Herald of Steel

Alexander was left a bit astounded when he heard that 10,000 men were able to land right inside the city with no one suspecting a thing.

10,000 men did not simply appear out of nowhere.

The number of ships carrying them should have been huge, and visible for miles to everyone.

So the only way that Alexander could think how they were able to land so many men were either through gross incompetence, willful ignorance, or because they were sanctioned to.

And to know which of these it was, he needed to know when they landed.

Because if the 10,000 men landed before the plague and both Lord Margraves IV and Lady Miranda's son Marcus were alive, i.e. the time things in the family should have been stable, then it must have been under the former head's permission, resolving both Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius of any guilt.

But should it be after the death and the 10,000 men traveled all the way from the Heeat family's territory to here, then Alexander needed to hold Lady Miranda responsible for being unable to see through such a clear ploy.

Letting any army land on your sovereign land was always a recipe for disaster.

However, when asked about this phenomenon, contrary to Alexander's black and white expectations, Lady Miranda revealed a grey answer,

"The 10,000 men had arrived about six months ago, while grandfather was still alive. But they not were allowed to dock. The ships stayed outside the port and the soldiers mostly stayed in their ships, save for the occasional few men coming to land to party."

"I had asked Grandfather about this. But he only told me that he was in secret talks with the Heeat family about something and would tell me once it was done. But then he suddenly fell ill. And…." Lady Miranda ruefully shook her head, her eyes suddenly turning red.

Not only had that information been lost, but the incident had also reminded her of her son's recent passing.

Thus, seeing his wife enter a dark mood, Lord Cassius decided to take over, adding to Lady Miranda's story, "When the plague first hit, the soldiers in the ships suddenly one night landed at the Great Harbor and entered the city, saying they were here to protect their master and bring order to the city. We were totally caught off guard by this!" Lord Cassius exclaimed.

"To bring order to the city? Why? What happened to the city?" Alexander's attention was more caught by that curious phrase, as he turned to ask the plump man.

"Yes." And facing Alexander's gaze Lord Cassius quickly nodded, then informed him with a slightly bitter face, "Once the plague hit, it did not take long for it to start spreading among the populace. And soon the first deaths began to appear. And then like they all do, the numbers began to swell. It swelled to such heights that temples, shrines, and even the streets began to overflow with the ill and even the dead. Sometimes there were not even enough men to bury the dead!"

Alexander had heard of horror stories similar to Lord Cassius's recount before- village after village would be left abandoned by the panicking people, as they tried to flee the infected zone.

But that would instead lead to an even more tragic outcome, as many of these infected people would carry the plague with them, so whichever sanctuary they found, would soon turn into a hellhole inadvertently by their own fault.

Alexander wondered where the plague came from.

Because contrary to popular belief, plagues were not sorely caused by unclean environment.

Kind of like how a cold was not sorely caused by not keeping oneself adequately warm.

You could catch a cold in a variety of ways.

So it was very possible that the plague did not originate inside the city, but some people brought it while on their travels.

Alexander did not however inquire about the origin of the plague to Lord Cassius, doubting the man even had the concept that plagues actually had an origin.

So instead he kept his ears open and heard the man going on about what happened then,

"The huge deaths then began to cause mass panic in the city, with the guards struggling to maintain control. And with panic, came rumors. Some began to say the plague was a wrath from the sea gods. Some said it was spread by the northern barbarians to reclaim their lands. And others even said it was witchcraft created by Miranda."

Lord Cassius's voice very distinctly turned sour when he pronounced that last sentence.

While Alexander became much more interested in the previous claim.

"Northern barbarians? You have barbarians here? Who are they?" He posed, very surprised.

He was of the opinion that the Margraves Family and Straus Family had neatly divided the control of the island in two.

But it seemed according to Lord Cassius, there was the presence of another faction there, who nodding his head elucidated,

"Yes, the northern barbarians…. they live in the swamps north of here in tribal huts and villages. They are nothing but a plague on us, regularly launching raids into our territory. Truly a pest."

The disgust and disdain Lord Cassius had for these people was readily apparent in his voice.

"The swamps make it hard to conquer them?" As for Alexander, he wanted to know more about how these people were able to keep their freedom.

"My lord is truly erudite." Lord Cassius lightly smiled at Alexander's correct inference, revealing, "There is nothing there but pits, bogs, and noxious swamps. Fit is not for even animals. I do not know how those people live there. Since there is nothing valuable there, we did not find it worth conquering them. So we only built a wall to keep them out."

The use of walls to keep barbarians out was a true time tested technique and hearing it, Alexander could not help but nod in a bit of relief, "Hmmm, I see." as he felt reassured that these people were not going to join in trying to overthrow the Margraves family.

Alexander then finally pulled himself out of the distraction, and backtracked to the topic, as slanting his eyes, he asked,

"By the way, who gave the docks permission to let the ships enter? It had to be a fairly high member right?"

"....." This query at first caused Lord Cassius to produce a bit of an awkward face, as if he was feeling a bit embarrassed.

And the reason became apparent when he replied with a bit of flushed face, "It was my father," but then quickly added before Alexander could express his incredulity,

"However he did not side with the Heeat family! He only asked them for help because the situation in the city had become dire then and we risked a full fledged riot. The soldiers helped quell the masses down. And once they did it, father helped Miranda force the soldiers to the southern part of the city, away from the mansion."

"...." Alexander was relieved to hear this reasonable development, glad that he would not have to fight one of his ally's parent.

So with a smile, he posed, "Where is the lord then? I do not recall seeing this at the party yesterday."

To which Lord Cassius let him know, "Father has been recently feeling a bit ill. So unfortunately he could not meet you, my lord. I will be sure to introduce you once he recovers."

Alexander did not prod what was wrong with the man, but only politely nodded, "I see. Then I look forward to it."

Before going back to the topic at hand, as turning to Lady Miranda he posed,

"So how come the rest of my lady's family have no problem with a foreigner like Lord Parker interfering in your family's internal matters?"

Lady Miranda once again clenched her teeth, "They do not see him as an outsider. They see him as my sister's husband. Their brother in law."

The tone of her voice said everything about how she felt about that word.

While Lord Cassius provided the actual reason for this open acceptance, "The Heeat family has promised us a lot of money if Quentin, that's Lady Linda's boy, can become the next Margraves family's head. They even promised to negotiate the route rates."

It was a straight up bribe- the oldest trick in the book.

And hearing this answer, suddenly Alexander could not help but trace his chins as in a brilliant flash of the mind, he began to smell a conspiracy,

Something that he was more than eager to share with the couple, as with furrowed brows he asked,

"I heard Parker Heeat was the distant illegitimate child of Duke Heeat. So how is it that he can summon 10,000 men? Or promise so much gold? And most of all have the gall to negotiate with the Sybarsis Council? This only something only the next head of the family should have the power to do!"

"So are you sure about his identity? What if he has concealed the truth?"

"That's impossible." Lady Miranda however was unwilling to even entertain the thought, even standing up to shout, "That would have been only possible if grandfather…"

The words however suddenly got caught in her throat.

And she at last began to see what Alexander could see.

A conspiracy.

'No way!' And it soon caused her to cry out in fright in her heart, unable to believe her own flesh and blood would do this.