DEATH IS ETERNAL #441 by GIC
THE MASK OF PAVIA and THE GOLD OF GOTHENBURG
Contents
THE MASK OF PAVIA (genre: capepunk)
THE GOLD OF GOTHENBURG (genre: caper story)
THE MASK OF PAVIA
Genre: capepunk
Inspiration: 1525 – A Spanish-Austrian army defeats a French army at the Battle of Pavia.
Word count: 502
The night air reeked of gunpowder and sweat. Smoke curled through the ruined streets of Pavia, where the Spanish-Austrian forces had driven the French into retreat.
Captain Diego de Valverde strode through the debris-littered plaza, his crimson cape billowing behind him. He adjusted the steel mask that concealed half his face—an old wound courtesy of Gascon blade years prior. Now, his foe lay in ruins. The French had underestimated them, and tonight, Diego intended to remind them why his name carried weight on both sides of the Alps.
A shadow moved atop a shattered carriage. Diego raised his pistol before the figure could fully emerge.
“Easy, Capitán,” said Johann von Kessel, a towering Austrian officer clad in black, his long coat torn from battle. “I thought you Spaniards had better trigger discipline.”
Diego lowered his weapon with a smirk. “And I thought you Austrians had better table manners, yet here you are, picking scraps off the battlefield.”
Johann chuckled and gestured to the ruined cathedral ahead. “Survivors are holed up inside. My scouts say their leader is still among them.”
“King François himself?” Diego asked.
Johann nodded. “If we take him alive, the war ends tonight.”
Diego sighed, rubbing his jaw. “I’d rather end it with a blade, not a treaty.”
“Fortunately, your preferences aren’t policy,” Johann flicked a silver coin into the air. “Shall we?”
The two men advanced, their boots crunching over broken stone. The cathedral doors were barricaded, but nothing an Austrian hand cannon couldn’t handle. With a thunderous blast, the entrance splintered open. Smoke and echoes filled the chamber as Diego and Johann stormed inside.
A handful of French chevaliers remained, their swords drawn in defiance. Among them stood a man in royal blue, his golden breastplate reflecting the moonlight. François I, proud even in defeat, held his rapier steady.
“Diego de Valverde,” François said, his voice like polished steel. “I thought you died at Bicocca.”
Diego grinned beneath his mask. “I thought you had better judgment than to march into an ambush.”
The French king lunged. Diego met him in kind, their blades ringing like church bells. François was skilled, but Diego had spent years fighting duels in the alleys of Madrid and the fields of Lombardy. He let the king strike first, parrying easily until the perfect opening revealed itself. With a flick of his wrist, Diego disarmed him. François fell to his knees, breathless.
Johann levelled his pistol. “It’s over.”
François straightened. “Then do it. Kill a king.”
Diego hesitated. The war could end in a single shot. Yet, as much as he despised the French crown, he had no love for the politics that followed a battlefield victory. He turned away, sheathing his sword.
“Lock him up,” he said. “Let Madrid decide his fate.”
Johann sighed and signalled his men. Diego stepped outside as the Austrians bound the king, breathing in the night air. Pavia was theirs. Spain and Austria had won the day.
But tomorrow, the war for Europe would begin anew.
The end
THE GOLD OF GOTHENBURG
Genre: caper story
Inspiration: 1875 – The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high-profile civil servants and dignitaries.
Word count: 1,080
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