Herald of Steel



As the large door of the master bedroom was swung open and Alexander stepped inside, he found the bedroom to be a typical one expected of a high noble.

It was a brightly lit room furnished with all kinds of opulent pieces of furniture one would expect- multiple tables, many chairs, wardrobes, etc. all draped in strange colored carpets and curtains courtesy of Mean, with a small fireplace going on at one end, making the room feel cozy.

But the centerpiece of it all had to be the bed situated right smack at the center of the room, seeing which Alexander could not help but joke,

"I hope there are no ticks in them, haha" as he remembered Mean's experience.

"We bought this entire bed from another house. There are no bed bugs my lord," While Ophenia delivered this in a monotone voice, not finding the joke funny.

"We bought all our beds from other places, Alex. Stop joking," And Mean was much more direct

"Haha," And Alexander, seeing the audience not laugh, only aired out a hollow chuckle.

Ophenia brushed past this and quickly gestured to draw everyone's attention to the two small wooden hot tubs filled with hot water and letting off thin wisps of steam placed in a corner of the room.

"Here we have prepared hot baths for both of you. And there is also a tub of fresh cold water for the washing. Please enjoy them quickly before the water cools," The tall girl pronounced.

The reason for the third tub being there was to be used to freshen oneself with that clean water as a last clean-up after having bathed in the hot tub which could become dirty during the bath.

And the reason the water in the third one was cold was because of Alexander's preference who believed that bathing in cold water in modest amounts bolstered the immune system.

And then moving on to the reason why Alexander saw only two tubs, well it was because the third one was placed a bit back, and got obscured in the dark.

So while Alexander cleaned up that misunderstanding, Ophenia continued her speech, swinging her arms toward a huge wardrobe and saying,

"And the fresh clothes for master are inside there. We bought them just today, so I hope it fits."

"As for mistress, we didn't need to buy any. Sister Gelene had some newly made ones stored in her workshops, and also Lady Demuze and others lent us a lot of theirs."

"Please choose whatever you like from them."

Lady Demuze was Grahtos's wife, and it seemed that the wives of the council members stepped up to come and help Cambyses and the girls after they heard how almost everything the former owned was burned down.

And as Ophenia mentioned this, Cambyses turned to look at the three and noticing their new dresses, asked,

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it, all of you are wearing different clothes from yesterday. Are all of them from them?"

And it was Gelene who replied, nodding,

"Yes. They came to visit us in the morning at the temple and bought many gifts- clothes, cosmetics, and even jewelry."

"And they even did not forget about Lady Nanazin, her daughters, or Her twin Highnesses. Everyone got new dresses!"

And as Gelene mentioned this Cambyses's mind also cast back to the expensive clothes she remembered seeing the royals wearing, which had skipped her notice then but now on second thought found they certainly did not match their previous garb.

And that mystery seemed to solve itself.

While Gelene ended her speech by saying,

"They also wanted to meet Mistress. But you had already gotten out, so you just missed them."

"Mmm, yes. I had a lot of things to do today," And hearing this Cambyses casually revealed such.

All the girls had spent the last night in the temple, sleeping in the vacant quarters meant for the priests and priestesses, and were woken up at the crack of dawn, as Cambyses left immediately after sunrise.

The city was still a mess and she had a lot of work to do, from trying to assess the damage to the city, to taking stock of the dead and wounded, to even preparing the army for the planned attack on the enemy's camp.

And though the last one did not happen due to Alexander's arrival, still it had been a supremely hectic day for Cambyses, which was why she was left out of many of the happenings elsewhere.

While Alexander, hearing this act of kindness smiled and urged,

"It seems they have done a great favor. Please tell them I said 'Thank you,' and give them my highest regard."

"We will," Ophenia lightly nodded, before again gesturing towards the tubs and saying, "Now, please master, mistress, quickly finish your bath. The water will be getting cold soon."

"I will get the food ready."

It seemed that Ophenia felt they had been standing for long enough and thus decided to excuse herself.

"Mmm, and don't take too long. You two can enjoy yourself after eating," While Mean was quick to urge him not to fool around yet after remembering his nature.

"Haha, is my little Mean jealous? Do you want to join us too?" But Alexander only teased with a chuckle.

Something which caused her to slightly blush.

"Of…course not. I'm only worried the food will get cold." She said with a little fidget.

But this really did not sound convincing, and Alexander was ready to drag his little bunny to take a bath with him for a small round, seeing she was too shy to come and say it out loud.

But Cambyses stepped in at that exact moment to stop him, turning to the three to reassure,

"Don't worry, we will be down very soon. It's already very late and all the talking and traveling all day around has made me famished anyway."

"You go prepare the food. We will be done quickly"

"That would be great," Ophenia was naturally pleased with the reply, and so with that said, the three quickly left the room, leaving the couples alone.

*Grab*

But just as the doors were closed, and not even waiting for the three to be out of earshot, Alexander immediately pounced on Cambyses, tightly hugging her from behind and placing his nose on her nape.

It seemed he had no intention of letting Cambyses follow her promise to the three.

"*Sniff* I missed you," He hungrily growled next to her ears as his nose traced her white neck, taking in the familiar, sweet smell, while Cambyses squirmed a bit and tried to get free, moaning,

"No Alexander…stop. I haven't taken a bath the whole body. I stink."

She feared how sweaty she must smell.

But this seemed to be no concern to Alexander, who not only did not let go but even bought out his tongue and started licking her nape, "I love it when you stink. Smells as if you are in heat. Mmm so nice!"

Alexander seemed to strangely like that salty taste, especially when it was his wife's.

"Kyahhh!" But Cambyses only squeaked in embarrassment, struggling even further.

But how could a girl like her even hope to escape from a huge man like Alexander?

So she only ended up uselessly frailing her body, while Alexander's hands even started to naughtily roam along her front, pressing her breasts through her armor, caressing her tummy, and lastly squeezing her soft front nether regions.

"Mmm, noooo…" And even though the sensation was only through several layers of cloth, it was still enough to cause Cambyses to moan.

"Okay, okay, I give, I give." Then seeing force was not going to get anywhere, Cambyses cleverly thought of something else and decided to change tactics, one which made Alexander mistakenly think that she had come around to his way of thinking.

So he started to nibble on her earlobes, and in a husky voice whispered, "Good girl. We will only have a few rounds. It will be quick."

"Okay, okay, let me quickly get out of everything." Cambyses urged and started stripping.

Her plan was to run into the tubs while Alexander unclothed himself, though it was unknown how well that would work given she had done something very similar to escape Alexander during her nuptial night.

So if she could not, Alexander would surely eat her for a few rounds then and there, smelling and sniffing her the whole time, which she was really embarrassed by.

Cambyses felt she was too shy to let Alexander smell her sweaty body yet.

*Knock*, *Knock*

But whatever plans either plans had, whether Cambyses was looking to make for a dash, or Alexander was keeping an eye out to prevent her, it did not matter, because suddenly two rapid thuds smashed against the heavy oak door, followed by Mean's angry scolding,

"I can hear you two fooling around. Come out quickly. We didn't even get the time to eat lunch. We are hungry."

And this revelation instantly made Alexander give up any idea of wasting time.

He would never keep the girls who worked for so long with an empty stomach waiting.

"Sorry, sorry, we will done in ten minutes. Just a bit longer." So he hurriedly replied back, and after taking everything off, quickly jumped into the wooden tub, sinking up to his shoulder in the lukewarm water.

"Ahhhh!" And an involuntary moan of pleasure escaped him as he did, as there was nothing really like taking a hot comfortable bath in the middle of winter.