Herald of Steel

Ptolomy was actually a bit reluctant to 'deport' this trusted or more accurately until very recently trusted retainer.

But Alexander's words, coupled with threats had managed to convince him otherwise.

As Ptolomy gazed imperiously down at the old man, his ice-cold voice rang out, "Nobles fight among themselves all the time. And we from the royal family turn half a blind eye to it as long as it is not too serious. But you colluded with foreign powers to undermine and destroy our great country. This is unacceptable."

Ptolomy had decided to indict Barzan with the first accusation and this caused the old man to only let out a light smirk.

Ptolomy didn't seem to notice this as his monologue continued, "Normally you would be killed by quartering (using four horses to dismember the four limbs). But given your immense contribution to rearing and raising us, we have decided to show leniency. We will give you a quick death. Now, lower your head so we can behead you!"

"Hehe," Barzan obediently followed with a chuckle, though not before sending a little quip towards Alexander, Well, I will be going ahead. Today was me, tomorrow maybe you."

And then Ptolomy swung the large sword in a mighty arc and with a sharp-pitched scream by Hellma accompanying the dull thud, the head was separated from the body, staining the red marble strawberry red.

Alexander watched this execution with a placid face, his mind thinking back to what Barzan had said as he whispered to himself, 'I am well aware I might be creating the next Joffrey. But you, old man seem to be under the mistaken impression that I want to serve Ptolomy. Heh, if I didn't lack the political capital now, all sixteen of you would have been cut to ribbons. And mark my words when I say that this is only a temporary fix. Ptolomy must die. The question is not when but how soon.'

Alexander was slowly revealing his monstrous ambition to the world, and he was never gonna back down.

Death or apogee, he would reach one or the other.

"*Clap*, *clap*, *clap*, you have done the right thing, Your Majesty. Your throne is now secure." Alexander said while giving an enthusiastic but fake applause.

Then he said "Now, there is just one last command for you to give,"

Alexander afterward handed Ptolomy back the royal seal and asked, "We are very low on food. So, please give the orders for the soldiers to collect food from the houses in the inner city. I'm sure the nobles have huge stockpiles of them."

This insane order Ptolomy instantly shout out with utter incredulity, "What? There's no way I will allow that! Have you gone mad?"

This reaction was because even the slow Ptolomy clearly understood what it would mean for him if he were to take food from the nobles by force.

His entire rebellion might very well fail the very next day if he were to antagonize so many nobles at the same time.

And this was not even considering that collecting food was actually a euphemism for, '****, loot, and murder.'

If so many nobles were humiliated like this, he would be finished.

'Yes, that's what I want. For you to be utterly dependent on me and me alone!' Alexander whispered the plan in his heart.

But he presented a reasonable explanation to Ptolomy, "The reason you lost the rebellion the first time was because of those nobles. Those traitors catapulted the second they smelled a weakness from you. They are nothing but traitors and deserters and deserve no mercy from you. Showing them any resiliency would only display cowardice and weak resolve."

"That..." Ptolemy's lips quivered in anger as he recalled just how quickly those that used to kneel before suddenly rose up to backstab him.

Alexander then asked with a taunt, "Do you believe that those nobles would ever be grateful to you for saving them, No! They would only think it's natural for them nobles to be above the law, to be above justice, to be above even the royal family."

Alexander's speech was starting to make more and more sense to Ptolomy as he felt his anger grow.

Alexander continued, "They will think that they can defy the crown and go scot-free anyway. And they will continue to defy you regardless, ignorant of your generosity. The only way to show one's generosity is by first displaying his cruelty."

Alexander's last sentence moved Ptolomy very much and he started seriously considering punishing the nobles to make an example out of them.

But here, Hellma, who had finally gotten herself together after experiencing that traumatic sight, screamed, "No, brother! What about the nobles who support us?"

This question bought Ptolomy back to square one as he asked the same question to Alexander.

