Herald of Steel

Alexander would first go on to inform the two queens of today's events, revealing the entire uncut version over dinner.

It was only the three of them as Lady Miranda had decided to skip the meal saying she was feeling too tired, while the rest of the mansion was put on full lockdown, to the point that none of the Margraves were allowed to come out to even relieve themselves.

Hence Alexander could take his sweet time revealing all that had happened and that predictably got a shocked cry from both of them.

They had of course seen and heard the enormous commotion, and although they were able to gather bits and pieces from their maids asking the passing guards, neither of them was able to get the full picture and so never even thought the situation was this dire.

A husband having immoral relations with his sister in law and wanting to elope, a son hitting and killing his father, and then a wife killing her husband, all in the span of a day.

"*Sigh*, to think such a thing would happen…." Lady Nanazin ruefully shook her head upon hearing the two deaths.

While Lady Parthia, was more concerned about Lady Miranda's change, i.e.- her going cuckoo and wanting to dye the mansion in blood, and so posed with a bitter look on her face,

"Is my lord afraid Lady Miranda might not be… well?"

The wise lady had skillfully avoided using the word 'mad' to describe Lady Miranda's current state, as personally, Queen Parthia thought the lady of this house to have a pitiable fate, having to go through so many cruel trials.

And she thought this even when comparing Lady Miranda to herself, who was a defeated queen of a now destroyed nation.

Lady Parthia still thought she had it better.

While Alexander turned to gently nod, "Yes! The disaster she has suffered one after another if such quick succession has strained the good lady's facilities to its utmost. So I was thinking that both of my ladies might be able to console her in her time of loss. Be with her."

The proposal received an instant nod from Lady Nanazin, "Of course! That is only natural," as the eyes of this Queen began to sparkle.

This was the first time Alexander had asked anything from her, so of course the lady was very excited, feeling very determined not to let him down no matter what.

The same unfortunately could not be said about Lady Parthia, who too nodded to Alexander's ask, but with much less alacrity.

She instead seemed much more interested in the most concerning matter of all i.e. the entire mansion being threatened with death by thirst.

And thus she turned to inquire about the current state of the war.

"My lord, it seems we have been cut off from both food and water, how do you exactly wish to win the war? I know you have asked for reinforcements, but do you know if they will be on time? What happens if they don't?" The beautiful lady charged Alexander, and before he could make something up, proposed,

"We seem to be outnumbered, trapped, caged, and very quickly running out of options. Have you considered surrendering?"

As expected of the wife of an accomplished warlord, she was able to instantly and accurately point out all of Alexander's vulnerabilities.

And while this might sound very trivial, usually women of this time had almost zero knowledge about warfare.

So Lady Parthia's show was certainly very impressive.

Although Alexander would not have minded if she was a bit dumb here as currently, he found himself tongue tied.

What Lady Parthia said was all true.

Food and water were getting scarcer by the day.

Cambyses's reinforcements were still a few months away given the winter season and the rough seas, while Lord Janus seemed to be taking his sweet time getting here

All while Lord Parker was sharpening his blade right above Alexander's neck.

The situation was truly concerning for Alexander, as he had confided to Remus in secret.

But revealing it to him was one thing.

Here, in front of the two queens. Alexander knew he could not reveal such weakness.

He was the pasha, the commander in chief, he had to always look confident.

So he was just about to make up a story of how he was working on a grand plan and how everything was alright, when suddenly, as if sensing this, and not wanting Alexander to waste his breath, Lady Parthia chimed up to suggest on her own,

"My lord, why don't we consider seeking help from the Kaiser family? Or better yet, even from the barbarians north of the island. Promise them some land in turn for their aid."

And Alexander's heart instantly fluttered upon hearing this.

He had not considered this.

Alexander had struck the Kaiser family off the list of helpers long, long ago, because he thought bringing their attention to this would be like inviting a tiger to drive away the wolf.

It would be pointless.

The meat called the Margraves would simply go from one ducal family to another, leaving Alexander still with nothing at the end of the day.

Not to mention, Lady Miranda would likely never approve of shaking hands with the same people who were the very reason they were in this mess.

However, if it were the barbarians who lived in the northern swamps of the island who were to become their rescuers, well that was a very different matter.

These people were most likely weak and allyless, which was why they were pushed away to live in such bad terrain.

Meaning Alexander felt much more confident in being able to 'deal' with them, both literally and metaphorically.

He figured that he could promise these oppressed me land just as Lady Parthia proposed, and then depending on how it all went, he could decide what he wanted to do.

Be it whether he wanted to stick to his word, break it, or simply allow time and circumstances to develop in such a way that they got into conflict with each other eventually.

Then once that happened, Alexander would be able to drive them back while also having the moral high ground.

Alexander even took into account that although Lady Miranda might have disdain and derision for these barbarians, she would not hate them like the Kaiser Family, or Governor Strauss.

So she could most likely be cajoled to join.

And even if she did not join instantly, Alexander was sure he could convince her to get abroad by, such as promising to betray the barbarians after they had fought off the Heeat family forces for them.

It was a win win.

Thus whilst taking into account all this, the man suddenly began to find Lady Parthia's idea a great proposal, and could not help but place a very appreciative look on the one who made it.

Alexander was forced to concede that when it came to warfare and fighting against the odds, this Tibain Queen was the most experienced of the three, having dealt with similar circumstances many times in her life.

And her expertise really showed here.

"Thank you for your great insight, my lady. I will seriously ponder and act on it." Thus Alexander had a very soft tone to his voice as he made the promise, much to the jealousy of the lady next to her.

Lady Nanazin very much saw the other part as her sworn rival, and seeing her so easily earn her man's favor when she was yet to even start stoked the fires of her heart.

A fire that Alexander would have to douche later that night with some steamy activities, which was occasionally juxtaposed with intervals of the lady informing him of her accomplishments with Lady Miranda.

The two ladies had apparently found the lady of the house to be completely normal and thus drew the conclusion that there was no need for Alexander to worry.

The man felt relieved.

While Alexander was in his room, taking a small respite, his men kept up the hard endeavor till the break of dawn, working without taking a single break, or even feeling particularly fatigued.

It seemed the incoming imminent disaster was enough to drive away any such ill effects, to the point even if Alexander had ordered them to sleep, they might not have been able to.

And their efforts certainly paid off to an extent, as they managed to fill their capacity to a large percentage courtesy of the thousands of hands at work.

As well as being able to find quite a few undergrown water resources, although the depth and size of these reserves still remained unknown.

But just the sight of flowing water was enough to get the soldier's mood soaring, and so perhaps that was a blessing from these reserves on their own.

It was amidst this chorus and chaos that dawn began to break and while the men were still working, the moment of truth at last came.

True to Alexander's prediction, after a bit of diplomatic back and forth at the front lines, the water to their camp was indeed cut off, and then a while later it began to taste salty.

The siege had entered its final and most deadly phase

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