Of Pride and Power - 22. Chapter 22: “Create compelling spectacles”

September 25^th, 1555 has no positive meaning to the people in this timeline, but it was a seminal date in history in my timeline. Within my history, it marked the Peace of Augsburg, a watershed peace agreement that would set new standards for centuries to come. The consequence of this peace treaty between incessant numerically inferior Protestant forces and exhausted numerically superior Catholic forces marked the end of medieval institutions and concepts. In its place, two major cornerstones of national and international policy were formed. The term “Cuius regio, Euius religio” means “To Whose land, To Whom Religion”, ending the concept of the medieval “Christian Kingdom” or Christendom as a secular concept, beginning the long process toward religious freedom and eventually freedoms of speech, association, and expression. In terms of international policy, it rejected the notion of “Dominus Mundi”, meaning “Lord of the World” or “Universal Monarch”, which was used by both Papal authority and the Holy Roman Empire at various times to secure power in various territories by religious affiliation. Suffice it to say, that the Peace of Augsburg did not occur as the technological advantage of the Papacy and Holy Roman Empire had reduced much of the German resistance. Instead, something far more insidious was announced on that date.

The Declaration of Aachen announced on this same day ended the wars of religion in Germany after a decisive defeat of Saxony’s Duke Maurice and the annihilation of Saxony’s capital, the city of Dresden, by the sky fortress. Aachen was the first capital of the Holy Roman Empire, under Charlemagne, so it was a symbolic choice. The announcement formally unified the lands of the Holy Roman Empire into the “Zweites Deutsches Reich” or “Second German Realm”. It declared Charles V and all his successors, “Uber Kaiser” or “Supreme Emperor”. It also conferred on Philip II, Charle’s son and current, king of Spain, Kaiser-Erbe, as successor to Charles V. It recognized Italy and France as part of “Novum Romanum” or “New Rome” under the authority of the Papacy and its hereditary Medici family, who had supreme divine authority. The child of Philip and Elizabeth, a daughter of Catherine Medici, will inherit the dual authorities.

When the word of the declaration and the surrounding events reached me from William Paulet, I was shocked. I knew the war in Europe would eventually turn in the Holy Roman Empire and the church’s favor due to its technological advantages, but I did not expect it to occur so soon. Chief among the reasons for the victory was the complete obliteration of Dresden in a single blast. The sky fortress had never been mentioned in the past as a weapon used by the empire or the church in the wars, so I assumed it was a weapon built by both parties in coordination recently.

In an era with barely a semblance of gunpowder weapons, a railgun with the effective force of gigatons worth of explosives would seem insurmountable to most nobles. I was lucky that the display of the Sky Fortress’ weapons was precise and limited in London; otherwise, the morale damage would not be something I could overcome easily. Even among the Fair Folk, the level of devastation such a weapon could create might have caused their faith to waver. However, word of this massive shift in the war within the Holy Roman Empire will become a rallying point for Mary and her allies. Implied military strength from her allies could cement her reign in England. I had planned Operation Golden Fleece to disrupt the suzerainty over the British Isles and cut off support to allies in England and Scotland, but I knew something more dramatic needed to be done. However, I couldn’t do what I wanted with the resources that I currently possessed, I needed the blue orb that Stephen Gardiner had used.

I guessed that the Sky Fortress required two orbs at least to operate, one being used as a power source, and the other one being used as a computer processor to handle operations as I doubted the specialized training of Imperial and Papal troops would cover things like that. Their handling of heavy field artillery, armored vehicles, and even light aircraft resembling single-engine propeller biplanes could be achieved with modern trainers and military drills from a training course of six to nine months with some screenings for reflexes and aptitude as the US military undertook during the World Wars with fresh recruits. However, advanced maintenance and equipment calibrations of the Sky Fortress, being akin to a nuclear aircraft carrier, were far beyond their abilities to teach or prepare a medieval population without even rudimentary basic education. Even for the 21^st century militaries with non-commissioned officers with specialties in electronics, hydraulics, communications, and other fields would have a hard time with something like a small flying city, it was another reason why such a weapons platform vehicle was never made. Artificial intelligence could solve the human manpower issue, if the program was intuitive enough and adaptive enough, but no system at the time of my death could achieve that level of performance. The blue orb, or holy core as Stephen Gardiner called it, was ideal for that. It also had the benefit of lacking human empathy and operated completely under instructions without a doubt.

