Herald of Steel

Ptolomy furiously gripped the armrests of his throne hearing Pasha Farzah’s rebuke, his eyes becoming even more inflamed. He had expected his prime minister to back him up here, but not only had he not done that, he even directly contested him, rebuking his command and even ordering the soldiers to stop.

This was not just a simple lack of obedience, Ptolomy saw the act as nearly treasonous. And it made the king who was already dissatisfied with Pasha Farzah even more unhappy.

‘Ahhh…I swear I will replace him!’ The man thus raged inside, gritting his teeth with venom.

“Dear! Please!” Only when the Queen Mother hurriedly rubbed her dainty hands over the plump hands did the man manage to somewhat rein back his anger, his mood further improving with the following soothing words.”I am sure Lord Alexander did not mean anything by it. He is new to Adhan and does not even properly speak our language. He probably did not even understand what he was saying.”

Thus placating Ptolomy, the Queen Mother instantly then turned to Alexander, coldly rebuking him, “And you, Alexander! What are you doing saying such things! Have you no shame? Instantly apologize to ‘us’ for such insolence!”

Alexander could not tell whether Seelima was genuinely offended or simply acting to save him- the frosty facade on the immaculate face betraying no such clues. The Queen Mother was after all a masterful actor.

Regardless, Alexander was glad for the intervention, especially as he found Ptolomy’s tolerance to be so low. The tyranny of this man was alarming for Alexander.

Hence although he bowed in gratitude to the Queen Mother, he never apologized, but glibly chimed with that same breezy air to his voice, “Thank you for your grace Your Highness. I just lost control of myself seeing a mere Matbar (Marquiss) standing next to Pasha Farzah. I ask… how many battles has Assazd won?”

The stings in his words escaped no man as Alexander even purposefully left off Lord Assazd’s title in his address.

While being addressed like so by a mere slave naturally made the man in question darken his face. Hence Lord Assazd instantly gritted his teeth and spat with deadly venom, “Alexander- not all of us are barbarians like you… one who can barely speak better than a child. There is a lot more to ruling than just killing, raping and looting innocent people. Not that an unlearned slave like you would know anything.”

“….” Alexander smirked, finding the rebuke not half bad. In fact, Lord Assazd did quite well to hide his shortcomings.

It was a fact that both Pasha Farzah and Alexander had much more tangible effects with their armies, thus by speaking like so, Lord Assazd tried to effectively bridge the difference, reminding the court of Alexander’s crimes of slaughtering nobles, making many women lose their purity and the most grievous off, sacking the grand temple of all its treasures.

These were all stains in Alexander’s record that were basically impossible to get rid of.

However just because he said something did not mean Alexander was going to just let it go, thus turning his smirk into a full fledged taunt, he mocked, “Oh… I see! So Pasha Farzah who was the biggest supporter behind His Majesty’s rise to power, I, who defeated Pasha Djoser and brought Tibias to heel and you… who just brought a rag tag noble wastes to bend the knee are all the same. Clap, clap, clap, hahaha, what a great show of justice, we have here, Your Majesty.”

“….” The eyes that were just beginning to smolder off instantly blazed up awake hearing up a taunt, as Ptolomy furiously clenched out furiously, “….Al…ex..an… der…” Even the Queen Mother visibly pursed her lips, wondering what had gotten into Alexander that he was willingly causing so much trouble.

The man himself however seemed hardly affected, and even went on to directly confront Ptolomy about the seemingly unjust position, “Your Majesty… I vehemently protest the rank you have awarded Lord Assazd. He does not deserve it. He has done nothing for you like me or Pasha Farzah. I demand…”

“Shut up! You dare demand anything! Guards!” Ptolomy finally lost his patience by the arrogant tone Alexander was using and blew his top with the most furious shout, clenching his armrest so firmly like he was going to fall down without that support.

And this time, watching the guards begin to move, even Pasha Farzah’s eyes swam with a bit of panic. He never thought Alexander was going to be this sharp and naked with his words, not giving Ptolomy even the slightest decorum of respect.

