Herald of Steel

Although Alexander was aware of the scars the battlefield left on some of the men, for the time being,

he at the time had no intention of addressing it.

Mostly because there was nothing to address.

Even the people 'infected' did not think this was a disease.

But there was also the added reason that such an endeavor would drain a lot of his resources.

An agrarian society could never foot such exorbitant costs, especially at a mass scale.

And if knowledge of such effects became widespread, Alexander also feared it would hurt the recruitment efforts.

And thus Alexander decided to put a lid on it, along with all the social problems that came with it, such as the instance of soldiers on average being more abusive towards their families and having drunken fits of rage.

Instead, Alexander at last turned his focus to the swearing ceremony that he had been oh so eagerly waiting for, which commenced right as evening dawned on the last week of September.

The venue selected for the event was the huge, spacious royal courtroom, with its immense high walls, domed, painted ceilings, and enormous arched window set at the very top to allow as much light and air in during the day.

The room, large enough to comfortably host a thousand men and women was decorated resplendently, with thick blue and golden carpets matching the blood red curtains draped over the marble pillars,

The standards of various homes hung proudly from the arched windows, with the biggest and most prominent one being of course Alexander's- green flag with a blue flower in the center.

Illuminating the whole place were huge candle chandeliers that hung from the ceiling like crystalline fruits, while at one end of the hall, a roaring fire crackled in the hearth, casting a warm, flickering glow over the assembled guests.

With the advent of fall, the nights were getting slightly chilly, so this arrangement produced a very cozy feeling.

As for the people for which this 'cozy' feeling was constructed, they attended the place with seemingly great enthusiasm, huge grins, and cheerful laughter emanating from them.

If these men were in any way salty about Alexander seizing a lot of their land and screwing them over, they were at least outwardly not showing.

Instead, dressed in their best attire, the nobles and high-ranking officials all smiled and socialized, mingling with the lively tunes being played on the lutes, harps, and drums by the hired performers.

All the men tonight wore a type of doublet, a type of full sleeved jacket with many frills around the cuffs, and intricate embroidery of gold and silver around the chest, pairing them with tapered trousers made from wool and decorating themselves with jeweled brooches embedded with expensive jewels around the chest as was the fashion of the time,

Many also wore expensive jeweled rings, and some even donned a hat adorned with feathers and stones.

While their better halves, the women, graced the halls with even more opulent garbs, long, gorgeous gowns, and skirts made from sumptuous fabrics like satin, brocade, or high quality linen, dyed in vibrant colors of red, blue, green, and gold, all adorned with elaborate embroidery and beading, many of which the gorgeous ladies created themselves.

Their hair, unlike the men's, was allowed to flow freely, and styled in intricate braids of various styles, darlingly adorned with colorful ribbons and jeweled hairpins of various shapes.

All of which was topped off with luxuriant necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets of various shapes made of gold, silver, and gemstone.

Under the bright chandelier light, Alexander found it was the women who seemed to glow the most, the radiance of the candlelight reflecting off the many shiny stones and baubles they covered their dresses with.

The man of the hour himself was sitting on the throne once reserved solely for Perseus, from which he oversaw the whole affair, occasionally receiving greetings from the attending nobles and exchanging a few polite words with them.

While Lord Theony and Crown Prince Philips stood close helping Alexander inform who was who.

The party proceeded as such for a few hours, as Alexander let the crowd gather and the night darken before he proceeded to the swearing ceremony as was the custom of the lands.

So for the current while, Alexander simply observed his subjects, with his eyes particularly catching a detail of the Tibian Queen as she passed close by him.

Philips's mother looked particularly pale today.

Don't get me wrong, the lady was still stunning as ever, dressed in a luxurious golden gown that had numerous small silver chains sewn into it, with sparkling diamonds attached to its tail, making the royal woman almost glow.

