Herald of Steel

Upon receiving Lord Parker's order, some of the more zealous soldiers were ready to follow it despite what the others said, very eager to prove their loyalty.

And the particular man who defended Lord Parker's command vocally was one of the staunchest of the bunch, coming from Achillas's core circle.

"Then stop following this nonsensical order!"

However these strong headed men were however all completely stopped in their tracks by these imperious words, almost as much shocked by the command as they were by how it was made.

Because this was an extremely damning statement to make about any direct military order, never mind when the order was personally given by a man as exalted as Lord Parker- the next in line to a ducal seat.

It was an eye opener for all, even those officers that were kneeling, and as soon as this was said, all the eyes instantly shifted to towards the man brave enough to utter to them.

He was an extremely tall, black elder, with an ordinary looking, chiseled face, very dense, a fistful of white beard, and a completely bald head. He had very broad, powerful shoulders, matched equally in size by his four sturdy limbs, a slightly crooked nose that appeared as if it had been broken numerous times, and his most defining features of all, a pair of extremely piercing blue eyes.

They were so sharp and piercing in fact that when it was matched with towering physique and bulging muscles, it made all men tremble even when simply meeting with gaze.

And that even included Lord Parker, who had initially turned with the utmost fury to lock eyes with him, intending to lash out at the 'mutinous' order.

However, upon making contact with the aqueous pair, it felt as if he was instantly thrown into an ice cold pool, a creeping sense of fear and apprehension grasping him.

A large part of his anger vanished away then and there.

But not all of it.

And using the remaining embers, Lord Parker was still able to clench his teeth and with an aggrieved look gritted out,

"What is the meaning of this Lord Macht! Who permitted you to interfere like this? Remember your place!"

"I am not going to stand by and watch you slaughter a dozen of his lord's best officers, boy! You remember your 'own place'!"

The voice was loud, clear, and crisp, not arrogant or impetuous in any way, but certainly very officious and commanding.

Hearing such sharp words, Lord Parker instantly recoiled in rage as he could not remember the last time he had spoken to this disrespectfully, especially after he had become an adult.

But that thought was quickly supplemented by a baffling sense of horror as Lord Parker's heart subconsciously thumped due to the combination of the voice who uttered it and much more importantly the name he had uttered- 'his lord'.

It was of course very easy to guess who this 'lord' the elderly man was talking about- Lord Parker's father- the current Duke Heeat.

And this Lord Macht was a very close and trusted bodyguard of that man, sent here in his behest to protect his son as well as keep an eye on him.

This also meant that Lord Parker had grown up beside Lord Macht and thus when this elderly man growled, the instinctual urge to obey him developed from childhood quickly put a heavy burden on Lord Parker and his ability to do as they pleased.

This was exactly why Lord Macht was chosen for the job.

However even when he subtly hinted at the displeasure this act would incur with the duke, Lord Parker did not obediently fold.

But with gritted teeth clenched out in hidden rage and indignation,

"I am the heir to my father. They are as much mine to command as they are his." Lord Parker turned to regally point at the still kneeling men as he said this, before swiftly moving that index finger towards Lord Macht, "And so are you! Do not think you are any different either Ser! You are no real lord!"

The statement was made in great anger, but as soon as it was uttered, suddenly it appeared as if all the heat in the tent had been sucked away, as everyone there present subconsciously took a deep, shocked breath.

What Lord Parker said was indeed true.

Lord Macht was not really a true bone fide noble but more like a wealthy civilian who had large swathes of land and manors but no real authority to govern it like a noble did. Meaning he still had to bend the knee and pay taxes to his local lord.

And for a man as accomplished as him, this was also perhaps his greatest sore spot.

Why should he kneel to someone who had done so little when he had done so much?

This was also a well known secret among the men and few dared to poke the mightly warrior using it.

Which was perhaps exactly why Lord Parker had done it.

Lacing the threat in an unmistakable manner, it seemed Lord Parker wanted to rile the man up, reminding him of the stark difference in status between the two.

Then perhaps if the other party acted out, he could use it to somehow make him back down.

However, even though he was poked at his weak spot like this, the elderly man appeared absolutely unperturbed, save for the slight deepening of the few dashes of wrinkles on his face.

As a veteran of uncountable battles, if he was so easy to anger and bait out, then he would have died a long time ago.

Hence instead of flipping out and destroying his imperious, commanding image, the great man only stepped forward and replied in a cool, calm voice,

"I have never claimed to be a lord, boy. It was only something others call me by!"

Lord Parker's heart instantly thumped like a drum even though he only heard a windless, serene voice, while the closing of the distance between the two men made him feel very diminutive and in danger.

Lord Parker suddenly began to feel extremely uncomfortable at having his personal space violated like this as the towering man appeared like an unsurpassable giant to him, and as their gazes clashed, the extremely chilly light emitting from the elderly aqueous blue eyes almost made his body turn to ice.

Judging by just the words he said it might have sounded like Lord Macht was correcting Lord Parker and defending himself.

However in reality he was actually attacking, and attacking very aggressively.

He was hinting at Lord Parker to recall what it implied when everyone unanimously called someone by the title 'Lord' even though he was not.

Undoubtedly that person had to have done something very special to warrant such true respect.

Which in Lord Macht's case was his legendary battlefield accomplishments, ones about which entire books had been written, plural.

He was considered one of the best fighters not just within Duke Heeat's retinue, but according to some masters, even in all of the southern regions of the Central Sea. And this was a claim that most did not dare challenge even though he was a man approaching his twilight years.

Furthermore, something else that Lord Macht did not care to mention was although technically he was no lord by birth, that did not mean he was equivalent to a commoner either.

Because by birth he was the bastard son from another ducal family- the Macht family.

Now typically an illegitimate son would never be allowed to use the name of his father in Sybarian society, never mind when that father was someone as exalted as a duke.

Instead, he would be forced to take his mother's name or any other simple, commoner's name.

However Lord Macht was among the extreme few exceptions to this rule.

Long story short, the grandfather of the current ruling Duke of the Macht family had one day taken a black maidservant working there and got her pregnant.

Discovering this, he promptly abandoned the pair since the monogamous Sybarian society was ill suited to accept such a taboo union.

This was per the norm of the times, and usually, in such cases, the mother and child would die or fade away into poverty ridden obscurity.

However, through the many twists of fate, the boy and mother both not only survived but even thrived, managing to score a decent life for themselves through hard work, a bit of external help, and a lot of luck.

Then many decades after, when the current Duke Macht finally took his seat, he decided to award the black man, who was his half uncle with the surname Macht, both as a way to renew familial ties, as well as a way to bond with this great warrior.

Of course there were a lot of political shenanigans here, as well as a significant amount of Duke Heeat's hand in all of this, who did this both as a way to repay the man for his services as well as forge a closer tie with the other Ducal family.

But at the end of the day, all this meant that when such a heavyweight spoke, Lord Parker had to listen, whether he liked it or not.

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