Herald of Steel



The reason why Cambyses had come up to the wall herself was precisely because she had guessed what Perseus might do.

Or more precisely it was Menicus who had guessed so, and then had met with Cambyses one afternoon to suggest,

"Since Tibias has shown interest in peace talks, it is likely they will directly appeal to the people to surrender. We should think of a way to neutralize that."

And Cambyses's mere presence seemed to have done just that, for she noticed only a little disturbance or confusion among the soldiers.

Then, to boost their spirits even more, she decided to give a short speech of her own, as she then shouted,

"My valiant defenders, hear me now! Today, we face an enemy, our eternal enemy Tibias, one who seeks to crush our spirit and erase our city from history."

"Their king is a twin-forked serpent! Do not listen to him. For all he speaks are lies."

And at this moment, Cambyses flashed a piece of paper and waved it around, claiming,

"Here I hold a peace treaty signed between Tibias and us just three months ago. But the brutes of Tibias decided to break it and attack us anyway."

"They are godless heathens who have no respect for the heavens themselves."

Being a theocracy, the people of Zanzan were much more easily influenced when gods were involved, and thus Cambyses painted the enemy in a negative light using this.

As she then reminded them,

"Furthermore, remember this year's harvest. How great it was."

"The enemy lies when he says he was no grain. For we certainly have plenty of grain."

"Do not be swayed by them."

"For they speak only the deviled tongue."

Cambyses loudly appealed to them as such, before quickly flashing another small note.

"Here I have a message from the Pasha himself. I was sent to me this very morning."

"In here he says that he knows about our predicament and is rushing here with an army as we speak."

"He will be here as soon as possible." Cambyses exaggeratedly claimed, before ending her speech with this promise,

"But until that happens, until my husband returns and destroys Tibias, know that I will stand beside you no matter what."

"Today, we may stand at the precipice of a great battle, but look around you!"

"See the many brothers ready to fight with you."

"Know that we far outnumber the enemy."

"Remember the glory of our walls that have withstood for a thousand years, built by our ancestors who faced trials just as daunting as this."

"We stand here on the shoulders of those who came before us, and we will carry their courage and honor into this battle."

"So rest assured, together, with the blessing of the gods and our ancestors, we shall emerge victorious."

"For I know that we are not just defenders of stone and mortar; we are defenders of our people, our land, and everything we hold dear. " Cambyses said the speech as if she and her forefathers had lived in Zanzan for generations, and finished with this,

"So glorious soldiers, do not be afraid!"

"Raise your swords, your shields, and your bows!"

"Show the enemy the strength of our resolve and the fire that burns within us and have your name forever etched into the annals of history!"

"Ramuh blesses us all!"

As soon as Cambyses finished saying this, in complete contrast to Perseus's speech, across the entire wall, sounded loud hurrahs, as the men burned with fighting zeal.

Being reminded of their ancestor, their hated enemy and the gods all worked to pump the men up.

And hearing these jubilant roars, Cambyses could not help but comment this in relief, "Thank goodness, I had Azura and Azura to write this speech. Because could have never come up with something as good as this."

Yes, that very ornate and rousing speech was actually constructed by the twins.

Which was not something really surprising if one thought about it.

Because for someone like Cambyses, who had just started to learn Azhak and spoke it with a heavy accent, being able to write this compelling speech was way out of her league.

And as for writing it in Thesian and then translating it, well a translated speech could never have the same impact as one written in the original language.

Hence Cambyses asked the twins for help.

And the sagacity of this move really showed if one looked closely at the quality of the speech that was written.

The speech hit all the right notes at the correct paces, letting the defenders feel the high of each emotion individually without overwhelming them, for all of it to build up to a crescendo at the end.

This was a very particular skill the twins had developed after having been at the temple from a very young age, where they learned to read and write and regularly make and give their own sermons.

This had helped them to learn to read the emotions of the masses quite well, especially with regard to the gods, with perhaps the best evidence of that in this particular speech being the last line, where they had intentionally skipped the name of Goddess Gaia.

Because the people of Zanzan still did not like her.

Sure, they tolerated her in times of peace, but in this time of strife, the twins were not so sure.

And when they let Cambyses know this, she decided to defer to their judgment.

As the defenders of Zanzan, cheered and steeled their spirits, Cambyses could not help but smile as she felt that staying late to memorize that speech had been worth it.

While, as she retreated from the ramparts, some of the council members who were nearby surrounded her, looking very eager and pleased, as they asked with a grin,

"My lady, is it true? Did Lord Alexander repsond? What did he say?"

They had all been worried at the dealy with Alexander's response, as it should not have taken him more than a day to write back.

"Mmmn, have a look," Cambyses only hummed and nodded at the inquiry, as she handed over the small note, and it was quickly passed around for all eager eyes to read.

And once they all finished examining it, Menicus was the first to let out a sigh of relief, saying, "This is good. I was worried that my lord had landed in some difficulties. But seems everything is fine over there."

The old man seemed to be more worried about Alexander's well-being than the current siege.

And it was because Menicus was pretty confident in holding the city even without any reinforcements.

And was only worried that Alexander might have landed himself in some kind of hot water.

Because if that was the case, they would be powerless to do anything from all the way over here.

And all the others nodded to this.

Cambyses nodded particularly hard, as she had been especially worried the past few days.

'He should not take this long. What's taking this long,' She could be sometimes heard mumbling out loud, something which really worried Mean and Opehenia.

And they tried their level best to comfort her.

Even the usually distant Gelene tried to offer some words of comfort.

But given the intense pressure Cambyses was in, having to organize so many things, simple words were not efficacious.

Because Cambyses did not only need Alexander's comfort.

She needed more guidance as well, about Menes, about defending the city, about accepting deals from them.

Hence, for the past week, it had actually become customary for her to visit the aviary herself every day, just to confirm if a message from her husband had arrived.

This was of course completely unnecessary given the caretaker there would have immediately informed Cambyses if there was.

But still, Cambyses insisted, visiting the bird coups as much as three times a day, morning, afternoon, and night.

And this even caused the man in charge in there, an old man named Pollop to say, "My lady, such delays are nothing unusual. Especially during winter."

"Master is probably caught up in some bad weather."

The man was experienced enough to know what might be going on instantly.

And though Cambyses's head understood, her heart did not.

So imagine her relief when she got the message just around dusk yesterday, where instructions alleviating all her doubts were written.

Thus she wholeheartedly agreed with Melodias when he said this, "It is good my lord is coming back. His presence will help to boost the troop's morale."

"Seems we only need to hold for only a while."

As Alexander's side cheered both with fighting zeal and the promise of reinforcement, Perseus only pursed his lips as he silently returned to his army, whereupon he actually met Leosydas sitting in a carriage around the front line.

And meeting his meeting who appeared much rosier, he half sneered,

"Well have a waste of time. Why did you bother writing it? And why did you bother having me memorize it late into the night?"

Yes, Perseus's speech was also written by someone else.

"Haha," Leosydas only chuckled, and declining to answer, he asked with a smirk, "So the hard way it is then?"

"Yes!" Perseus heavily nodded, his eyes suddenly giving off a chilly light, as he then turned to order a nearby herald, "Tell the men to prepare the new weapons. We will tear this wall down before dusk!"

Thus soon the bloody siege began and the battle for the city was placed on the balance.