Herald of Steel

While to the Cantagenans on the battlefield, the sound of the surrendering bugle felt like the cruel footsteps of death, the same sound, to the Adhanians, sounded like the sweetest piece of music.

Won!

Against all odds, they had won!

They were ecstatic.

"Your Majesty, All praises belong to you, we have won." Manuk rode up to Amenheraft as he officially delivered the good news.

Then he got down from his horse and prostrated in reverence.

"All glory belongs to the owner of the world." All of AMenheraft's retinue followed suit, including Beihrut and Kefka, as they congratulated the king on his win.

Seeing his retinue piously prostrate before him, Ameheraft spoke, "This war was won by the blessing of Ramuh! All hail to our god of thunder, lightning, and rain, Ramuh! He has blessed us today, he has blessed us with rain, he has blessed us with thunder, he has blessed us with lightning, and he has blessed us with this fog."

"And most of all, he has blessed us with his divine son, me and he has blessed all my loyal followers. And I swear to lead all of you to prosperity. For your loyalty to Adhania in its darkest hour of need, I promise you eternal salvation." Amenheraft then spread out his arms as wide as possible as he magnanimously declared.

"Most Gracious is our lord, Most merciful is his rule." Everyone chanted in gratitude.

All of them were feeling an enormous sense of relief wash over them as they understood that this war was finally over.

Previously they had won the battle, but now they had the won war, effectively knocking Cantagena and her allies out of Adhania and securing their capital and by extension their country.

Soon their main army would be back, Ptolomy will be captured and Tibias's little scheme will disappear into smoke.

Then they will settle scores with every single one that kicked them when they were down.

This was the joyous feeling in everyone's heart.

It had to be said that even now, many of Amenheraft's retinue and even Amenheraft himself felt it kind of surreal that just a few hours ago they thought they had lost everything, and now, within the time that for many of them seemed like just the blink of an eye, everything was firmly in their grasp.

Many felt like pinching themselves to prove to themselves that this was all real and not some dream.

And almost all attributed this miracle to Ramuh and Amenheraft, god's divine son on earth.

"Manuk, you are the one who contributed the most to his war. Your bravery and strategy in leading the fifteen thousand slingers to reinforce us will be written in history books and be praised by generations till the sun is swallowed." Amenheraft felt it was time to reward his most competent retainer.

And what a reward it was.

It would be the first time in Adhania's history that an archpriest would be mentioned in any history books by name. Because every priest, from the lowliest acolyte to the highest archpriest was subordinate to the royal family and particularly to the king.

That meant that, according to the Takqa, any of their achievements were in fact the sole achievement of the king, and they were just mere tools used by the gods to achieve that goal.

As such, to hear the son of god, make an exception for him and give him credit for an achievement that originally belonged to the king, sent Manuk over the moon.

But he maintained his composure and humbly said, "I am unworthy, Your Majesty."

Hearing Manuk's self-demeaning reply, Amenheraft didn't stop.

He then announced his second reward, "For your unmatched courage, valor, and mettle in trapping thirty thousand soldiers, I announce that his year's divine mistress will be your daughter Makila."

This made Manuk look up at the king stunned and shocked, his eyes tearing up at the immeasurable honor.

Only a member of the royal family such as a princess or a queen consort could become the divine mistress.

To allow his daughter, the jewel of his eyes, to have the honor of taking a place beside Ramuh, was an unmatched reward that was almost impossible to find an equivalence for.

In fact, many could argue to allow a mere mortal to become a divine mistress was tantamount to blasphemy.

So, although eternally grateful, Manuk attempted to turn down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He prostrated and prayed, "Your Majesty, this humble slave has no words to express his gratitude. But I believe a mere mortal like Makila is not suitable to become the divine mistress."

But Amenheradt blew such objections away, "Nonsense. I am the son of Ramuh. I judge your daughter to be worthy. Who can defy me?"

This answer made Manuk so pleased that he felt and he felt so much happiness course through his body that even if Amenheadt were to rip out his heart right now, he doubted he would feel any pain.

With tears streaming down his face, he thanked the king, "This unworthy worm and his daughter will toil for all eternity for this grace,"

"Um, rest assured, you and your daughter will have a place beside me in Aaru." The king promised.

Then he turned to his second retainer, Kefka, and said, "Kefka, despite being a civilian minister, you have commanded the troops, especially during the first battle with remarkable competency. Without your valiance in holding the right flank, we certainly would not have this victory today."

"Only by your grace, Your Majesty." Kefka thanked.

"But," Suddenly Amenheraft's amicable voice turned hard, "As my head of intelligence, you have failed in your entirety to gather any kind of information about the coup d'état. You should be beheaded for your incompetence."

Yes, it was Kefka's gross negligence that enabled the coup to take place, but in fairness, although Kefka did reveal to be lacking in this particular circumstance, he did warn Amenheradt to not leave the capital about a week ago, saying many of his sources were giving suspicious and contradictory news and he suspected something foul about it.

But who was going to blame the king for that?

The king couldn't be wrong, he could only be led astray by blundering subordinates.

"*Silence*," Kefka simply lowered his head in shame and embarrassment.

A spymaster who could not spy on a coup that was happening right inside his house, a coup that was attempting to usurp the very people he was tasked to guard was an enormous failure for him.

And Kefka did blame himself, if not fully, but at least partially for the enormous mishap. After all, this coup didn't just one day appear out of nowhere. It was planted and slowly grew right under his nose with him none the wiser.

It would not be at all excessive to execute him for such a mistake.

Spymasters had been offed for far less.

"But given the countless sacrifices you have made and the enormous benefits you have brought Adhania in the past, along with your contributions here today, I judge you worthy enough to be pardoned for your crimes. I will excuse your head today," Amenheraft graciously decided to pardon his uncle.

And then he announced," You will be removed from your post from today and I will assign you a new post with the chance to redeem yourself. Work hard."

Amenheraft's last two words were code, meant to convey to Kefka that he would be soon reinstated as spymaster but right now he would be sent somewhere away till the dust settles, to prevent those with jealous eyes from targeting him for being incompetent enough to allow the coup to occur right under his nose.

Kefka understanding the code. replied humbly, "This incompetent slave shall strive with all his body and soul to try and pay back His Majesty's infinite mercy, even if I can only return just the smallest grain."

Done with Kefka, Amenheraft turned at last to his third retainer, Beihrut,

"My loyal Royal guards Captain, your heroism does not need to be said in words, that bloody bandage is all the proof one needs. You have fought till your body almost broke and bleed till you had no more blood to spill."

"Without you holding the left flank for as long as you did, taking punishment after punishment from the elite Cantagenan cavalry, they would have certainly broken our wings and destroyed us today. For your bravery and sacrifice, you will be made lord of Ankook and be given Hellma as your concubine."

"Your generosity knows no bounds, Divine son of god." Beihrut quickly kneeled and expressed his gratitude,

Even the usually tactless brute at least had enough sense to know what to do here and understood just what kind of rich reward he was being offered to him.

Ankook was among Adhania's top ten largest cities and Princess Hellma was said to be among the most beautiful woman in all of Adhania.

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