While worried about the blue orbs’ origins, I knew they were necessary resources for anyone competing for hegemony or even survival in the current world. That is why I decided to steal the ones that Mary possessed. It was obvious that she and her entourage did not have the skills or imagination to utilize those things to their fullest extent. Reginald Pole was probably a transplant from the future like me, but he did not appear to have any abilities like me or Robert. Based on their dependence on technology and these orbs, I would hazard to guess that neither the church nor the Empire had access to these abilities.

Of course, a caper is not going to be easy; maybe not Ocean’s Eleven level of intricacy, but it will still require a bit of planning. For one thing, I couldn’t leave London without Mary and her allies declaring me a traitor. After the confrontation in the audience room, I decided that remaining in London was a means to reduce the oversight of my territories and the discovery of industrialization within it. Second, the orb that Mary's subordinates possessed was likely heavily guarded in a secure location, the orbs were not located around the Tower Palace complex in London as far as I could tell. Finally, even after the capture of the orb, the disappearance of the orb cannot be pinned on me or anyone associated with me. After what happened to Puck, I could not leave anyone open to suspicion again. In all the manga and anime series, it was easy to insert someone close to you with expertise in a field into an enemy camp, but it was a bad idea, especially since they would be recognized by others. While Puck was the best suited to create carcinogenic ingredients for Mary in a slow build-up, he was previously my valet during Edward’s reign. Note to my descendants, if you employ intelligence agents, you should never ask your friends, no matter how well-suited they are for the task. Puck lost his ear, hand, and foot due to my carelessness and childish imagination.

For this heist to succeed, I needed a lot of assistance from various people and groups, operating independently and interdependently. My first task was to send a simple note to Hatch Beauchamp Manor for the preparation to transfer a seventy-seven-foot tall by seventy-seven-foot wide by seven-foot depth pure gold cross as a gift to express my loyalty to Queen Mary and the Catholic Church. I did this publicly, knowing it would be reviewed by Mary’s advisers. While technically possible due to the gold mines located within western England’s Cornwall region, along with rich gold veins in Wales, it would be an expensive task to undertake. Using the international medium of exchange known as the Venetian Ducat gold coin, which has 3.442 grams of pure gold pure coin, I was asking my territory to produce 500 million Venetian Ducat coins in gold, if the entire volume was filled in with gold. In the value of money from my own time, it would be worth $85 billion United States Dollars. Of course, Robert’s ability was akin to the mythical Midas touch, so it would be a simple matter to create something like that if the workers could produce an appropriate template for him to convert. That kind of golden spectacle will be enough enticement to draw everyone’s attention. Next, I needed an opening to appear to lay the enticement.

In the following spring of 1556, I received that opening with the elevation of William Petow to Cardinal and Papal legate to the Scottish court. In my history, William Petow was originally the replacement Papal ambassador for Reginald Pole to the English Court of Mary I due to the newly elected Pope Paul IV’s antipathy toward Cardinal Pole. However, with a single Papal reign under the Medici family with Peter II, there was no shift in policy or internal competition among the powerful Catholic leadership. Scotland of course was facing internal strife with John Knox spreading a modified version of his original message against the Mary of Guise as regent, aided by me in secret. As his distrust and hatred of the Church and the French forces currently stationed in Scotland via Guise family connection grew, the need for a formal Papal legate to Scotland became a necessity to prevent a civil uprising as it would occur in 1557. At the news of William Petow's elevation and the feast that would be hosted by Mary’s court for him with various members of the Papacy in London for the conferring ceremony in a week, I sent my message to Hatch Beauchamp Manor to bring the gift.

Within five days of my message, a massive seventy-seven-foot-tall gold cross appeared in the morning light on the bank of the Thames River. By the account that I heard later, it was the greatest spectacle that any noble of the court had ever seen to that point. Robert, Ambrose, and several others had sat beneath the shadow of the Golden Cross when the various people of London reached them. They told everyone that it was a gift from Duke Eli to the Queen and Church. Nobles and commoners had never thought much about my wealth, but at the sight of the golden cross, they could not help by ponder. Mary and the church dignitaries, who saw the cross were equally mesmerized by the brilliant glimmer of the gold. Some questioned if it was hollow, which Robert answered in the negative, extolling the cost of filling this cross with pure gold. Some papal emissaries argued that it was not truly gold rather it was an illusion created by composite metals. Robert argued with them that it was gold, up to the point that Stephen Gardiner brought out the blue orb to identify the material. Once the volume and purity of gold were confirmed, Stephen Gardiner gasped in astonishment at the gold cross.

