Herald of Steel

"Okay, okay, Inayah, you can have your fun later. The food is getting cold. Come! Let us eat."

Just as Alexander was being surrounded and teased relentlessly by Lady Inayah and her daughters, the Queen Mother, feeling a bit peckish finally decided to interject, chiming up so and then signalling her personal maid at the back to bring out the stored food from the cupboards.

Till now, Seelima had been quite content to silently observe the very entertaining interaction between the man and the ladies, even occasionally letting out amused guffaws at Alexander's innocent reactions.

However at the same time, night was also starting to draw in, and she still had more stuff to do… such as meeting with Ptolomy one last time for the night and bidding him goodnight.

"Hahaha, yes, yes, let's."

And since the matron of the room had spoken, Lady Inayah cut the amorous discussion there, breezily waving her hands.

Then, as the food started being served, she invited the man to her side of the red, fluffy couch, smiling, "Alexander, come.. Sit here. As a reward for being such a good boy, I will feed you."

"Mother! We are his maids. Please do not get in the way." However before Alexander says yes or no, the eldest, Lady Ezaya quickly stepped forward and very assertively denied the option all together.

"Booo.. you girls." This made Lady Inayah puff her cheeks in a very animated way.

And then, as if to get back at them for getting in her way, produced a cunning glint.

"Hehehe, Alexander, come let me tell you something real nice. When you take them, remember, my youngest Anisha really likes it when you pinch her thighs. Elaza is a lot more perverted, she likes a finger up her butt. And Elia…"

"Mother!" Unlike the two sisters who did not mind this, as soon as her name was brought up, the middle sister let out a shock cry to try and stop Lady Inayah.

Too bad this was to little avail, as the mother continued with a chuckle,

"Hahaha, Elia really likes to smell things. So make sure to grab her face and stuff her full!"

"...." The girl only stood there with a blushing face at this, while the words made Alexander's heart slightly stir, the previous image of the girl kneeling before him flashing inside.

…..

"That is all the food for now mistress! Please enjoy!"

As Queen Mother gave the order for the food, the large glass dining table soon became filled to the brim with all kinds of delicacies- various meat, fish and vegetable dishes, with lots of types of bread, butter and of course sweet wine.

They were served in all sorts of exquisite gold, silver and beautifully made porcelain dishes, still kept warm from the kitchen by wrapping them in warm blankets.

Alexander was of course made to be the center of attention of this feast, presented all the delicacies to known, along with an entire duck roasted only for himself.

The man rarely even had to move his hands, as the three sisters seemed to do all the hard work for him.

The eldest sister skillfully curved the duck right in front of him, presenting them to his plate in tiny bite size pieces. The middle sister served him all the delicacies around the table for him to taste and sample.

While Anisha was responsible for always keeping Alexander's cup full.

The bubbly girl even made regularly made recommendations on which wine to pair with which dish for Alexander, and when she learnt that it was Alexander personally who had made the recently extremely famous sweet wine, she seemed over the moon, her eyes almost glittering with awe and admiration.

The girl was a great connoisseur of this fine liquid and yet, that wine, out of all the hundreds available, was still without doubt her favorite.

So meeting its maker was almost like a teenager meeting her rock star crush.

The girl thus suddenly began to ask a lot of questions about how Alexander made the wine, how he figured it out all out, what problems she faced when trying to copy it and many more, to the point, Lady Inayah had to step in at last, and with an air of annoyance put a break on her's daughter's antics.

"Anisha! What is this! Alexander is eating. Behave yourself!"

The scolding instantly put a damper on the bubbly girl's smile, making it appeared deflated like a popped balloon. It should be known it took a lot to get someone like her down.

So seeing, Alexander quickly stepped in,

"No, no, it is alright, Lady Inayah. I am actually flattered… nobody has asked me these before. Hahaha, Lady Anisha, why don't I tell you all about it in my room tonight?"

The offer brought an enormous grin, much bigger than before to surface on the girl's face.

And the way she looked at him changed to make Alexander almost think he might have been able to bed the lady just based on this, even if her mother and husband had disapproved.

Lady Inayah chuckled seeing this, saying Alexander was seducing her daughters, while the other two sisters felt a clear twinge of jealousy and competitiveness.

So they increased the hospitality of their service as quickly Alexander's plate began to get filled with more and more cuts of meat, vegetables and bread, and no matter who he tried to turn down the offers, the other two sisters kept on bringing their forks to his mouth and insisting on him taking one last bite.

"My lord… you ate from Elia. You must now also taste mine. If you do not.. If you do not, then… I will cry!" Even though Lady Elaza was older than Alexander, she had the uncanny skill to appear just like a young girl, charming and naive.

And then, when Alexander let the pressure get into him and took a bite, it would be instantly followed by Elia, who would simply hold the spoon in front and keep on staring with those beautiful, expectant eyes.

Thus, by the time the cycle ended, Alexander did not have even a grain of space left in his belly for desserts- which consisted of lots of cut fruits, sliced sweet cakes and honeyed drizzled nuts.

He just slumped back on the couch, rubbing his belly with a slightly painful groan and refusing all invitations.

This then caused the Queen Mother to lightly joke, "Ahhhh, it seems the Pasha finds our desserts not to his liking! Ohh, we are such a failure as hosts."

To which, Lady Inayah also quickly quipped with a jab,

"Haha, yes, how could your chefs match Alexander's Seelima? I heard he eats cakes with every meal in Zanzan, and they are all made from white sugar…. Not like your lowly brown ones, haha."

Typically it would have been very insulting to address a royal like this.

But of course given how close the two women were, it was just seen as a good joke.

While the man at the centre of it all also decided to defend himself in a joking, pleading tone,

"Please… my ladies… you are being a bit too hospitable. It is not good for my health. Ahhh…I would not mind if you 'failed' just a bit as hosts."

"Hahaha!"

Following the conclusion of Alexander's dinner, the three sisters took the opportunity to quickly finish their meal too, while the man and two ladies moved from the couch to a set of very large, comfortable armchairs, reclining on them and taking small sips of wine or a few handfuls of nuts and small berries.

It was also at that point that the group switched from laughing amd making small talks about each other's well being and turned to discuss the things that truly mattered.

"So how was Nanazin?" The Queen Mother started the conversation with this, once again making the query.

But the context this time was very different.

"Is Your Highness asking how she is actually?" Alexander sought confirmation with a small glint in his eyes, and the flaming red haired lady readily nodded,

"Yes. I heard some very nasty rumors about her from some. It seems Ptolomy might have…." The Queen Mother trailed off as such, as if finding it too unpalatable to truly say those words.

She also did not want to think the man she was sleeping with and carrying his child was capable of something like that.

In fact, it was even deeper than that.

If you recall, Queen Mother had raised Ptolomy from his childhood after his mother had died, so to hear a boy she had personally raised right under her doing such abominable things….

"....." Alexander first very animatedly pursed his lips, clearly showing that he was considering how to best present the answer.

"Well the good news is she has completely recovered. There was no real harm done. Praise the Mother." He then finally replied as such, short and succinct, with a short sign of gratitude over his heart.

While the clear meaning of this answer hit the regal, pregnant very hard.

Alexander had made no attempts to deny or even downplay those rumors. He simply skipped addressing them, thus tacitly acknowledging it all.

"Do not tell me he is becoming like his father?" And hearing this, Lady Inayah could not help but blurt out so in alarm, turning to give the Queen Mother a very scared look.

And if it had been anyone else, even if Mikaya, the regal queen would have most certainly snapped at her with a great roar for disrespecting the crown.

However Lady Inayah was special and her concerns struck especially deep.