After my new title as the Despot of England, I found Byzantine events to be boring. They were still significant events to me if only because of how it made me realize how much I hated it here. Like how the Basileus decided to leave the safety of the mountains to go into the plains below.
Captain Obvious was nowhere to be found to tell him that this was a bad idea.
Though more troops were rushed to the battlefield, it was too little too late. The battle was lost, and any momentum we had was lost.
The Greeks proceeded to wipe out whatever had survived the previous battle. They also wiped out the rebels because they really wanted to wipe us out.
The Peasants probably did more damage to the Greek armies than the actual army did.
As another mass call up of troops was sent out, more mercenaries were hired to try and bring some respectability to our army.
Though the Basileus forced them to cross a river, the Imperials were still outnumbered 4:1.
To his credit, the Basileus refused to surrender even as the douxs called for peace.
After a few months, we consolidated our forces into 3500 men. Still way too few, but enough for a fighting chance.
Though our resolve was strong, we simply numbered too few men. When the French joined the Greeks, the war was essentially over. Still, we did not surrender.
After months of avoiding the Greeks and consolidating our forces, we numbered 6000 men. Still too small a force to fight, but if we found defensive ground, we could have a chance!
Though the Greeks were forced to cross a river to fight, it just wasn't enough as 2000 Frenchmen landed at Constantinople.
In a nice twist however, the Sultan of Rum declared war on the Greeks with the intent to take Nikea away from them. 9000 Turks rushed to destroy the French forces that had landed not a week earlier.
For whatever reason, the Basileus decided to surrender now. The city of Constantine, Constantinople, no longer belonged to the Romans. The peace deal angered many douxs, sadly too many were not willing to even question the Basileus, which meant nothing would come of their anger.
Constance sought more territory from Scotland, and hoped to weaken her northern neighbor.
Scotland was in the middle of several wars, and had been severely weakened. It was sure to be a victory for England!
The Basileus decided to discard his unpopularity and try to take more power for himself. "I have decided to institute a higher crown authority law in the Empire" the letter said. "SIZZ KRRR" went my fireplace as the letter burned.
Ironically, Constance had done the same thing. She likely had less enemies to deal with.
The Greeks had lost their war against the Turks, and their few holdings left in actual Greece were in rebellion by the nobles or the peasants.
The war fizzled out before anyone even died. Oh well.
I decided to take the time to improve my demense. More troops would mean I'm better protected. Of course my son wouldn't need this territory. He would have England!
The Basileus tried to take advantage of the Greeks dissolution just as they took advantage of us.
I don't understand the men of the cloth. If a god exists, he truly must have a sense of humor.
Castille however, must understand something. They have become the dominant Christian power on the peninsula. It is unclear if they can hold out against the Muslims, but if they do, they may be able to complete the Reconquista.
Word reached me from Constance that several of her dukes were rebelling against her and trying to place a family member on the throne. She was not worried and said it would be over in several months. I was never the optimistic one, but I wanted to believe her words. If only because I didn't want to imagine the alternative.
The country had been split. It only made me more nervous. I decided to focus on educating my grandchild to keep my mind off things.
When he arrived at my court, I found out that he was named Valerios. It was a good feeling.
Sadly, I could not keep my focus off England for long. Constance had run out of money, and the war was turning sour. I quickly dispatched a decent amount of money to her with the hopes she could fix whatever was wrong.
As I awoke in the morning, to an empty bed, I realized today was my 50th birthday! As I got up and looked into my mirror, I could see my age getting to me. I no longer had dark hair, my face was clearly aged, and the stress and years were getting to me. As I thought on it, I just grew more tired, I crawled back into bed and found myself unable to leave for the rest of the day. I wanted today to be a day of celebration, but I just felt so upset. So alone.
Back in Greece, the Basilus hoped to strike on the split off vassals of the Rum Sultanate. He quickly raised an army and marched to Trebizond.
Which ended immediately, after the vassal re swore an oath to the Sultan.
I wanted to strengthen my realm even more and invested into a larger barracks for my levy. Though expensive, my coffers were overflowing.
As I received more letters from Constance, in which she also sent a map of rebel controlled territory in England, I started to panic. I refused to allow this to happen. My wife would be Queen of England, my son is her heir. That was how it would be. That is how it would be...
I would find as many people who hated the Duke and hoped to conspire against him. That would end this rebellion. Then everything would be fine.
I found many willing people. The Duke was not surrounded by people he liked.