Robert, being among the discovery party in Cornwall, where we found our blue orb, added a radioactive isotope marker on the orb as Stephen Gardiner used it. I knew that Robert would instinctively understand why I had him make such a massive display when he saw the blue orb. Marking the orb will allow me to discover its hiding spot, along with potentially any other orbs that might exist in London. As William Petow would be journeying to Scotland after her conferring ceremony, I knew there would be some movement in the blue orbs as William Petow would probably be granted one for his position just as Stephen Gardiner as Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of England. Capturing two of these orbs would allow me to create something that could match their sky fortress.

Upon confirmation of my gift, I was requested to have an audience with Queen Mary and her full court after the conferring ceremony. Instead of the quiet meeting I had previously undergone during her failed pregnancy, the audience hall was a buzz of activity. Various nobles approached me, asking about my interests and hobbies, including open invitations to bedroom activities with their servants or even their teenage sons, usually third sons or lesser grades. That’s part of the unhappy reality of noble politics that transcends any era, using sexual favors as bargaining chips for power. Luckily, I did not have to entertain these conversations for long as I was requested by Queen Mary and King consort Reginald.

Queen Mary did not look well; her complexion had shifted into a very dour and unhealthy appearance. Using my inner sense, I could tell that she had not healed from her failed pregnancy as the expulsion of the fully formed dead fetus inside her had created some internal scarring. Worst of all, her body chemistry was not addressed properly after the pregnancy to rebalance her hormonal production and clear blood clots. There was an abnormal amount of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is the area most associated with social interaction and decision-making, probably due to untreated issues from her failed pregnancy. Despite what I found with my inner sight, the physical abnormalities and injuries would not prevent her from getting pregnant again or producing another healthy offspring. However, the greatest issue wasn’t her ability to create an heir, it was the abnormal brain activity, which I did not analyze deeper. I do not focus my attention on human psychology, like Francis with his life experience assimilation skill at someone’s death. Information on physical health is focused on narrow fields of interest, mental health is more holistic and requires far more care.

At that moment, everything seemed fine on the surface.

Mary greeted me in a friendly manner, “Duke Eli, what tidings do you bring to my court?”

I replied with an earnest tone, “A token of my affection, a gift to bring comfort and strength in these grand times. I have commissioned a golden cross spanning seventy-seven feet in width and height to symbolize my solidarity with your court and my commitment to God.”

King Reginald, who had been suspicious of me during the first audience, asked, “Duke Eli, I seek clarity on the magnificent golden cross bestowed upon the queen. It is a remarkable gift.”

I answered, “My king, I welcome your inquiries. The cross was crafted with the utmost care to be used as a gift for the Queen from the moment of her ascension three years ago.”

Stephen Gardiner, standing next to the Queen and King, continued the inquiry, “The craftsmanship is indeed unparalleled. However, we are interested in the origins of such a grand undertaking. Could you shed light on where the gold was sourced and the artisans responsible for its creation?”

Smiling, I replied, “Of course, my lords. The gold for this cross was diligently mined over five years from the rich deposits in Cornwall and Wales. The most skilled goldsmiths in the region were commissioned to ensure its perfection.”

Essentially, Robert had produced 23 ^2/3rd-carat quality gold, which is equivalent to the best gold available with 16th-century refining and manufacturing techniques. 24-carat gold would have raised suspicions about the processing without modern technology, while lesser-grade gold would not have created such a spectacle among the court. Gold is merely a transition metal with its value tied traditionally to rarity rather than functional purposes until the Industrial Revolution. To be honest, humanity’s reliance on gold as a means of value was unnecessary, but it did prove helpful in quantifying the physical wealth of an individual.

King Reginald Pole probed deeper, “Cornwall and Wales, you say? It is a considerable endeavor, considering the scale of the cross. The resources required for such a venture must have been substantial.”

Their intelligence network in western England had been severed by Francis and me years ago through a combination of exiles and assassinations, so I knew they had relatively little information about the capabilities or capacities of the current gold mines. Historical records of this period were sketchy at best about the production of gold, so my lies would not be easily discovered.

I carefully worded my answer, “Indeed, the undertaking was significant. I deemed it a fitting tribute to the queen's unwavering faith and strength. Do you not agree that our Queen deserved no less?”

