Herald of Steel

Sensing his tempers were running high, Amenferaft took a deep breath, calmed down, and then slowly clasped his hands behind, "Manuk we understand your position. And we all know you just want the best for all of us here. And yes, according to the Takqa we are supposed to offer sacrifices to the gods in exchange for their favor."

"Okay fine, you want some people to offer the gods, we will give you half of the thirty thousand- fifteen thousand men to appease the gods." Amenheraft proposed a perfectly reasonable middle-ground solution to their argument.

But Manuk was a fundamentalist and not someone reasonable when it came to religion.

He was someone who would follow the book to the tee and no way was he going to accept anything short of a full sacrifice

This bullheadedness many would argue ran in the family, Beihrut was widely known for his stubbornness, but few who met Manuk would associate him with such a quality.

Because usually, Manuk was very level-headed and reasonable, until it involved religion. Then he would suddenly turn into a complete manic zealously and extremely aggressively defending every single word without exception.

But Beihrut'st roar, like with Amenheraft, also bought some coolness back to Manuk's head and he understood rashly that lashing out would not convince anyone, especially when keeping the soldiers alive as slaves had so much tangible benefits for everyone.

Hence he decided to appeal to their soul.

"Let us recount our god's blessings today" Manuk proposed. "Without the first blessing, the first thunderstrike, our slingers would have had to fight tooth and nail to destroy the Cantagenan cavalry. By that time our outnumbered infantry might well have been overrun and destroyed, losing us the war. The second blessing occurred out of our sight, a lightning bolt struck and killed our most hated general- Agapios, throwing the Cantagenan high command into chaos. The third blessing occurred just now- the Cantagenans were close to breaking the cauldron and rescuing their trapped soldiers when a fog disoriented their sense of direction and disrupted their lines of communication, trapping all of them in."

Manuk then lifted his thumb, "The first blessing can be said to be because Ramuh decided to help his son on earth."

Then he raised his index and middle finger, "But without the second and third blessings, without Agapios dying and the fog trapping the soldiers, none of us here would be debating what to do with the captured soldiers. We have only captured the soldiers because the gods designed it such. This gift is theirs and yet you mortals dare to steal from the god?" He asked in a hard, furious voice.

"The king is a god too." The noble that spoke before retorted.

"Yes, His Majesty Amenheraft is a god. No one can ever deny that." Manuk admitted with a nod.

"However, it should not be forgotten that technically His Majesty is yet to be coronated. The previous king's funeral ceremony is still pending and His Highness is yet to become king in the eyes of the gods."

"But even if we forget that technicality, remember, King Amenheraft is a god amongst mortals. He has been granted authority to do whatever he wants in this mortal plane to mortals. But not to the gods. Remember, even the god-king cannot take what belongs to his divine father Ramuh."

Then Manuk asked, "All of you want to use the slaves to farm. They will help end the famine, you say. They will help produce food, you say. They will save our starving populace, you say. We only need them till the autumn rain ends, you say. Have you ever stopped to ask if it rains no longer?"

"What if, out of your greed, you do not offer the gods their rightful gifts, instead use them to plant crops, only to find out that the gods in their displeasure have decided to resume the drought? Does any one of us have the power to make it rain when the gods deny it?" Manuk finished his inquiry.

The questions raised by Manuk bought back fear to many present.

Yes, the coming of rain usually signified the end of the drought.

Usually.

There have been many records where heavy rainfall occurred amidst droughts and many thought the drought was over only for it to be prolonged for years.

Manuk's questions had moved even Amenheraft.

Although he was a very pragmatic leader who mainly viewed his so-called divine right to rule as nothing but a convenient political tool, still in his heart, in a small, hidden corner, resided a genuine fear and reverence for the gods.

There have been many rumors about the origins of the drought, many saying this was a curse by the gods to the Amenheraft family.

It said that this was the gods signaling that the Amenheraft family had lost their divine right to rule.

