Herald of Steel

“Don’t tell he is becoming like his father!”

Understanding Alexander’s answer, Lady Inayah blurted out this screeching concern without even thinking about it, shock and alarm coloring her face.

She had of course heard those rumors too but till now simply thought they were just lies spread by Amenheraft to shake Ptolomy’s base. Despite knowing the man’s distaste for his wife, she did not even imagine he would go that far!

Thus to hear otherwise….

The Queen Mother’s luxurious chest also visibly heaved realizing the implication, her thoughts being in full simpatico with the other.

It swiftly brought back very bad memories for both as they recalled how their previous husband started off similarly- with a slight singe here and a small burning there, before his tastes ‘evolved’ to something much more sinister.

The bitter feeling was such that Seelima even wanted to instinctively rebuke Lady Inayah for the malevolent comment. But swiftly recalling how they had decided to kill Ptolemy’s father after being driven up against the wall, understood her concerns might be very real.

It shocked her

“No, no, I do not think we are quite there yet. My lady, you are overreacting.” It was perhaps seeing this alarm that Alexander decided to interject with a calming flash of his palms,

“Lady Nanazin belongs to His Majesty in principle. She is his wife and it should not concern us whatsoever how a husband punishes his disobedient spouse. Fortunately, she had no lasting damage on her and is now hale and hearty. His Majesty is certainly not like his father…. yet.”

The two ladies were feeling quite relieved initially by Alexander’dms soothing tone, until he added that last word.

They instantly glared.

But the man pretended not to notice, neither did he regret saying it as there was no way he was going to completely whitewash Ptolomy’s name after all he had.

Even the fact he was so gentle in presenting the facts was a great concession, only done to keep the royal family’s face and from the Queen Mother becoming flustered.

“My lady, if you are so concerned about her, why haven’t you written to her? Lady Nanazin did not say it expressly but she seemed quite hurt that neither of you have contacted her in so long. You could have at least told her the good news,” Then curious about this other thing, turned to pose so.

“…..” The anger in the Queen Mother’s eyes shifted to disapproval and bitterness and she pursed her lips. It was apparent she did not want to talk about it.

“Ptolo… His Majesty barred us.” Lady Inayah from the side quipped the answer, her tone also flat and neutral. But clearly, she was trying to be reserved here and not openly bad mouth the man.

It especially struck her the wrong way because she was not even like Queen Mother, a consort of His Majesty. She was just a friend and even that was enough.

“I see. That makes sense,” Alexander acknowledged the reply with a polite nod, not feeling the need to go into any more details of why.

He also understood the reason behind both the ladies’ absence as well as Pasha Farzah and Mikaya’s.

They had been walled.

And speaking of Mikaya,

“Okay, let us move onto something a bit more happy,” Alexander lightly clapped his hands as if to air out the heavy atmosphere and with a smile asked, “How is Lady Mikaya? When is the wedding? And who exactly is she marrying?”

“…???…” The questions initially drew a sort of blank look from both the regal ladies, as they appeared to not get the question.

But as Alexander continued to give them a curious look,

“What do you mean ‘who is she marrying’?” Queen Mother finally broke the silence with a crease on her beautiful forehead, still appearing confused.

“Haha, I mean which noble house is she marrying into? I still do not know.” Alexander frankly revealed the state of his ignorance with a chuckle, appearing completely unashamed.

“…!!!!..” While hearing this, it instantly produced a look of incredulity on both the ladies that few had ever seen in their lives.

“I did not think even the deaf, dumb and blind beggars of Adhan were unaware of this!” Queen Mother unconsciously blurted out, eyes bulging and hands literally shivering.

“Hehe, Alexander, if we were a bit close, I would have called you a lot of nasty names.” While Lady Inayah let out a very disdainful look.

Various animal names and related proverbs had instantly appeared in her mind hearing this, and the noble lady barely stopped herself from blurting them out loud.

“….” Alexander first only let out a light smile, fully understanding their reason for their reaction.

To not even be aware of such a huge event…. even he would admit that this gap in intelligence was a major foible.

However at the same time, it was not the man was wasting his time doing nothing. He thus tried to salvage some credibility by chiming,

“I will admit I was indeed a bit out of the loop. It is just that I have been recently a bit too busy with Zanzan. There was the campaign in Galiosos and then upon returning, too much work had piled up. As you will know, Pasha Muazz took a lot of the officials and clerks with him when he fled, so there are very few left who can read or write. Meaning there are many things I simply have to do by myself for now.”

“Then there was a small flood and I also felt a bit ill with a small fever. So after a while of reading Pasha Farzah’s letter, I suddenly found I could only remember the invitation. The details were totally lost on me.”

“I tried to re-read the letter but suddenly could not find it. Then I thought of asking my retainers about it… but then suddenly felt too ashamed. How could I a pasha be so unaware of such a well known event? Hahaha, so I am here.”

Alexander’s reasonable explanation, delivered with a charming smile appeared to somewhat assuage the two ladies, as they stopped giving him the entirely disdainful look.

But that did not mean they were going to completely let him off the hook, as Lady Inayah sneered the jab,

“Well, I am flattered you feel comfortable shaming yourself in front of us, Lord Alexander, hahaha.”

Queen Mother was a lot of professional and tightly squeezing her lip to not laugh at Lady Inayah’s joke.

“…. You have no spies in the court?” Then she turned curiously posed Alexander about the other sources of information he had.

Because she certainly did not believe someone as formidable as the Pasha of Zanzan had to rely on official channels to know the ongoings of the Royal court.

The fact that the courts were full of spies and counterspies was something not only an open secret but an openly accepted secret.

Everyone spied on everybody.

And to a certain extent the Queen Mother was indeed right in her assumptions. Alexander was not totally blind like he was making himself out to be.

He did have some tendrils here, particularly through a gang in the city led by a man called Goruk.

But it was also true that the regal lady was overestimating Alexander’s reach a bit here.

The man was really not that interested in the capital and so did not expend that much resource in it.

Rather, given the limited time and resources he had at hand, much of his intelligence efforts were spent on solidifying his grasp on Zanzan and much more importantly Tibias. That was where his true concern and fear lay- in successfully subduing the recently taken territory.

Hence Alexander also did not feel it was too essential when giving out a bit of his secret,

“Hahaha, Your Highness overestimates me. I am too young and my influence here in the capital is just too short. I just have not had the time to buy the maids or charm lower noble ladies. So the things I know about the court comes only from you, Lady Inayah, and Pasha Farzah.”

There was a very clear tone of both gratefulness and flattery in his words, as then, letting his eyes shine with a slight glint, the man grinned,

“In fact, because I am a mere mercenary. I am having trouble even thinking how to do this exactly. I just do not have the skills or experience to create such a complex network of men, women, and children. So would you have any advice for me, my lady?”

“Haha, how bold!” The Queen Mother instantly let out a hearty chuckle at Alexander’s words, curving her sensual, smokey eyes with a delightful crescent and teasing, “Are you accusing your Queen of being a spy? Or are you asking her to spy on your behalf?

And she was swiftly joined by her partner,

“Hehehe… mere mercenary you say. You should not sell yourself so short Alexander. I do not think there was ever a time in Adhania’s 2,000 years of recorded history that a ‘mere mercenary’ got to sit and drink with a Queen.” Lady Inayah found Alexander’s humbleness both gratifying and amusing.

“Better yet, he even got to fuck her!” Seelima also chimed with a wild grin, sending a gaze glittering with amusement.

And the words instantly made Alexander’s heart wildly thump.

If Ptolomy were to know this… he had barely gotten the hook off with Nananzin.

He did not need anything more. Neither did he think he could even take it.