King Reginald was taken aback by my retort, “A noble sentiment, Duke Eli. Yet, forgive us if we press further. The sheer magnitude of this golden marvel raises questions about the scale of the operation. Were the crown's resources solely dedicated to this project? Did this impact the flow of our treasury and coinage?”

At that question, Robert came up to my side and brought a leather-bound ledger, “Rest assured, my lords, the resources were allocated with due consideration as you can see here. The project did require substantial effort, but the mines were not affected based on the current standards established by King Henry VIII’s and Edward VI’s courts. I can explain…”

To cover our tracks, Robert used an accounting trick that was a major issue during Mary’s historic reign as well due to coinage. The old standard of gold within coins had been set to around 20 carats of gold or 83% gold purity, but due to the early imprisonment of Edward Seymore, no one reversed the law to increase the quantity of gold in coins. Furthermore, due to the reduction in the size of Sovereign gold coins to a third of their original size, the gold requirement was further reduced. An English Sovereign gold coin from 1556 contained 56% pure gold compared to a coin from 1540 containing an equivalent of 98% pure gold. By presenting these facts to the court, we demonstrated where the gold came from for the cross, shocking everyone and emphasizing my loyalty to Mary. Of course, the real excess gold that was mined in Cornwall and Wales was used to pay the wages of the workers within my workshops and hidden factories. Robert never had to use his alchemy-like ability to make gold for me until this event as a result. A bit of the truth hidden inside a lie made the entire affair less suspicious.

Gleefully, Mary interrupted her subordinates as she had heard enough of Robert’s explanation for the Gold Cross, “Your thoughtfulness warms my heart, Duke Eli. You have lit up the burden I carry with this treasure of gold. Rest assured; you are recognized as a loyal subject.”

While revealing the gold debasement issue to Mary was a calculated risk, what we would get in exchange for two years’ worth of additional gold shipments would be worth it. First, I had secured my and Puck’s freedom from the Tower with the gift. I allowed Ambrose to carry Puck away to our Cadbury Hill facility in western England, at this point his loyalties had long been settled with his harrowing rescue of Edward from London, so he operated as a trusted aide. Regrowing an ear, hand, or foot is possible with stem-cell-based technologies, but it would require a series of complex procedures with Robert and me working in tandem. Puck would have to suffer for a while longer, but luckily, he was in the care of someone who would love him unconditionally. I did not know until far later that Edward would be part of Puck’s support team. Their relationship is quite complex, but we were just happy Puck had a support system.

Next, Robert and I began our attempt to steal the orbs in Mary’s possession before the ceremony. Robert and I both possessed superhuman abilities and it was simpler to have just the two of us doing something dangerous like this. Despite the danger, it was kind of fun to do stuff like that with him, like we were kids again, having one of our old roleplaying sessions. Robert may sigh and groan about the dangerous situation, but I know he loved it as well based on the tent in his pants. Considering our shared interest in sexual roleplay, it’s part of our relationship dynamic to do things like this. Finding the radioactive isotope was simple with my abilities, the trail led us to a well-known church that has been recently renovated. Saint-Giles-Without-Cripplegate Church was a good location near a major transit point for transferring items, plus the repairs due to a fire in 1545 had granted additional security with expansions in addition to the 11th-century perpendicular gothic church. As the materials within were important, even at night, there was a sizable guard presence within the church. I counted a total of six papal soldiers with handguns along with a dozen other individuals. Robert doubted his tainted drink trick would work against these guards since they were taking turns for rest periods. That is where my ability came into play, by temporarily reducing glycogen in the brain of these guards, I stimulated the production of adenosine, the chemical in the brain responsible for sleep. While it took longer to be effective than the drugs that Robert could create, it worked the same after an hour. Everyone in the church had fallen asleep when we made our way in and went down to the crypt of the church where the orbs were hidden along with the other holy relics.

In the crypt, two locked chests, one with the Scottish coat of arms and the other with the English coat of arms. The Scottish chest contained 1 orb and the English chest contained 2 orbs, which surprised me. I had not considered that Reginald Pole also possessed one of these orbs as well, but being a high-ranking member of the church, it would make sense that he had an orb as well.

Robert and I touched the three orbs, causing a blue light to emit. I verbally commanded them, “Override your prior orders and reset defaults to only accept commands to individuals designated by the two individuals in physical contact with other cores within a five-meter proximity.”

