Herald of Steel

Chapter 793 Lord Theony's Choice

Alexander's response to Perseus was very aggressive and the language very unyielding.

Internally, he was also very proud of that marching song he had come up with on the spot.

And hearing such a stance, Lord Theony surprisingly did not try to haggle, like Alexander would have expected any good envoy seeking peace would.

Instead, he only placidly posed this, "Will Lord Alexander not reconsider? Peace is better than war. Let us save lives."

"Unless you can defeat my army in battle, I see no reason to sue for peace. If Tibias wants to remain Tibias, it must win and earn its place."

Alexander's statement was very straightforward and revealed the cruel truth of the times.

If you were not strong enough, your only fate was to be eaten by greater powers.

In fact, given Tibias's relative size compared to Adhania, the fact that it could exist as an independent entity for so many years could already be said to have been a miracle.

"I see. That is unfortunate."

But at Alexander's grim words, Lord Theony was not too fazed.

He even did not seem too downcast, much to Alexander's amazement.

It appeared to him that the man had accepted his fate.

While in reality, Lord Theony was very glad about how the negotiations had turned out.

His heart was dancing with joy, for he got exactly what he wished.

In fact, it was quite hard to keep a straight face as he accomplished his agenda.

And the reason for this glee was because after that farce he was made to endure at the court, one from where he was humiliatingly kicked out, Lord Theony saw no reason to remain loyal to Perseus.

What would further loyalty bring him?

Except for further blame and finger-pointing for having lost Thesalie, an act where he played second fiddle to Ponticus.

Thus, as Perseus was a sinking ship, it only made sense to jump.

Hence when he asked Perseus to let him go negotiate with Alexander, it was not to try and stop him, but to implicitly urge him to continue.

And for that Lord Theony had actually forged the letter Perseus had given him.

In the original version, Perseus had been far more generous, for untrue of Alexander's accusation, Perseus was certainly not delusion, and could very clearly read the signs.

So in addition to signing a long twenty year truce, the king had offered Alexander around one fifth of his country, a lump sum indemnity equal to the cost of raising Alexander's army for the campaign, and even the promise of significant yearly tithes and tributes.

If Lord Theony had shown Alexander that version, perhaps Alexander would not accepted even that, but the language in his reply would not have been so harsh either.

A chance for a diplomatic solution might have still remained.

But upon receiving the king's instruction, Lord Theony had simply written a grossly fake letter.

This act was of course very dangerous and could be said to belong to the highest level of treason.

If it was to be discovered, such as by comparing it with a previous, known one, the discrepancy in writing would be easily noticed.

And Lord Theony and his family might very well end up in the gallows.

But the nobleman was willing to take the risk.

He felt it was worth the gamble for he reasoned that Alexander might not have a personal letter from Perseus.

And then he made the contents of the fake letter be so outrageous and unappealing that it was very likely Alexander would not even deign to look at it twice.

So combining this with Alexander's naturally superior position in the negotiations, Lord Theony was confident that the young man would throw out any option of talks for the time.

And as a testament to the politician's shrewd mind and impressive insight, that was exactly what happened.

Hearing the letter, Alexander judged Perseus to be a man who was willing to defend his land to the last man.

So he naturally felt sitting down to talk with this kind of man would be an exercise in futility on both sides.

Alexander might be knowledgeable, but Lord Theony had decades of invaluable, irreplicable experience, one which enabled him to navigate the minds of people like a master psychologist.

This event also worked to highlight just how important it was to send trusted people to negotiations.

Because in this era, the primitive means of communication made it so that those people were effectively the ruler's mouthpiece.

Their words directly influenced whether there would be peace or war

So after doing all this, what kind of power did Lord Theony seek to gain from this you ask?

Well, it depended on how much he would coax up to his new 'would-be boss'.

Even if Alexander did manage to conquer Tibias, he would need the support of many of the large Tibian noble families to keep it.

No one rules alone after all.

And Lord Theony wanted to present himself as the premier choice to Alexander.

But the man did not reveal his inclination to defect so easily to Alexander.

Not only could such a reveal in his open room jeopardize his current life if the words got out, but it would also make his switch seem cheap and not valuable.

Instead, he sought to maximize the benefit for his family.

So after using a bit more flowery language addressing Alexander, he revealed his desire in a roundabout way,

"Great Pasha, I have bought some gifts for you. They have been provided by me personally. I hope you will like them."

"I also would like you to invite the esteemed one to my fief. Please do not feel troubled to come at any time. We will receive you with open arms."

Following this the man bowed and the meeting quickly came to an end just like that.

And then before the day was over, the man was already on a boat and sailing downstream, towards his fief.

Alexander was of course surprised by the ease with which the envoy retreated, even feeling rueful that he could not see the man grovel a bit more.

But more than that, Alxx was intrigued by his overly generous show of hospitality, feeling this did not suit the relationship they currently had with each other.

So he felt that perhaps the gifts he was given could be able to shed some light.

Hence at Lord Theony's behest, he quickly inspected the,

The quantity he was given was surprisingly large, a few carts full.

And it took a small team the whole day to unpack and record all the contents.

These included the usual things- wines, cheese, dresses, jewelry, bolts of fabric such as linen and wool, strong and beautiful slaves of both sexes to name a few, all of which were meticulously recorded by a dedicated team employed by Alexander.

He had hired them for a task that could only be manufactured by the uber-wealthy, maintaining accurate records of who sent what gift, when, on what occasion, and of what value.

It was done so that when Alexander gave a return gift, it was of a similar standard.

Before being a noble, this luxury would have not only been unimaginable to Alexander but also viewed as an absolute waste of money and manpower.

But when he actually became one, he began to see there was truly a need for it

Because when nobles gifted you something, they at least expected something of equal in return.

And if you were unable to or worse forgot, it caused too great a loss of face.

Even deep enmity could develop if the error was egregious enough.

This practice also highlighted one of the ways nobles even with so much wealth could go bankrupt.

Because the value of the gifts exchanged could only go up, never down.

Meaning if a family was doing very well, they would exchange expensive gifts.

But if they fell on hard times, they would be unable to reduce these exorbitant costs.

Alexander came to such realization as he read the complete report of all the gifts Lord Theony bought, and he was very surprised by how generous he was.

But what really caught his eye were the stacks of papyrus and parchments meticulously wrapped in expensive clothes and delivered to him.

These contained no ordinary records but were Tibias's most closely guarded secrets.

Maps of various places were equally as detailed as some of the ones in Lord Ponticus's collection. Many intelligence reports, describing much of Tibias's domestic and foreign affairs, the latter of which was quite absent in Lord Ponticus's trove,

List of various spies operating in the country and other foreign nations.

Important trading routes and hubs, as well as a description of the many complicated relations various noble households, had.

Yes.

Instead of just saying he wanted to join Alexander's faction, Lord Theony had directly provided Alexander with proof of his sincerity.

And it was a very heavy proof at that, for it was something that caused Alexander to become even a bit overwhelmed at first.

For a while he even contemplated, 'Is this all a trap?', thinking it was a bait meant to lure him into attacking a predictable place where an ambush was waiting for him.

Author's note:

Hey Guys.

I have started to write another book: StarScroung Mage: Eater of Millions.

It's currently in RoyalRoad free to read. If you wish, kindly head over there to give it a try.

And if you want me to change anything, including the title- Comment there.

I will be able to edit a lot of the story because I plan to start posting it on Web around February 2024.

Thanks.