Silence*
Other than breathing sounds that echoed, silence had its reign over the war room. Many opened their mouths to retort Erik's remark, but then closed them back after thinking about it for a moment. No matter how bitter, it was true, they could only swallow it.
And if they do nothing fast, they'll die, some more gruesomely than others. The Free Alliance cannot and does not keep prisoners. This was a known fact. So, that they can deny that they had any hand in attacking anyone and be able to blame it on a rogue state, or barbarians, etc.
The Alliance had done this before; in fact, not many want to go against them now; they got away with it. They were growing strong while the other kingdoms and empires, because of infighting and such, were growing weak.
Erik accessed the situation calmly. Even if that was on the surface, he couldn't falter here. His uncle has washed his hand from this matter, this was why he was wearing his crest. He was in command now.
He, at first, thought that Kendrick was playing a joke on him, but then, seeing him seal himself in the library and putting over it a dizzying amount of magic array so that no one can open it, he felt it to be a terrible joke that no one was laughing at.
Taking one long breath, he asked, "How fast…" But then stopped for a brief moment, as the Alliance army might be stationed on the other side of the tunnels, waiting for them. Still, he continued, his words were just different from before, "…can you get information from those prisoners?"
Collum cracked his knuckles and answered, "You'll have all you need by tomorrow, young master."
He nodded, trusting Collum with it, and turned toward the other figures. The city lord, an obese-man with a receding hairline, rings on all fingers, looking around with dodgy eyes that stopped when he felt Erik's gaze on him.
"Surrender all the granary and other food store rooms to captain Mallory." He turned toward the young lady who was next to colonel Collum. She understood the assignment and gave a solute.
His words stunned the mayor, who protested, "You cannot do that."
"I just did," Erik said, and turned toward other influential people.
"You all as well."
This caused a storm in the war room, making the whole mansion noisy, but it soon died down when they heard…
"Silence!"
Everything returned to its place. The noisy mayor, who was fanning the flame, sweating bullets, hurriedly got on his knees and apologized. This made many nobles frown, but they didn't utter a word in retaliation. Going against Kendrick Frostborne here was akin to signing their own death warrant.
After seeing that the resistance has died down, a thought appeared in Erik's mind, 'Why now?'
Why did they attack when he was in the city? They could've waited a week or struck a week before he arrived. During that time, Kendrick was also not in the city. It should've been the most optimal time to attack and successfully occupy it. This bugged him, it's been doing that the moment Kendrick left everything to himself.
'I'm missing something.'
Before he could think further, everything around him started rotating. A bout of dizziness struck him. His hands gripped the table, preventing him from falling, his legs almost gave up on him.
"Young master?"
Collum, who was next to him, saw this and grabbed him, not letting him fall. Everyone noticed that, different thoughts mulling over their mind, but none spoke out loud.
After a moment, the dizziness subsided. He massaged his forehead with his thumb and ring finger.
"We'll meet here tomorrow or if an emergency arises."
"Yes, young master."
Everyone bowed slightly as they looked at his disappearing silhouette. Collum and Mallory got to work. They knew that time was of the essence, especially Mallory, who had to move even faster, before these heartless nobles started hiding their stashes.
Erik, after arriving in his room, sat down, meditating. After a while, he opened his cold blue eyes and looked toward his chest.
"Just messed up the entire play."
Him getting dizzy raised a doubt in many people present in the war room. Still, he didn't care as he was done with that. He needed to focus on the three questions at hand now.
One: Why now?
Two: What were they after? The Iron'Heits had value because of how many wars it had been through. It was merely used as a trade hub, but even that was not enough to wage a war on it.
Three: What can he do about this dizziness? This was becoming a problem. What if something like that happens during his battles? But not much came to mind that could mitigate the effect of having his energy sapped to keep Valcroy alive.
'How is he now?' He wondered, thinking about whether he should visit him now or not?
He mulled over it for a moment before deciding not to and closed his eye, meditating.
Meanwhile, Collum was busy torturing the prisoners, asking about other people still hiding away and what was their purpose, but he was failing spectacularly. Mallory, meanwhile, was very successful and gathered enough food that could last them for a long while.
.......
Mmmhh*
Valcroy woke up mumbling, his eyes capturing the sky adorned by the stars, a resounding peace as his thoughts started replaying everything about this incident. From where everything started going wrong, from the time he entered the city, to sneaking around, and he uttered, "If we hadn't, we would've…"
He didn't continue as he shuddered at the thought of being burned alive. Just as this thought crossed his mind, someone else came to his mind.
"Alyssa!"
