Herald of Steel

“Hahaha, Lord Alexander, ‘we’ are very pleased with your gifts, indeed very pleased. Clap, clap, clap.”

As the hour long gift giving ceremony finally closed and the gifts and slaves were moved out of the hall to the storerooms, the plump king loudly applauded the grand spectacle, squinting his sparkling eyes in glee, and curving his lips to a broad grin.

This ecstasy he was feeling indeed genuine- the gold, women, clothes and weapons all pleasing him. He was particularly pleased by the present of two elephants, liking them perhaps even more than the deeds to Midshire.

That city was too far away and no matter who said what, it was still just a city- something already seen and heard of many, many time before.

Compare this to the grand, awe inspiring feeling of possessing such never before seen beasts and Ptolomy could barely hold his excitement at the thought of showing off these animals to all his friends and retainers.

He was so moved that he nearly forgot all the grievances he had for this quite rebellious retainer of his.

That was until….

“Hahaha, indeed, indeed, Lord Alexander’s gifts were an eye opener for us all. I dare say Your Majesty that not even your father had been showered with such exortic presents.” A charming looking man with a beautifully made brown mustache heartily mused from beside the king.

And instantly, both Alexander and Seelima’s eyes flashed a cold glint, as Pasha Farzah, who was standing on the other side gave a mirthful look. This was the real show he was waiting for and the man nearly clenched his fist in anticipation.

“Lord Assazd? I believe we have not yet had the pleasure of meeting.”

Alexander slowly turned to face the smartly dressed muscular man, directly meeting his black, cool gaze and greeting him with a thin, cold smile devoid of any warmth or sincerity.

“Oh… I almost forgot, hahaha, this is the first time you two meeting,” And at the words, Ptolomy tried to quickly jump in, eagerly introducing the pair to each other with a large grin

“Alexander, this is Matbar (Marquiss) Assazd . I am sure you have heard of him… he has greatly aided me in my rule of Adhan. I even dare say I would not be where I am without him, hahaha. And Lord Assazd, this is Alexander. He…”

“Hahaha, Your Majesty, what is there to say about him that has not been said? Even small kids of Adhan know Lord Alexander’s name.” Lord Assazd snatched the words from Ptolomy’s mouth with a knowing chuckle, turning to give Alexander a very warm look.

Now what Lord Assazd had was something that normally would have been considered extremely rude to a king. Hence an instant later, a subtle frown appeared on the Queen Mother’s face.

Yet the man that was directly affected- Ptolomy pretended not to even notice this, but rather let his smile grow even farther. Seeing this, the regal woman clenched her beautifully set teeth in anger, still unable to believe just how deep the ‘reptile’ had his claws on her man.

However since the man of the house did not say anything, she certainly could not contradict him out in the open. It had already taken her a lot just to let Ptolomy agree to let her join him and such a faux pas would likely get her banned from the court for life.

Hence right now she could only watch Lord Assazd as he continued to praise Alexander, detesting the sight of that warm smile, knowing it was full of poison and venom.

“Ohh…but who could have guessed you were so young? And to have accomplished so much in so little time… ahhh… it truly makes me feel so old. Haha, Lord Alexander, you are truly like a lightning cloud in a clear sky.”

This was an Adhanian proverb for greatness, alluding to how rare and powerful such a sight was.

And his words produced a small murmur of praise from the sides of the court, no doubt from his lackeys, while this extremely eloquent man finished his greeting with a grand grin and even a slight bow, “Conqueror of Tibias- welcome to Adhan. Your name rumbles against one’s ears even greater than His Majesty’s.”

“….”

The court room instantly fell into a dead silence at that moment, like someone had detonated a small bomb.

What did he mean by so directly comparing Ptolomy against Alexander? It was very clear.

And if anyone was still not convinced, well they just needed to look at Lord Assazd’s face- the warm smile he once had had now vanished like it never existed, replaced by a cold, reptile like stare that sent bolts of challenging sparks towards its opponent.

