Herald of Steel

With Cambyses turning many heads and even drawing some muttered jealous curses, Alexander went ahead to first greet the highest nobles there, PF, the Queen Mother, and Lady Inayah.

And then all the twenty-four nobles there.

Here, he also met many of the families of the nobles, many of whom were specially called to attend this ceremony from their fiefdoms.

In fact, this was another reason that some of the nobles requested the ceremony be delayed to this degree.

Because they wanted their family members- sons, wives, and daughters to attend the meeting and get to know Alexander.

And while for some this was purely intended as a social courtesy, for a few others, they were clearly fishing.

Fishing for benefits by betting on the fact that Alexander might take a fancy to one of their daughters.

Or sons.

The nobles would not judges

Or even their wives and concubines for that matter if it fits Alexander’s taste.

Most Adhanian nobles were not picky about either of the three options, as long as Alexander would give them more benefits.

Or at least that was the vibe he got when interacting with some of them, who usually wore low-cut dresses showing ample cleavage, or made suggestive comments, such as wanting Alexander to give them a tour of the city or offering him to show their embroidery skills in his leisure time.

While one particular wife of a nobleman was far more direct, very openly saying, “My lord, I keep having this chest pain here.”

“And I heard from my husband that you are a great doctor with unparalleled skills with his hands. May I ask to see you tonight?”

Alexander could barely stop his lips from twitching at this, and after a few similar interactions, he frankly began to be surprised that some of these women had even come to this party wearing any clothes, given how eager they appeared to just strip and jump on him.

Alexander even believed that if he opened his fly and took it out, some people would likely fight over who got to him first just to get more favor.

It appeared the things Alexander showed had truly made some very greedy.

But it was also because such promiscuity was somewhat the norm between a few of the nobles.

Though fortunately such dangerous, almost ruinously ambitious nobles numbered on the low side.

After spending some time with small talk and pleasantries, finally, once the night deepened a bit, Alexander decided to begin the main ceremony.

He sat on the luxurious throne at the foot of the statue, flanked on either side by Pasha Farzah and the Queen Mother, who stood next to him as per tradition, while one by one each of the chosen twenty-five walked up to him, kneeled and answered as Alexander read off a special script:

“Cambyses of the House of Alexander, and lord of Jabel, do you stand before us to join our cause against the false King Amenheraft?”

“Yes!” The woman naturally gave the affirmative answer.

“Do you recognize me, Alexander as the rightful ruler of the province of Zanzna and your lord?”

“Yes!”

“Are you prepared to embrace the responsibilities and privileges that come with such an action?”

“Yes!”

“Will you uphold the value of virtue, integrity, and selflessness as befit a noble?”

“Yes!”

“Will you administer the laws and rules of the land impartially and unhesitantly, ensuring that all are treated equitably under your stewardship?”

“Yes!”

“Will you protect and defend our Your Lord Alexander and His Majesty Ptolomy to your death?”

“Yes!”

“And lastly, will you show unwavering loyalty to the people, the crown, and its allies?”

“Yes.”

At this point, Alexander nodded, and said,

“Good, then I hereby welcome you to your ranks and proclaim you as one of us.”

As the Queen Mother then stepped forward and tapped her left shoulder with a ceremonial sword, saying, “The crown accepts your pledge.”

Followed by Pasha Farzah doing the same on her right shoulder, and saying, “We nobles accept your pledge.”

This was the custom of Adhania, where to be made a noble, one needed someone from the royal family or their representative and one extra noble to act as witness.

This was likely done to show that both the royal family and the noble community as a whole accepted the man into their ranks.

With this done, Cambyses then took the following oath of the noble.

Where she said,

“I, Cambyses of Jabel, hear by swear upon my honor to faithfully serve my lord, Pasha of Zanzan, Alexander.”

“I swear to uphold my lord’s commands and carry out his will with unflinching loyalty.”

