The Prince's Revenge
The year was 1525. Many local farmers and miners were ready to strike. The Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg, Austria, was their target. They were tired, and the aristocracy had beaten them down to a point that they couldn't take it anymore. It was time for change. It was time to take out Prince-Archbishop Matthäus Lang. who was within the castle walls.
There was no plan. Armed with the tools of their trades, they planned to strike early. The cover of night would conceal their approach and they would hide until they could storm the castle when the guards were limited. A young farmer, Cristyne Bauer, had seen the damage done by the prince. She had seen what it had done to her family. She knew their revolt would fail.
Cristyne knew that many would be slaughtered. They were untrained fighters armed with pickaxes and shovels. Those poor lambs going to fight had faith they would win because they were on the right side. Cristyne knew better. She knew how to fight. She knew military strategy. She had been training herself for forty years for this battle.
When she was a little girl, she grew up reading stories about the revolt which cost so many lives. She always imagined going back and changing things. Saving all those people, including some of her ancestors, who perished in the fight. She studied the fortress. She traveled to Austria and lived there for years. She toured the castle many times. She made makeshift blueprints and planned her entry and possible escape routes. She also realized she might not make it out alive. Still, she felt compelled to help. She felt it was what she was born to do.
On January 18, 2017, Christyne left her apartment in Seattle, Washington and traveled to Salzburg, Austria in the year 1525. Her time travel methods were rudimentary and didn't allow her to carry any weapons. She would have to acquire a sword when she arrived. Upon her arrival, she was just outside the castle just before dawn.
She could feel the chill in the air as the morning sun pierced the darkness. She knew where the revolutionaries were, so she stayed near the rear of the castle. A guard was standing near a rear door. She saw the opportunity to not only gain a sword, but entry as well. She crept close enough to where she would not be detected by him. When the moment was right, her quick speed was her friend. She ran toward him and once she was a few feet away, she leapt to the castle wall, using the window seal nearby to boost her above the guard. Before he could react, she pulled the sword from his side and stabbed through a weak point of his armor. As the guard fell, Cristyne took a moment to catch her breath. It was the first time she had ever killed. She didn't know whether to savor it or ask forgiveness for it.
There wasn't much time to decide. She had to get inside. If her timing was right, the mob would be distracting the rest of the guards and give her easier access to the prince from the rear of the castle. Cristyne opened the door and crept in looking to ensure there was no one around. She knew the layout of the castle very well. It looked different after almost 500 years, but something didn't change. She went up the stairs quickly, but quietly. She would have to cut across the back hall, then slip through a couple of rooms whom she thought would be the least likely to be occupied. Her predictions were correct. Those rooms were vacant and allowed her swift access through a foyer into the prince's bedroom.
As she neared his door, she noticed it was already ajar. Before entering, she took a deep breath and said a quick prayer. She opened the door quietly and entered. Looking around the room, she didn't see the prince anywhere. She didn't know exactly where the prince would be, but she assumed the bedroom would be the obvious spot. She went to a window and could see the crowd of farmers trying to penetrate the castle. She was running out of time. If she didn't find the prince soon, so many would die.
She couldn't wait any longer. If the prince wasn't here, he must have gone toward the front of the castle to see the crowd. She left his room and rushed down a corridor toward the front. Guards were standing by in the hall and drew their swords as she approached. There was no time to fool with fools. She slid under the first guard, slicing the second's legs while grabbing his sword, jumping to her feet and penetrating the side of the first guard. Using her newly acquired sword, she sliced off the right hand of the third guard, causing his sword to fall. The guard fell to his knees, his eyes tearing as he begged for mercy. The guard was not Cristyne's concern. The prince was now in her sights.
The prince turned away from the window to see her dripping with blood and his guards on the ground; the life bleeding out of them. With the sword in her hand, she began running toward the prince. In a panic, the prince ran through the adjacent door and tried to flee to the mezzanine, but Cristyne was too fast. She jammed the sword through the crack in the door, preventing the prince from locking her and then threw him back with the door. He fell to the floor. He begged for mercy, but that isn't why Cristyne was there.
"Your blood is the only way to prevent this war. Today I avenge my ancestors!" Cristyne said.
The prince was confused not knowing who she was or what ancestors she was avenging, but he had didn't have long to think about it as the sword split the skin at his neck, slicing through arteries, muscles, and trachea separating his head from his body.
As his head hit the ground, it rolled to look at the assassin. The prince's body collapsed to the ground as Cristyne took a moment to breathe. That was her moment to savor. After a moment, she walked over, picked up the prince's head, and walked to the window.
"People!" Christyne yelled at the crowd. A few members of the mob noticed her holding the head out the window. She threw the head into the crowd, which, upon realizing whose head they had, cheered. As the crowds cheered, guards approached Cristyne from the rear. She ran, dashing into an adjacent room. The guards followed, but found nothing but a bloody sword. Cristyne was now back in 2017, but only briefly. Having changed this moment of history, 2017 shifted and Cristyne no longer existed.
