Herald of Steel

Alexander was very happy at the surprising ease with which he managed to navigate around this mistake, something that was frankly his.

He was especially glad at the fact that it was Lady Felicia herself who bought up the idea, as it saved Alexander all the trouble and further any misunderstanding.

For if he had been the one to ask it himself, the other party might have misinterpreted the request as Alexander not liking Fabiyana and thus the excuse.

Whereas now, with Lady Felicia's blessing, Alexander could push this 'few years' agreement as far as he liked.

After all eight to ten years was still technically 'few years'.

'In the meantime, she can be an elder sister for Alexandria and the others,' Alexander then off-handedly thought about what the girl could do during this time.

While Alexander and Lady Felicia discussed these details, the one who was at the center of all this, Fabiyana, did not seem such concerned. 

In fact, given her age, Fabiyana did not even much understand what her mother and this strange man were talking about.

And frankly, she did not seem to care either, as currently she was much more interested in the food being presented to her.

Because finally the most fun of the feast had begun- the desserts.

These included a plum pudding, a type of fruit custard made with peaches, grapes, and sliced mangoes, and lastly ice creams flavored with lemon or watermelon juices, the last one being something that both the mother and daughter found especially delectable.

This was their first time eating food made of white sugar, and the sweetness was unlike anything they had ever tasted before.

'Compared to this, honey tastes bitter,' Lady Felicia even exaggeratedly thought, as the cool, refreshing dessert proved much of her liking, especially given the sweltering weather, and the large spoonfuls she took were a testament to how much she enjoyed it.

"My lord, this has been truly a feast fit for the king. Praise the gods."

"Yes! Praise the gods."

And as the luncheon finally came to an end, it was like this that the pair expressed their gratitude, with the little girl even clasping her tiny hands together in prayer, her voice though immature, very sincere.

Following this, the tables were cleaned, while Alexander made some small talk with the two women until finally he decided to end the gathering.

But not before Lady Felicia made a future appointment,

"Lord Pasha, I have something to tell you about my husband and the city. Things I would rather not say aloud. Would it be possible for me to visit you tonight?"

Lady Felicia was very hushed in her statement, so much as that it was as if she was afraid even the walls of the tent might tattle on her.

And this sudden request made Alexander intrigued.

What was it that could not be said out loud here?

And if it was so important, why did she not say it all this time? 

"My lady, you can rest assured whatever you say will never leave here if I do not want to," He confidently claimed, both to reassure the lady and because he wanted to know the information immediately since he did not know how important it might be.

But Lady Felicia of course would not divulge it here.

She needed to come here at night if she wanted to get what she desired.

"*Yawn*" Hence putting on a fake yawn, the mature lady pronounced in a languid voice, "I'm sorry my lord. I seem to be feeling a bit tired. It must be because I did not get enough sleep yesterday."

"Oh! If I had known I would become so tired, I would have made time for it during the meal." She sounded rueful.

While her daughter, who was standing next to her appeared to be genuinely sleepy, as seen by how she was dozing off and had difficulty even standing straight.

It seemed that after the heavy meal, her tiny body could not wait for a much-needed shut-eye.

Seeing this, Alexander knew he had no chance of keeping them here.

So with a reluctant nod, he agreed, "Then my lady, I shall humbly invite you to share dinner with me tonight. Please kindly attend it." 

If possible, Alexander would have personally preferred not to see the married woman at night, due to the bad connotations this action had.

He did not want any sort of gossip circulating around the camp regarding him.

But since circumstances had developed to this point and he was really curious about what Lady Felicia had to say about her husband and his prized city, he decided to make an exception. 

"Thank you, my lord. I believe you will not be disappointed," At Alexander relenting, Lady Felicia was naturally elated, but her tone did not betray her real expectation, as she appeared happy but collected..

Though her last phrase did have a very clear double meaning, but Alexander was far too distracted with what she had to say to even consider that.

Hence without much taking much else to heart, Alexander bid the pair goodbye for the time, parting with them after giving a kiss on both of their right hand as per Tibias's custom, something which seemed to make the little girl very happy as she broke off into pearly giggles.

The girl liked being treated as an adult.

Following their departure, Alexander himself decided to get a short nap, waking up a couple of hours later after which he took a walk around the camp.

While both Lady Felicia and her daughter upon their return to the luxurious tent, true to their words both took a long nap, the exhaustion of the night catching up to them, as they only woke up four to five hours later, feeling very refreshed.

Lady Felicia then quickly asked her maid to prepare a bath for her and being careful not to be late, the lady was present inside Alexander's tent before the designated time.

This time however, Lady Felicia was not actually dressed as lavishly, wearing just a simple gown with very few embroidery, the only notable aspect of the dress being that it was made of expensive fine linen.

She also wore very light jewelry, only a pair of ordinary earrings and bangles, her neck bare save a small, nondescript gold chain with a locket attached at the end.

Her hair was tied into a bun by two very ordinary-looking silver pins and Alexander could only detect a very mild touch of sweet fragrance coming off her.

And lastly, to cover herself up, the woman had put on a fine navy blue overcoat, which was needed to fight of the cold, as given the approaching fall season, the nights tended to become a bit chilly, especially given the heights they were at.

All this made the lady appear very modest, so much so that if the lady Alexander met at noon was to be described as the extreme example of unrestrained and flashy, well this time, he could only describe her as chaste and demure. 

The difference was much so that in fact looking at her, Alexander even began to doubt his initial assessment of Lady Felicia, which he described as being materialistic.

While the real reason why Lady Felicia dressed like this was because she knew it was easier to bed men using such simple looks

Which might seen as counterintuitive, but in her experience, the lady had found that being too flashy made one appear too haughty and most men of this time did not prefer such a woman.

Thus Lady Felicia had very calculatingly shown off her physical beauty at noon and now proceeded to work her mature charms on Alexander.

And it was with those thoughts that she proceeded to begin the conversation, where she intended to steer it towards her real goal of entering the camp. 

Alexander would have never needed to worry about calling her to bed, she would call him.

"I'm sorry I could not bring Fabiyana, my lord. She is feeling a bit under the weather and I also did not think it would be appropriate for her to hear what I have to say," As the man and woman sat under candlelight, after the obligatory pleasantries, Lady Felicia began like this.

"Oh?" Taking a small bite of the bread, Alexander could not help but pronounce so.

His eyes appeared very curious as to what could be so secretive. 

"Yes." And seeing this sign, Lady Felicia nodded her head heavily, before appearing a bit hesitant, as if she was she was having last-minute thoughts on whether she should reveal it or not.

Until after a few seconds of deliberation, finally she clenched her teeth and revealed in a low, murmuring whisper, 

"You see my lord… my husband …Lapitus was not being exactly truthful to you when he came to you promising the city."

"He is not going to start the rebel!"

"He is actually waiting for about 10,000 men coming from the capital to bolster the city as we speak."

"I do not know exactly when they will come, they are supposed to be here in a week through the river."

"If they manage to come in time, my husb… no …Lapitus will not open the gates for you."

"He will instead lead them in defense of the city!"

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