Herald of Steel-Chapter 1505: Adhan Fair

Alexander had really wished he could have spent some more time with the two princesses. He believed he could have really solidified their support if he was allowed to work his charms just a bit longer.

After all, he was already in 'kissing terms' with them and even got to look over some of the assets- albeit only over the clothes.

He had found Azira's chest to be soft and squishy while Azura's, despite being the same, large shape, was young and full of elasticity.

But anything beyond, Alexander was very cautious to explore rashly.

It risked spooking the girls and he even worried they might really tell on him to Pasha Farzah.

For now, he was very confident these shy beauties could keep all this to themselves, finding revealing it too embarrassing.

But then by the time the girls became used to Alexander taking a peck at their beautiful lips and he felt confident moving forward without any worries… they arrived at Agnirat- Lady Inayah's place and Alexander's port of departure.

'Tsk!' The man was almost half peeved at arriving so soon, nearly sending the captain a glare when he came to inform him that they had managed to catch a lucky current of wind on the way and thus were able to make much faster grounds than anticipated.

'Next time, the scenes in these cabins will be a lot pinker,' Alexander then turned around toward Azira and Azura's room, and swore, his mind already playing all the fun times he was going to have with his two new wives.

….

Alexander did not stay in Lady Inayah's place for long.

This was because, given how close he was cutting it to the Jtaama, much of the black lady's rest of the family had to leave for the pilgrimage so as to not miss many of the initial rituals.

Hence Alexander was left to be greeted by only a single, lone widowed daughter of hers, who was saddled behind solely to cater to him.

She was to come with him, and sensing her impatience at possibly missing the biggest event of the year, the pasha found it hard to burden his poor woman in any good conscience.

In addition, Alexander's entourage of 6,000 men was also a difficult weight to suddenly take for even a big noble house like hers.

So he only stayed until all the provisions from the ships had been unloaded and organized into carts and wagons. It was a process that surprisingly took only a few days, courtesy of all the improved port facilities.

Alexander was quite impressed by the scale of the expanded grounds, the peers filled with tens of wooden cranes and thousands of dock workers all working like busy bees.

But this was also hardly surprising- Agnirat was one of the main ports where Alexander sent his exports, letting it disembark before the goods eventually made their way all the way to Adhan and thus the king, from where it went all over the province.

And vice versa, much of Adhan's exports- such as salt, grain, legummum, timber, linen threads and religious artifacts flowed out of this very port into Zanzan.

Thus with trade between the cities exploding more than ten fold or more, it was only natural such a vital chokepoint would receive great love.

In fact, Alexander could already see a sprawl starting to generate around the outskirts of the city as slums and shanty shacks grew out like weeds, providing much needed housing for all the new workers moving daily in.

And he had no doubt in the near future this once relatively small town of barely ten thousand people would transform into a bustling metropolis of hundreds of thousands if not millions. Lady Inayah's family had really struck it big by becoming the main artery connecting the two provinces.

….

Alexander's soldiers got a few nights of good sleep in their camp as the unloading took place, letting many of those seasick recover.

Then as soon as they were to stand firmly on their legs, it was time to head off. Alexander had the army on forced march, covering the roughly 30 kilometers in a single day and reaching the suburbs of Adhan around late afternoon.

As he approached, even from the distance, the enormous walls of the city placed atop the hill were a magnificent sight to behold, the dull, stony exterior excluding a cold, majestic exuberance, while from the top, flew many colorful flags, showing the festive nature.

As for the foot of the hill, there was currently a huge number of tents, shops, and stalls, all bustling with all kinds of activity.

True to the message carried by that bird, people from all over the country had come to Adhan for the pilgrimage and without any more place to hold them inside, they were forced to camp outside.

But this was nothing new and like all the prior years, the people easily made do, setting up like makeshift tents and then starting a grand fair.

The Jtaama was not just the annual pilgrimage for the people of Adhan and Adhania as a whole. Given how it coincided with the autumn harvest, it was also a time of great celebration and festivities.

Farmers reaped the reward they had worked their backs for the whole year, and with the fresh produce in hand, they had a sudden surge of money that they would spend to entertain their families.

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Rare bronze combs for the daughter, some cheap silver earrings for the wife, a few wooden horses for the boys, and perhaps even clothes for a new tunic for the man of the house.

At the stalls they might dine with fresh, thick cuts of meat- usually beef, mutton or pork, along with white bread, eggs, and some fine, sweet wine- albeit a lot watered down.

As for games, there were too many to list them all- but among the most popular ones were various small stall games like throwing a wooden ball into a basket, rolling the ball into a hole, a strategy board game similar to chess or checkers, various dice games with all types of rules, and a game similar to tic-tac-toe called chuli.

These fairs would also hold many physical and athletic contests alongside these, such as quite small scale chariot races, where the carts would be made of wood instead of the usual metallic bronze.

Chariots were a significant part of Adhanian culture and there was even a saying that it was not really a fair if it did not have this event, it was such a staple of any large festival.

There might also be mock gladiator fights, mostly friendly joutes using wooden swords, although serious battles where men brought up previous grievances against each other and battled till bones broke were also not uncommon.

There would be simple foot races for both children and adults with prizes like grain or fruits.

Adhania had a type of wrestling that was a mix of wrestling and boxing, usually fought between semi professionals who were paid to perform in such shows.

And the last popular game was a simple tug of war – played with ropes by men usually from neighbouring villages, in the spirit of friendly rivalry.

In addition to exotic goods, fine food, and engaging games, the fair lastly had various entertainment and animal shows performed for the eager audience.

There were street performers such as jugglers playing with balls, fruits, and the most daring of all, even dangerous weapons, acrobats swinging over wooden or metal bars doing various tricks, and sometimes even fire eaters, putting enormous fiery infernos into their mouth and spewing out blazing hot flames- all of the shocked cries of women and children, and the cheering claps of men.

There were animal shows where trained handlers made small animals do relatively small tricks- such as making cats jump over hoops, and a parrot to say a few memorized phrases- like 'How are you?' and 'My name is Tota'.

Puppet shows where marionettists told various folk stories from all parts of the country, with the wooden mascots being dressed in bright, colorful clothes and wearing fantastically expressive facial expressions.

And of course there was the ever present gambling, with people betting on dice, animal fights like chickens and foxes, dog races and sometimes even more exotic animals.

Traveling bards and poets recited all kinds of poems, myths, and stories for interested listeners, some of which they had written on their own, there were some such as the epic battles among the gods that many wanted to hear again, some informative articles like the origins of this festival and the proper rituals for the pilgrimage, and some about even recent news and happenings, such as the ongoing tussle between Ptolomy and Amenheraft.

And if people got bored of listening to these men, right beside them there might have been makeshift taverns holding drinking contests – where men would take cups of heavy, strong wine right from the barrel to see who passed out first.

And lastly, there was perhaps the most famous part of the fair- the fortune telling, where people flocked to 'skilled seers' in this holy time of the year, asking them to interpret their future for the next year through various means.

This could be through astrology- reading the position of certain stars and corresponding it with their date of birth, by rolling dice and reading the number generated, by examining the shape of animal entrails (haruspicy) and deducing results, or throwing stones onto a grid and seeing where it landed.