Herald of Steel

The next day proved to be a busy one for Alexander, as he was informed midday of a five thousand army making their way toward Adhan.

Alexander immediately ordered the gates to be strengthened and then asked Ptolomy if he could identify the forces as friendly or hostile.

Both were possible, as they could be either friends who came to pledge their allegiance to Ptolomy, or they could be hostiles who intended to reinforce Amenheraft but had not managed to join the king in time.

Ptomloy soon confirmed them to be the former as he identified by symbol as Pasha Farzah's coat of arms, which made Alexander comment to Ptolomy, "Revealing himself just after all the fighting has been settled. Heh, what a snake!"

Ptolomy gave a silent reply.

Alexander soon ordered the gates to be opened and though he was reluctant to let five thousand soldiers loyal to someone else enter the city, Alexander understood that his free reign over the city of Adhan was coming to an end as more and more nobles with their forces would come to support Ptolomy.

Pasha Farzah had bought a lot of food with him, which pleased Ptolomy greatly as both he and Alexander received the great noble from the palace doorsteps and cordially invited him inside.

But the most pleased to see the close to seven feet, thick bearded, very muscular man were none other than the twins Azira and Azura.

They sped towards the thickly padded man, giving him a mighty hug and shouting joyous cries of "Granddad, granddad."

"Haha, I'm so glad to see the two of you safe," The giant bear-like man let out a burst of uproarious laughter as he hugged and then effortlessly took the two adult girls up in his arms.

'He's strong.' Alexander remarked as he scanned the famed schemer.

Tall, wearing a heavy jacket with fur boots, with a heavy mass of silver hair on his head and face, the square-shaped, chiseled face emanated strength and stability.

Alexander failed to find a wrinkle old wrinkle on the man's face and unless he had seen it for himself, he would not have believed that his man had two adult granddaughters.

While Alexander was sizing his potential adversary or potential friend up, the shrewd lord naturally detected the curious gaze and launched his own curious gaze.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who Alexander was, as he could think of no other who would be standing beside the king to greet him.

But what did surprise the lord was how young the armored man looked.

Farzah had read the reports, but even then he was surprised by baby fat still hanging off the man, or more accurately the boy.

'He's younger than Azura and Azira,' He commented in his heart, which made him all the more impressed by the boy's accomplishments.

Even if everything else was false, just how he managed to win against Amenheraft with an outnumbered and outmatched force, impressed the tall, white man.

"Your room is ready, Pasha Farzah." Ptolomy gestured for him to enter the palace and soon his entourage of eleven people were seen to their rooms.

A large feast was arranged to be served at night, where the Pasha mingled with the nobles and got to know the true situation of the city.

And once these were done, instead of going off to bed, Farzah arranged for the king and Alexander to have an informal discussion.

'The man sure has energy,' Alexander lampooned as he had spent the whole day arranging everything, from placing the soldiers in the barracks, to ensuring the security of the palace, to overseeing the food relief he had promised the populace today and was now eager to hit the bed.

'Instead, now I have to lock heads with the possibly most dangerous man in Adhania,' Alexander complained as he found himself in Ptolomy's personal study with the other two men.

Pasha Farzah spoke first, in a pleased diffident voice, "Your Majesty, let me again congratulate you on your victory. Adhania finally belongs to its rightful ruler!"

"Yes, thank you. Too bad you could not have joined us in our fight," Ptolomy's acidic tone was not lost on Farzah.

Though this particular allegation was not fair toward Pasha Farzah, as even though Alexander and Ptolomy would never believe it, Pasha Farzah really did want to come to Ptolomy's aid.

But bad weather and initial confusion on who really held the city- Ptolomy or Amenheraft or the Cantagenans caused inevitable delays which made him unable to come to his king's aid on time.

But the pasha had lived long enough to know these excuses if spoken would be treated like water under the bridge and so the man only lightly smiled at the accusation, "Your Majesty should be aware of my difficulties. We had discussed them before, and hence why we asked for Cantagena's help."

