"Ha!" he drove his sword into the gut of the dummy.
Iron was a fairly recent acquisition of the Greeks, but it certainly was revolutionary. Whilst strong, teeming cotton fields were to be found to the North, the settlement of Sparta had been founded to the West, in order to fully take advantage of such a wondrous resource.
"You know, if I hadn't have seen this myself," Alexander remarked to the commander, "I'd have never believed you."
The commander lowered his sword and grinned at the Greek leader.
"Now that you have seen it, sir – I think we all know what the next course of action is."
"Of course, I'll see if I can't get some funding for a regiment of Greek swordsmen." He smiled.
"Splendid! I must let you know, however, sir, that this will exhaust our only supply line of Iron – we must be able to acquire more in the future."
"I… that may become a problem soon, true. Let us hope that we can improve our forces beyond reliance on iron before such lack of supply becomes a threat."
"Certainly, sir. Would you deem it appropriate if I talk to the economic advisor?"
"Of course, say that I sent you. After all, it is for…" he frowned, almost angrily, clenching his fists and eyes shut.
"Plutae." He said, simply.
The commander nodded. "For Plutae. Such loss of life…"
Alexander looked up sharply. "…yes. The first and last, I tell you, the first and last."
The Greeks were a populous people, only a few hundred years from their inception into this world. Their population - exceeding thousands, far more than their German allies - was spread in three cities: Athens, Sparta, and Corinth. All founded in carefully planned positions, they were the centrepiece of the continent .
Soon after having found the Germans, Greek scouts were sent to all corners of the known world. They met another civilisation, the English, masters of the seas. Whilst the Greeks were training armies and the Germans were building fortunes, the English were refining their ships at an almost unbelievable speed. In Alexander's eyes, they had, one day, built a canoe, the next cargo ships, the next a trireme, the next a Galleass, and rumours were the next a mighty 'Caravel' capable of travelling the ocean. It awed him, to a great extent.
Yet, he mused, whilst the English could master the seas as much as they wished, true prosperity lay in the land. What could water give them but fish and coral? The Greeks had more! Marble, stone, silk, gems, cattle, iron - London would be burning before their blasted ships could circle the continent.
He sighed, and focused. Recently, leading citizens of Athens had approached him, proposing a form of… 'government'. He supposed it already existed in some sense – the cities didn't manage themselves, after all - but this, this 'government' they had asked for made a surprising amount of sense.
Some families, like the Kanterlins (their forefathers German, all offspring as Greek as they come), the Athernos, the Corthos – they had had huge influences over the Greek people. Would it not be wrong, be insulting, to not formalise their power?
He rubbed his head. Some things, he was just not cut out for.
Alexander decided that it would be just, it would be right, to award ruling rights to a handful of families. Right now, all final judgement went to him, and it would probably be nice to give others a chance.
And thus, the Greek Aristocracy was born.
And again, years passed. A prophet from Germany reached Athens, spreading news of his enlightenment in the name of the God 'Allah'. The city had accepted the Prophet with open arms and smiles – rather unlike how he had been chased out of London, where the English had already proclaimed their faith behind some abstract concept of a deity Alexander could barely be bothered to hear about. Other than that, Alexander had been little affected by supernatural entities.
Golden years, it would seem, when one looked with hindsight. No real ill had befallen the Greeks since the Battle of Plutae all those years ago. It was still seen as a tragedy, of course, but the fresh memories had long since passed, and Greece was the lead technological civilisation in the world – what much more could the educated Greek people need?
The educated Greek people, he sighed. There was a dark underworld to the Greek state, one where Alexander – Lord Alexander – knew he was little loved and little cared about. Less than a third of the Greeks were educated, and he enjoyed only moderate support from those who weren't.
They didn't say anything out loud, but whenever a woman in the market would dodge away from him, or a mass of young men would stare at him with narrowed eyes, did it take a genius to read their thoughts? His servants, when they would try to not look him in the eye as they laid his food down on the table – immortality had it's benefits, but friends were few and far in between - he had not even seen Bismarck for years.
He exhaled and looked forward. It was the only thing he could do for now, after all.
The meeting hall was mostly empty but for three or four of Alexander's most trusted advisors.
"Companion Cavalry?" asked Alexander.
"That's the working name, my Lord." A soldier replied.
"It… you do realise our only horses are borrowed relics from a bygone era, correct?"
"I – well…"
"Don't misunderstand me – it is a good idea, but we don't have the resources."
"True, I suppose… we were aware of plans to settle near a large source of wild Horses to the…." He paused in thought, "… West Coast, I believe, but the English have settled Nottingham there. Their capital had London too."
"I have heard – an insult from them, I am sure – but what can we do? I see little route available."
"If I may, my Lord –" the Foreign Advisor grinned, "There is a related solution."
"Oh?"
"Trade with the English."
"They'd like that about as much as I'd do – not at all."
"Oh, was I finished?" The Advisor grinned again, "Trade with them, and then strike."
"Befriend them and then – betray them? I... how long would this take?"
"No one can be sure, but it does mean that we can move our army to their borders without arousing suspicion, correct?"
Alexander broke into a devious smile, "And then, we pay our allies to declare war on them –"
"- meaning they move their army away whilst we siege London or Nottingham, to seize their resources."
Most of the people in the room leaned back in their chairs, eyes wide at the implications.
"A Greek Conquest of England…" the Military Advisor seemed to be beyond words.
"And I will be at the forefront." Alexander declared, to little opposition.
1.1k words
not perfect, but it's fun to write, and it's easy enough to leave the chapter here!
Next chapter, open trade with England, and an overview of the world right now
