Herald of Steel

Alexander looked at the setting sun, its gentle orange hue cloaking the expansive, lush meadow with a rueful expression.

"Looks like the other two shops will have to wait till tomorrow," He commented, a bit frustrated that he let the day slip by so quickly, though he tried to be as fast as possible, even skipping lunch to make up time.

And this had the effect of producing a silent rumble, "Grrrr," from his stomach, expressing its displeasure over not being fed in ten hours.

"Do you wish to then meet them, tomorrow master?" Takfiz wanted to make time for him tomorrow.

"Yes, tell them, I will meet them tomorrow after lunch," Alexander announced the reschedule and then excused the old man after a few last pleasantries like telling him to take care of his body, not to catch a cold, and take care of his grandson.

And with all these done, Alexander rode back to his home, thinking back on the day.

From the pretty mundane morning council session to Camius interrupting him in the most inopportune moment, to the meeting with Mikaya that Alexander was sure would last with him for a lifetime, and at last to the two workshop visit.

And for Alexander personally, the highlight of the shop visit was the most mundane and insignificant thing imaginable, his envy of Gajopk's mustache.

Alexander at the age of eighteen had no facial hair, which was not unusual, and was not too out of place for his age.

But the big, burly, powerful, bear-like image that was conjured up when the title of grand title of pasha was uttered deeply contrasted with the face that was presented in front of them, one which closely resembled a boy.

Thus Alexander certainly wished for some facial hair, at least a stubble, or if even that was possible, even a light mustache would do.

With these 'agonizing' thoughts Alexander soon reached his house, and found a group of slaves manually lighting up the thousands of candles needed to keep the entire house and its front walkway lit.

'I need to invent gas lighting,' Alexander was reminded of another important invention to add to his list and he lampooned at the ever-increasing, seemingly infinite amount of stuff he needed to get done.

"My lord, welcome,"

"Good evening, master,"

"Your lordship,"

These maids and servants all bowed as Alexander made his way into the house, while Alexander politely smiled and nodded.

And after Alexander had a warm bath, changed into his comfortable evening attire, and had his dinner of roti with fish vegetable soup and salads, accompanied by the usual fine wine, Alexander invited, "Ladies and Your Highnesses, if you would please follow me to the art gallery, I have arranged a new kind of games for you."

Mikaya had given him the cards just before starting dinner and Alexander found them to be very beautifully painted, just as he wanted, causing him to exclaim, "It seems Miss Mikaya's skills are not only exaggerated but understated."

"Hehe, I hope the game pasha has devised is interesting enough to make me paint for four hours straight worth it," Mikaya curved her eyes into a crescent as she giggled.

.And Alexander would now have the chance to prove it to Mikaya as he led the women to the central hall and then invite them to his art gallery which was on the right side of the portico.

This art gallery had been renovated into Alexander's game night room with comfortable couches, soft chairs and cushions, small table stools with fruits and wine on top, and a few large circular wooden tables for playing all kinds of games, all placed above a thick lush yellow carpet and heated using a roaring fireplace at the end of the room.

With all the ladies seated around the table, Alexander took his seat at the head of the table.

And then introduced, "Today, I asked Miss Mikaya to paint me some playing cards. Here, they look like this."

Alexander then passed the cards around and introduced the names of the cards, letting the eleven girls familiarize theses with them.

And then the next few hours went by in a flash, as Alexander taught them Texas Hold'em Up, with all the combinations written on a piece of parchment for the women to check anytime.

Alexander was naturally the dealer and after an hour of practice rounds, where Alexander showed them the ropes and told them some common terms like check, and fold, the next two and a half hour was played seriously, with the starting bet opening at one ropal and each maximum increase limited to just two ropals.

Some like Mikaya certainly groaned at the low amount of money, but since none of the ladies bought any coin with them, naturally it was Alexander who had to foot the bill and thus this restraining measure.