The orbs shined blue light on the two of us, then spoke in one voice, “Command override accepted, tracking system disabled, and new network connection enabled. Awaiting further instructions from individuals identified as Eric Meeks and Jack Hume.”

Robert smirked at the mention of our old names, “Well that was easy, so how do we get these things out of London without raising suspicion?”

I laughed, “We aren’t going to do anything. Someone will be carrying these precious objects out of London for us in a day without ever being searched due to diplomatic immunity.”

Robert looked at the box with the Scottish coat of arms containing the single orb, “Interesting, but even if we intercept them en route to Scotland, it’s going to raise a lot of issues.”

I shook my head, “We’re not going to intercept them, we’re going to help Mary catch them in the act of stealing her orbs. So, we need to wait for our opportunity in Mary’s court after the departure of William Petow.”

We moved all three orbs into the Scottish chest and resealed both chests, leaving no trace of our visit to the church that night. However, Robert and I did not journey to one of my taverns or public residences in London, instead, we visited the Gold Cross sitting by the Thames. Stephen Gardiner had ordered a sizable detachment of royal guards to protect the Golden Cross, but it would be useless against my ability. Displacing soil at the correct angles and depths can cause instability of standing objects, especially near a body of water like the Thames River. Robert had no interest in allowing Mary or her court access to such a large piece of wealth, so he had planned from the start to sink the gold cross into the river, making it harder for Mary to access. The soil that the gold cross was planted on was softened by Robert and the cross had already begun to tilt slightly. His method would take several days to implement and accelerating it would require him to be within 300 feet. My ability to displace matter for a set amount of time was based on a line of sight, so it allowed us to make this a reality immediately. I also wanted to show off to Robert that I had mastered the “spooky” ability by making the entire seventy-seven-foot-tall gold cross disappear underneath the water after I had caused the soil to disappear. The golden cross would not reappear again for 36 hours, the maximum extent I could delay an object's reappearance.

When the gold cross fell into the river, Robert turned to look at me with a frown, “You know that stuff is freaky. It’s like you are creating a hole in the universe, where matter should be. When you do it, I feel like someone is walking over my grave or something. I understand your explanation of what it is, and the quantum mechanics checks out, but this power is not something human beings should have.”

I teased Robert on this point, “It’s no different than your gift to create various elements, states of matter, and even complex compounds with your thoughts. It’s kind of cool like we’re the embodiments of creation and destruction. Manga and anime do that all the time with their hero and villain or hero and their partners, it’s not that wild. Besides, I am not destroying anything, I am just transferring them to a future point in time.”

He sighed, “The Hindu belief system is different than what those mangas reference. Your power over information and moving matter into a future point of entanglement is a different kind of transformation that shouldn’t happen in nature at such scales. I worry about using my ability on big-scale stuff, despite knowing that I could do it. I feel like these powers are not meant for us. At the center of all of this, we’re like living gods with these kinds of powers. I fear a mistake would cause a lot of unknown harm every time I use my abilities. A butterfly effect is made with an action or lack of action.”

Robert is my partner and the other half of my soul for a reason. He was completely right about the cavalier way I used the power, but at that time, I was trying to show off to him rather than accept the Spiderman adage of “great power, great responsibility”. We had always been equal in terms of our relationship and our power dynamic. That’s why we worked as a couple for two lifetimes. The inclusion of knowledge and superhuman abilities created an imbalance in our relationship. Robert could manipulate matter in whatever way his heart desired, while all I could do was analyze things and give information. Robert also had knowledge hidden away within him, which despite his conscious rejection, I knew he was subconsciously using as I noticed he did not need my assistance as other fair folk for various projects, like the solar-powered water heating unit. His ability to manipulate matter also grew over time from needing to physically touch objects to manipulate them to now doing that within 1,000 feet. My power was redundant to my boyfriend since he knew a lot already and the shared telepathic ability was too situational. My new ability to displace matter, essentially destroying objects from existence for a moment in time, rebalanced our dynamic.

However, we did not continue our discussion any further as we retreated from the frantic scene of royal guards attempting in vain to locate the sunken gold cross worth a sizable fortune. Robert went to one of my public residences in London and settled into bed in each other’s embrace for the first time in months. The next morning, we awoke and were summoned into court about the sunken gold cross in the Thames.

