Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Alpheo leaned back in his chair, his arm resting gently around Jasmine's shoulders as he watched their son roll across the floor with the snowy white pup curled against his chest.

Basil giggled in fits and starts, occasionally letting out a triumphant "woof!" as if trying to mimic his new companion.

For a moment, Alpheo simply watched in silence , taking it all in. The peace, the warmth, the small joy of his child feeling safe enough to laugh.

Then, with a small exhale, as if releasing the weight of everything that waited outside the door, he murmured, "Well… a lot of work will be waiting for us in the upcoming days."

He paused, then turned slightly to give Jasmine a long, meaningful look. "Actually, a small correction, it'll be waiting for me, considering I'll be taking over your duties for a while."

Jasmine smirked, visibly pleased, and leaned her head against his shoulder with a teasing little hum. "Oh no, what a tragedy."

Alpheo chuckled under his breath, shaking his head before continuing in a more serious tone.

"How kind of you to say that to the lot of paperworks that shall await me.

Still not all is bad as I'll be able to get a proper grasp on how much of the newly conquered territory will fall under direct royal control. There's a lot of guesswork now, but I want actual borders. Perhaps I could also be able to take a bit from the other local nobles, considering our current position of strength ."

His voice dipped lower as he started to lay it out almost as if just wanted to have someone to hear him rambling about his situation . "After that, I'll need to appoint new ministers to oversee each of the provinces. For the first year, we'll likely see no gain at all. If anything, it's going to drain our coffers.

Herculia suffered under siege, and Egil's hand was heavy. There's famine in the outer districts, and the infrastructure's in ruins. Before anything flourishes, we'll have to pour in funds just to make the land livable again."

Jasmine tilted her head, fingers absently trailing along his sleeve. "Mmm… sounds like quite the headache. Glad it's your headache and not mine," she purred, smiling with mock sympathy '' Still why are you so sober?Are you really complaining about conquering a princedom?''

He gave her a sideways glance, amused. "Indeed. I am more than happy about the conquests, but I surely am not excited about the work that will have to go into repairing the damages we caused. But—" He tapped her chin gently. "—despite the cost, once we stabilize the region and set up the right officials, the long-term gain will be worth it. Herculia has fertile plains and quite the population . If we manage things well, in two or three years, this conquest will pay back everything we spent and more."

Then, as if remembering something halfway through his thoughts, Alpheo's eyes narrowed slightly, and he added, "Ah, and of course, I'll also have to deal with the new nobles."

Jasmine let out a light sigh, eyes still half-closed, already sensing the tedious politics ahead and recognising that she would have no way out of his husband's grumbling.

"I'll need to evaluate the tribute they'll owe the crown yearly," he continued, rubbing a thumb against his jaw. "And more importantly, I'll have to hammer into their heads the new customary levies expected of them in wartime.

It seems many of these lords had exceptionally light hands when it came to supporting Lechlian in his war effort. Not that I'm complaining, mind you—it was rather nice to fight an opponent without a proper backbone. Still, now that we are their liege, the rules must change. Expectations must be… clarified."

"Spoken exactly as I thought you would, always with war in mind, you are a warrior at heart." Jasmine teased with a soft chuckle, stretching ever so slightly.

He gave her a grin. "I do not search for war lightly, but if it is unavoidable, I prefer to hold strong and clear cards in my hands''

"Speaking of nobles," she murmured as she settled her weight against him, eyelids fluttering shut for a moment, "I noticed quite the entourage following you into the courtyard. You've dragged half the vanquished on your horse."

Alpheo scoffed, amused. "You speak as if that is an annoyance.... Tomorrow morning they'll queue up one after another to kneel, pledge their lives and lands, swear to the crown, kiss your hand and try to outdo one another in flattery."

"Oh, splendid," she said dryly, cracking one eye open. "You should have warned me earlier—I'd have prepared myself to be more royal. Perhapse lose this stomach" She patted her bloated belly.

He chuckled in response "Well, consider this your warning now. But that reminds me, there's still one performance left to deal with."

Jasmine lifted her brow knowingly as displeasure came on her face. "You mean that dog."

"Yes," Alpheo replied, tone cooling slightly. "that one ."

"I was wondering when you'd bring him up," Jasmine said, sitting up straighter, a hint of fire in her voice now. "Frankly, I think you've been far too lenient with him. I assumed you'd at least torture him for the headache he's been. A public whipping, at the very least. He caused us much trouble , did he not?''

