Herald of Steel



"How can you be so sure?" But Ptolomy was still panicked, as he stretched out his arm and said, "Djose could choose to simply lay the blame for the harm on the fact that some soldiers go out of control during seizing the city."

"He could say the tragedy was caused by the fact that no commander could control each and one of his men under him during the chaotic plundering of a captured city." Ptolomy envisioned the worst-case scenario and then pointed asked, "What then?"

'Well it's good to see you are not totally inept. At least you can recognize Djose might choose to harm them as revenge for you killing his son,' Pasha Farzah was half impressed that Ptolomy did not take the royal ladies' safety for granted.

Now only if he put that much thought into governance.

"*Sigh*," Hence giving let out an audible sigh, the Pasha Farzah gave an easy solution, "Then we can ask them to move to the Ramuh temple. Mikaya can be with them too. The soldiers will not dare to blindly harm those in there."

This was why the prime minister was only half impressed with Ptolomy.

Because the king in his panic and fear forgot such a classic technique.

Temples were sacred places that would never be harmed, and this protection extended to those residing inside.

So hiding inside the temple was a pretty safe tactic.

After all, people were rarely madmen like Alexander- one who attacked everything.

Pasha Farzah further added, "And I will ask Azura and Azira not to let Alexander's family take asylum there. This will deny the soldiers any excuse to attack the temple. Will this be enough Your Majesty?"

Pasha Farzah seemed to have considered a lot of the minutiae, as he was pretty sure the Temple of Gaia would be demolished after the city's capture and all its believers killed or enslaved.

Ptolomy gave a bit of pause at this suggestion, but eventually came the affirmative answer, "Yes," though he instantly added, "But I still feel leaving the city will be safer. Farzah, are you not worried about your people?"

To say that Pasha Farzah was not at all concerned would be a lie.

But life was about managing risks.

And in this particular case, the risk of staying in the city was not too great.

At least it outweighed the alternative.

Hence Pasha Farzah replied to Ptolomy, "At this time of the year, the waters around Zanzan are not great for ships. There are frequent storms and strong winds. So, instead of taking the large risk, it will be best for the ladies to take refuge in the temple of Ramuh."

'...I see. Okay then," Ptolomy finally relented to the advice and then decided to end the meeting for today.

And as Pasha Farzah left the king's private study, he soon asked one of his guards to find his son and join him in his private quarters.

He had instructions for him.

"So, that's the whole situation," The aged man first filled his fifth son, aged twenty-seven, on the new developments which the man took some time to digest.

'This rebellion was a mistake,' Contrary to his father, he was much more pessimistic amount winning this civil war as he hid his sigh, but could only go with it.

His family identity meant his side was chosen by birth.

He then heard his father task him, "You are to arrange the collection of the peasant levies and then lead the army. It is an easy job, so do it well."

This son of his was always a playboy and letting him lead the army to squash some poor, unprepared nobles was Pasha Farzah's way of giving the man an easy way of earning fame and credit in the court.

"But father, wasn't I supposed to head to Zanzan at the end of the month? To deliver all the material Pasha Alexander bought. The ships are already waiting at Agrinat!" Kayvan reminded Farzah of the previous job he was assigned to.

He could not do both..

To which Farzah just brushed off his hand in exasperation at his son's lack of foresight, "Fool! And who will you deliver those to? Djose?"

Pasha Farzah already considered Alexander a dead man and saw no point in giving free goods to the enemy.

So he commanded, "Order those ships back. Tell the order has been canceled. And then deal with the contract cancellations fees. I don't want to be bothered by those."

Kayvan's lips pursed hearing this, and his eyes already felt droopy thinking of the long, tedious discussion he would have to have with the trade guilds to negotiate and re-negotiate the various

fees for breaking the contract.

Since so many goods have been ordered for Alexander and now they would have to go back unsold, the guilds would have to take huge losses.

And this will undoubtedly sour the mood between them and Pasha Farzah for some time.