Mary was displeased with Stephen Gardiner and the royal guards at the river’s edge for allowing the priceless gold cross to sink into the river. Some soldiers had attempted to search for the cross in the water, but they were unsuccessful. As the orb could perform scans and analysis, it would be the natural tool to be used to find the golden cross. When Stephen Gardiner and Reginald Pole returned with shocked and bewildered expressions, I knew the first part of the plan had succeeded.

Queen Mary soon learned that the blue orbs that were bestowed upon her subordinates by the Pope himself had gone missing. Everyone was immediately suspected as a potential thief. Accusations abounded that included outrageous claims that the thief had also stolen the Golden Cross as well as the holy relics.

When chaos reigned in the audience hall, I waited for the voices to quiet slightly to offer my advice, “My Queen, I do not believe that anyone from our realm would commit the crime of stealing a holy relic bestowed by the Pope to you. How would they even escape this city? As I have seen, the city guards have kept a vigilant eye on all travelers entering and exiting, they have inspected all baggage coming in and going out for contraband. Surely, no one would be able to escape detection.”

Reginald Pole asked me pointedly, “Duke Eli, would you know of anyone that would want to steal such holy objects?”

I shook my head, “I do not, King Reginald, but I find it odd that both my priceless gold cross that was meant as a gift for the Queen and these holy relics disappeared so soon after the Scottish delegation departed our city.”

Murmurs began to grow among the nobles, while Queen Mary glared at Stephen Gardiner, then asked, “Were their baggage searched? They had a considerable group escorting William Petow, the papal legate to Edinburgh.”

Archbishop Stephen Gardiner shook his head, “We would not search a high-ranking member of the church, who was also bestowed a similar holy relic.”

Seeing the opening, I probed Stephen Gardiner, “Why would you not good, my lord? Even if William Petow is loyal to his holiness Pope Peter, how can we ascertain the loyalty of the Scottish contingent, who are followers of Mary from the House of Guise, a noble house with connections to Burgundy and France.”

Reginald Pole shook his head in disbelief, “It’s impossible that they would commit such a heinous crime.”

I continued my argument, adding suspicion, “Is Mary of Guise a true friend of the Queen? Is she a true ally of the Pope or the Uber-Kaiser? I would stake my own life on the answer as being nay. If we intercept William Petow and the Scottish escort now, we shall find proof.”

Confusion flashed between Stephen Gardiner and Reginald Pole, so I knew I had their attention where I wanted it. Mary of Guise was not involved in the conspiracy with the Holy Roman Empire or Papal State, nor was her family because they were essentially a minor power within the grand schemes of European affairs in the 16^th century. Conflicts over land, honor, and privileges were common with minor powers like the House of Guise. Mary of Guise had made no secret that she wanted to receive more Papal honors than Mary Tudor of England, nor were her loose connections to French aid less than Mary’s to the Papacy.

Queen Mary ordered her subordinates, “We cannot take the risk that Mary of Guise has conspired against us for her selfish whims. If no item is discovered amongst their baggage, then Duke Eli shall be charged with high treason and blasphemy in front of the Queen. If items are discovered amongst their baggage, then the plot will be revealed to the world and no more aid or comfort shall be rendered to Scotland from this day hence.”

As a result, a group of royal guards and noblemen including Stephen Gardiner and King Reginald Pole went out of London to intercept the Scottish escorts of William Petow. As the Scottish escort was traveling leisurely due to the size of their embassy and additional of the priests that William Petow was bringing to Scotland, it took no time to intercept them north of London. Upon hearing of the missing blue orbs, William Petow professed ignorance and brought out the Scottish chest containing 3 blue orbs that Robert and I placed in there the prior night. When he opened the chest in front of all the gathered soldiers, nobles, and officials, he was shocked at the discovery. Accusation swirled that the Scottish contingent of soldiers and priests had orchestrated this under the order of Mary of Guise, while counter-accusations were sounded by the Scottish contingent that the English were the ones behind this to steal the holy relic that the pope bestowed upon them. The papal guards raised their guns at the entire crowd and demanded that the chest and all the orbs within be placed in their baggage carriage to be transferred back to London, where the entire affair could be sorted. Once the locked chest was secure in the baggage carriage of the Papal Guards, I used my ability to delay the appearance of the chest until tomorrow night, when the triplets could procure and smuggle it back to my lands in western England.