Thus the old man’s lips quivered hesitantly at the thought of ordering the men to once again stand down, fearing his intervention would only incense the spoiled king more. Perhaps then the order would even change from arrest from execution right then and there.

But despite that fear, Pasha Farzah ultimately decided to roar out in his signature voice, even if it meant that Alexander’s men in the court would clash with the royal forces.

And he was just about to do that when, fortunately,

“Ahhh… Your Majesty, please, calm down. Let us hear what Lord Alexander has to say.” Lord Assazd of all people intervened on Alexander’s behalf, thus stopping before things could escalate to a point of no return.

Then producing that same, fake, warm smile, he chimed towards the still simmering Ptolony, “As Pasha Farzah, he is an important ally. So let us hear what he has to say. I am sure Alexander is just confused and jealous of my rank. He is after all young and ignorant.”

The words the man spewed were certainly not as gentle as his smile, as he basically insulted Alexander in front of the whole court. And it was so strong that it even caused some noblewomen to stifle a mocking chuckle, for they found Alexander’s lack of tact and etiquette extremely shameful.

“Snort… he is nothing but a rebellious cur.” While Ptolomy snorted an even more demeaning comment, slouching his back to send Alexander a lowly gaze. But ultimately he waved his hands, thus giving his men the chance to stand down.

In the meantime, Lord Assazd took charge from there, arrogantly lifting his chin up and imperiously posing, “Now, Lord Alexander… let us hear your demands.”

Alexander did not miss how he used the royal ‘us’ with no objection as well as the joyous undertone to his voice- it was easy to imagine how Lord Assazd must have been feeling.

The man was currently floating on cloud nine, thinking how easy it had been to handle Alexander.

He furiously laughed inside, ‘Hahaha, I heard so many things about this slave brat, everyone says how dangerous he was. So I also got apprehensive. I thought I would try to be nice at first…bring him over to my side and make him break his friendship with that old bear. After that, I would slowly work on disrupting his relationship with His Majesty.”

“Hahaha… who could have known he was this stupid? I did not even need to do anything. He picked a fight with him just like that. And the words he used…. Hahaha, how foolish!”

“Then again, what did you expect from a lowly slave? Aghhh…and to call such a cur lord… Hmmp! The fact that he is even talking to us directly makes my stomach retch!”

The amount of disdain and derision Lord Assazd held for Alexander would have been hard to put into words.

But even if Alexander were to know of this, he likely would only smirk, just like he was doing now.

“Since my lord has asked, then I will be frank- Pasha Farzah has helped His Majesty conquer Adhan and take his rightful seat as the ruler of Adhania. I have conquered Tibias and helped His Majesty complete the dreams of all his forefathers. If you want us to accept you as one of our equals, deemed worthy to stand side by side His Majesty… we ask you that you conquer Ankoot and capture the pretender!”

Bang!

The very first person to cause a commotion at this was not Lord Assazd, but Amenheraft, who violently smashed his wine glass into the floor and sent Alexander an extremely hateful look.

He had already been ticked off listening to Pasha Farzah’s betrayal, and his anger finally exploded upon hearing Alexander call him the pretender.

Out of all the people there, he was the least deserving of that shameful title. He was after all the crown prince- so instead, he was the most deserving of the throne- and if anyone should be called the pretender, it should be Ptolomy.

It was only Amenheraft’s dignity as a royal that stopped him from verbally abusing Alexander for such a thing.

“Lord Alexander, are you deliberately trying to make things hard for me?” While Lord Assazd kept that same mocking smile as he answered Alexander, clearly not even considering the demand.

“Hehehe… of course not. I am asking you out of necessity,” Alexander also matched the cunning hyena like smile of his opponent, pointing,

“Recall that the six year treaty we had with Amenheraft is going to come to an end next year. So I presume Lord Assazd has already figured out how to extend the agreement. Because if not, we will need to be ready to march for Ankoot.”

“….” Lord Assazd for the first time during the whole interaction, seriously frowned, before nodding with some difficulty, “We are in talks. It is still a year away. We…”