Herald of Steel

Nafia listened to the exchange between her mistress and to be master with great trepidation, her heart almost leaping out of her throat when she heard the mention of Lord Mirzah.

This maid was deathly afraid of Matrak’s crown prince, even going as far as to once describe him as, ‘a reptile with a face.’ So she instantly knew something was up the moment his name came up.

And her judgment of the formidable man proved impeccable once again, as upon learning of his plot, she even felt quite faint.

If words of her misdoings were to ever get out… if her father and family were to learn of her broken chastity and how it had happened over many, many times- this noble lady felt she would rather disappear from the earth than deal with the consequences of such a filthy reputation.

Hence, no sooner was Shahel out of their earshot, Nafia turned to Mikaya and alarmedly asked how to stop him from digging up her less than stellar history.

“….” And when the mistress of the room did not answer, her heart racing like the wind, the panic in the shorter girl’s eyes growing and growing until it looked like she was about to break into a large bawl.

Nafia was beginning to really regret all her frivolous meetings and was even just one step away from berating the other two for always dragging her reticent self into those situations.

Although given her own performance in those events, turning into the most eager of the three after she had loosened up a bit, those words would have rung quite hollow.

Fortunately for them all, Mikaya responded just in the nick of time, turning to give both girls a very cool, composed look. “Do not worry… I already have a plan. He will not get to meet elder brother.”

The chilly words instantly sent a shiver down both the girls’ spines as their eyes shook. Neither was left in the slightest doubt as to what their mistress really meant, however at the same time, they did not object.

Although a small part of them indeed felt a little uncomfortable about plotting against their to be spouse, they also could not just sit around and wait to be exposed.

Given how Shahel acted, if this reached his ears, they would surely get divorced or worse, even executed…. by the very man they were trying to save.

They thought like this because Shahel had really done little to win their heart till now.

The inexperienced boy with muscles for brains foolishly thought women should all just shut up and simply do as he said. In his mind, he would love and protect his women, while they gave him their absolute loyalty.

And this sort of deal might have worked with others, as most noble marriages were indeed as such- the wife was expected to be absolutely submissive and obedient to the husband, and in return, the husband would never threaten her position, such as by having her replaced with a newer consort.

It was just too bad that Mikaya and her maids were nothing like his idealised version of women. They had quite the colorful history, and after tasting the sweet nectar of freedom and power, they instantly rejected Shahel’s tight fisted way of control.

Something the young man failed to understand reason behind, and like he had done with his fellow soldiers so many times before, simply furiously lashed out in unsightly ways.

Ultimately leading to the current situation.

“…” Nafia or Tajia did not ask Mikaya how she was going to exactly stop Shahel. Because the task was not really that complicated.

It was even made all the easier given that Shahel was quite careless when he was with them, eating and drinking without a care in the world. So the only trouble was getting away with what they had done.

But that too was not too hard given their ability.

Hence following the declaration, the maids made no comment, but with a relieved sigh started to help Mikaya put on a new dress.

And as they threw the torn gown away, seeing the state of such an exquisite cloth sent another chill down their spine- the huge display of the strength behind such a scar making the girls even more determined to go ahead with the plan.

They did not want to tussle with the owner of such unrestrained potental, the political conseuqnces be damned.

…..

Next day, Alexander would wake up to a sweet melody a bit after dawn, finding the two princesses already up and dressed, reciting from their scriptures while facing the Life Sea. This was part of their morning ritual and the source of the gentle hymn.

He stayed in his bed enjoying the mellifluous tune for a while, until, feeling the sun was truly up, finally forced himself to get up.

It was a hot, hot day, with an accompanying level of humidity that made the skin feel all skinny and unpleasant. Hence Alexander refreshed himself with a bath, also using it to clear off all the sticky, suspicious things that clung to him courtesy of last night.

Then brushing his teeth using high quality ash and putting on a fresh set of clothes perfumed with a strong, musky scent, he finally made himself presentable in front of his latest wives.

They would then proceed to have a large breakfast as served by Lady Inayah’s daughters, consisting of only the best quality items- white bread, eggs, steamed pork, fruits, and wine.

However although the atmosphere there was nice, and the scenery of the pink waters of the Life Sea breathtaking, the man found to his surprise that the princesses were not being that talkative.

Even when he picked on them with topics that he knew were sure to get them fully riled up… their response were quite slow and muted, like they were not really here.

‘Are they feeling shy remembering what they had done? Or angry for me not being gentle? Maybe they are still conflicted about having done this before marriage…’ The clueless man tried to come up with the best explanations he could.

And perhaps thinking like this that he began to make even more talk all by himself, regaling them with tales of all he had seen and experienced during his various campaigns.

But for reason, those exciting stories only seemed to tick the two princesses even more.

So much so that after a while, the man decided to finally stop.

‘Tsk…tough crowd! What… did they wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?’ He mused with rolling eyes,

On the opposite end, Azura and Azura’s both were also unhappy for displeasing Alexander, their lord.

But they also knew they would have never been able to explain why they were so sullen. It would solve nothing but only make the situation awkward.

Hence, the best course the two sisters decided was to shut their eyes and pretend like they did not know anything, wishing to use time to forget the pain.

The twin princesses would leave upon finishing their breakfast, and as soon as Alexander saw them off, Lady Ezaya quickly came with a great piece of news.

It had been declared that due to the ongoing Jtaama, the courts would be postponed for the next three days.

This was a godsend for Alexander because it gave him some much needed time to make all the necessary preparations. And the man made sure to make full use of it.

He had all the expensive presents moved from his camp into the royal palace thus placating the childish Ptolomy, he replaced many of the royal guards with his own men as part of ‘additional reinforcements’ with Pasha Farzah’s help, and he got to create the all important ice cubes.

Or more accurately, he had Lady Ezaya and a few of the old Pasha’s most trusted men do it as Alexander could not participate personally- it would draw too much attention.

Prying eyes would surely question what a bona fide Pasha was doing in the ice house- a place accessed by only slaves and lowly servants.

While doing this, another of Alexander’s worries was the ice setting properly, as the ice house was not a freezer, only a storeroom. Meaning the temperature was definitely not below subzero there, so if the water was just left there, it would likely not freeze.

To overcome this, Pasha Farzah suggested they literally cover the earthen pots carrying the poisoned water in a giant pile of shaved ice and leave it for a few days, giving the whole thing time to slowly chill.

Alexander cheered at this, marvelling at how smart the old lord really was. The only suggestion he made was that they change the earthen pots with metal containers.

Pasha Farzah really did not get how metals conducted heat better than earthen pots or why it even mattered as they were not cooking here but freezing things; however since this was Alexander’s plan and given he had the proven pedigree, the old lord agreed.

Lastly, Mikaya sent her reply using her nieces in order to avoid any sudden interceptions, and the words, ‘I will keep the baby,’ greatly pleased the man.

In this way, all of Alexander’s preparation went smoothly without a hitch and finally, the time came to officially present himself to Ptolomy in court.

This royal court was specifically called just for him, and they were attended by noblemen from both sides- all curious to see and hear about how the man took Tibias.