Herald of Steel

At the Queen Mother's joke about Lady Nanazin, Alexander's eyes flickered very animatedly, and half pleaded,

"Please stop joking about this, Your Highness. I barely escaped His Majesty's wrath once. Don't throw me out of the pan and into the fire."

The frank words said with some amusement brought a slight smile to both. They were also relieved to see Alexander had the consciousness to refute the claims even in closed doors.

This was a very good habit given how many ears were scattered all around the royal palace. Too many heads had rolled just because someone had confided something in someone they thought they could trust.

" Well, I am glad she is doing well. The girl has gone through a lot," Seelima at last let out this happy sigh, before switching topic and answering Alexander's question,

"Mikaya is marrying the eldest son of the Pasha of Rusti, Sahel. The boy just turned twenty this year and I heard he fell in love with Mikaya the moment he saw her portrait." There was a hint of amusement in her voice as she said, because the Queen Mother knew very well just how 'famous' Mikaya was. She was far from what the naive boy thought her to be.

And Alexander might have also joined in this with a chuckle, if he was not so occupied by the answer.

"Rusti?" The name caused a small frown to form in Alexander's face.

This was not an unfamiliar name to him, it was the province just north of Adhan and one of the two territories bordering Matrak to the south.

Recalling this, Alexander also began to sense a lot of things he had thought of when first reading the letter coming back to… such as wondering how all this had come to be.

Sensing Alexander's querying gaze, Queen Mother quickly informed him of the details,

Pasha Farzah is good friends with Pasha Ozman. They knew each other from long ago. So they decided to use this opportunity to tie the knot between the two kids and bring him to our side," her voice laced with great pride and accomplishment.

The increase of allies from two to three was something to certainly rejoice, especially when the deck was so stacked against them.

"....." Yet, contrary to her expectation, Alexander did not seem to share her enthusiasm, giving only a muted response.

His face was quite pallid and he seemed to be in rather deep thought.

"What are the exact terms Pasha Farzah has agreed to? Will Rusti send soldiers if Adhan is attacked? Or is it just empty rhetoric?" He finally chimed in with a controlled frown, appearing quite skeptical of the move.

To which both Queen Mother and Lady Inayah frowned.

Neither of them seemed to grasp the reason behind the man's words. Especially as it was always Alexander who was the most vocal about this issue- the disastrous isolation of Ptolomy and calls to do something about it.

So they thought he would be the one to be the most thrilled about it.

"....." Thus surprised by this lack of enthusiasm, the black noble lady could not even help but tease Alexander with slanted eyes,

"Alex, are you sure you are not just saying this because you regret not marrying Mikaya? I heard quite a few interesting stories about you from her. You must have enjoyed her a lot!"

Alexander was fortunately able to keep a straight face even though Lady Inayah basically confirmed she knew all about his ill arrangements with Mikaya during her stay in Zanzan.

But the insides of his heart were far less serene…. as a tumultuous tsunami raged.

'That girl… I told her to keep her mouth shut!' He cursed, heart thumping against his chest, threatening to spill out.

If that ever got out…. Forget marrying Azira and Azura, Pasha Farzah would have his head on a pike no questions asked. Even just a rumor would be enough to seriously damage the two families' relation.

The reassuring thing here was that Lady Inayah was a very trusted ally. So he calmed down, not believing she would ever reveal this to hurt him.

And this same thought went for Queen Mother, who gave a slight smile at her partner's joke, but rather than prod Alexander for the details of those prurient acts, simply chimed,

"I am also not very sure about the details. I was moved from court after I conceived. The priests said it is bad luck for a child to be around so many people. I also have been feeling quite tired and occasionally sick so did not have the energy to look into it more closely."

She said this with a tinge of regret, but reading between the lines, Alexander understood what she was really saying was that the news of Rusti joining Ptolomy was enough for her.

She did not feel interested to go into the details because that tedious job of discussing the details belonged to the ministers like Lord Iyazid and Pasha Farzah, while hashing out the minor points and closing was for the bureaucrats and clerks.

As a queen, Seelima was satisfied upon just learning the broad report.

However, the clever queen was also not a clueless person who did not pay any heed to this.

So she was able to give something valuable for Alexander to chew on.

"But I do know much about that boy Sahel. Apparently he is quite famous. Even though he is only twenty, he has won quite a few victories and it is said he has even executed more than nobles when they refused to bow to His Majesty."

There was a very clear twinge of admiration in the Queen Mother's voice as she said this,"Ptolomy's seems to be even thinking of making a general," and then suddenly added this, sending Alexander quite a challenging look.

It seemed she wanted to develop a rivalry between the two.

"....." To which the man cleverly stayed still, refusing to bite.

As for his internal thoughts on why, he was stunned to hear Lady Inayah give the answer almost word for word,

"Hahaha, Seelima, you are comparing what to what! Alexander has…. you know what, there is no need to list what he has done. You can write entire books about it. Everyone knows Alexander and his deeds."

"What about Sahel? Even the fact that you need to tell us about him clearly proves who is where. That boy doesn't even deserve to put Alexander's shoes!"

Each and every word Lady Inayah said was dripping in pride and delight, and as she turned to look at Alexander, he found her eyes to be glittering, almost like if she was looking at her own son,

The words filled him with warmth and once again understood just how close Lady Inayah thought him to be. Between them was a love not necessarily like the love between a man and woman. It was more like how we feel between allies and friends, familiar and comfortable.

And for a second, this even made Alexander wonder how they had become so close.

Because unlike say Mikaya and Queen Mother who stayed with him in Zanzan for almost a year, Lady Inayah and he did not even have that much contact. They occasionally exchanged letters and correspondence, it was all strictly business with nonexistent romance.

Even their casual makeouts were just that- casual with very little commitment.

So Alexander truly did wonder where all this goodwill came from.

As for what would Lady Inayah say the reason for this was if asked- well the influence of Alexander's trade on her family was certainly a factor.

But that would also only be a superficial reason.

She would not have given three of her daughters to become maids just to anybody… even if they made her the richest woman in the world.

The other Pashas and even the King did not get this privilege.

So perhaps the answer would be more like she simply liked Alexander's looks, speech, demeanor, and behavior, thus finding him attractive.

And if one wanted to go even deeper, it might even be that subconsciously Lady Inayah substituted him for the son she lost in the hands of Ptolomy's father, killed, so that the king could take her as his concubine.

If the boy had been alive, he would have been probably around Alexander's age.

But whichever the reasons might be, Lady Inayah very clearly showed her favor over Alexander, even going as far as to curtly argue with her bosom friend over this.

While Seelima too was not to be outdone, and charmingly swinging her hands, mused,

"Well Sahel is still young. Who knows maybe, he will surprise us. Alexander…"

"Alexander is even younger. And he has already surprised us more times than we can count." The Queen Mother was not allowed to finish her words, as Lady Inayah snatched them from her mouth like a hawk, almost sneering,

"Tell me, do you expect Sahel to surprise you as much as you were surprised when you heard Alexander had conquered Tibias? I remember hearing the reporting maid had to repeat the same words three times before you believed! And even then you snatched the paper and read it for yourself."

"Not to mention ... .did that boy get to bed you and me together? Well Alexander did!"

Alexander's lips visibly twitched at these words. He was really happy Lady Inayah was defending him like this.

But he also really wished the ladies would stop bringing that issue up in their discussion. This was the capital and he did not at all feel safe that such words were being thrown around.