Herald of Steel

Chapter 1223: Lord Macht's Last Roll (Part-2)

Being taken captive by the enemy side was never a pleasing feeling for any soldier, much less for a soldier as famed as Achillas. It was such that the general felt that even if he managed to get rescued, this event would remain a black streak on his record for all his life.

Lord Kite could certainly sympathize with his thoughts, and given that the general's capture was more due to treachery than his own faults, decided to spin a little tale for the injured man here, placating him by saying,

"Do not worry about the lord! He seems to have gained a new life nowadays. You should see how hard he is working to get you back. Rest assured, with our resources, Alexander will be forced to kneel! Remember… we have more than twenty thousand men with us."

In order to not ail the already injured man's heart any further, Lord Kite cleverly dressed up Lord Parker's situation with colorful festoons, showing him as someone who was doing everything in his power to get his general come.

It was unknown how much of the fib Achillas truly brought.

But even he was forced to acknowledge the immense force advantage they possessed.

'That's right! No matter how good that Alexander is, there is no way he can win with so few men.' Achillas hence said to himself, quickly feeling his heart become a lot more reassured, and even his sore body not hurting that much.

The exchange between the two men would end with that, thus letting us get back to the present negotiations.

Back in the manor's study, Lord Kite quickly finished his pleasantries and then got to the main meat of

the issue,

"Lord Alexander, we will frankly admit that your battlefield accomplishments have been truly opening for all of us. In light of this, we are willing to make certain concessions.

My lord proposes to lift the current siege on your manor, thus letting you access food and fresh water from the city. In exchange, we only ask that you hand over our general, as well as those two traitorous officers, Anoon and Robert who brought him here to you."

"Snort! If you are here to waste my time, there's the door!" Alexander openly sneered at the gigantic maw the other side opened their negotiations with, deftly swinging his arms and appearing too impatient to even put this said condition into consideration.

He even appeared to be almost ready to leave the room then and there, thus pressuring the other side to reveal their 'real' demands.

However, although this was a smart move, it had limited effect.

Lord Kite as a noble as well as a merchant was no stranger to haggling with distinguished powers, and thus despite Alexander's show, he kept his cool.

"Then what kind of rumination would you be willing to accept for such a thing?" Slouching back to his chair, the man simply asked, wishing to see just how big Alexander's own appetite was.

'Your complete withdrawal from the island!' Was Alexander's first instinct to blurt out.

However, he knew even if he had Lord Parker with him, such an ask would be too preposterous. The decision to assimilate the Margraves surely came from the core decision makers of the Heeat and there was really no pleasant way to stop them. Only blood and steel would halt the ducal family's encroachment.

Thus, in order not to destroy his credibility, Alexander made the much more reasonable ask, "We will reiterate what we have already said. Let Lady Miranda become the family's regent until Lady Linda's son comes of age."

"Snort! Now who is wasting our time!" Just like Alexander before, Lord Kite blew that suggestion out of the water the moment it was uttered, unequivocally revealing, "The matter about the Margraves family is not to be discussed here. We are only willing to negotiate General Achillas's ransom in terms of goods and money. Nothing more."

"....." Lord Kite had a very stoic, staunch stance when he said this, suddenly putting Alexander much pressure on Alexander.

The young pasha could tell the man was not going to budge on this no matter how much he tightened his screws. Achillas was simply not that valuable enough.

This had Alexander in a bit of a dilemma, as in reality, he was not nearly as cavalier as he was showing himself to be.

Fact was he needed the deal to be done far more than Lord Parker needed it.

After all, Lord Parker still had held the advantage in this conflict due to his huge manpower, and thus for Alexander, keeping or even killing Achillas would bring no real benefit to him. The best course of action for him was to 'sell' the general for the best possible price.

However, given that maybe, Alexander was still very reluctant to give up such a prized prize for such a paltry price. Access to fresh food and water of course sounded good, but he had not reached that dire point till now.

Heck, with Lord Janus's presence and the harbor conquered, Alexander even thought he could have his ships ferry in fresh supplies from other parts of the island if push really came to shove.

Thus he sent eye signals to Lady Miranda and Lord Janus, asking them to voice their thoughts on the matter.

"We do not lack food or money. And there is no space for your family on this island! Leave!"

Lady Miranda certainly did not disappoint when given the chance, her cold burst of demands sending a chilly breeze toward Lord Kite.

If Alexander's demands were considered overreaching, then this was what was called truly reaching for the moon, for Lady Miranda asked what Alexander had only thought of in his head.

It was such that even both the men flanking the plump lady were forced to produce a wry smile hearing it. Discover the mystery at m,vl_em|p_yr

After this was said and both sides had presented the two extremes of their asks, they finally got serious, trying to feel each other up.

"Let us meet each other somewhere in the middle my lords," Lord Kite cordially proposed, and in the following next hour or so, they tried various combinations to get what they wanted.

For instance, when goods and coins were rejected, Lord Kite proposed to exchange Achillas for a large number of Margrave troops or officers.

"I believe my lord will find a thousand men to be more than adequate compensation for one single man." Lord Kite dangled the juicy fruit.

"Heh! If they are so good, you can keep them!" Sadly however Alexander did not bite.

Instead, he tried to get the Heeat family to agree to come kind of truce, lasting perhaps a few years, during which Lady Miranda would presumably slowly hand over her power to Miss Linda.

Lord Kite however only chuckled and restated, "Like I said, this is not something we are willing to discuss. Only Lady Linda and her son and only them can be the head of the Margraves. It is an immutable fact."

As Lord Kite repeated the point to emphasize it, Alexander could almost hear Lady Miranda breaking her tooth, her pearly whites clenched so tightly that it seemed to fuse together.

Then, given they hit a brick wall on this, Alexander attempted to switch the discussion to trade, hoping to see if Heeat would agree to some concessions on that front.

"In exchange for giving Achillas, we would like to rediscuss the free trade agreement terms we had with the Margraves. We also want two of your family's ports to be tariff free for ships sanctioned by us."

Sadly, Lord Kite showed no interest in this either, ruefully shaking his head to add, "This is far too complex and far too into the future. We would like to get the general back now. Please put something more within our reach."

This type of back and forth went on for quite a while, with the ultimate conclusion being… nothing.

The two sides were not able to reach any viable consensus, each of their respective wants being too divergent to converge in any meaningful way.

And this result left Alexander very frustrated. Because as said earlier, he truly wanted this deal done.

However, the other side seemed unwilling to give anything meaningful thing in return.

Now, this was not because Lord Kite was unwilling to seriously discuss terms with Alexander. The fact was simply that he lacked the adequate authority to promise anything substantial.

This was because Lord Kite had been sent by Lord Macht almost on a whim with orders to bring back Achillas, as the veteran commander reasoned that bringing the general back could somewhat help placate his camp.

This was perhaps more wishful thinking than an actual strategy, as the problems erupting among the soldiers were many more times complex than the absence of a single man.

But Lord Macht was clutching at straws by this point. So sent Lord Kite out anyway, hoping for a miracle.

Alas, without Lord Parker's blessing, such an endeavor was doomed from the start, for Lord Kite simply lacked the capital to haggle with Alexander.

Thus the negotiations at last fell through when Alexander rejected the other's last offer, saying,

"We are not interested in any kind of truce unless it involves you leaving Caira altogether. For us, the current stalemate is not too bad."

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