And Alexander was ready with the reply, "Please remember that any staunch rebel nobles mostly like have been either executed or imprisoned in the dungeons awaiting trial." Alexander made an educated guess.

"The only nobles who used to follow you that would be released would be turncoats. Do we want turncoats? Didn't they swear allegiance to you and then break it? They are oath breakers and deserve no mercy."

This made Ptolomy's blood boil again.

Alexander then soothed the frayed nerves of the distraught young king, "Do not worry Your Majesty. All your true kin and supporters must be in the dungeons captured by Amenheraft. The only ones out and free are traitors and opposers. They are your enemies anyway. So why bother with the consequences?"

This made sense to Ptolomy as he weakly nodded in agreement.

And at last, Alexander told him the reality, "If we want the million people in the city to not start rioting, we need the food. You burnt all three of the granaries after all remember?"

This reveal of secret information made Ptolomy go wide-eyed as he never wanted others to know of this shameful act of his and looked at Alexander with dread and panic.

'What, how does he know? How much does he know? What to do?' Such thoughts raced across his mind as Alexander so openly revealing this secret caused a large amount of disturbance among the soldiers.

Many, especially from the back whose faces were hidden hurled derogatory remarks like 'scum', 'wastrel', and 'low-life' toward him.

"Brother, is this true?" Even Hellma asked in a shaky, voice of disbelief.

"That was just a strategic move to slow down Amenheraft. It was me or them," Ptolomy came up with a decent kind of excuse after some trying amongst all the taunts and jeers.

And instead of trying to discredit him, Alexander praised him, "Yes, it was a very good move indeed. As expected of His Majesty."

And this got some color back into Ptolomy's face.

Alexander noticed this and finished by saying, "Because we have a shortage of food and the surrounding has nothing left to forage, we must obtain from somewhere or riots will start sparking up."

"And we will need to stock up on grain both in case of emergencies too, like if Amenheraft decided to besiege the city and try to starve us out. We will also need enough grain leftover to plant so we can feed our population the next year."

"And the only people who have so much grain with them are the nobles in the ring city. These nobles are hoarders who care not one iota for the populace."

Alexander tried to play Ptolomy and the nobles off of each other.

He finally added, "And if things turn bad during the battle with Amenheraft, which it very well might, then the nobles could stage a rebellion to try and save their skin. We will then be facing a two-pronged attack, both from outside the city and inside the city and that would be a disaster. We would be finished." Alexander stressed.

And the last line that managed to tip Ptolomy to side with Alexander was, "And I have not even started on the securities account. How many nobles do you think spy for the fleeing king?"

The fear of spies telling everything about him to Amenheraft terrified Ptolomy and so quickly he raised his arms and ordered, "Soldiers, I hereby order you to gather all the food in the noble's residences as soon as possible. In the name of the King, Divine Son of Ramuh- Ptolomy, I also order you not to harm any of the residents of the house, especially the women and children." He proclaimed.

"Noooo, stop brother. That snake has poisoned your mind," Along with Ptolomy's other retinues, the one that made the loudest imploration was Hellma.

'Hmm, I got rid of Barzan, now it seems I will have to get rid of her,' Alexander placed another name in his imaginary kill list.

Although Ptolomy had given the order with quite some pomp, shouting regally and holding his seal high into the air, strangely, not a single soldier moved from his position.

Because Ptolomy was not their commander and they had not been hired to fight for him.

Instead, the men waited for Alexander's explicit instructions which soon came with a hearty laugh, "Haha, you have heard His Majesty. Go and collect the food. You have three days!"

This large time limit instantly drew an astonished "What" from Ptolomy who understood that Alexander had basically given the men three days time to sack the inner city.

But as Ptolomy looked at Alexander's smug, confident smile beaming back at him, unconcerned and unafraid, Ptolomy began to get a vague feeling that maybe jumping ship with this man was even more dangerous than the ship with the nobles.

But what could be done now?

The dye had already been cast and Ptolomy could only let out a heavy sigh as he braced for what was to come in the future,