Herald of Steel

Azira and Azura's mother was Farzah's eldest daughter and his favorite.

Being the pearl of his eyes, Farzah hence pushed for her to marry Amenheraft, who was the crown prince, intent on making his daughter the queen.

But tragedy struck when under the machinations of the previous mad king, she was burnt to death.

It irrecoverably soured the relations between the two houses and was one of the primary reasons for his rebellion, along with the desire to snatch and protect his granddaughters who looked the spitting image of their mother.

So for Ptolomy to suggest that the twins be snatched from him when he had finally obtained them naturally incensed him.

He spoke in a low, menacing voice, "Ptolomy, I didn't come here to congratulate you. I came to gloat over that rotting piece of shit they called a god and to witness how well that waste I'm forced to call son-in-law has been thrashed!"

The sneer and disdain with which he said it and the scorn that the man displayed for the king seemed to surpass even Alexander, as even the latter was not so vocal about his thoughts.

This level of derision surprised Alexander, as he started to understand that maybe getting those twins would not be so easy, while Ptolomy became like a wooden statue, the shock sending him to a stunned silence.

But the fifty-five-year-old was not done yet, as, after lambasting Ptolomy, the huge man turned his attention to Alexander, pointing his thick arms at Alexander and cursing, "You pathetic cur that swam out of the sewer. You think you low-born low lives deserve the right to even breathe the same air as us. Do you think you have reached the moon after winning just a single battle? How dare a toad like you have the gall to even think of tasting swan meat? Go back to the shit hole you climbed back from, you delusional fool, you waste of space."

Farzah launched a torrent of vituperation against Alexander, insulting him and all his fourteen generations and displaying in clear terms what he thought of the proposal.

Alexander, however, unlike Ptolomy was not really offended by the tempestuous screed.

On the contrary, he was elated because the strong emotion shown by the man meant he truly cared about the girls and this meant he had a weak spot.

After the brimstone of insults had ended, Alexander lightly chuckled and calmly said to Ptolomy, "Your Majesty, please forgive Pasha Farzah. It's just that he is very tired after his long, perilous journey and he is not thinking straight. He did not mean anything by it."

He then quickly turned to the pasha and chuckled, "Haha, the lord's love for his granddaughters is really heartwarming. I'm sure the esteemed pasha has not been able to spend much time with the princesses since he got here and must be eager to know about their well-being."

Alexander then gestured the man toward the door, signaling the end of the meeting.

Farzah was also not in the mood to talk anymore and so, swiftly picking up his body, he got up and then slammed the door behind Ptolomy, leaving without showing any courtesy to the king.

Alexander sent a silent, placid look at Ptolomy, who returned a rueful smile.

'I'm truly a pathetic king,' The young king lamented on his powerlessness.

With the man actor gone, Alexander also chose to see himself off, performing a perfect bow toward the king and then retiring for the night.

He slept like a baby, unconcerned and unbothered by the recent harangue or the insults, as he knew that this was just Farzah venting.

Reality had made Farzah all bark and no bite as the great pasha would have no choice in the matter.

And this proved to be the case, as the next day, Alexander was called to a private meeting with the pasha alone in his room.

There the man of great stature sat alone, wearing a simple, linen shirt that seemed to be under the threat of being torn apart by the massive, bulging muscles underneath.

"I have gotten the gist of the situation from Ptolomy and Azura and Azira. It seems I have underestimated you," Pasha Farzah greeted Alexander with these words from behind his chair.

Alexander humbly bowed and smiled, "In front of a warrior who dared to fight a god, I'm nothing."

"Hahaha, good, good. They did tell me your tongue was something else." Farzah roared a pleased grin.

Farzah's smile then abruptly stopped, and immediately his aura turned menacing, "It would be a shame if someone were to cut it!"

Alexander didn't take this threat with one iota of seriousness and only smiled, "My lord is being too courteous, He only needs to say the word, and I will cut it myself."

"Hah, you have a quip ready for everything," Farzah sneered.

Then asked in a serious voice, "What do you want here?"

Alexander knew he had to give a good answer as the noble was sizing him up, and so he gave a frank and mostly true, but a rather succinct version of his ambitions, "For now I want to use Amenheraft's and Ptolomy's infighting to make a name for myself and cement by position in Adhania. Next, I want to expand my territory, and take Kuleef and possibly Abu Hamam. Lastly, I want to become a strong enough lord that the crown, whether it's Ptolomy or Amenheraft can't replace on a whim."

Alexander made some grand claims.

"Haha, Zanzan, Kuleef and Abu Hamam- that's two thousand kilometers long. Your ambition is sure not small." The pasha half praised, half mocked.

'You have no idea,' Alexander remarked in his heart, as the goal he revealed was just a tiny fragment of his grand ambition, while outwardly he just smiled and nodded.

For Pasha Farzah, the ambitions of the small mercenary leader, of the boy, of the peasant slave, seemed like the ravings of a deranged fool, as he could never see how the boy who had no administrative experience, would be able to achieve the things he said with such a poor territory and such a low population.

But the prudent man did not simply brush off Alexander's dreams into the wind just yet.

He was very well aware of what a skilled general could achieve with even a small army, as evidenced by the history of Adhania.

This was evident even in Alexander's previous life, the most famous example being when Alexander the Great started with around ten thousand men and in the next thirteen years, went on to conquer a territory spanning from Greece to Afghanistan- a length of three thousand miles.

And here Alexander was proposing conquering just half the distance, which was very much possible, even within a decade.

So although a bit dismissive, the ever-cautious pasha pointedly asked, "If that was your goal, then why ask for the ability to annex other kingdoms?"

This time Alexander gave the answer truthfully, though only half of it, "It's three against nine." Here he was referring to how it was Ptolomy, him, and Farzah against the others.

Then continued, "I want to conquer and annex Tibias. That region has always been a throne on the side of Adhania, and conquering it will greatly boost His Majesty's prestige."

Alexander said it like he was doing it for Ptolomy, conveniently leaving the fact that the land would belong to him out.

This irony was not lost on Farzah, who burst out into his characteristic loud bombastic pleased roar, "Hahahaha." as if he had heard the most amusing joke.

He was not just laughing at Alexander's lame excuse, but his naïve thoughts as well.

'Hah, the little pup has won two battles and now thinks he can take on Tibias. Truly the young cubs are the most fearless…and ignorant,' Pasha Farzah remarked in his heart.

The reason for thinking this was not just out of hubris and underestimating Alexander, but because of knowing the true difficulty of the task.

Tibias was a peninsula, with a very narrow and quite mountainous terrain connecting it with the mainland of Adhania.

This made fighting in large numbers generally difficult, with the effective use of phalanx formations being almost impossible, and made Adhania unable to deploy its greatest weapon- its heavy cavalry.

And that was not even going for the fact that the whole region was heavily fortified, with various large forts dotted from the land, containing high thick walls manned by large forces.

Adhania had never been able to break through that choke point and its navy was never strong enough to siege the coastal cities.

Knowing these difficulties, Pasha Farzah tried to offer Alexander some words of guidance, "Haha, it's good for young ones to dream. But let this old man be the party pooper and remind you that one's means and methods should match."

'Give up on Tibias,' was the main message the giant, buff man was giving to Alexander.

Alexander gave a little nod and smiled, "Thank you Pasha Farzah for your advice. I will surely heed it."

Though internally he commented, 'You guys used phalanxes and no siege engine to try and take such a defensible position? Huh, of course, you were going to fail.'

Alexander's concern wasn't if he could conquer Tibias, only how soon.