Herald of Steel

"Tap, tap, tap," Pasha Farzah silently tapped his fingers at Alexander's question.

Alexander soon figured out that the pasha would subconsciously tap his finger when he was thinking or saying something important, the sound acting as a kind of beacon for the audience to focus their attention on him.

"Do you know why I rebelled?" Pasha Farzah asked Alexander a straight question.

"No, I don't," Alexander gave a straight reply.

And Alexander really did not know why the man rebelled.

He had theories and conjectures, but not one single solid evidence.

Pasha Farzah then turned his head away from Alexander and looked out of the window, gazing into the horizon beyond, "Then let me tell you!"

"Many think that I instigated the rebellion because I wanted to replace the royal family and that's why invited foreign powers into the country."

He perfectly caught on to what Alexander and the others were thinking about him.

And he expressed a mocking sneer toward them, "Heh, the fools. They have no idea what the royal family means to the nobles and the populace. The faith of Ramuh has penetrated deep into the marrow of every citizen in the country and I'm not that big of a fool that I would attempt to supplant them."

Then he congratulated Alexander, "And on a side note, that's why I'm so impressed by how you were able to get concessions from Ptolomy to practice your faith of Gaia in Adhania. In addition to getting the right to build temples, you even managed to put a statue of the goddess in the Temple of Ramuh. Impressive youngster, impressive." Farzah praised

Alexander only lightly smiled at the applause as the pasha then proceeded to snigger at the king, "That fool Ptolomy is too overconfident in the hearts of the people. He thinks that they will not switch beliefs when given the choice out of loyalty. Well, time will tell how true that is."

'Very impressive insight,' Alexander remarked as he recalled that the problem the pasha could foresee just by his years of experience was something that had historical precedence in Alexander's previous life.

'The Japanese learned it the hard way.' Alexander recalled how in the 15th century when Christian missionaries were first coming into Japan, the Japanese emperors seemed unconcerned about it.

They failed to see the danger of the populace being converted from Shintoism, which proclaimed the emperor to be the god on earth, to Christianity, which believed in the son of god, Jesus.

They finally woke up to the danger in the 16th century, realizing the kind of threat the new religion possessed to the royal authority and they promptly banned it in 1614, brutally persecuting anyone found practicing it afterward.

Pasha Farzah however was naturally unaware of these and instead continued his speech, "Well, going back to the topic. The reason why I rebelled was to kill that pig and punish that waste." He was referring to Amneheraft's father and Amenheraft respectively, the disgust for them almost solid and opaque.

"And now, that has been achieved. I am satisfied with the current result, and now, I only want to return to Matrak with the only two people that have Layla's soul in them, Azura and Azira."

Then gave an ultimatum to Alexander, "So, this is the third time I am asking. Give up on Azira and Azura and I swear by Ramuh that I will not touch you. And I will also not let Ptolomy touch you."

'Heh, I'm sure you took a lot of oaths to the previous king as well. I would be a fool to trust even half of what you said.' Alexander sneered in his heart, still unconvinced.

If the pasha's true nature was so frank and upright, he could not have rebelled.

But the pasha's stubbornness was proving to be an obstacle for Alexander, who then reminded, "You must have heard how the king got his hand on a few billion ropals. Azura and Azira are involved. How do you intend to deal with that?

"Haha, yes, Ptolomy did tell me about that." Farzah first lightly chuckled. "He claims that you got him five billion ropals. Which means you got him ten billion ropals." The pasha knew his king well.

"But," The pasha spoke, "If you think that, that little trick will get you anywhere, you are deadly mistaken. You called Azura and Azira my weakness. And you were right. Which is why I'm going to take them with me to Matrak. What kind of an idiot would I be if I left my weakness at the hands of others when I was so close to securing it?" He scoffed.

He made a very convincing, which made Alexander put on an intrigued face, and ask, "Oh, then the lord is not concerned about the backlash from the nobles? Do you think they will accept their lord sheltering temple thieves?"

The pasha did not appear offended by Alexander calling his granddaughters thieves. But only mocked Alexander without disguise, "Heh, whatever backlash I receive, do you think a weak, poor man like you can protect them better than me? Will they be more secure than in my own territory?"

Alexander gave the answer with a light smile, "I think the pasha is misunderstanding something. The king can pardon Azura and Azira's life with the excuse of them being young and being tricked. And as a punishment, he can then banish them to Zanzan, which is a wasteland. This, along with hefty bribes will be enough to placate the nobles."

Then Alexander pointed out, "What will not appease the nobles is if the girls are sent to Matrak, the province of their doting grandfather. So, you see they 'will' be more secure with me."

Alexander put an emphasis on the word 'will' to answer the pasha's rhetorical questions.

This sound argument put a deep scowl on the noble's face.

'Looks like Seelima wasn't exaggerating when she said that I might have met my match,' Farzah bitterly complained at Alexander's eloquence.

And so, with his hands almost empty, he played his last card, "I might cut a deal with Amenheraft to become neutral in the war in exchange for amnesty."

But instead of feeling threatened, this only managed to cause an involuntary guffaw from Alexander, "If you are seriously suggesting this, then go ahead. I have nothing more no say."

He then slouched back onto the chair and just kept smirking at the man, indicating that the conversation was over.

But Alexander spoke more volumes by not talking than he would have done by doing so.

Because only a fool among fools would actually try to do what Pasha Farzah was suggesting.

The noble had committed regicide.

No, it was worse.

Because he didn't kill just a king, but a god-king.

He killed a man who was supposed to be a god in flesh.

The entire royal family's authority was based on the fact that they were god kin and thus untouchable.

But this man had broken that illusion, he had shattered that myth, and if that man was allowed to go not only scot-free, but also get an official pardon, it would shake the royal family's entire legitimacy to the core

And Pasha Farzah knew this as his face turned a bit pale for the first time when after a while Alexander broke the silence, "Do you think Ptolomy will ever forget you killed a king? Do you think he will fear that you could kill him just like his father?"

The question was rhetorical as both men were smart enough to know the answer- 'Yes. Absolutely.'

'They told me he was a slave just a month ago. So how does he know so much about us nobles? Why am I struggling so much against an illiterate?" Pasha Farzah was both annoyed at himself and felt a bit cautious of the boy.

After noticing the subtle change in pasha's facade, Alexander spoke in a soothing tone, "Pasha Farzah, seems to be misunderstanding something. I'm sure you are apprehensive about your granddaughters' well-being if they go with me. Which is understandable," Alexander said understandingly.

"But," Alexander pointed out, "Please recall that I did not harm your granddaughter when I first met them inside the temple. I did not even know of their identity at that time, so if I wanted to hurt them, that was my greatest chance...."

"Because you didn't hurt them then, you won't hurt them now." Pasha Farzah finished Alexander's sentence for him in a flat, monotone voice, indicating that he was not moved.

The muscular white man roughly retorted, "You not hurting Azira and Azura is not a credit. It's only natural."

He then pointed his thick index finger towards Alexander and in a low voice snarled, "If you had laid a finger on them, it would have been war. So, your reward for keeping them safe is the conversation you are having with me and the fact that you have me as an ally, ..for now,"

He then slouched back on his chair, as if to say 'The ball's in your court, brat.'

Alexander understood that the whole alliance with Pasha Farzah was hinging on the placement of the two and he was seriously contemplating whether it was worth it to pursue the twins.

'Yes, it is. I will forever regret this if I let go of his dangerous man's Achill's heel," Alexander determined.

And thus he too slouched in his chair and smiled, "Well, it looks like we have reached an impasse."

Both understood the girls' importance and neither was willing to back down.