Herald of Steel

(Author's note- I fixed some formatting errors in the last chapter. The demands Alexander made were supposed to be numbered but Webnovel somehow did not copy that. There were no changes to the story, but it will make the reading easier)

Reading Alexander's top 5 demands was quick to give Philips a lot to think about.

There was nothing there so outrageous to set him instantly on fire.

But there were some finer prints there that he could not agree with no matter what.

And until they were resolved, he would not sign on the paper no matter what.

But before coming to that, Philips decided to peruse the later point too, to see if there were more asks he found problematic.

The points there read,

6. The power to levy taxes will be the sole right of the Pasha of Zanzan.

7. The royal family must pay an annual land tax of 4% on all properties held.

8. Temple dedicated to the Goddess Gaia are to be built in every major city and Her priests will be free to prophesize their belief all throughout the country.

9. ...…..

10. ...…..

As Philips continued to read, he found there was really not much to object to any one of these.

Many of the points listed here were things he had already expected to be present due to his prior knowledge of the kind of offers Alexander had made to the other Tibian nobles.

So the man had come here with a similar level of expectation in mind.

These demands were not thus any deal breakers.

Even the 4% tax did not seem to sting him that much.

Philips simply chalked the thing up as being a type of tithe.

He even considered the 4% ask to be quite generous as usually tithes were much higher, typically double that.

Hence with there being little to nitpick about the latter points, Philips then once again returned his attention to the five points.

There, regarding 1, 2, and 4, Philips had no problem.

The demand to place him as the head of the royal family given his father's current state, the complete abdication of their rule over Tibias, and the handing over of the royal seals were all very natural asks.

Philips knew there was nothing to argue about these

But then there was point 3 which sought to confiscate a large proportion of their private property.

And the one with the most clauses, point 5, which had many finer details that Philips felt he could not agree with.

Towards those objections, Philips took a bit of time to collect his thoughts, thinking what to ask and how to do so.

Until finally he started to voice his thoughts.

"We have no problem with most of the demands in general, my lord. Thank you for showing us such great generosity." Philips started with a nodding smile, before posing his first query.

"However there are some points I would like to clarify. Such as here…" he quickly pointed to a clause at point 3, asking, "what portion of our property will be exactly confiscated?"

Philips had to know this before he could agree.

"What amount do you think would be suitable to give us?" However, instead of getting a straight answer, Alexander turned the question back to the man in an enigmatic voice, his eyes a bit playful.

He did not say a number outright because he wanted to test the other's bottom line.

After all, in any negotiations, the one who speaks first loses.

"....." While Philips, also aware of the maxim kept quiet.

He did have a number in mind - 50%, which he knew was what Alexander asked the other nobles.

But Alexander had also sacked the royal treasury and cleaned it to the bone.

So if Philips were to pay 50% on top of that, he would be in reality paying a lot more proportionally/.

Philips was also saying a number was too low and upsetting the other side.

So for now the man only put a thoughtful face and pretended to be in deep rumination, sending Alexander only furative glances.

"..." Thus for a while, the room suddenly descended into a coffin like silence.

"Okay, we can discuss the exact amount later." Until finally Alexander decided to break the deadlock with a brush of his, treating the amount as being nothing too serious, as he then posed,

"Any other objections?"

"Yes!" Philips was quick to respond.

The matter about the division of property was really just a starting argument.

In reality, his actual gripe was with three other points, which he began to slowly point out one by one.

"My lord, you wish to take both my sisters as concubines. But as royal princesses, we think this is too low a status. As stated in the Adhanian customs, we wish to see them join you as at least wives." Like a dutiful brother, Philips's first concern was to make sure his sisters got a good husband.

And concubines did not have husbands.

At least not in the traditional sense, as in Adhania, a concubine was basically a maid who did various work in the palace during the day, but unlike a regular maid who had a husband and family to return to at night, she slept exclusively with the lord of the palace.

Of course, this was a very grossly simple explanation, as sometimes concubines could be favored more than the main wife.

But those were exceptions, not examples.

And so to see this fate befall his sisters was not acceptable to Philips.

"Hmmm! No way, you had your chance." But at this ask, Alexander very imperiously snorted in unequivocal denial, as he pointed his finger at the man to remind him, "The offer for marriage and wife status sailed when you rejected my repeated peace offer. Concubine is the best you are gonna get."

Alexander would be foolish to offer the enemy the same condition before and after his victory.

That would make any future negotiations almost moot for him.

"....." Receiving this strong rebuke, Philips could not help but purse his lips.

He had hoped Alexander would forget that incident.

But even then he was not about to give up so easily.

"The terms of the treaty you proposed back then were impossible for us to accept. Even if my father agreed, the nobles would not have backed down without a fight," Philips tried to explain, before quickly flashing his palms and appearing to be compromised,

"Okay. Since Lord Pasha is so reluctant, we can accept one of my sisters remaining a concubine. However, another of your choosing should be a wife. I think that's fair."

"No!" However Alexander was there to uncategorically again deny such a thing, saying,

"How is this any different from my previous offer? I offered to marry a princess back then, and you are asking me to marry a princess now."

"That is not acceptable," Alexander revealed himself to be a proud man who would not accept marriage with a party who had slighted his offer before.

And he then finished his piece with the following threat,

"I do not get why are you so hung up on the princesses becoming my concubine. You should be grateful that I decided to even take both of them in and not send them to the capital as gifts."

"I should not have to remind you what happens to them there, do I?"

Philips shivered at Alexander's veiled threat.

As the Crown Prince, he had of course heard of the rumors coming from that place.

He had heard of the parties, the games, and the ways men and women enjoyed themselves.

He had even gotten a short glimpse of it, or more like first hand eyewitnesses of the act when the Zanzan nobles held something similar in this very palace.

He was told that the women there had to service many different men in open view of all.

That they were made to perform obscene dances that opened their curves to the sight of lustful men, allowing them to be groped and touched in unimaginable ways before they were taken in positions that put most whores to shame.

It was said the moans and lewd cries from that room towards the end of the act could be heard from the other side of the palace.

And if such a thing was caused by only a few nobles enjoying themselves in a foreign land with few skilled participants, Philips dreaded to think what the situation would be like in the capital- the den of all the immorality.

His poor sisters would not last a day there.

At least not as the chaste woman they had been brought up as.

"...." Thus when Alexander placed the choice as either becoming his concubines or becoming pleasure slaves in the capital, for a while, Philips could do little but grit his teeth.

The reality of the current situation was a hard pill to swallow,

But even facing this adversary, Philips wanted to struggle, and he at last squeezed out these words, "Lord Pasha, we are a royal family. Please give us some face."

By now, Philips no longer made demands.

He requested.

"..." And seeing the man opposite him turn almost red eyed with grief, Alexander's heart could not help but soften.

Alexander felt that pushing the other side too much might cause the whole thing to come tumbling down.

So tracing his chin for a while, he decided to compromise.

"Okay, since you wish the princesses' to have status, I can have my General Menes take her as his main wife. How is that?"