The death of Fredegundis brought no relief to Brunhildis. For two years more she struggled on against the intrigues of the Austrasian nobility; duke Wintrio, who led the opposition against her, was seized and executed in 598. [Sidenote: Exile of Brunhildis.] But in 599 a final rising took her by surprise, and she was forced to fly alone and unaccompanied from Metz to save her life. She escaped to Burgundy, where she took refuge with her younger grandson Theuderich, and was there received with all honour. Two successive Mayors of the Palace, Protadius and Claudius, both of Romano-Gallic blood, lent themselves to her schemes, and the royal power in Burgundy was still upheld by her strong hand. The curse of fratricidal wars was never to depart from the house of the Merovings. When Theudebert II. and Theuderich II. grew up and reached early manhood, they united for a moment to attack their cousin Chlothar, and to recover from him the lands between the Meuse, the Seine, and the Loire, with Paris, Rouen, and Tours. But soon after they fell to strife, and it would seem that the old Brunhildis was greatly to blame for its outbreak. She was burning to revenge herself on the Austrasian nobles for the banishment she had endured at their hands, and stirred up the Burgundians to war. She and the Mayor Protadius were far more eager than the counts and dukes of Burgundy to begin the strife, and when the two armies came in sight of each other, the soldiers of Theuderich lowered their weapons, slew Protadius when he strove to force them on, and compelled their young king to make peace with his brother. [Sidenote: Wars of Theudebert II. and Theuderich II., 612.] But the curse that rested on the Merovings was not so easily to be exorcised; Brunhildis and Theuderich were determined to have their way, and ere very long the war was renewed. The Austrasians were beaten at Toul, their lands wasted, and the victorious Theuderich forced his way as far as Zülpich, in the very heart of his brother’s realm. Here Theudebert withstood him for a second time, was again beaten, and fell into the hands of the Burgundians. He was led before his grandmother, who assailed him with bitter reproaches, and bade him be tonsured and become a monk. But this did not content the king of Burgundy; a few days later he had his brother dragged out of his monastery and put to death (612). The revenge of heaven seemed to be called down by the wicked deed of the young king of Burgundy. Only five months after his brother’s murder he was smitten down by an attack of dysentery, and died at Metz in the very prime of his early manhood (613).