“I pledge to defend my l honor, to protect thy from harm, and to act with unwavering devotion.”

“I shall not betray their trust nor falter in my duty.”

“This oath I take willingly, knowing the responsibilities it entails and the consequences of breaking it.”

“May the gods bear witness to my pledge, and may they grant me strength and wisdom in fulfilling this oath to my lord.” ．

With came the end of the long and mundane ceremony for Cambyses, leaving Alexander with only twenty-four others.

Who all took their turns slowly, and by the end of which Alexander did not even need to read the script.

Among these swearing, there was one particular swearing Alexander was a bit uncomfortable with.

And that was Jazum.

He had deliberated on whether to present the peerage to the stonemason as he did not seem to get along with the man over the issue of his son.

But in the end, he decided to keep his end of the bargain.

Alexander had originally promised the stonemason that if he could get 10 cement kilns up and running within six months, and produce 250 tons of cement for him per day, he would get a hereditary peerage.

And Jazum had indded done that.

In addition, his handling of the day-to-day operations of the kilns was unreproachable, with the supply of everyday cement up until now being always smooth, consistent, and on time as far as Alexander knew.

So up until this point Alexander really had no reason to block the man’s rise.

But the only snag in this perfect report would be his blind love for his son- Jafor, who was the complete opposite of his father, lazy, incompetent, and a bully, a natural walking disaster.

And Alexander did fear giving such an imbecile the power of the nobles.

But he gave it anyway.

He had promised the father the rewards and Alexander here decided to keep his word.

Because him breaking his word to his enemies was one thing.

It would simply make him more trustworthy during negotiations.

But a lord breaking his words to his retainers was something entirely different.

That would plant the seeds of a rebellion.

Alexander would rather avoid that than give a cruel brat the power to harass the innocent.

And it was rather hoped that this favor would make Jazum recognize Alexander’s favors, and thus wake up the man to the reality of what his son really was.

Alexander really hoped for that outcome.

Because if nothing of that really worked,…well Alexander always had the power to terminate Jazum and take back the peerage.

This was after all one of the powers he had gotten the permission from Ptolomy- To have the ability to punish any noble as he saw fit.

With that comforting thought, Alexander swore the man in and then proceeded to do the same for the others.

Until all twenty-five people were sworn in, and it was finally over.

‘Finally! Time for the feast.’ While the end of the ceremony made the whole crowd who were standing in rows the entire time have the exact same thought.

It was already getting quite late and everyone was famished, a situation exaggerated by the absolutely fabulous flavors coming from the open kitchen situated at the back garden of the temple.

Alexander too was quite hungry, and so led the group to the open garden dining arrangement, which was brightly lit with huge flaming braziers, and where they were served the best delicacies Zanzan had to offer.

Meat, fish, wine, and sweet pastry flowed without care and the men and women there feasted to their, hearts’ content, laughing, joking, and enjoying themselves to the utmost.

While Alexander himself sat with his twenty-five retainers and broke bread with them personally.

With these merriments, the day at last came to a close, and each of the nobles slowly exited in their carriages.

As for Alexander, on the way back, Cambyses regaled her experience of the party, retelling how the ladies commented on her dress, the new foods, and lastly prodding Cambyses about whether Alexander was looking for any new concubines or even maids.

As she said, Cambyses produced a teasing look, and turned to Alexander to chuckle,

“Haha, so Alex, how about it? If you want you could sleep with any woman, girl, or lass you want”.

” I especially liked some of those wives in there. They had big butts, hehe.”

Alexander only gave a gentle chortle to the joke.

But with the end of the ceremony, the nobles started to finally leave, taking a large load off Alexander, And within the next week, Zanzan was back to his usual peaceful tranquility.

But it was also on one such peaceful afternoon after the nobles had left, that Alexander unveiled to Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah a revolutionary naval ship concept in a secluded spot outside of Zanzan, the display of which almost made the two have a small heart attack.

Because it was that out of this world.