom's national security, and all of your lives in danger! I have already stripped him of his Rank as General and seized his previous honors. Now, I sentence Reyneke Trossingen to death!"

Upon hearing his King speak to him in such a vicious regard, Reyneke lowered his head before saying a silent prayer. After finishing, he gazed straight into the eyes of the firing squad as they lowered his weapons towards him. The last thing the man saw before gunfire echoed in the air, and claimed his life was the sinister smile on Berengar's face as he mouthed the words.

"Burn in hell!"

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