Even in her mid forties, an age that was basically considered old in this time period, she looked extremely attractive, appearing closer to thirty, and everywhere she went, heads of men and women would turn to gaze at her with awe and longing, even managing to steal the thunder from many, much younger women.

Seeing her, even now Alexander felt a bit bitter that he skipped bedding this regal, proud beauty just because of his morals.

But much more than regret, Alexander noticed that today, this legal and proud woman's most attractive features, her plump, rosy cheeks seemed to have sunk and lost all their crimson luster, appearing pale with a tinge of blue, making its owner look like a mournful pale elf.

It was as if something was deeply troubling me.

But Alexander could not get more than that.

For too many troubling things had indeed happened to her in the last few months- such as losing the entire war, her sons, and most personally concerning, her husband is still unconscious.

Thus Alexander left this 'half widow' be.

Instead, his eyes wandered to the two people she was talking to Menes, and standing close to his shoulder in height, quite a tall, very beautiful, curvy, mousy-haired lady.

Alexander had no problem recognizing her, for it was him who had set up their meet.

This was none other than the general's main wife- the fifth princess Amelia.

Dressed very similarly to her mother, Alexander found the sixteen year old to strongly match her parent, equally shapely and beautiful, she right now appeared quite jovial with her 'fiance', her arms tightly locked with the tall, black man dressed in red and gold ceremonial armor.

The pair possessed a large smile on either face and appeared to be exchanging social greetings with the Queen.

And as Alexander perked up his ears a bit, he imagined even hearing the princess ask- 'Mother, where is Camellia?'

And this inquiry jolted something in Alexander, as he also recalled he was supposed to take a concubine from here- the youngest princess, Camellia.

He had been so busy with work lately that he had completely forgotten to even formally meet her, and could not even properly recall her face.

'Where is she?' Thus not remembering seeing her, Alexander turned his head a few times inquisitively to scan the crowd for the fourteen year old.

But she was nowhere to be found.

And Alexander was just about to ask Philips about it, when he got suddenly distracted by his nose waking up to the tantalizing aroma of baked bread and roasted meats, which the kitchen staff were starting to bring from the kitchen, piping hot out of the kitchen to serve for dinner.

Thus soon the air began to be filled with the fragrant scent of herbs and spices, and the decadent perfume of sweet wines as the guests started to slowly occasionally nibble at the buffet style course.

But before everyone would settle in for their meal, they still had one last thing to do and to remind them of that, Alexander stood up from this throne and addressed,

"My lords and ladies, thank you for coming all the way to attend this party at such short notice. You have my thanks."

"But before we break bread and drink to each other's health, I believe we have some custom to complete."

"Please step forward you who are willing."

The illusion of choice created by the phrase 'who are willing' was of course just flavor text.

None had any other choice but to bend the knee.

"I will go first," And the very first to volunteer was the Crown Prince- Philips.

Because remember, he had not yet sworn fealty to Alexander, at least officially.

Thus the immaculately dressed man quickly kneeled on one knee and took the oath.

"Do you, Philips of Pathenigh, swear your undying loyalty and fealty to me, the Pasha of Zanzan?"

"I swear!"

"Do you swear by the same words to carry out my deed and decree as I order?"

"I swear!"

"Do you swear never to harbor any thoughts of rebellion or treachery against me and my rule?"

"I swear!"

"Then, I, Alexander, Pasha of Zanzan, by the powers vested in me by Goddess Gaia and the ancestral spirits of the land, appoint you as my trusted retainer, gifting you the title of Warden of Northern Tibias. May we rule Tibias for a thousand years!"

"May we rule Tibias together for a thousand years! Praise be to the Pasha. Praise be to Zanzan. Praise be to Tibias."

It was like this Alexander started to make everyone swear, including Lord Theony, who took the oath again, and also received the Title Warden of Southern Tibias.

But it was amidst this jovial atmosphere that someone intruded into the party, someone whose appearance instantly made Alexander understand by the Queen had appeared so pale.

It was because of her.