Herald of Steel

"So, out with it. What's my task?" Cambyses asked after calming out a bit and wiping her tears off.

"Let's go to the medical camp first. I wanna inspect the wounded." Alexander replied in a seemingly unrelated note and started quickly making his way to the clinic.

"Oh, don't you have more important stuff to do?" Cambyses asked in surprise, hastily following in tow.

After all, it was Alexander that specifically instructed to spread the information as quickly as possible.

"Camius is more than enough. His mouth never stops moving." He assured. "Now, what do you think of the offer they made me?" Alexander asked somewhat cryptically.

Cambyses frowned at the question.

She personally thought it was a great offer. She thought that finally all his hard hard work had paid off.

But if he was asking her, it probably meant she was wrong and that there was something off.

But what was it?

"You mean they were lying?" She asked, confused.

"Umm... yes and no. It's a bit more nuanced than that." Alexander hinted ambiguously. "But, carry on. Elaborate. What do you mean by lying?"

" Uhhh, that they would find a reason not to make you captain. Like manpower or supplies shortages. Or give you bad and wounded soldiers or…..okay I don't know." Cambyses confessed, clearly finding faults with her own reasoning.

"That's a good theory." Alexander nodded. "But any such measures would be temporary. Do you really think supply and manpower problems or subpar soldiers can stop me?" He asked with a big grin on his face.

'Of course not. Anyone who knows anything about you would know just what kind of knack you have for turning trash into treasure.' Cambyses lampooned internally.

"So what could they do?" Cambyses straightforwardly asked.

"Well, I don't know for sure. But here's what I would do. Disband the third phalanx."

"Disband the third phalanx…..?" Cambyses repeated, confused and horrified.

What does 'disband the third phalanx' mean? Even if the entire phalanx is killed, a new third phalanx will be made.

The only theoretical way to do it would be if they only ever have two phalanxes.

',

"I can see you're having some wild thoughts there….hehe." Seeing Cambyses's incessant frown, Alexander chuckled. He could almost see the mental gymnastics she was doing.

"What I mean is that the survivors will most likely be added to the four other phalanxes in the short term.

In the long run, a new sixth phalanx will probably be formed using them. And what will happen to the third phalanx you ask? 'The third phalanx will forever be dedicated to the memory of our founder, Constans and the soldiers he led', will be the slogan. What do you think?" Alexander inquired.

"I think you haven't slept in a long time." Cambyses curtly replied, absolutely not convinced.

"Haha, I too wish to sleep, my dear. But, it is not being paranoid if someone is out to get you." Alexander reasoned.

"Just think about it. Constans was the muscle that formed this mercenary group. Isn't it romantic to have the memory of 'an eternal warrior' dedicated to a unit? A brave warrior that died in battle and had his deeds immortalized. Is it really that impossible?"

"Yes, it is. Your idea of a unit dedicated to Constans being purely decorational is absurd. As a matter of fact, it should be the strongest unit to honor his legacy." Cambyses rejected his rhetoric.

Such practices were almost unheard of. It had only happened to a small number of kings and even then the chosen unit would usually not be in active military service but something like the royal guards.

For such a thing to happen in a mercenary group was unthinkable. Especially not if it meant such blatantly cheating someone as popular as Alexander.

"Alexander you yourself should know how far-fetched this 'explanation' is. There's no way that's going to happen. Are you sure you're not reading into this too deeply?" Cambyses tried to convince Alexander.

Alexander will be the first to admit his theory of turning the third phalanx purely decorational a bit far-fetched.

He came up with it while talking to Cambyses and didn't have the time to think too deeply about it.

But the aim of this conversation was not to determine if there really was a scheme to get him.

It was to convince Cambyses that there was a plot to get him and to bring her to his side.

Frankly, even Alexander himself was not too sure if there really was something or if he was just imagining things.

But it didn't matter.

Whether or not there actually was a scheme to deny his freedom was irrelevant.

What was relevant was that Alexander suspected there was a scheme.

And since there was a chance, he chose to attack first.

Alexander was by nature an aggressive individual who believed in the first strike advantage and preferred to be the attacker than be the defender.

But, for his attack to succeed this time, he needed to convince Cambyses and get her to his side.

'',

So he stated, " That was just one way they might do it. There are several more."

"And I very much wish I am wrong," Alexander wished. " But do you remember the exact wording of the offer? They said 'we will make you captain tomorrow.' The keyword here being 'tomorrow'. Why tomorrow? Why not today or now?"

"Semantics Alexander, semantics. They just said so because you will be freed tomorrow. There's nothing more to it than that. I think you're finding holes because you want them to."

"Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong." Alexander proclaimed. "And you're wrong about one thing. I most likely won't be freed tomorrow. The exact condition was if we won this battle, I would be set free. Everyone just simply assumed victory was in the bag and started celebrating early. Now, they will find a way to keep me."

"That…I don't believe they will do that. Everyone knows just how hard you worked to get your freedom. They just can't take it off at the last minute on a technicality. Not everyone is out to get you, you know."

"Maybe not Nestoras, but what about the old geezer? That geezer has always hated my guts but still puts on the face of a saint because I am useful to him. Don't tell me you never noticed?"

"That…okay, Alexander, what's the point of telling me all this?" This time her tone changed into a sharp one. She could feel Alexander was leading her on to somewhere dangerous.

"Say if a sword was placed against your neck and asked to choose between me and the geezer, who would you choose?" Alexander asked in a mysterious tone.

"...*Silence*..."

She simply walked slowly forward with a dazed look, trying very hard to remove the image that subconsciously appeared in her mind.

How could she not understand the hidden meaning behind his question?

"Alexander, what are you intending to do? Aristotle is considered by everyone…"

"Hold on there, I never said anything about doing anything, But just think about it. Just think about it." Alexander emphasized in a reassuring tone.

But far from being reassured, this only alarmed Cambyses to no end.

By how Alexander seemed to refuse to talk about it and denied everything, it most likely meant he had already made up his mind and was merely informing her.

"Alexander, don't do anything stupid in a moment of rage. I of all people know just how hard you worked to get your chance at freedom. But rashly lashing out won't do you any good. Cambyses changed her tone to a pleading one.

"When have I ever done anything rashly? Don't worry, I know my limits. " He assured in a comforting tone.

This alleviated Cambyses's worries to an extent. She knew Alexander wasn't anything like the hot-blooded boys of his age. In fact, most times he was unnaturally cool-headed.

This, paired with the fact that she could think of no way that Alexander might secretly off Aristotle, somewhat eased her mind.

"That's good. Just be a little more patient, okay dear?" Cambyses lovingly soothed her lover.

She breathed a mental sigh of relief as she put the matter off to the back of her mind, chalking it off as Alexander merely venting, half because of rationalizing it, half because she wanted to.