It wasn't just Hadiseh that had fallen.
When news of Hadiseh's fall arrived, Bahram's face turned as gloomy as the Black Eunuch attending him. "Can someone tell me what exactly happened? How did Hadiseh fall into the hands of the Franks? Did they grow wings?"
The great hall fell deathly silent. Everyone was so stunned by the sudden news that they could not speak.
Only yesterday, Ctesiphon had still been filled with song and dance. How had the situation changed so drastically overnight?
"Speak! You worthless lot, are you waiting until Baghdad falls to the enemy before you come belatedly to tell me?"
Bahram panted in fury. This country had been ruined by these incompetent fools who drew salaries while accomplishing nothing.
"Gather the troops! Assemble every force gathered in Ctesiphon at once. I will fight these backstabbing Franks to the death!"
The enraged King of Kings smashed precious porcelain and furniture at will, but to the court officials, such fury only made him seem outwardly fierce and inwardly weak.
Mustafa kept his head lowered, desperately suppressing the rage in his heart. "Your Majesty, please reconsider. We are currently caught between the Tatars and the Franks. The troops in Ctesiphon have not yet completed their training. If we rashly attack, even if we win, we will pay a terrible price. How will we deal with the Tatar threat afterward?"
"And what brilliant insight does the Grand Vizier have? Surely you are not suggesting that we sit in Ctesiphon and wait for the Frankish army to bear down upon us?"
Ali Atabeg snorted coldly.
He was the "Atabeg" of the Jazira region. Originally, it had been a guardianship post similar to that of a grand tutor, but it later evolved into a provincial governorship that held both military and civil authority.