Chapter 26: All's Fair In Love And War
His daughters were still beautiful, and their increasing age had, unlike the Contessa, provided a positive effect on their beauty. They had lost their shiny-eyed innoncence of youth, and gained a mature confidance about themselves. But, they were still getting older, and it didn't really matter if they were attractive or not. They just had to be fertile. With every passing year, their chances of having children dropped. So, Philippos renegaded on his original plans; Theodora would be the first to marry.
Unfortunaly, the Kaiser's sons were no longer available; in fact, no princes were available over the age of 15. So, Theodora would have to make do with less.
The famed and noble house of NO_TEXT_FOR_KEY HOUSE, more commonly known as the von Hofenstaufen's
He may not be a Prince, but at least he has the attractive trait
On the 4th of April, Philippos treacherous brother, Prince-Archbishop Manuel of Tripolitania died, an event that was celebrated with the marriage of Philippo's second daughter Eirene to Iordanes Komnenos, a distant relation from the Cairo branch of the family.
Keeping it in the family
After the conclusion of a war with Pisa over Bologna, Manuel's bastard son was made the Mayor of Bologna, making him the youngest Mayor of Bologna at just 9 years of age.
Having seen her older sisters married, Philippo's youngest daughter Anastasia yearned for marital bliss as well. So she found herself a man.
Whatever makes you happ-- yeah right, stay away from my daughter you Swedish meatball
The Emperor of course refused, and the guard was sent away from Constantinople, under penalty of death should he ever return. He never forgot Anastasia, but ultimately moved on with his life. Anastasia couldn't.
Telephrourus II found himself once more on the retreat.
"This will be my legacy. Losing all the Papal holdings. Damn the Emperor, damn his entire family, damn the Greeks and damn the Ecumenical Patriarch and his sordid religion!" The Pope tightened his hands into balls, his nails digging into his own flesh, drawing blood. He took no notice of the pain, concentrating on his hate.
"They'll get what they have coming to them, our 'allies' will see to that."
As Latium fell, Theodora was blessed with her first child; Philippos, named after his grandfather, and then Eirene too was blessed with a child whom she named Sophia. The two would become very close, too close in the opinion of many.
Hopefully he won't inherit certain traits from his namesake and grandfather
The birth of his first grandchildren did not lessen the Emperor's interest in conquest however. Their were many powerless Muslim lords in the east just waiting to be conquered. He also still had two daughters left.
"Another daughter married off. Only Anastasia is mine and mine alone. At least Theodora and Eirene are still here, if not wholly mine anymore."
His third child, Anna, was married to the third son of King Vysheslav I of Volga Bulgaria, a young man named Roman, on the 11th of January.
The King of Volga Bulgaria is monolethite, as is his second son, but Roman and his eldest brother are not... yet.
It would only be a few weeks later that the Volga Bulgarians would be called to honour their new alliance.
The general led his charge into the enemy force, devastating the Greek infidel ranks. Having finished decapitating a pathetic looking youth's head, he looked far over to his right and left to see his subordinate generals engaged in battle as well, winning. The general was a devout Sunni, but he was still a practical man; he knew that if the Greeks were given time to muster their forces, they could easily put to ruin the Jihad. Even with the advantage of this being their land, the general knew the Greeks had the shorter distance to travel. They could transport their armies in by ships and the land they had stolen was easier to travel across. He on the other hand, had to cross less friendly environments, with the majority of the armies being led by different leaders from different lands. The motive of their shared religion could not even bring them together.
But he was convinced all he had to do was destroy their armies before they could organise themselves. The Greeks and their Empire were spread out, not even with the assistance of their mighty ships and road networks could they unite their armies quickly enough. The general trampled a gray-haired Greek beneath his horse, not bothering to use his weapon. All was going according to plan, he thought.
The general could hear the sound of marching. He turned his eyes to his flank.
"Why are the reserves being brought up? I told them to wait for my command!" But they were not moving. He looked about for the source of the sound of soldiers moving, finding it on the opposite side of the field.
" How could they get here so quickly?" The general was outdated on his knowledge of Greek possessions in the region. Significant numbers of people had embraced their Greek rulers, and even more had embraced Orthodoxy. Very little reinforcements were needed from Greece or Italy.
The general brought his eyes back to where he was standing, and saw a few feet away from him, and elderly man with a white beard sitting on a horse, staring at the general. The old man reminded him of the previous infidel Emperor, whom he had seen when just a young soldier, at the Battle of Ma'an.
"This was my chance to prove myself to the Caliph, and attain something better for me and my children. It's over now." The old man grinned, mocking him. The general glared back with anger, flinging his armour and swears at the old man. He didn't hear the twang of arrows being released. The dust was beginning to swirl about from the melee, so he never saw the arrows rain down around him. None hit him. However, one Greek archer had developed hearing problems and released his arrow later than the others. His arrow struck the general, piercing though his chest. He fell to the ground, dead. The old man laughed.
The man captured was not the general mentioned in the story. He was just some guy I captured and executed
The Battle of Dibin was not the deciding battle of the war however. After it followed the Battle of Russeifa, Adra, and the Second Battle of Dibin. After these battles, no significant resistance could be raised in opposition to the Empire.
Despite the advantage the Empire now possessed, the war would last many more years, as the Caliph and his allies did whatever they could to keep the war going for as long as possible. At worst, they could destabilise the Empire; at best, they could hold out until the Pahrahids came. The arrival of the Pahrahids could spell doom for the Byzantine cause.
The Pahrahids would not be able to intervene however. Their time was coming to an end. The Seljuks would reclaim their throne, if only for a short time before being replaced again.
In 1191, tragedy struck the Komnenos. Anastasia, still upset over being denied marriage to her lover, simply "lost the will to live" and died at the age of 24. Philippos was wracked with guilt over his daughter's death. While he was cruel man, his did not enjoy seeing his daughters suffer. The next year, Basileus Philippos II would take the same path his daughter did.
Bereft of life, he rests in peace