The return to Teeg-Upon-Avon was with little fanfare. Hardly a word was spoken between The Wolves on the way back. Jeanne felt the strain of the journey back. Each muscle requiring all her will to move with each step. Even breathing needed a conscious effort when it was not even a half thought before.
Everyone’s step was labored, shuffling along the ground and carrying none of the martial pride they possessed. Jeanne looked at them and thought of how this was more of a retreat than a victory. Despite accomplishing the capture of Stefan, there was little to be proud of in the moment.
On the fifth day, as they journeyed through the woods, Maeryn, marching at the head of the group, lifted her head slowly, taking a few quick sniffs as she trained her nose into the air. Cid walked up to her. “What is it?”
“I smell smoke,” the archer replied.
“No,” Jeanne said as she made her way forward.
Reaching the edge of the forest, she saw pillars of smoke rising into the heavens. The faint glow of red and orange and the soft sounds of screams in the distance. Jeanne fell to her knees, her arms going limp and her chest feeling a terrible gripping sensation. She wanted to cry out for help, but no sound came from her mouth.
Kveldulf reached her, seeing the sight before them and put a hand on her shoulder. “Oh gods, Jeanne,” he said to her.
Cid came up to find Jeanne and Kveldulf and seeing the smoke and firelight. “Oh no,” he said softly before turning to Jeanne. “Why don’t you a couple others make camp here while the rest of us escort the prisoner into town?” he said to her.
“No,” Jeanne insisted. “I need to go there.”
“Jeanne—” Cid said before she cut him off.
“It’s my home, Cid!”
Cid nodded slowly. “All right, let keep moving, see what we can do.”
Moving closer to the village Jeanne could see Maeryn and Gabriel wince as they caught a foul scent. Even Cid tightened his lips together as he tried to keep himself from being effect by stench as it began to grow in strength. As The Wolves came to a ridge overlooking the town, Jeanne began experience the wretched sensation. Her stomach turned tightly and she felt her throat solidify.
Seeing the town before her, she saw all of the homes lit in flames. People lying on the ground, some dead, some dying and others trying to regain their strength. Leonidas turned to Cid who with a nudge of his head simply said, “Go.” Leonidas then rushed out and began helping those wounded.
Reaching the edge of town, the full extent of the devastation was much easier to see. Jeanne could see broken pieces of furniture and bodies burning in some of the buildings still standing as the flames burned onward. Some of the houses had begun to break down from the damage and collapse into piles of smoldering rubble.
Turning to her right, Jeanne saw a mother walking out of a house, her skin covered in soot and other dirt marks. The woman was carrying a child in her arms, unmoving as the mother tried to rock the babe back and forth, tears flowing down from her eyes. A child wandered the path, blood coming down from their matted hair and covered their face, desperately calling for their parents.
Some of the surviving townsfolk were moving the dead into rows as other prepared the graveyard by the church for those to be buried. Jeanne’s mind went back to seemingly endless burial details which would go on for days after battles and sieges. Watching soldiers bury their friends and comrades, never to see them again outside from bittersweet memories. Those moments were hard, but was an unfortunate part of the profession she had chosen.
But it was never easy when civilians were involved. As if there was some crime against nature itself when someone unfamiliar with the cruel and sharp ways of war suffered the worst such a thing had to offer. Seeing such things clawed away at Jeanne’s heart, more so with it being people she knew. Some of the children she had spoken to when the flagellants first arrived were being put into a long grave where many of the bodies were being put inside.
Jeanne saw many of the townsfolk moving around in a catatonic state, hardly taking any notice of The Wolves or their guest. Those who did, had a distant look in their eyes. As if there was no one before them, only the horrors they endured and nothing more. Before the walls of the town’s keep there were bodies of men wearing the garments of Bellem’s house. Some appeared to wear mismatched armor, akin to brigands than soldiers or guards.
Those manning the walls had the signs of hard-fought engagement. Many had their surcoats slashed and stained in blood and dirt. Their armor covered with scratches and dents and a few sporting freshly made scars on their faces. Some with their spears in hand had their wood handled marred with gashes and pieces missing from innumerable strikes.
As The Wolves reached the walls of the castle did they find anyone to greet them. “I see we were busy,” the guard said in an emotionless voice.
“What in the name of order happened here?” Cid asked.
“Bellem’s men happened,” the guard replied. “They came out of no where when the sun had set. Started razing houses, putting to the sword whoever they found without a second thought.”
