Herald of Steel



Laibak's operations were still very much in its nascent stage, and he was yet to get Alexander any juicy information, just a few bits of crumbs here and there.

But Alexander was still greatly hopeful that things that would be critical in helping him decide his future plans would soon be unearthed.

And it was with those thoughts that Alexander finally finished reminiscing about these past events and brought his attention back to the conversation at the table.

And heard Kayvan reply regarding his question about Mikaya.

"Ah, sister is fine. She's still in Adhan. I heard father is seriously talking about her marriage!"

"Marriage?" Alexander sounded as if he was hearing that word for the first time.

And at the back of mind, he did think of Mikaya like that, like she could not be married.

Because after he had seen, it was actually impossible for hi, to visualize Mikaya and her two maids getting married and having kids, and staying faithful to their husbands.

So the revelation that she might be getting married was very surprising to him.

  "Yes, she is getting not getting any younger. If she does not get married soon, we are afraid… she might not be able to." 

But Kayvan did not seem to understand Alexander's surprise, thinking he was just curious about the news, as he then nonchalantly gave the reason, sounding like a dutiful elder brother.

"Who is it? I once heard the Queen Mother say that she wanted His Majesty to take Lady Mikaya!" 

Since the act was determined, Alexander now wanted to know who the poor sucker would be, and he tried to pose the question with as straight a face as possible.

"Because he did find the concept of Mikaya getting risible.

"Mmmm, I also heard father say something like that!" 

But what Seelima should have said as only a joke now seemed to have the possibility of becoming a reality, as Kayvan answered in a straight-laced tone, and the revelation did catch Alexander a bit off guard.

There was no way the Queen Mother should be unaware of Mikaya's proclivities, so how could she allow that?

Never mind Mikaya was no herbivore, she too was an ambitious woman and with her giant family to back up, she would certainly be able to snatch some parts of Seelima's pie for herself.

The latter might have Ptolomy's heart, but she had no strong ally like a Pasha who was the prime minister.

So if they both had sons, things could get messy.

From this perspective, it made no sense for the Queen Mother to allow Mikaya to get even within 10 feet of Ptolomy.

So Alexander was pretty sure this was Pasha Farzah's wishful thinking.

But then again, if one thought about it from another perspective, this kind of made sense.

After all, whatever shortcomings Mikaya had did not matter to the Queen Mother at all.

So what if SS simply did not care about all the above consequences?

What if she saw Mikaya not as a rival, but as an ally?

For instance, it was no secret that the two women, though they had their differences, generally got along quite well, even tussling under the bed occasionally.

So the two cooperating to control Ptolomy's haram was not a far-fetched idea.

Perhaps Seelima felt that the two of them, plus her daughter, could work to suppress and control Ptolomy.

After all, Alexander perfectly knew well that the Queen Mother did not hold the slightest shred of love for Ptolomy. Just the power he had.

It was not even unthinkable for Alexander to imagine the ruthless Queen Mother could one day kill Ptolomy if the chance rose after she had produced an heir.

Because that way she could control the country through whisperings in her son's ears.

So if one thought about it like that, Mikaya could be a powerful ally, one whose father could be used as the counterweight, as muscle if you will, which these women could use to contend and contain Ptolomy.

But for the moment, all these were mere conjectures in Alexander's mind and felt the pendulum could swing either way.

For now all Alexander could do and wait and see if Mikaya was really married to Ptolomy and what would SS's subsequent reaction be. 

"My lord, what you think of the Matrak's Princess marrying His Majesty?" 

But just as he was coming to terms with that fact, Lord Nuraman suddenly posed this, with a light, innocent smile on his face

And it was not as an innocent question as it sounded, and his intention was certainly not only one of curiosity. 

Because what he was alluding to was that if that were to happen, Matrak would have strengthened its ties to the royal family, while leaving Alexander out to dry.

The old man wanted to know if Alexander could really accept that.

"I think it is a cause of great celebrations!" 

And the answer was yes, Alexander could.

Because looking through Alexander's lens, he really had no need to curry favor with Ptolomy.

Alexander wished to expand his influence towards lands that Ptolomy had either promised to him already, like the two provinces Kuleef and Abu Hamam or over hands he had no hand in.

Lands such as Tibias, the island of Galiosis which was currently under Sybarsis rule, the few small kingdoms south of him, and if even would build better ships, land in the 'new world' if it existed.

So he replied such in a breezy, frank tone.

And even gave his full support for the union, as he gave a greatly embellished speech 

"Also, it is in no small of Pasha Farzah's efforts that His Majesty is where is he. I have great respect for all the hard work and sacrifice he has made. And owes him a lot for where we are today."

"So being able to marry his most precious daughter to the king is something he absolutely deserves." 

"I fully support it!"

Alexander was very public in his support.

Something which surprised the two men.

They had been of the unanimous opinion that Alexander would have tried to at least show some sort of dissatisfaction.

After all, currently, Zanzan and Matrak held almost equal value in Ptolomy's ears.

But if Mikaya were to be married, this dynamic would change.

And no reasonable person would like to be disadvantaged.

Especially not someone as ambitious as Alexander, who oozed a desire to improve himself.

So why was he so being so understanding?

The two men felt they were missing something.

"*Cough*, *cough*, *cough*," And so with a distinct cough drawing attention to himself, Kayvan tried to probe further, as he claimed, 

"Well, it is not a given that my sister will marry the king."

"His Majesty has not expressed any interest, and there is a lot of politics involved."

"Also even on our side, not everyone is happy with it."

"Particularly my eldest brother…he seems very much against it." 

"Apparently, after what happened to Big sister, he came to distrust anyone from the royal family."

"I heard she doted on him very much."

"So once he even furiously objected to my father straight to his face, saying 'Your greed once got my eldest sister killed. And now you wish to kill my youngest sister too!'."

"We are still trying to convince him."

"But if he does not agree…the marriage will likely not happen." Kayvan in a few sentences gave Alexander a lot of information about the internal politics of Matrak and Adhan.

And then waited for Alexander to see his response.

Perhaps Kayvan wished Alexander would step himself up as a candidate, though that last part was Kayvan's own fantasy.

While Lord Nuraman, hearing Kayvan's detailed account, advised this, 

"Hmmm, if Lord Farzah is so eager to be part of the royal perhaps he can look for any of His Majesty's brother. A few names come to mind!"

Ptolomy did have a lot of half-brothers, who, though were removed from politics, were still part of the 

family.

And those could be viable targets, though many were really old and even widowers. 

"Let's see. Depends on my father." And it was because of this that Kayvan did not sound very enthusiastic at the suggestion, only giving an anemic reply.

'Hmmm, maybe I should marry of one Ptolomy's sisters," While Alexander hearing this, mused as such, thinking since Pasha Farzah got to call the royal family relatives, he should too.

Of course, this was only a passing thought.

Ptolomy did have a few sisters but they were either too old, or their status too low, barely better than the palace maids.

So it was with these types of discussions that the luncheon in Lord Nuraman's house came to an end.

For now it seemed Mikaya's fate was in Adhan, not Zanzan, where she was to be married.

And Alexander was fine with that.

Although he missed the business a bit, but he had already closed his special service.

This was because after that spy incident, the details of the incident came out, drawing many eyes to that red building.

This caused even Menes to ask for Mikaya once, which was of course declined, as Ophenia personally met the man to decline him.

And when Alexander came to know of this, he understood Mikaya was getting too popular for her own good.

So, it was shut down.

And Alexander had no intention of opening it.

His intention of asking about Mikaya here was mostly out of courtesy.

And it was with such banter that Alexander finally finished his feast, by the end of which he was very tipsy.