Then he turned his head to look at Alexander and said, "And thankfully our friends have not disappointed us. Though were there a little hiccup in the way, everything worked out perfectly in the end, haha."

"All by the grace of His Majesty," Alexander humbly smiled, till now content to feel the opposing man out.

"Yes, everything worked out just like Pasha Farzah said," Ptolomy nodded approvingly.

And then added, "But, you're mistaken on the assumption that they were Cantagenans. Instead, they are mercenaries."

"Ah yes, yes, my mistake," Farzah apologized with a smile.

Of course, he was aware of who these forces were and just wanted to figure out Ptolomy's stanch on them.

'Looks like he wants to use the boy to balance me. The brat is unlikely to have come up with this. So is it Seelima?' The noble contemplated in his heart.

"Yes, it was Alexander and his mercenary forces that helped me get and defend Adhan," Ptolomy repeated.

And continued, "So, I'm thinking of rewarding them with Zanzan. What do you think?"

Pasha Farzah understood that that was not a question.

The king wasn't asking, he was telling.

"Excellent! Excellent! I think that is an excellent idea," Farzah stood up excitedly while shouting cries of approval and consent.

Alexander was surprised by the alacrity displayed by the noble as he had expected the high noble to be snobbish and disdainful at the idea of an ex-slave being thrust into the highest echelons of nobility in one swift step.

But from Farzah's point of view, he understood that the king had already made up his mind, and since there was no point in arguing with him, he reasoned that he might as well express his full support for the decision and try and win some brownie points.

Pasha Farzah even added, "Your Majesty is truly a genius. With Pasha Muazz's betrayal, it is certainly an apt punishment to strip him of his rank. And with Tibias bordering Zanzan, having one of our own will mean that region of the country will once again become peaceful.

This was a naive and foolish thing to say and the trio in there all knew about this, but as this was just Farzah paying lip service, none bothered to point it out.

"Thank you for your acceptance, Pasha Farzah. I'm truly honored," Alexander sincerely bowed.

He had at least the lord to grumble that the land being offered was a bit too much and was so really surprised by how well the lord took it.

'A flexible man,' Alexander evaluated, though he understood that no schemer can be a hard stick.

"Haha, no, no, it's only natural. For Pasha Alexander to achieve the things he has done at such an early age puts his old man to shame. You deserve it, you deserve it." Farzah roared loudly as he praised Alexander.

For him, it was really not that much of a concern if Alexander became a pasha or not.

Zanzan was a poor, underdeveloped region, while Matrak was called the second capital of Adhania.

They were also literally two thousand kilometers from each other, with two other provinces Adhan and Rusti in between them and so it would be unlikely that they would have any conflicts with each other.

And last of all, Zanzan was already supposed to go to Cantagena, so Pasha Farzah was a bit happy knowing that now it would still belong to them.

And since they were already short on allies, having a new friendly pasha was not something he was averse to.

"Pasha Farzah flatters me. Compared to your legendary exploits that His Majesty has recounted to me, I'm nothing," Alexander lightly smiled.

And then humbly asked, "I'm very unlearned of the ways to navigate the Adhanian nobility circle and I very much hope Pasha Farzah will be able to offer his insightful guidance in the future,"

"Haha, of course, of course. Just ask, just ask anytime," Farzah swung his strong arms as he repeated.

"Hehe, it pleases me greatly to see my two most important retainers getting along so well," Ptolomy had a fake smile on his face.

And then he turned to Farzah and asked, "I believe my two retainers should be joined by blood. In order to achieve that effect I'm thinking of getting Azura and Azira married to Alexander! What do you think?"

As soon as the words left Ptolomy's mouth, the warm, cordial atmosphere instantly disappeared as to Alexander it felt like a heavy blizzard had started emanating from Pasha Farzah's body while his face hardened up.

"What?" A low, piercing growl escaped his hoarse throat, indicating that he was clearly not amused.