Last King of Kings

Chapter 11: Promise based on a lie

"Okay, Bashir. I will house you in my palace and help the young one get the recognition he deserves. Under one condition."

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"My Shahanshah, may he be immortal, under what condition?"

"You will serve me, and me only. You shall follow my commands and act according to my wishes. If you can not do that, I shall execute both of you for heresy and defamation of our prophet. Choose accordingly."

Yazdegerd didn't give the two men much choice in this matter. They had to subdue to Yazdegerd, or die. And they weren't the only one who didn't want to die. Yazdegerd also didn't want to execute them, so he believed their choice will be the right one.

"My Shahanshah, may he be immortal, I accept your gracious offer. We shall serve you and follow your every command, in accordance with your and our lord's wishes."

Yazdegerd didn't mind that he added the lord part in his speech of loyalty. It could be said that he was happy he did, as it only made Yazdegerd to feel much closer to his goal of controlling state religion. But he still had a lot to deal with in this matter. After all, he only achieved getting some credible person to lead the religion in his Empire, as his puppet of course. Next step he had to make was to actually deal with the current religious leaders – clergy. The same clergy that siphoned from the Empire's and peoples funds for years. After Khosrow II. died, his son Kavadh II. didn't have stable reign. Well, he didn't really reign, as he died few months after coronation on plague. After that, the country was in turmoil, constantly changing rulers over the course of few years. And with the coronation of Yazdegerd III., promise of stability and better days came, as the young Shah started to consolidate power in his Empire. But the clergy, who took advantage of the situation, the civil war and constant turmoil only hurt the realm by conspiring against anyone who wouldn't support them and their right to be rich. As such, Yazdegerd was pretty sure that even now, someone from the clergy is already plotting his demise. This is one of the reasons he chose Jalinus as his hazarbed, or commander of palace guard and palace administrator. As a Christian, Jalinus was less likely to be bribed by the clergy that considered his religion and belief to be heretical. Of course, there were also other factors. For example, Jalinus didn't have family, thus having no ties and nothing to blackmail him with. He was a perfect hazarbed for a Shah in this situation. Nearly perfect.

Piruz was on the move. He led the army along the Khorasan roads in the direction of Merv. He didn't plan to go and meet the G?ktürks. His only command he had to follow was "hold Merv at all costs." And he planned to do just that, not willing to do anything more. He knew how hard it is to command an army of thousands, mainly during march, where rations aren't exactly abundant. And seeking to have all of the men follow him and his commands wasn't exactly easy. But he managed, mainly due to his previous experience. After all, he did have few battles behind him, both where he won and where he lost. And as former wuzurg framadar, he had skills in administration and organization of large projects. How could he not handle few kids and old men, he thought. Well, it turned out to be much harder than he thought. He was out of form, which is to no surprise when taking into account that until now he had leisure for about year and a half, not doing anything.

"Maybe I am too old for this." said not even forty-year old man. But when he thought of Bahman Jaduya, man, who was still serving as a general, although being well over fifty, he sighed. This was not getting him anywhere. After having to deal with an unrest in his army caused by a lack of wine, he was not angry, but just frustrated. His soldiers weren't happy, because they were marching into war. Not even because of lack of rations or the hot scorching Khorasani deserts. They were angry, because they ran out of wine and the first stop, where they would resupply and rest is still few days from here. Piruz eventually calmed them down, but he had to promise to provide them with a stable supply next time. The only thing he hoped for was that his given budget would suffice. It had to.

After few days, he was tired of the constant whining and complaining. But they were only a few hours from Nishapur, where he was supposed to resupply. And there, he also was supposed to buy enough wine to ensure the soldiers won't complain. Technically, he didn't have to buy the wine. But he himself wanted to. Because, according to his own logic, "It's better if your soldiers fight because of what you did, than if they desert you because of what you didn't."

It was always better to ensure the high morale and spirits of the army. Because, despite common beliefs, it really was soldiers that won battles. And moral was an important part of every soldier, and if Piruz could raise up the morale of his soldiers just by buying them wine, for which he didn't even pay from his own, it was a huge win. Or so he thought.

It was late in the afternoon after he came back from the city, followed by his trusted ones and a pair of guards. Behind him, some soldiers were dragging a huge carts loaded with storage boxes which were basically early versions of barrels. Every soldier who saw this pretty much instantly knew what that meant. He kept his promise and secured their wine, which melted every soldiers heart. He himself felt relieved that they even had this quantity of wine. He rounded up a couple of those literate soldiers and he tasked them with rationing the wine, so every soldier gets fixed amount, or else the wine would be gone in a few days.

What he was not relieved about was the rest of the journey that awaited him.