They pointed to the excesses the precious king, Amenheraft's father indulged in and blamed every misfortune occurring around them on him.

Now in fairness, even Amenheraft would agree that his father regularly went too far.

Even as his son Amenheraft would sometimes be disgusted by some of his father's practices, such as forcibly taking the wives of various nobles openly in front of them, taking his concubines in large open parties, sharing his various wives with other nobles, raping young boys and various other turpitude too many to list.

But although disgusted and understanding the severe consequences of his father's actions, Amenheraft, even as the crown prince, had almost no power to do anything about it.

As king, his father was god, and crown princes had been executed for far fewer infractions in the past.

A few of his own brothers had been killed by the king for minor foibles.

As such the best Amenheraft could do was try and mitigate the damages caused by his father from the shadows, without drawing the ire of the king.

But clearly, his efforts were not enough as the rebellion occurring now proved.

But Amenheraft, although didn't learn from his father how to be a good king, at least did learn how not to be a bad king.

And the two biggest way to not be a bad king was to one- to heed his loyal retainers' advice and two- to not upset the gods.

And if Amenheraft was to forcibly stop the sacrifice today he would be violating both points.

He feared that if he stopped the sacrifice and the drought returned, it would be the end for him.

He suspected even his most loyal retainer Manuk would likely abandon him.

Hence with a heavy heart and a tired voice, he asked "Manuk, is there really no other way?"

He had suspected such an outcome just as Manuk bought up the topic, and although he fought the good fight it seemed the inevitable was going to happen.

"I am afraid not Your Majesty. Even if you decree such a decision, I will command the troops to execute all the captured troops. And if I am killed for my actions, I will gladly die a martyr. At least, the gods will bear witness to my intentions and save my soul from eternal damnation." Manuk fearlessly declared.

Amenheraft listened to Manuk's determination with a deadpan expression and then conceded in a flat tone, "Haaahh, then do it. I am tired and I leave the ritual and ceremony to you." He then finished by waving his arms dismissively,

"Yes, Your Majesty." Manuk promptly replied.

Right then an ear screeching, coughing sound blasted their everyone's ears, "*Cough*, *Cough*, *Cough*."

It was from Beihrut and he kept coughing and coughing while everyone started till phlegm mixed with blood was vomited out and he couldn't stand anymore.

"Brother!" Seeing the giant be toppled, Manuk quickly ran up to the kneeling man, eyes filled with concern.

And just as he touched the man, it felt like he was touching a hot frying pan.

Beihrut's entire body seemed to be on fire.

"You, you have a burning fever running. Why didn't you go rest, idiot?" Manuk exclaimed in horror.

"Nulafzam, Nulafzam, where are you?" Manuk then started looking around for Beihrut's adjuvant for help.

But surprisingly he was nowhere to be found, absent from his to-be post.

And not only him, a large part of Beihrut's retinue seemed to be strangely absent.

Manuk if he was still cool-headed as before would have certainly picked up on this discrepancy but he was too occupied and simply chalked up the absence with them being somewhere else for the moment.

After all, in an army of twenty-five thousand, it was all too easy to lose track of a few men.

But, although Nulafzam didn't answer Manuk, his manic calling was soon answered by the people around, who picked Beihrut to his camp, assigned some doctors, and reassured Manuk that his brother will be looked well after.

And so Manuk, leaving his brother at capable hands reluctantly left to perform the ceremony.

He prayed that the ceremony will be enough to appease the gods and help obliterate all obstacles in their life and even help cure Beihrut.

,m With this in mind, Manuk soon commenced the ritual, where all the soldiers chanted in unison after him as they stabbed and executed the captured soldiers, turning the night sky into a mournful chorus of screams and howling and painting the black ground bright red.

But what of Nulafzam and others you ask?

Well, they were currently in front of the city gates of Adhan, flashing a strange seal to the gate guards!