April 12th 1080: County of Agder
1078 was an unremarkable year, as Torstein and the three counties under his rule sought to repair themselves after the years of strife.
The year 1079 was notable for two reasons: First, Torstein gained a new tutor when a bishop sent to Agder by the Pope turned out to be a passable military mind and was so appointed the new marshal. Second, word of the Massacre of Agder had now spread to every capital in Europe and Torstein was by and large considered a cruel leader for ordering the slaughter.
In 1080, the relative peace of the last two years was once again broken.
"Your Lordship! There's a priest in Mide who is preaching against you and urging the locals to arms! His name is Father Liam Flannery and he means to force you to surrender Mide to the Church."
Cundo and Snofrid exchanged uneasy glances over the Count's head, while the bishop-Marshal just sat there, eating an apple with a glazed look in his eyes.
"Bring him to me. I will talk to him and everything will be fine again." Torstein smiled warmly at the messenger, who voiced his assent and exited the room.
"That's wonderful of you, Torstein! I'm so proud of you my son!" The count's mother could not conceal her delight at the more humane path being taken in this venture.
"Yes, very good indeed." In counterpoint, the Spy Master was not so enthused as the dowager Countess, but Snofrid had ceased to become excited about anything since Lodin's death.
Torstein simply smiled at them both, saying nothing.
Two weeks later
Father Flannery turned out to be a squat man with a red face and the heavy jowls of a bulldog. Indeed, with his compact form, short legs, and mincing walk, and his expressions, the peasantry and more affluent non-nobility often called him the Bulldog Priest, though never to his face.
"Mide must be returned to the Mother Church, Count Torstein! Your home is here in Norway. What need do you have with the Irish? Appoint Father Galtung to be Bishop of a new Bishophoric of Mide and the people everywhere will love you for your piety."
Torstein glanced sidelong at Trond, who presently was eating a group of grapes. A distant cousin of former Marshal Gudrod's, he did not show quite the military acumen that his relation had, but more than made up for it with his penchant for gluttony. After a few moments of study, he turned back to stare down at the defiant curate.
"I will not give up my teacher and I won't give up Mide! It's too important to me. You are not for me. Trond, remove this man's head!"
The friar did not attempt to flee, but instead allowed the guards to bring him down to a kneel, the ruddy face turned up nobly towards the boy-Count of three domains, his grey eyes gleaming with anger.
"Though you kill me this day, Count Torstein of Agder, you will come to rue your actions. If you are not punished here on this Earth, then God will damn your soul!"
These were the last words Father Flannery ever spoke, for in the next second, Marshal Trond's blade swung down and cleaved the priest's head from his shoulders. Blood sprayed everywhere, most of it getting on Torstein's royal regalia.
Snarling, the Count descended from his throne and stomped his small foot hard on the dismembered head's nose, shattering it.
"Heretic! Give his head to Mide!"
And so it came to pass that Father Flannery's head was shipped back to Mide and publically displayed.
Riots broke out immediately in Mide and the situation was once more dire for the of Agder family.
Already eight goldoons in the red, they now bled half a goldoon a month.
Mide and Agder were both in revolt and Dublin was still recovering from the scars of Olaf's pillage. Furthermore, Torstein was now widely condemned as a pagan barbarian throughout Europe.
Would tyrant Torstein recover from the blows? Or would the promise that the of Agder family once showed shrivel up and die away like the last leaf of fall?
The belatedly added new Marshal. Older than his cousin was when Gudrod died.