"And I considered it," Alpheo admitted, the firelight catching on the edge of his jaw. "But the last thing I wanted was to give him martyrdom. That man would have died screaming with pride in his heart if I'd put him to the sword. Instead…"

He allowed a smirk to twist his lips.

"…he groveled. He crawled like a dog to my feet, whimpering, pleading, kissing the very ring he'd sworn to defy."

Jasmine watched him, a little amused, a little impressed at what he had accomplisheed.

"And apart from the personal satisfaction I gained from watching him squirm," Alpheo went on, "it did something far more important—it stripped him of any last shred of dignity. The nobles saw it. They whispered about it before the night even fell.

Tell me what lord in his right mind would now raise a sword for a man who crawled on all fours and begged for his life?"

She folded her arms, satisfied but not entirely appeased. "So you humiliated him into irrelevance."

"Exactly," Alpheo said, his voice turning thoughtful again. "With him disgraced, and no army to rally, we buy ourselves peace. No martyr's cause, no symbol of resistance. Just a shamed husk of a man sitting quietly in a manor , because his silence now serves me more than his blood ever could."

Jasmine rested her chin in her hand, nodding slowly. "And that gives us the space we need. Time to put our feet down, establish control, integrate Herculia's lands without having to put every keep to the sword."

Alpheo gave a slow nod, his eyes drifting again toward Basil and the white pup still tumbling about on the rug.

"A few years," he said softly. "That's all I need. A few years of order. Enough to tie the new lands to the crown, enough to make it clear that rebellion isn't noble, it's stupid. And when those years are up, even the memory of Lechlian's defiance will be a bad joke told in taverns."

He took Jasmine's hand in his again, giving it a squeeze.

"And perhaps by then,our pup will carry the title Prince of Herculia, alongside that of Yarzat. One day, both lands may feel like home to him."

She let the moment sit for a beat, before her tone dipped into something cooler. "Speaking of pups… was it not a mistake to let the dog's sons live? You've broken the father, yes, but can't the nobles rally behind his heirs instead?"

Alpheo leaned back into his chair, exhaling deeply through his nose, as if he'd rehearsed this question many times in his mind.

"Unlikely," he said finally. "Not unless we give them reason to. As long as we don't push too hard, don't squeeze blood from their stones, they'll have no appetite for another rebellion. Besides…" His mouth curved in a wry, knowing smile. "I couldn't just hang them. Would've made martyrs out of boys who haven't earned the name."

He paused, folding his hands over his stomach. "And truth be told, they've been surprisingly useful. Especially the younger one, Thalien. He's resourceful, sharp-eyed, and most importantly, he holds nothing but contempt for his father.

That kind of hatred is… clean and was of great use to me in bringing Lechlian down."

"And the older?" Jasmine asked

Alpheo's smile thinned. "A greater threat, no question. More skilled than the father. But it was he who gave me the key to break Herculia's spine. It was his hand that shook the castellan of Stiltum and opened the gates to me, that small little coward would not have attempted that ploy without proper guarantees. Whatever his reasons, he made the conquest possible."

Alpheo watched his son in silence for a few seconds, something quiet and warm flickering across his face.

"I could have executed them both. It would have been cleaner. Simpler. But it would have also told every other noble house that there's no salvation, if they are defeated. It would've said that mercy is weakness, and surrender means death. That's not the lesson I want the next enemy lord to remember, it only bring more desperate resistance."

Jasmine tilted her head. "Still… doesn't leaving both brothers alive seem a bit...sloppy?"

"On the contrary," he replied, turning back toward her with a smirk. "It's quite useful instead. If one of them ever steps out of line, I can always favor the other. If they harbor ambitions, they'll be too busy watching each other's moves to plot against me. And unless they both agree to rebel and really, what two brothers ever do?Then neither will risk it."

Jasmine laughed lightly. "A state built on family dysfunction. How poetic."

Alpheo grinned at that.

For a while, they said nothing, simply listening to the soft crackle of the fire and the occasional sleepy giggle from Basil as the pup licked his cheek.

Alpheo wrapped an arm gently around her shoulder. She leaned into him, letting her head rest where his heart beat calm and steady beneath layers of silk and leather.

"Do you think it will last?" she asked softly.

"The peace?" he murmured, eyes fixed on his boy.

"The quiet."

He didn't answer right away.

"No. Not forever. But long enough. War will always find me, it is inevitable"

She accepted that answer. It was honest, at least.

And in the firelit stillness of their home, the two of them let the weight of crowns rest lightly, just for tonight.

Tomorrow, they would rule.

But tonight, they could simply be a family.