And worst of all, the pleased look Ptolomy had on his eyes from all the expensive present also immediately vanished, replaced by fear and anger. Since Lord Assazd had said it, the gullible king considered it to be indeed true. Thus he was already starting to think about how to pull Alexander down.

‘Sigh… Looks like I was right to come prepared.’ Faced with such a swift attack, coming basically the moment he finished his part, Alexander only sighed with a slight bitterness.

He was not surprised, but a small part of him still wished he could have avoided such disastrous infighting. But since that was not clearly an option, he decided to proceed as planned.

Bolding lifting his head and straightening his back like a steel rod, Alexander firmly declared,

“Indeed, there are some miscreants and empty blathers who think like that. They say this because I have indeed defeated the invisible army of Pasha Djoser in open combat, conquered the dreamland of all Adhaian for a thousand years- Tibias, and even expanded the reach of His Majesty beyond the Mad Sea for the first time since this country’s inception. Thus, it is not unexpected for many wayward scoundrels to wrongly assume I should be king.”

In this way, Alexander boldly and without any sort of apology showed off his accomplishments and deeds, while maintaining only the thinnest veil of courtesy for Ptolomy- naming all such rumors with very vulgar words.

To his credit, this also worked to some extent- as the not to bright king felt somewhat comforted by these words- he was not fully convinced as some of the words still stuck to his memory like unpleasant slime, but in general, he indeed lowered his guard.

While on the other side, the one with a much better processor- Lord Assazd, twitched his lips at the unthinkable reply. When he attacked Alexander, he thought the young man was going to be all defensive, working hard to prove or disprove each and every point he made. Or perhaps out of anger, even outright attack him for slandering him with such words.

Yet, for all of Lord Assazd’s preparation, he failed to foresee this path, for Alexander had done the unthinkable. He had basically proclaimed that all that Lord Assazd was indeed true- that he was really better than Ptolomy and he even wanted to be king.

Lord Assazd was so shocked he did not even know whether he should be angry at such treasonous words or ecstatic because the scoundrel Alexander was just about to get executed.

In reality, his true feeling turned to insult, as Alexander finished by smirking, “But Lord Assazd… I never expected you to be part of that sewer rat people. Otherwise, how could you even say such a filthy thing?”

“…..” Alexander thought he heard a molar break as Lord Assazd’s face lost all color and charm, exuding an extremely stony look. And if he could, he would have also turned Alexander to stone.

“Ahhh… Alexander, Lord Assazd did not mean anything like that. He was simply saying what he heard. So how could you….”

Alexander was frankly disgusted seeing how eagerly Ptolomy stepped in to try and protect his dear retainer, now even seeming to wish to turn the whole thing on himself.

He found proof of all that Pasha Farzah said blooming to a tee.

So he curtly and very rudely cut him off, “Your Majesty, I hear you call Lord Assazd, by his title, yet me by my name only. Why? As far as I recall I am higher in rank than he.”

“…. ” The words made the blabbering Ptolomy instantly pause like a thorn had just stuck in his neck. Along with him, the court also turned as quiet as a church mouse, the silence perhaps even eclipsing its previous inception. Even the Queen Mother skipped a beat at Alexander’s boldness.

This was not how anyone talked to a king, no matter what.

“Yo.. Alexander, you! How do you dare? Are you teaching me how to call my subjects?” Ptolomy sent an lion like roar as he finally recovered from shock, his eyes flaming with such heat that he might have incinerated Alexander.

“Guards! Arrest this scoundrel!” As the madman then went to point his finger and furiously shout the insane order.

“Stop! Are you mad!” Fortunately before the blindly loyal royal bodyguards could approach Alexander and cause an extremely ugly scene, Pasha Farzah’s imperious roar bound them in place.

These soldiers around Ptolomy were naturally highly educated and experienced, so they recognised the Matrak Pasha as the prime minister. Hence they paused as the elderly and extremely prestigious lord took the time to address Ptolomy,

“Your Majesty, Lord Alexander is the most powerful lord we have. If you arrest him, we might as well hand over the throne to your elder brother right now. Please withdraw your order.”