The smoke was high, clouding the sky above Holm. Some small fires still burned. Some houses were already down, scorched and blackened by soot.
The beautiful city of Holm was marred. The streets were chipped, some even rubbled. The merchant stalls were scattered. It was devastation.
William doesn't care.
He was kneeling in front of the corpse of his father with Wasp just beside. His arms were bleeding but he was numb to the pain.
Not a single tear fell from his eye. He had exhausted them all. Now only a void remained, a disbelief that his father, Leopold Castonia, was dead.
"I'm sorry" William mumbled. He wanted to say more. He wanted to curse, to blame himself or maybe find solace that this wasn't wholly his fault.
He cannot. An apology was all he could say. He cannot do anything but to grief. Leopold Castonia, the old lion, can never roar again.
***
Henry rode to the docks when he heard of what happened.
It can't be, he thought. Leopold Castonia is a weed. Weeds don't die easily. Omniscient. Please make it so that they were wrong.
They were not wrong. Leopold was slumped against the wall. His white beard was red with blood. It was him, Henry cannot be more sure. Leopold Castonia was dead.
A burly man was kneeling in front of the corpse. Henry guessed it was William Castonia. No, it was indeed him.
William's arms were cut but that didn't matter for now. The prince was silent. The air was empty with sound except from the fine breeze and the quiet whimpers of a hound beside the prince.
Henry slid off his horse. He raised his visor and undid his helm. He went closer.
"He was a good man. May the Omniscient guide him into an eternal peace."
"He wasn't a good man." William's voice was shaky. "When I was eight, he had a merchant executed for smuggling. The merchant was innocent of such crime but he was rebellious and my father was worried that he would influence others into rebelling. So the merchant died because of a lie. About a decade ago he executed many nobles in Western Castonia. They rebelled against him, I know. But he included those who did not rebel but he deemed dangerous. A few years ago he also executed a conspirator despite promising safety if the man spills information. A year ago he schemed to kill Timothy for an alliance with the Wismarines. He is not a good man. He cheated, murdered, lied, schemed. He dabbled with dark deeds." William paused and Henry saw a bead of tear fell from the prince's eyes. "But he is not evil either. He did what he thought was right, in his own twisted ways. He is Leopold Castonia. He is my father. And no matter what they say, I love him."
William's entire body was shaking. Henry could feel the sadness, the anger, the grief.
Henry was the same. Leopold was never the most righteous nor the most honorable. He wasn't the smartest nor the most capable. He was simply an old man who lived and died by his own rules. And for that Henry respected Leopold.
"What now? The knights are at your command Your Highness." Henry said, perhaps a little too soon for the grieving prince but they needed to move fast. Half of Holm was burnt. Thousands of citizens were dead.
"Repair the city while waiting for the Vanadian navy. All our combined forces will be ferried to Kotara. And pray." William looked at him and in the prince's eyes Henry saw fury. "Pray to the Omniscient, Grand Master. Pray that Timothy will show mercy to the Wismarines. Because I will surely not."
***
"We need to cut his leg" Lucia said, staring at the festering wound of the Castonian. "Do it clean and let him chew some basilisk root for the pain."
"At once Your Majesty" said the surgeon.
Lucia went to the man. He was on a bed in the infirmary with several other wounded inside. The stench of rot was pungent yet Lucia endured.
"You need to lose your leg. Do you understand why?"
"Yes Your Majesty" The Castonian didn't show fear. "It is for the best. My only regret is not seeing the end of Wismar. But at last I am to go home."
"The Union is grateful for your service" Lucia then nodded to the surgeon. "Make it quick and make it clean. Strive for it to be painless."
Lucia didn't stay for the whole operation. She found that her tolerance for such things had degraded.
Kotara greeted her with its night radiance when she stepped out. The city, just like Holm, seemed to never sleep. The Wismarines here were different compared in the other parts of Wismar. They were more open to change and less pious to Ashkara.
Lucia was about to walk toward the Governor's house when Mylene arrived, exhausted from running.
Lucia paled. Her handmaiden's expression didn't look nice.
"What is it?"
"News Your Majesty." Mylene said between breaths. "From Holm"
Her heart was racing now. The last they heard about Holm was a few nights ago.
"It burned" Mylene said. "Half of it is burnt. Thousands of citizens were dead but they repelled the Wismarines."
"What?" Lucia shook her head. Her home, the city she grew up in, burned? She then noticed Mylene droop her head.
"My father, Arthur..."
"Safe. But William Castonia lost his arms."
No, Lucia thought, this can't be. William was a good man, the brother of her husband. Good men shouldn't be repaid with tragedy.
"There's more?" She asked after noticing Mylene fiddle with her fingers.
"Leopold Castonia has been slain" Mylene said.
Lucia took a step back to that. A gasp escaped from her. Her first thought was Timothy.
She ran to the Governor's house. The guards and Mylene followed her. She cannot believe it. She was refusing to believe it. Father Leopold was dead. That old man was gone. She was saddened of course. Despite everything that happened, father Leopold had been good to her.
The gate opened to her. The guards were surprised. Some tried to inquire but nobody truly did. She went inside the main door and went up the coiling stairs. It was trudging. She was gasping for air when she finally reached the door.
"Is the King inside?" She asked the three royal guards stationed.
"He is Your Majesty."
Lucia put her hand on the knob and squeezed it open. A well-lit room met her. Timothy was on the bedside, head drooped and not saying anything. His hand was clutching a rolled piece of paper. It was crumpled.
She went closer.
"Tim?" She called. To that he raised his head a little but slumped back again.
She sat on Timothy's side and wrapped an embrace on him. He was stiff and his body was shaking. She bent forward and put a kiss on his hair.
"I will be right here if you needed me. Cry, talk, do anything you want. I will not go away."
Silence.
Lucia bit her lips. Seeing Timothy like this was painful. It must be tough for him. She swore that she would never leave his side until he told her to.
"I will kill her." Timothy said in a tone so sharp it cut even Lucia.
"I will grind her to dust. I will make it so that the future wouldn't remember a single thing about Sarah Wismar and her Wismarines. I will demolish that pyramid throne brick by brick. I will turn the walls of Malzan into a powdery grave. I will slap Wismar with annihilation. No mercy. I will not show a bit of mercy. They can beg for peace. But I will not stop until Wismar is fully destroyed. I will kill them all, all of them!"
Lucia didn't expect hearing that. But when she saw the fire in Timothy's eyes, that burning anger that cannot be quenched, she knew that he was bent on doing what he said.
She held Timothy's hand and met eyes with him.
"I will help you. Together we will shake Wismar's core. We will not stop until everything is dust."