Herald of Steel

Achillas got to meet the two women he cto see at Miss Linda's chambers, where the latter was seen hugging her infant son in her bosoms, sitting by a sunny window and lovingly caressing him.

The twas allowed to meet all alone, i.e.- without the presence of any guards, something that Alexander had quite vocally groaned about when Achillas had initially asked for it.

"I am afraid that is not possible. Lady Linda is an honored guest and her safety is our utmost priority," Alexander had initially cited, brushing past the general's claim that with the legionaries present, the noble lady might feel intimidated and would not be able to speak truthfully in fear of retaliation.

However, this not so subtle innuendo that Achillas might actually harm the noble lady, the very woman who was the spouse of his lord and lover, incensed the man.

The muscular man could not believe the other side would even suspect him of doing such a heinous act.

So it was fortunate that Achillas's adjuvant was there to intervene, who was a much more temperate guy, and thus kept things from turning very ugly.

The rough general was very much capable of ditching out svery choice words, courtesy of his upbringing as well as his regular mixing with the grassroots soldiers.

However the two heads were quickly placated by this second officer, and then by cleverly getting Lady Miranda involved in this, Achillas managed to get his way, much to Alexander's chagrin

So much so that when the current lady of the house indeed allowed the general his access, the pasha had taken the lady to a side to vehemently complain.

There he emphatically pointed out the various dangers of letting Miss Linda meet people from her husband's side without any 'guardian', as then they would be able to freely discuss all types of things, from how to negotiate with Alexander, what to negotiate on and what to never compromise, the security measures within the mansion, and most worrying of all, send secure messages back and forth without any worry.

This last thing was the one thing that had Alexander most alarmed, and so as a last ditch effort had finally suggested,

"At least, let us check Achillas's person for any letter or parchment. So that they cannot pass secret instructions with each other,"

But Lady Miranda refused to budge an inch on any of her decisions, insisting that what Achillas was asking was the right of a messenger, granted to him by the gods themselves.

And when Alexander tried to argue even then, such as by posing that while they may be unable to read Achillas's letter, they could certainly make the general read the letter out aloud by himself, the slightly plump lady terminated such dubious, frowned upon thoughts by imperiously flashing her palms, and declaring right to Alexander's face

"No! Things do not work like that here, my lord. These are the customs of our country. The messenger's body is inviolable, along with anything he carries. And whoever violates it will bear the wrath of the gods. I am sorry, but even my hands are tied on the matter."

Alexander had to fight the urge to point at her hands and argue that the pair were in fact not tied and given the extenuating circumstances they should bend the rules a little bit.

Who knew whether this slight oversight could even make them lose the war?

But given the dogged determination the lady was displaying, decided to leave this topic for now.

It seemed this was one battle Alexander could not win.

Alexander would however later manage to use his great influence and repeated urging to limit the messenger's privilege to a single time, meaning Achillas would not be able to 'farm' this exploit.

This protection was a one taffair and so the next tthe man stepped inside the mansion, Alexander promised to scan every inch of his body for even a single dot of ink, just to prevent the two sides from coordinating.

Although Alexander's optimism might have been a bit too far fetched as it was unknown whether Achillas would ever need to return for a second time.

His one and only task was to meet and greet Miss Linda and then pass along the letter her husband had written.

A supposedly difficult task that he was already in the midst of completely within half a day of entering the mansion.

Entering the private chambers alone, Achillas initially exchanged ssmall pleasantries with his wife and Miss Linda, asking them about their well being.

Such as whether they had adequate food as well as the quality of food they were being served, the heating in the room, the behavior of the guards, and even the quality of clothes they were given access to.

Yes, even when the pair were put under house arrest, this was one of the most important things that Achillas, as well as Lord Parker, was troubled by.

And it was understandable if you recalled that to many nobles, the clothes they wore were almost as important as the skin on their body.

Achillas even asked about the slight red inflammation on Miss Linda's left cheek, which was the remnant graces of Alexander's gift to her.

The wound had mostly healed in the following days, but sslight aberrations still remained, which were visible to Achillas despite Miss Linda's great effort to hide them using copious amounts of various makeup powder.

At the general inquiry towards what happened there, Miss Linda only gave a small chuckle and brushed the whole as nothing,

"Oh, that? It's all this little devil's fault," she said while grabbing her son, soft, plump arms and showing his overgrown nails, before amusedly adding, "The brat is a feisty one. Even does not leave his mother alone, hehe."

The story here was that while trying to feed him, Quentin had accidentally swiped at his mother and produced the tiny scars using his long, shaped, uncut nails.

And while Achillas certainly had his doubts about the details of such a coincidence, he did not poke around too much, only commenting that the lady should pay more attention to the boy's needs.

The reason for this relative apathy was that at the end of the day, Miss Linda was not his woman.

So let her be.

Plus there was also a small part of him that just did not care if Miss Linda was indeed being abused, as he saw her existence being a thorn in his and his lord's road to bliss.

While Miss Linda was also very happy to see the other side act so professionally and not hound for her details.

As much as Miss Linda would have loved to scream to the world that Alexander had hit her, she knew this was not the time.

She feared that if she did this, her husband who had becso enamored with her might lose all reason and choose to do something brash and foolish in a futile attempt to rescue her, one that would accomplish little more than getting him another bloody nose.

Hence the elaborate facade.

Quickly covering the happening, Miss Linda then hastily turned to the letter that Achillas had brought as a way to shift the topic and as she read, scanned, and hovered her eyes over the parchment, upon fully digesting the information, her eyes suddenly began to shine.

"Heh… heh, who knew Lord Bernard would be able to cup with such an ingenious plan? I had totally forgotten about that!" The lady heartily chuckled, seemingly very impressed, much to the general's hidden dissatisfaction.

Although outwardly he smiled and praised the man's cunning, even laying the butter thick on the Margraves family for producing such a 'gem'.

And then finally, with a difficult cough, revealed the issue they had regarding executing the plan, and what Lord Parker wanted her to do about it.

Achillas was basically there only to provide this commentary, and so after going into the details of the plan, ended with the words, "So you see, my lady, unfortunately we are stuck in this stalemate until you can escape. If we cut off the drinking water now, your and young master's life will be in danger too."

"Thus the lord has already asked the works in the underground be put on hold until we can find a way to arrange your escape. Regrettably, we have not yet figured one out. But we are trying."

As Achillas ended, he sent Miss Linda this very 'hopeful' look, as if saying, 'Well, we are out of options. So maybe you can try busting out on your own.'

The noble lady too understood this ask, but instead of flipping out just like Achillas had wished, she only put on a thoughtful face, seriously considering her chances and after moving the gears in her head for a while, suddenly smirked,

"Don't worry, General Achillas. Tell Lord Dear to continue with the earthworks. I am confident I can escape this place. And soon!"

The confident demeanor felt like a sledgehammer to Achillas, who could only squeeze out an ugly smile.

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