Novel Full Chapter 1610: Alexander’s Proposal
Chapter 1610: Alexander’s Proposal
“…Your Majesty, there may be a third culprit!” Pasha Farzah’s cryptic remark instantly drew the attention of the entire court. The shouts and murmurs that had filled the courts just moments before faded into an expectant silence as all eyes turned toward him.
“Mmm… indeed,” The elder lord smiled, clearly pleased with how deftly he had shifted the course of the discussion as with a slow, deliberate nod, he launched his voice calmly but with heavy implication.
“I suspect this attack may have originated beyond our borders. Perhaps the Thesian allies that Prince Amenheraft brought have decided to take matters into their own hands. Maybe they have decided it would be much better for them if we were to prolong the war… to profit from our continued turmoil. I believe that would best explain the attack on both sides.”
Pasha Farzah’s words caused Ptolomy to quickly falter, his heavy fluffy cheeks becoming flushed with confusion. This was a brand new angle he had never considered, but now…
“Balderdash! Pasha Farzah… you have been speaking with nothing but empty air!”
“Right! As if our Crown Prince would stoop so low! We are not like you!”
“Snort! Clearly this is a ploy you came just to protect Alexander. There is and was never any Thesian plot,”
Seeing the king sink into a ruminative pause, most of Amenheraft’s faction quickly decried it out loud, vehemently rejecting Pasha Farzah’s claim, and pleading with the man to do the same.
Even the old fox Pasha Vivizan could not help but step out in this time of need, pleading in a very weakened, hoarse tone, “Your Highness… You should not forget the type of man Alexander is. He possesses a lot of esoteric knowledge. So it will not be impossible for him to design an elaborate never before seen trap. We should immediately interrogate him about how he did it. The future of the royal family depends on it!”
Both Alexander’s and Ptolomy’s eyes flashed a chilly light as soon as they heard this, although for completely different reasons.
Alexander’s heart burned at the utterance of the word. Interrogation- that was not a nice word to be the subject of in this day and age. Very, very nasty things happened in those dungeons during such ’interrogations’.
While Ptolomy reacted as such because he had wanted to do so from the start but simply lacked the muscle power to actually do it. That was why despite the logical response, he rubbed his thick chin and reluctantly hummed,
“Hmmm… Pasha Farzah’s claims are indeed alarming. But Pasha Vivizan also seems to make sense. Alexander is indeed very crafty. So…”
As the man on the throne trailed off, many nobles in court, especially among his faction produced a wry look. The word crafty did not have a positive connotation, so for a king to so openly describe his closest allies as such,….
“…..” The main character in discussion however only kept a pallid look throughout all this. Alexander had basically come to understand that the relationship between him and Ptolomy had ceased to exist. So with a stoic face he just waited to see what kind of sore excuse the man was going to pull out of his rear side this time.
“I believe you are being too partial against Lord Alexander, Your Majesty!”
Much to the man’s disappointment however, the Queen Mother decided to suddenly step into the conversation in defense of him, chiming up in a very sharp and didactic manner,
“Lord Alexander is an esteemed ally of the royal family. It is erroneous for us to so openly cast doubts on him… especially when these doubts come from a side we are actively at war with. I urge Your Majesty to remember Pasha Vivizan’s true allegiances and thus reconsider your thoughts.”
“….” The court suddenly entered a stunned pause as the regal, pregnant woman’s voice died out, to the point, some thought they could hear the echo of the lingering words.
The reason is because these words set an extremely rare example, as it was one of the very few cases where a consort challenged the king’s words so blatantly in front of the whole court, even trying to directly overrule him.
Hence soon after Alexander keenly noticed Ptolomy suddenly grab the arm of his throne with enormous strength, like he was barely holding himself back from lashing out.
Thankfully, Ptolomy managed to keep a hold on his sanity and recomposing himself, regally turned to focus on Alexander,
“Lord Alexander, are you willing to swear by the gods in the heavens that you had nothing to do with the poison and let the curse of all beings be on you and your family should you lie?”