“Why?” Jeanne asked.
“Couldn’t tell you. They weren’t exactly in a mood to converse on the wherefores with their arrival. And any who we captured weren’t inclined to speak for Lord Kolville put them to the sword.”
“He executed prisoners?” Silvius asked.
“He executed murderers,” the guard replied.
“Well,” said Cid, “we’ve returned with his brother, Stefan.”
“I thought I remembered his lordship before he went on whatever in the Sheperd’s name he found himself doing. What’s wrong with him, anyway?”
“He has a crossbolt in him, and we need a place to operate and quickly,” Leonidas answered as he returned to the others. “And is there any place as we can set up a triage.
“I have no idea what that is, but I’ll get the captain to see to that. Come on,” the guard said gesturing them all through the gatehouse.
On the other side there were more people being treated for wounds or lying in state before they could be buried with the rest of the dead. Sigismund was in a conversation with some of the other guards when one of them pointed The Wolves and Stefan to the captain. “Well,” he said to them, half-astonished, “I wasn’t expecting to see any of you ever again. And with one of Lord Gareth’s kin.”
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“We need to get him into a room so I can work on him,” Leonidas said to Sigismund.
The captain turned to a guard. “See the doctor has everything he needs,” he said to the man before looking to the other guard. “Help Master Kolville into a room where they can have some privacy.”
“What do you mean?” Cid asked.
“I can assume you’ve seen what went on while you were all gone.”
“Hard not to,” said Kveldulf.
“Seems the Lord of House Bellem wishes to extend his power base into these lands. And what’s more,” Sigismund said as he handed Cid a folded parchment, “it seems your cadre has gotten on his bad side.”
Cid took the parchment from the captain and read it to himself for a moment before handing it to Jeanne. As she read the words she felt her blood begin to boil with rage. “He put a bounty on us?” she asked incredulously.
“Not as if our exit was without incident,” Benkin said.
“The bastard forced our hand!” Kveldulf said.
“Doesn’t mean he won’t make our lives worst as a result,” said Gabriel. “And he still has the sarcophagus with him.”
“That may not be the case,” Sigismund said. “We had a few scouts tell us that Bellem had most of his men on the march to Adelize’s host with a large item in his possession.”
“When was this?”
“A couple of weeks ago,” Sigismund said, “heading northwest towards the region of Ulon.”
Cid turned to Gabriel. “Gods we just missed it.”
Gabriel shook her head and massaged the bridge of her nose. “I’d be surprised if this was an easy task,” she said exhausted.
“Do we follow them?” Hypatia asked.
“I don’t know,” Cid said. “I don’t even know where we’ll be sleeping tonight.”
“For what it’s worth, I doubt Lord Kolville would be terribly upset if you and your men slept here for the night,” said Sigismund.
“After everything that’s happened?”
“If the attack was related to you lot, Bellem’s men never told us,” Sigismund replied. “He’s been eyeing our village for some time. It was just a matter of when before he and his ilk brought the war to our doorsteps.”
Jeanne was silent looking at the bodies being brought out to be given their rites before their return to the earth. Her fist tightened once more as a discomforting thought came to her. And the old fear which haunted her for years seemed to final come to fruition. One lingering in her mind behind every thought before conjured by some malevolent spell into reality. Was this her fault?
She had been a soldier of fortune to know sometimes, despite one’s point of view, things simply happened due to circumstances. That situations outwardly connected had nothing more to join them together than mere coincidence. But, how many times did she see lords raze villages to the ground, impale those unfortunate enough to be caught in the warpath, and see so many lives ended for nothing more than a flight of fancy perceived as a slight.
How many times did someone allow for acts of barbarity to commence in order to show their cruel powers to anyone and everyone they wanted to demonstrate their “vaulted” strength? She had been involved in enough of these, in defending towns and as an active participant to know this was a sickeningly common occurrence. And now she stood as her old home was burned away, whatever vestiges of her old life becoming nothing more than memories.
She could almost feel the blood on her hands. Unable to wash away the guilt, real or not, that she had become the very thing which brought ruin to this place. The reason why she left in the first place, the reason why she never wanted to come back, and now, unable to escape the turmoil infesting this land and forced to face truths she never wanted to look at for as long as she walked this world.
She was snapped out of this thought when a guard came up to Sigismund and whispered something in his ear. The captain turned to Cid, Kveldulf and Jeanne, “Lord Kolville is ready to be seen, I think he’d like to speak with you three on recent matters.”
