Herald of Steel

Alexander was internally very glad to see that when he revealed the potential move the enemy could make, Remus was not only quick on the uptake but also extremely fast in being able to come up with a solution.

And even more decisive when trying to carry it out.

Since they had pointed the threat as Lord Parker coming to attack them from the sea, then the most logical answer in the boy's mind was to burn the vessels he would use to come here- the ships, thus denying him the opportunity even before he would start.

Such a go getter attitude of course pleased Alexander, as would any other boss, which was then further increased when he saw that his commander even deduced the most opportune time to strike would be tonight under the cover of the night, thus binding his feet for now, and biding his time for sundown.

Thus with a solemn nod, Alexander patted on the boy's shoulder to show his pleasure.

However, as pleased as he was, this was also where Alexander had to deny Remus the privilege of leading such an attack, for being a Pasha, he knew could not afford to be so outspoken and cavalier in

another's land.

Putting all the hundreds of ships in the Great Harbor to torch preemptively, just on a hunch would be too controversial. Especially when the enemy had yet to make a move. And egregiously so if Alexander did not ask for permission for the family first.

Thus he ordered his commander in a soft but firm voice, "Do not do not anything without my permission. Remember we are not in Zanzan. Those ships are the properties of the Lady Miranda family and we cannot act without their grace."

This crisp and reasonable answer however made Remus feel quite frustrated, and as his lips became pursed and he could not help but burst in a slightly accusatory tone at Alexander,

"Wasn't it you who said that the talks have broken down? So what is the point of asking them for permission? Are we to wait till they grant us permission and through this the enemy becomes aware of our intentions?"

Since the threat was there, Remus was of the mind to neutralize it as soon as possible, lest the enemy make their move before they could prevent it.

An advice that certainly made very sound tactical sense.

However Alexander as a pasha, knew although it made good military sense, such a move would be politically too damning.

He could not sanction this right here right now, at least not without Lady Miranda's permission.

A permission that the lady was very unlikely to give, judging by her previous interactions with him.

The man could already even see the reason why she would do this, because these ships were not only very valuable and precious, but they also helped ferry what little 'golden' blood the Margraves family had left to other parts of the world.

Choking even this little would be a nonstarter for the distressed Lady.

However, Alexander kept these considerations to himself, not trying to educate Remus on the intricacies of family politics of the Margraves- one because Remus had expressed little interest in such matter ever, and two because Alexander did not think he needed to.

All Remus had to do was follow Alexander's order and not do anything rash.

And to make that happen, at Remus's frank rebuke, Alexander did not chide him for talking to him like this, but instead soothed the agitated boy, "Do not worry. The talks will be held in utmost secrecy. No one will know about our plans except our closest allies."

Following this, Alexander then pointed to the advantage they would still hold even if the situation turned to the worst possible scenario and the enemy became alerted,

"Besides, even if the enemy tries to move towards the harbor, we will be able to easily spot him given our advantageous position. Not only are we closer to the harbor, but we are not a higher ground. So we will be able to easily reach the harbor before them, then set the ships alight then if need be."

After pointing this fact out, Alexander then at last patted Remus on the shoulders to once again urge, "So Remus all you need to do for now is remain vigilant and not the enemy get the jump on us. So stand firm and do not do anything rash. And by the grace of Gaia, we will be able to restart the talks and no blood need not be spilled."

The reason for Alexander repeating and requesting Remus this much was so that Remus did not do anything on his own and caused a diplomatic incident.

Alexander knew Remus's character and knew him to be quite impulsive and bullish in his thoughts.

Worse, because he led from the very front, which resulted in him regularly taking various scraps and bruises, he wielded a lot of respect among the men.

And even love as evidenced by the scene inside his tent.

It had to be noted that it was not only Remus who had broken the military law there, those men were too, and they were much more likely to get severely punished than Remus.

As a matter of fact, they frequently did, but they still kept coming back.

Hence, Alexander feared that if Remus truly ordered a contingent to disobey his direct order, many would follow, especially when Remus told them the reason.

But that would cause the already fragile relationship Alexander had with Margraves to shatter completely and even have the chance of turning Lady Miranda hostile.

No one liked to be ignored like this in their own house, not so blatantly at least.

Not to further mention that Alexander still held out hope to be able to convince the more neutral family members in the family to pressure Miss Linda to come to some sort of concessions.

Perhaps he would be unable to make her share the meat with her sister, but Alexander at least wanted to talk her into sparing some soup.

But he would not be able to do any of this if he burned down their freaking fleet stationed at the harbor without any concrete cause.

Hence the urging towards Remus.

"..... Okay." As for the man, hearing of the ask, Remus took a suspiciously long time to produce a very curt nod, as if he was contemplating on whether to truly follow the ask or simply pretend to.

And this was something the young man was not at all afraid to show his face, turning it sour and acrid, in a clear indication of how he really felt about the situation.

Until he could not hold it in himself any longer and so in a hushed but frank voice let Alexander how he really thought about the situation.

Meeting his lord's eyes, Remus thus very clearly declared,

"Alexander, I hope you really know what you are doing. Because the situation you have told me about already sounds quite bad. You very well know that I might have said we can hold on no problem, but that does not mean you can take it as a guarantee. 5,000 against 20,000 is already enough… even with all the advantages. It is best that you do not handicap us even further."

"...." Alexander for a while could not find the words to console his somber general.

There were not a lot of times he had seen Remus be this serious, the man was usually very jovial and carefree.

Thus to reciprocate his ask, Alexander also grimly replied, "Have faith in me, Remus. We are in a foreign land with no one but us as helpers. I swear I will not let a single one of you down. If for nothing but my own sake."

And with that, Alexander left Remus to be in charge of the man, still unsure if the man would actually follow his order or take matters into his own hands.

Whichever the case, Alexander had done his level best and now everything else would be on Remus, be it good or bad.

As for why Alexander did not take even more precautions to discourage Remus if he was afraid of the boy disobeying him, such as dismissing him or even locking him up, well the answer was already there.

Because Remus was very popular with the men, and because there was no equivalent other than Alexander to take over in his stead.

And if Alexander did that, well then he would have to stay with the army in the camp to oversee them.

This was of course impossible given he still had a hundred different duties to perform, like the negotiations with the neutral Margraves family members, trying to reconcile the two sisters, and even writing to Cambyses, asking her to send 10,000 reinforcements as soon as possible!

That's right!

Alexander was always a prudent man, hence even though he was trying his best to avoid a conflict, at the same time he was also trying to strengthen himself in case the worst came to pass.

As for why only 10,000, when the enemy would outnumber him even with the reinforcements, well it was because of a whole host of reasons.

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