Herald of Steel

As soon as Alexander docked and the man made landfall, he was informed of the origin of the new ship as well as the prize it had contained.

And immediately upon learning of it, the man found himself shooting to the camp clinic his heart dancing with equal parts joy and trepidation.

Joy because if the information was really true, then this could finally be the big break he was going for. Needless to say, such a hostage was invaluable.

But at the same, there was great trepidation as he thought of the prospects of being disappointed.

And these feelings were so intense that as Alexander approached the large crowded tent housing his query, a part of him wanted to slow down and even turn back.

But such misgivings were only an ethereal illusion, and as the crowd quickly parted seeing Alexander approach a familiar, cheerful voice shot out from its midst to greet him.

"Alexander! You are here! Look what we have got, hah hah!"

The young pasha found Remus standing next to the body, who was beaming a great big smile while waving at him. The joy was perhaps as much about discovering it was really Achillas, as it was about feeling relieved knowing that Alexander was back.

Alexander gave a courteous nod to his second in command, before quickly becoming more interested in the lying man who had been given the large tent all to himself.

He sped towards him to get a better look, and observing the bandaged man who was still unconscious, had no problem instantly recognizing the bulky, bearded muscular body as definitely him- Achillas.

He had met the man not too long ago.

The sight made Alexander surge with joy, while from the side Remus impatiently sought to confirm, "It's really him. Isn't it? Isn't it, hehe?".

One should have seen the grin it produced in Remus the moment Alexander nodded because even someone as disinterested in politics as Remus could see the value of this hostage.

"Hah hah! I knew it! The gods are on our side! Hah hah! I knew it." The great news thus had the young man break off into boisterous laughter.

"*Yawnnn*... Who brought him? Where are they?"

While having confirmed his query, Alexander quickly moved on to the next issue- the presence of the Margraves ships and the few hundred troops that were being kept in a separate part of the camp as prisoners of war.

Thus soon the commanders of the ship Anoon and Ser Robert found themselves summoned to Alexander's tent, and made to testify on their actions.

"Greetings Lord Alexander! We are honored!"

The black adjutant was naturally clever enough to produce the most immaculate bow as soon as his eyes met Alexander's figure, and seeing his example, Ser Robert too quickly followed.

"*Yawnnnn*.... So what's your story?"

And if it had been any other time, Alexander might have taken the time to appreciate this etiquette.

But right now, he felt so fatigued that he only wanted to get the story out and be done with it. Especially given he was having to constantly hide his yawns behind his hands and his eyes were beginning to feel like lead.

"My lord, we never desired to betray Lady Miranda! We were forced by that damned Heeat family. So when we spotted an opportunistic shift in the battlefield today, we took it, breaking away from the fleet and racing for safety towards you."

The answer was predictably given by the eloquent Anoon, who seeing the other side's lethargy decided to keep it short and simple.

Thus the succinct message skipped all the important details and only provided the mere bullet points of the transpired events.

And this actually suited Alexander just fine. Because whatever their reasons were, it did not seem too big a deal to him.

Whether they were truly sincere or infiltration moles sent by the other side, the fact was that they were here, in his hands, with little elsewhere to go. Alexander could slowly nitpick all that he needed from them in time.

Hence, for now, Alexander got to his next big question, the one that was really burning him up

"And Achillas? How did you manage to snatch him from his men? In reality, he should have never boarded a Margrave's ship."

"We were the ones rescuing the Heeat soldiers from the bridge. During that time, the general was hit by a stray arrow and fell onto our ship! We think his spine might be broken."

Once again Anoon kept his answer very short and simple, skipping all the events with Lord Bernad and the body transfer.

Instead, he twisted the narrative to such a degree that it was almost unrecognizable, all to fit it within the word limit.

"..."

The queerness of the described events this time caught Alexander a bit off guard. Because he did not think a man could survive such a fall.

In fact, he had seen many man men not surviving such falls.

But at the end of the day, he did not question it.

One because the injuries described by the man were indeed consistent with what the camp physicians had told him- there was an arrow wound on the man's torso and several of his bones had been snapped and crushed.

Two because he had indeed seen the Margraves ships lending a helping hand to those stuck above.

And finally, Alexander recalled there were many strange phenomena in the world, such as men surviving jumps from skyscrapers which should have killed them ten times over, skydivers plummeting to the ground at terminal velocities yet surviving, people surviving extreme colds, etc, etc.

So it was certainly possible that Achillas had hit the deck in just the right way so as to avoid getting splattered- such as perhaps by landing on another lucky sod.

Whatever the case was, Alexander was simply too tired right now to go poking into it for details.

And besides, what did it matter to him how Achillas got here?

The only fact that really mattered was that he did. And Alexander was free to use the man in any way he saw fit.

"Okay! Thank you for bringing us such a great gift. You two will certainly be rewarded for your efforts… *yawnnnnn*, rest assured."

Thus feeling he had all that he needed, Alexander decided to excuse the pair like this, then added the following promise of good treatment for all of them in the meantime, "Be sure that you and your men will treated as honored prisoners of war."

"And I will talk to Lady Miranda first thing in the morning. I am sure she will be very glad to know that she has so many loyal admirers within Lady Linda's ranks. For now, you are dismissed."

"Thank you, my lord." The pair were quick to express their gratitude upon hearing Alexander's words, and retreated with a pleased heart, with Ser Robert adding this following single sentence before making himself scarce,

"Please convey to the lady that I, Ser Robert express my sincerest apology for any slight I have caused her, my lord."

It was only then Alexander remembered that he had forgotten to even ask the pair their names.

Or who they were, and what was their rank in the army?

Or who their commander was.

Or any information regarding the situation inside Lord Parker's camp.

Or even just about today's battle from their perspective.

Such obvious things would have usually never missed his scrutiny and the realization that it had instantly made Alexander cuss inside,

'Damn it! I really need to get a good few hours of sleep!'

All the fatigue of staying up thirty six hours straight while taking part in a war had significantly degraded Alexander's mental faculties, and the only thing his body seemed to want now was to find a bed and pillow.

So, feeling that he was going to be of any use in his current state, the man decided to go do exactly that, and dumped all the responsibility to his second in command,

"Remus! I will leave the questioning of those two to you. Find out exactly who are they, and how they brought Achillas here. I want to know every detail of what happened… from the minute the battle started all the way until their ship docked here. Don't miss a single thing."

"I will see to it right away!" Remus was there to chirp the answer in a heartbeat, his tone still appearing fresh as a daisy.

It was a sight that baffled Alexander because the other side too had suffered as much if not more than him. However unlike him, there was very little sign of exhaustion, and instead, Remus appeared as if he had just woken after a good, long nap.

It made Alexander wonder if it was just him being weak, or that Remus was simply a freak.

The man could rest assured that it was definitely the latter.

Because while it was indeed true Alexander's cushy life as a noble had made some of his physical stats slightly dip still, no normal man could appear as energetic and lively as Remus after staying awake for so long.

It was simply that Remus had an extraordinary metabolism.

Thus he had no problem making that promise.

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