“….” Alexander sniggered a bit inside his heart when faced with such a choice. Of course, he could simply lie and be done with it- he hardly associated himself with the beliefs the people held, nor did he truly believe in there being a higher power who was going to punish him.
And judging by the secret looks both Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother were giving him, they too suspected this, hence they wanted him to ’confess’ and get the thing done with.
However….
“Your Majesty… respectfully, I find the very question quite offensive.” Elegantly straightening his back, Alexander crisply chimed the response with clear, limpid eyes.
“Why?” Ptolomy instantly growled, the anger he had been suppressing quickly spilling out.
’Right? Why, you brat?… I paid such a huge price intervening for you!’ Even the Queen Mother Seelima was quite irritated inside, her lips visibly becoming pursed.
But Alexander showed no concern at having wasted such a golden opportunity, and meeting the fat man’s squinting black beads directly, nodded,
“Your Majesty… I came to Adhan as an honored guest! And as gifts, I brought you the news of the demise of Adhania’s greatest enemy- Tibias, exotic elephants from unknown lands, deeds to lands beyond the Mad Sea and many more. Gifts that I dare say surpass even what your father had received in his lifetime.”
“If that was not enough… I even tried to improve the slightly damaged relationship between me and the royal family as well as find a way to lengthen the peace treaty we had with Amenheraft.”
“Yet… for all my effort… I am being suspected of his murder? That too by poison? Snort! This Alexander might be a lot of things… but one thing he is not afraid of is war! If I truly wanted to kill those men, I would have simply met them on the battlefield and hashed it out like men! Alexander is no coward who will use poison like some woman!”
“…..” Pasha Farzah was almost impressed at how convincing Alexander looked and sounded, while Seelima, as she was still not quite versed in all the details that had happened, also suddenly found herself second guessing herself.
She wondered whether perhaps Alexander had only instructed the act, while the details of how to actually deliver poison were left to someone more adept in the field.
“Snort! You forgot to mention how you also wished to break Adhania apart. Is that only your part of your ’bravery’?” Pasha Vivizan quickly croaked the reply with immense frustration in his voice, incensed by Alexander’s whitewashing.
To him, it appeared clear as day that Alexander or at least the men around him had something to do with the events. He was ninety percent sure about it. The only thing he cried about was the fact that he had absolutely no proof on anything.
’How did they do it? Ahhh.. how could the poison escape the guards of both men yet not affect Alexander? Ahhhh…. if only I would interrogate this Alexander or even those maids! I would surely know… ahhhh…’ Pasha Vivizan thus roared with an absolutely burnt heart, his eyes almost popping out.
However try as he might, the poor lord for the life of him could not crack the secret of the poison delivered through ice.
Neither could he simply grab the suspected perpetrators and squeeze the answer due to their noble status and being constantly under protection, not to mention the absolute nightmare of a diplomatic incident it would cause.
If Pasha Vivizan was in his own turf, even this might not have stopped him, but being in Adhan, in his enemy’s territory, he did not dare deploy his limited men in such a reckless way.
All he could really do was vent by picking on bits and pieces of Alexander’s speech. But naturally, such small efforts were quite ineffective against the man, and Alexander very frankly nodded to Pasha Vivizan in response
“Indeed! I said so! And I also openly said why… it was a strategic move to destroy Amenheraft’s supporting alliance. How would I know he was going to be poisoned just a few days later.”
The man nonchalantly shrugged his shoulder much to the other’s side anger. Then, ignoring the gazes of the angry crowd, he turned to Ptolomy and very eagerly presented,
“Your Majesty… I believe we should not waste our time on this. Right now there is something much more important- the actions have opened a massive opportunity for us.”
“Amenheraft is currently bedridden. All his nobles and deputies are here. That means his main province- Ankoot is totally defenseless. I plead that you immediately gather the army and set out as soon as spring breaks. They will be unable to move quickly with their positioned lord. And if they are too slow, then the truce of Jtaama might end and we might even be able to take Amenheraft hostage!”