Kayvan was not looking forward to those meetings.

But he could only obey his powerful father, and so hiding another sigh he answered affirmatively, "Yes, lord father."

This ended the meeting between the father and son, but Pasha Farzah's adventures for today were not over yet.

Because on his way to the royal dining table, among one of the many hallways, he ran across the queen- Nanazin.

"Good evening, Lord Prime Minister," This curly-haired, beautifully dressed woman bowed toward the man.

But though her actions were graceful, her voice was almost croaked and her countenance ugly.

She seemed to have seemingly lost all her charms and looked haggard and hurt.

"Has he been doing this often?" Seeing Nanazin's state, Pasha Farzah could not help but ask in concern.

Pasha Farzah clearly noticed the bright, red, marks around her neck, as if a rope had been tied to it, that she tried to hide with a high-collared dress but apparently failed, and much more obviously the large, swollen black eye she tried to use powder and make-up to appear more natural.

It appeared Ptolomy was abusing his wife.

"Please do not be concerned, Your Grace. He is the king," Nanazin's throat still hurt from yesterday's ordeal where she had been hanged as various men entertained themselves in rough and barbaric ways, Ptolomy included.

And so she tried to keep her answer as short as possible.

Pasha Farzah could not help but release a sigh inside his mind upon hearing the helpless, forlorn reply.

He had been clued in about Nanazin and her daughters' true status by Ptolomy himself who had once raged, "That slut thinks she was leech off me! Make a cuckold! I will show her! I will kill her!"

It appeared after Ptolomy became the king, he finally let out the rage he felt all those years, venting out all the humiliation he had endured.

Previously, as a weak, sickly prince, he had no way to do anything to his high-status, powerful wife, even if her family had nominally disowned her.

So the only he could do was settle for those humiliating plays.

But now, finally, after eighteen years of suffering, he could make Nanazin endure all his pent anger and frustration.

Completely ignoring the fact he would humiliate her at every chance but even then she was loyal enough to use her body to help her husband's rebellion.

In fact, some could even argue that Ptolomy sat on his throne in no small part to Nanazin, who helped 'convince' a lot of the nobles to join her husband's side.

Or there was the fact that even until now, Nanazin mostly faithfully followed her husband.

And the last great injustice done to her was that she was really just an innocent woman who had no control over life, and the true culprit was her father Matbar (Marquiss) Tareeq, who had promptly disowned her after her grave crime and who hadn't talked to his daughter for almost sixteen years.

But all those did not matter to Ptolomy.

Matbar (Marquiss) Tareeq was too powerful and so he could only vent on Nanazin.

And it manifested by making Nanazin's life very difficult in various ways, both regular and sexual.

As a matter of fact, Ptolomy had initially asked Pasha Farzah's advice about straight-up executing the 'immoral' woman and her three daughters for deceiving the king.

But the Pasha had talked him out of it, saying that such an action should not be taken without Matbar (Marquiss) Tareeq's consideration and also that he had agreed with Alexander to swap the Queen mother with them every year.

And the latter reason was particularly enough to convince Ptolomy to stay his hand, as he was afraid that Alexander might choose to make the two women stay for longer if Nanazin could not be given.

While later, he found that keeping Nanazin was the better alternative, as he could dish out all eighteen years of hurt on her…slowly.

Killing her would end her suffering right then and there.

"Your Grace, it is most fortunate that I got to meet you here. Because I had a favor to *cough*, ask you," Nanazin spoke quickly, so as to grasp the opportunity as fast as possible, even at the cost of straining her throat.

She then pleaded in an almost sobbing tone, "I know that Lord Kyavan is about to set off for Zanzan. Would it be possible for him to take with him my girls? They are innocent, and I fear for them."

The triplets were currently at Agnirat under Lady Inayah's tutelage, and she knew they would face the same if not worse things once they returned.

And she wanted to avoid that at all costs.