"Pasha Alexander, as a man who's got a billion ropal, a one ropal limit is unbecoming of you," Mikaya pouted in a fake voice, her glittering, gleeful eyes exposing her true intention.

She was a bit apprehensive at first about the game, finding the rules and more importantly the combination a bit hard to remember, requiring her to look at the chart repeatedly and causing her to lose concentration.

But once she got the hang of it, she loved it.

In fact, her love for it was probably second to her love for sex.

This is because she was a natural at it, with a natural poker face that made her bluffs almost unreadable from her real hands.

This was in much contrast to people like Mean and more evidently the twins, who very theatrically grimaced at any bad hands and lit up like a Christmas tree at any good ones, letting others read their faces like a book.

And what made Mikaya like it even more was that she was playing against some really good players, probably some of the best in the country.

The queen mother was a given, keeping that slight, sly smile eternally hanging off her wheat-colored face.

Then there was Hellma, who had picked up similar skills from her mother.

After that came Ophenia who learned to hide her emotions for years while in the Temple of Shiva.

Gelene similarly was a scheming woman who could lie through her lies like breathing air.

And lastly was Cambyses, Alexander's protegee and someone he had taught how to lie as actual classroom lessons.

This made a dynamic game of bluffs, calling bluffs and losing to bluffs.

Mikaya was very aggressive in her play, while the much more experienced Queen mother was much milder and cautious, Hellma being young was quite mercurial in her playstyle, and Ophenia preferred to think things over, whilst Gelene was the most ambitious and greedy, always trying to get the most money, followed by Cambyses, who was a balanced player.

The game really revolved around these six, newly inducted gambling addicts, while the other five were basically placeholders, and the girl's played the new game to their heart's content.

At one point, they even invited Alexander join the game, with one of them offering to switch places with him, which Alexander politely accepted.

And then he promptly got thrashed by the Queen Mother and Mikaya, causing them to giggle, 'Hehe, so even the great pasha has weaknesses.'

'You bitches have masks for faces,' Alexander could only sulkily say, and then quickly went back to being a dealer.

This game went deep into the night and it took Alexander quite a bit of pushing to dislodge these girls from the table.

For the first time in more than ten years, Alexander was once reminded of the true meaning of the phrase, 'Just one more game,' which really meant 'Three more at least, much more if I lose'.

And with each of the girls separately shouting 'Just one more game,' it took Alexander close to four hours to finally end the game, with his ultimate threat being, "That's it, I'm calling the guards."

"Pasha Alexander, remember to claim your reward for showing me such a great game. We will show you a great time." Mikaya gave a sultry smile and a very suggestive wink as she swayed her butt suggestively while walking away from Alexander, leaving the room a very happy woman,

This was because Alexander had pronounced her the winner of the game night, with a grand total haul of twenty-five ropals.

Of course, twenty-five ropal was not even worth the dirt between her eyes, but what made it worth it was who she had won it against.

The victorious feeling she was feeling right now could almost compare to or even surpass the fun she had imagined she would be having back at Matrik.

"It seems Mikaya has taken a liking to you. Thank you for being patient with her," The Queen mother gratefully smiled at Alexander, thanking the heavens for the fact that Alexander was not a petty and vindictive.

'Oh, you have no idea, hahaha,' Alexander manically laughed inside his heart at the queen mother's innocent remark, but outwardly only said, "It was nothing, your highness. My pleasure."

None of the girls found Mikaya's suggestive poses the slightest bit surprising, as the white-haired succubus was always like that.

And once Alexander was alone in his bedroom with Cambyses and Ophenia, the latter there for her reward, he asked the former, "Is everything ready for tomorrow?"

"Yes, I instructed Bartholomew to arrange for a drill at dawn tomorrow and we will set out then," Cambyses naturally was referring to the killing of the Ramuh priests that was likely taking place as she spoke.

"Um, good, Remember to wear proper armor when you set out," Alexander again reminded Cambyses to be cautious.

And with all this done, his eventful day came to an end