The trio exchanged glances before following the captain towards the Gareth Kolville’s study. The lord’s personal physician was tending to a large gash on nobleman’s arm, which had already been cleaned and being sutured shut. Gareth saw Sigismund first, who saluted. “Any news from the patrols?”
Sigismund shook his head. “Nothing so far, my lord. It seems Bastard Bellem’s men are gone.”
“Thank the Sheperd for small favors,” Gareth said before wincing as the physician stuck a needle into his skin for another knot.
“I did think you’d want to know of the return of The Wolves my lord, and of your brother Stefan.”
“Stefan?” Gareth said, “I didn’t expect to see him so soon.”
“It was not without some complications,” Kveldulf responded.
“I can imagine, where is he?”
“He’s in one of the guestrooms, my lord,” Sigismund replied, “he’s being treated for his wounds.”
“Wounds? What happened?”
“He was shot with a crossbolt when we were making our escape from Bellem’s city,” Jeanne replied somberly.
“I see,” Gareth said, trying to move his wounded arm as the doctor finished the last of the stitching. “And how is he?”
“Not well,” Cid said, relating the events of their escape.
Gareth listened to the words, looking away for a moment then turning back to Cid. “How serious was the wound?”
“It wasn’t good, in all honesty,” Cid replied, but our doctor did what he could before we could make our way here.”
“Well then, I should be thankful he made it home before there was no more of a chance to do so.”
“We wish we could’ve been here sooner,” said Cid, “perhaps we could’ve been of some aid to you and your people.”
“Even the wise cannot see when such trials are to arrive on our doorsteps. And Bellem was looking for a reason to unleash his dogs this way. Wasn’t even a question of if but when.”
Jeanne turned her attention to the window, the faint light of the fires illuminating the sky behind the fortified walls. No longer listening to the conversation as her thoughts returned to wanton destruction. Part of her wondered if this was some punishment for her avoiding all of these issues, for not ending the Kolvilles when she first had the chance.
Another part wondered whether this was her blaming herself when she was a mere speck of sand resting along an endless desert. Her part resulting in a minor if any change to the grand scheme of the world. There was little making sense and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what the truth was now.
She turned her head sharply as she felt a nudge from Cid’s elbow. He thumbed towards Gareth, who was now throwing a tunic over his torso before a finer jacket over that. “Everything all right, Lady Marais?” Gareth asked.
Jeanne nodded. “Yes, just … thoughts on my mind.”
Gareth looked out over the terrible sight himself, letting out a disgruntled growl. “I know that feeling. I know it intimately. I hope you don’t mind if I want to see my brother.”
“Of course not,” Cid said, “I can imagine that being paramount.”
“Come,” Gareth said, waving them to follow, “I feel there is still much to discuss before the night is done.”
When they arrived to where Stefan was being treated. Two guards standing before the doorway, with their spears crossed before the entrance. As Gareth neared, they parted their weapons and saluted their lord, who lifted the palm of his hand to them. “At ease,” he said to them, “inform the doctor I’m here to inquire my brother’s condition.”
One of the guards nodded and moved into the room. A moment later, Leonidas came out, wiping the blood from his hands with a stained cloth and looking at Gareth with a pained expression.
“How is my brother?” Gareth asked.
“It’s not looking well,” Leonidas replied bluntly. “The arrow is lodged into the bone, which means pushing it through isn’t possible. And with the arrowhead inside, pulling it out isn’t an option either.”
“Is there anything you can do, doctor?” Gareth asked.
“I can make him as comfortable as I can.” Lifting his shoulder sympathetically.
Gareth pressed his lips together, clearing his throat before taking a long breath. “I see. Well, I should let you get back to it then, doctor.”
Leonidas nodded, turning to Cid, Kveldulf and Jeanne, looking back at Gareth and then returning to the room. Gareth rubbed his forehead, “These days seems to be far more taxing than I care to want.”
“That is a sentiment shared by many, I’d imagine,” Cid said.
“Well,” Gareth said, rubbing his eyes, “I suspect you all would want some food and rest.”
“What about the bounties?” Jeanne asked.
Gareth shook his head. “Even if Bellem knew you were here, there isn’t much he could do now. He’s marching up to meet with the imperial regent herself and I doubt his raiders are planning a return soon. He won’t want to split his forces up and risk his own holdings. But come, I think we could all use a moment to rest and regain our strength.”