Herald of Steel

The time after Jtaama was a big money-making day for all the performers not only in Adhan but all over the country.

For according to the customs, the following days after the pilgrimage was a cause of huge celebrations.

But of course, the one in the capital city certainly appeared to be the biggest one, as drove after drove eager performers flooded the city in hopes of landing a lucrative gig and making it big.

Because for many, the money they made from these short few days would have to be the amount they have to make last for the entire year.

And so after the pilgrimage ended, the city that seemed quite dreary until now suddenly did a one-eighty, with music, dances, and songs capturing it in their grasp and letting its people drown themselves in revelry.

And since this was the first major celebration after the drought ended, it seemed Ptolomy had gone out big, employing many of the entertainers, and giving out generous coins, both to liven the atmosphere and also to improve his image as a benevolent king. ．𝚌ｏ𝚖

But among all these entertainments, though Alexander did not disapprove much of them, there was one form of entertainment that did not please Alexander at all.

And those were freak shows.

In there, people with various physical deformities, autism, people changed by diseases such as leprosy, skin conditions, dwarfs, and many other types of unfortunate souls that looked different from the norm and hence rejected by society were paraded for the entertainment of other people in cages or in customers, who pointed and laughed at them.

And seeing this, Alexander surely hoped to one day bring these shows to a close.

Because he knew the people being paraded here were likely suffering abuses at the hands of their organizers.

After all, who could have guessed the people others were laughing at for being less than human were being treated as less than human?

But he also knew even if he were to raise these issues now, he would only get laughed at.

Because for most of the nobility, even for moderately good nobles like Pasha Farzah, this was simply not an issue to concern himself with.

Even if it was true that those people were being treated horribly, the other nobles would probably not care, saying this was their master’s right.

After all, remember these people still practiced slavery, where they could legally do almost anything to the men, women, and children they owned.

So for now, Alexander could only sit in front of the stage and put a placid face hiding his disgust, as the world’s hairiest men, the shortest dwarf, the ugliest woman, or the woman with the beard, to name a few were introduced.

And though Alexander found the performance distasteful, the rest of the court seemed to love it, jeering, taunting, and laughing at the so-called freaks.

Nothing says it’s the ancient times like a bit of racial superiority.

But fortunately for Alexander, such shows happened only twice.

And outside of these mindless entertainments, there were also literary types involving play, and other literary works.

Two very elaborate plays were held in the outdoor premises of the palace where famous acting guilds built stages and performed for the king and his entourage.

And though the play appeared uninspired to him, as it depicted a king, here likely the ruler of Adhania, winning a battle against the barbarians, it was nevertheless something one could pass the time with if he was bored enough.

In the following days after the plays, there were various other competitions regarding many works of literature held, where aspiring poets recited both classic and new poems, actors played out famous stories, and writers told stories, their topics being varied and diverse, ranging from describing mother nature to portraying human conflict, to love and loss, to even include philosophical thought.

Some even read out stories that could only be described as propaganda as they glorified ‘Adhania the motherland’ while throwing out shade at all other countries.

And among all these poets and writers performing their acts, there were some who were hired by the court full time to just do this, to flourish the arts and culture of their time, and to show to the world that Adhania was the best nation in the world.

Because just like in Alexander’s time when a country’s scientific and technological achievements were seen as the benchmark for its civility and advancedness, in this time period it was one’s mastery of literary arts that proved who was the superior culture.

And hence the court employed many scholars.

But in this competition, the court hired literates were not the only participants.

For among the performers, there were also many aspiring young scholars too, all of whom hoped to showcase their literary skills in these events and if they were lucky enough, be noticed by some nobles or even the king himself who would then take them as their patrons after being impressed by them.

With the intention of the nobles being, as mentioned earlier, to be able to show off the literary works they collected or produced, that being was a source of major pride and bragging rights within the Adhanian circle of nobility.

So it was customary to proudly show off one’s collection of books to other fellow nobles when they came to visit, and many nobles even regularly competed with each other over whose collection was better.

As for Alexander, hearing the scholars recite poems using words he even doubted were Azhak, and listening to stories that were not so good as the troupes were all predictable, or simply not that good in of itself, he had a hard time keeping his eyes open.

Which many other nobles noticed and gave him sneering looks, saying to themselves, ‘As expected of a bumpkin!’

Not that Alexander cared.

While his allies such as Pasha Farzah and Lady Inayah would only produce slightly wry looks at Alexander’s general disinterest.

They had already spoken to Alexander about this before even in Zanzan, pointing out,

“Alexander, we noticed that you have no poets or writers. Why don’t we give you some?” and even added,

“It is quite important to produce some literary works. The Adhanian nobility really values these.”

But Alexander had simply brushed these concerns off, giving the simple excuse, “I’m too poor to afford such luxuries. Maybe later.”

Alexander was certainly not poor, and so hearing his lame rejection, his allies understood that Alexander simply had no interest in engaging in literature.

Which they reasoned as being due to Alexander being low-born and less refined than them.

Whereas the real reason was because Alexander was simply more interested in the sciences than the arts.

But that did not mean Alexander was not interested in hiring some of the news poets and writers and then taking them back to Zanzan.

But it was not because he was interested in their writing or literary works.

It was simply because he wanted these men to be teachers.

Zanzan had a severe shortage of anyone who would could hold a pen, or..in case a quill, and Alexander felt these men would at least be able to help children learn to read or count.

But Alexander decided to wait a bit on that thought because he did not know if these men would agree.

For some of these men, this literary craft was something they practiced for their entire life, and asking them to give it all up to be a teacher might very well not sit well with some.

Hence Alexander decided to talk to Pasha Farzah about his plan first, also remembering that he had also already asked the aged lord to supply such men to him.

Thus Alexander was in no hurry.

While Alexander enjoyed these plays, performances, and tricks every day, after each of the many performances held at night finished, the nobles would still not retire.

Instead, then actually the nighttime festivities would begin, where Alexander would keenly notice a noble going to bed with women, who many times were not necessarily their wives or concubines.

Sometimes he would even notice a group of noblemen and women enter special rooms together.

But Alexander did not dive his head any further than that.

He did not know if those girls were simply working girls, slaves, maids, or something else entirely, and frankly, he did not want to know.

Instead, Alexander focused on the liberty given to him by Ptolomy to choose between a wide range of girls before coming to bed.

And though he sometimes chose one or two new ones, he mostly stuck to his new maid Maya, for whom it was actually the first serving a guest.

Thus Alexander like a gracious master would many times go deep into the night teaching the new girl all the ropes on how to please a man, making her take many exotic positions and exploring many of her nooks and crannies, and causing her sweet canary voice to sometimes even drift out of the room.

And it was as such that Alexander spent some carefree days, where the party in the court went for almost two weeks non-stop. as the capital had finished celebrating its yearly pilgrimage, and where Alexander finally got the chance to meet with many of the members of the Adhanina court.

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