When I got a chance to view and experiment with the orbs again, one week later, I noticed the energy output of the orbs was approximately 1 gigawatt per hour, which was equivalent to a standard nuclear reactor’s power output. When I saw them the first time, they could produce 500 kilowatts per hour, which was equivalent to an automobile engine with 700 horsepower. The presence of power output increase meant the orbs absorbed energy at some point equivalent to 2,000 times its original capacity. However, at that point, I did not have time to ponder on that particular mystery as consequences for what happened north of London began to spill over.

Due to this heist, I drove a wedge between Scotland, England, and the Papal/Imperial Alliance. Due to the missing orbs, all three political entities argued that the other must have been involved in an elaborate scheme to steal the treasure. Reginald Pole and Stephen Gardiner were discredited in the eyes of the Papal authority due to their inability to protect a valuable piece of technology, while William Petow was dismissed as a Cardinal and exiled to a convent under suspicions of being part of a conspiracy. Mary Tudor viciously professed Mary of Guise’s guilt with eyewitnesses, causing Catherine de Medici to withdraw her son’s Francis marriage plan to Mary of Guise’s daughter. French troops were still stationed on Scottish soil, but without the connection of royal blood, the French-Scottish alliance began to fray just as it would have in my history with the death of Francis, causing the dissolution of Mary of Scots marriage. However, Mary Tudor did not escape this incident untouched as the Church demanded compensation for the theft of property in England’s domain. They probably heard about the gold cross I had given to Mary, which reappeared after several days as I had planned beneath the waters of the Thames River and was salvaged by Papal agents with steam-powered lifts, then smelted for its gold.

I left London for my lands in the west three days after these events with Robert, along with the triplets and most of the royal court agents in London. After the debacle that occurred with the orbs and the golden cross, Mary and her subordinates would seek out vengeance in whatever form they could find. After what happened to Puck, I did not want to risk anyone else getting caught up in Mary’s interrogations. Under the pretext of Mary’s new quotas for gold mining, several hundred people were recruited by me, among which, two dozen servants and lower-ranking nobles in the royal court were my agents. Thomas Tallis remained behind as Royal musician and London’s bureau chief, despite my offer to relocate him as well.

News of disobedience and strife came from Wales, Northern England, and Ireland in late 1556 over her radical reforms, including reversing Henry VIII’s debasement policies, essentially causing an economic depression through deflation of the national currency by increasing the requirement of gold equivalence in coinage. Due to the difficulty of valuing gold within coins of different sizes, it was difficult to exchange older coins for the newly minted coins after her policy shift in 1556, especially in areas outside southern England itself. As a result, people were unable to gain “official” currency in her realm, creating instability with buying power and deflation due to the inability to buy goods. She believed she was being attacked unfairly for promoting an “English-First” policy. In early 1557, she enacted a new set of laws to continue her reforms throughout the realm, including arrests, seizure of lands, and loss of personal property. The law went far beyond just measures against Protestants. Many of the people she targeted belonged to minority populations in her realm with Scottish, Welsh, and Irish backgrounds that protested her policies. Due to the apparent betrayal of Scotland and the civil unrest in other areas, Mary pushed for pogroms against the non-English population.

In history, populist English anger due to poor domestic policies was directed against Spain during and after Mary’s reign, but, in this reality, Mary was able to direct the popular anger due to the bad economy to various groups within her realm. In my history, pogroms in Europe were most remembered against certain groups like Jews, Gypsies, and Muslims. However, in truth, less dominant ethnic groups within a nation were often targeted for persecution for reasons of suspicion and cultural issues, like the elimination of Cornish culture in England or the Romani diaspora in the Austrian Empire. Mary’s actions within Northern England and Wales resulted in the displacement of three hundred thousand people, but it hastened the development of Bristol as a result into the modern metropolis of today.

The worst was yet to be known though. Mary, along with other members of the Tudor dynasty, had committed atrocities in Ireland to subjugate the population to English rule, but it never dawned on me that the theft would have a radical effect on those historical events. In the next two years of her reign, millions of people would become homeless or die as a result. Due to the historical focus already against Irish natives, Ireland would be the most negatively affected, its population of nearly 1 million people was reduced to under 50,000 by the middle of 1558. An even worse kind of terror than ethnic persecution was visited on Ireland with the horrors of experimental “Culling points”, murdering entire villages with various semi-modern techniques. To this day, Irish free farmers are still finding mass graves.

I know all the suffering and deaths were due to my actions just as much as they were Mary’s directives.