Book 2 Chapter 5

“What?” Arnold asked, confusion and concern growing in his voice. “Coming from what?”

“Too far to tell for now sir,” The guard answered quickly. “We’ve sent out some scouts but for the safety of the princess it may be best to change direction immediately to avoid it.”

“Why? If there’s some danger ahead we’re the best ones to handle it.” Tirr stated already getting up with Garm in his arms.

Arnold frowned, holding out a hand to tell Tirr to wait while he spoke to the guard, “We’ll wait for the scout report. Taking one of the other roads into Lutel will delay us quite a bit since we're so close to the Border already. If the scouts don’t return quickly, we’ll leave immediately, have everyone ready for combat just in case.”

“Yes sir,” The guard said saluting as he left the carriage behind to pass the orders along.

“We should just go now!” Tirr said somewhat irritated at the hesitation.

“Our job as an escort is the safety of the people we are guarding…” Arnold said plainly. “While you're strong enough to protect yourself in most cases, there still might be danger. And if there is danger, it’s our job to face it first. I won’t have my people lay down their lives if it’s not necessary.”

“It’s probably nothing anyway,” Claire said calmly, “Just a brush fire that got out of hand or something.” She flashed Tirr a smile, “Whatever it is we can go help out once we know for sure and spread some more tales of your greatness.”

Tirr agreed, sitting back down as the group continued to chat while they waited, eventually the guard returned to the carriage door and asked the count to come out. Arnold frowned again as he heard the request and told the others to wait a minute. He went outside and stepped away as he spoke briefly with the guard.

The others waited, tension and concern rising until he stepped back up to the carriage.

“So, what was it, Arnold,” Claire asking what they were all thinking.

Arnold stopped at the question, his expression serious. “It may be best to cancel the trip to Lutel for now…”

“What?” Claire asked while Tirr and Maria looked on confused.

Arnold sighed scratching his chin. “There was an attack on the village up ahead. The Border Army is already there checking it out and working on the cleanup, but all signs point to this being a raid by Lutel…”

Claire frowned, “Take us there…”

“Claire, I don’t think any of you need to see thi….”

“We’re going, I’m on my way as ambassador, I need to know everything I can. Stopping things like this is the whole reason I’m here.”

That’s why you shouldn’t go,” Arnold said calmly, “If something happens to you there’s no way Rasor can continue the peace talks. And even if the area is safe, do you really want this on your mind while you’re trying to set up a treaty?”

“Arnold we’re going that’s final,” Claire ordered, no longer speaking to him as his friend’s little sister.

The Count sighed, “Yes your Highness…” He saluted quickly, before signaling to the other guards to get the carriage moving. They settle back down into the carriage as it once again started to move.

“Why would they agree to the peace talks and then attack?” Maria asked honestly confused.

“Who knows?” Answered Arnold, “Depends on if Lutel really was behind it. Could have been bandits though they usually don’t move in numbers to pull something like this off.”

“Even if it was Lutel…” Arnold continued, “It’s possible it was an outlying group that didn’t agree to the peace talks. We’ve had enough of that on our side. Or could be they just wanted to send one last message, to show that these peace talks aren’t because they’re afraid or try to gain an advantage during the negotiation. Regardless, as you said, the reason we’re here is to try and stop things like this…”

The carriage went silent after he finished as everyone was stuck in their thoughts, all the previous joy and merriment from just before gone as they traveled the short distance. They could tell they had arrived before the guards stopped the carriage from the acrid smell of smoke in the air. As the group stepped out, they were greeted by the remaining ruins of the burnt village.

Charred houses stood as the only remainder of the fires that took most of the village. Smoke and ash seemed to hang in the air as the soldiers of the border army moved around digging into the burnt remains as they searched for survivors or bodies.

As they followed Arnold through the village, Tirr saw one knight quietly pull the body of a small child from one of the buildings. He covered it quickly in a cloth before carrying it away. Tirr’s fist clenched as he realized the soldier was carrying it to a line of similar-sized corpses, all lined up as the soldiers went about their business with dead eyes.

Tirr felt his teeth grind in anger and remembered Torn’s words about Lutel. Were those the words of a madman? Or was there truth to them?

Eventually, they reached the center of the village and Arnold greeted and introduced them to the local Captain. The Captain greeted them politely, but with cold regard before going back to directing his men.

Claire ignored the coldness and asked the man directly, “Was it Lutel that did this?”

The Captain stopped and looked back at her for a moment before nodding, “Aye, too organized and fast for bandits and the few survivors we’ve had confirmed their colors. Plus, slaughtering defenseless people is one of Lutel’s favorite sport...”

The Captain turned back to the burnt village, the disdain clear in his voice. “Usually we’d patrol aggressively along the border to stop things like this, but since the peace talks were decided on, we’ve been ordered to pull back into a more passive approach…” The captain nodded to the bodies piling up nearby, “Does that look like the work of a country that cares about peace to you, your Highness?”

“Captain!” Arnold said with a growl as he looked at the man.

The Captain shrugged, “Apologies your Highness, guess I’ve seen too many burnt villages to care about propriety… If you’ll excuse me.” The captain made to leave but was stopped as Maria called out to him,

“Were there any wounded among the survivors? If so, we can help …”

The Captain looked at her for a moment before nodding and calling one of his men, “Follow him…”

As the man walked off Tirr heard Claire mutter, “I thought the peace talks were going to be the easy part…” Tirr couldn’t help but agree as he looked over the ruined village.

“I’ll be back,” Claire said, as she went after the Captain with Arnold following her.

Tirr followed after Maria towards the wounded, stopping for a moment to look back over the burned ruins, before moving quickly to catch up…