He sat up, wondering how she was.
'I should check on her.'
Val thought to himself and looked around, finding a robe, made of fur, hanging in the corner. He got out of the bed, slowly and successfully. He didn't feel dizzy and weak now, making him suggest to himself that his heart was working fine now. Though the feeling was still there, it was really uncomfortable.
He suppressed it and adorned the robe before walking out of the tent, and when he saw what was going on, his eyebrows rose a little, confused. People, or more like guards, walked around, carrying boxes and other equipment. A knight standing in the distance ordering them around as he looked at everyone, his eyebrows drawn together, creating furrowed, wrinkled lines as his eyes squinted, penetrating the guards' backs like he was seeing through them. His lips pressed together, forming a straight line, making Valcroy say, "That's one strict man."
But that was not weird. He couldn't hear any voice or noise, that was the peculiar part. He could see the captain's mouth moving as he ordered everyone around, yet no voice, but everyone seemed to be doing what he was saying.
'Did I become deaf?'
Valcroy used his finger and cleaned his ear with it, but with no success. He still couldn't hear them. His heart sank a little when this thought was becoming more and more firm.
He walked forward a little, only to wish he shouldn't have.
Thud* Thud* Thud* Creen*
"….doing!"
"Yes, sir!!"
Everything hit his ear at once, making him cover them as this sudden invasion took him by surprise and he took a step back, which resulted in the world becoming silent once more.
He stopped covering his ears when that happened, looked at everyone for a while before he took one step forward, and the world once more regained its voice. Now he knew why there was no noise in his tent.
"A noise suppression array." Arrays were like magic circles, but on a big scale.
Valcroy looked around, but just as a guard passed by him, he stopped and asked, "Excuse me."
The guard stopped, looked at him with a knitted eyebrow, his head tilting to one side, 'Why is an injured person moving around?' This thought appeared in the guard's mind but he didn't get the chance to ask.
"Can you tell me where the infirmary is?" Valcroy asked.
The guard gave him one long stare, making Val uncomfortable.
"Walk straight, then a left and another left." He left after that.
Valcroy thanked him, even if he didn't hear it, and followed his instructions, not knowing that he was being followed. The guard was a little suspicious about Val.
After one last left, he arrived at the infirmary and stopped for a moment. Injured people were all around him, covering the ground everywhere he could see, making his gut wrench a little.
Valcroy shook his head and walked forward slowly, looking down, not daring to look at the injured ones. Groans and pained cries he was hearing were already too much for him. He clenched his hands as he walked past them.
"Why are you walking around?"
He heard a voice addressing him, which made him look up and saw a person, wearing a monocle, gray robe, a wand in his hand, knitted eyebrows. His brown eyes stared at him.
Valcroy gave this bald man a good long look, which made the other one frown harder, before answering, "Alyssa."
The bald man's eyebrows raised a little, wondering what he was saying, but didn't have to as Valcroy continued, "17-years old, half face burned, brown hair, freckles." He stopped as he looked at the person before him, who was wrinkling his eyebrows hard.
"Go straight. You'll find her at the end."
Valcroy didn't know why he gave him that expression, but it didn't let it stop him from thanking him. Soon after, he arrived and found a small bed, enough for a petite figure, at the very corner of the bed.
His steps slowed as he looked at her. There were still signs of burns all over her face, maybe all over her, indicating the treatment was still being carried on. The fire charred her brown hair and eyebrows.
Valcroy sat next to her on a stool. An emotion stirred in him. A weight over his chest that was trying to crush him, thoughts racing, replaying her burned face over and over, her groan of pain.
He clenched his fists so hard that they turned pale, his eyes welled up. Alyssa tightened eyebrows, which showed she was still in pain.
Sniff*
"I'm sorry."
Valcroy said, his choaking voice barely audible, crying in silence. He looked at her scarred face, feeling guilty for leaving her in the house. During the past 2 years, wherever they went, all three of them were together and just one time he left her, this happened.
"I'm sorry."
He repeated, his emotions in turmoil. No matter what he says now, it won't change the fact that she was burned because of his mistake of leaving her behind; he should've taken her with them.
The guard that followed Valcroy looked at him from the distance and sighed. He came to know what happened to the girl and who Valcroy was. He could only sigh as he gave the duo one last look before heading back to work.
Sniff*
Valcroy, meanwhile, had found a new direction to vent his emotions as he said to her, he even though she was unconscious, "I'll find them, I don't know if I will but when I do, I'll burn them like they did to you." Using his robe to wipe the tears away as he uttered those words.
Valcroy was changing, unbeknownst to himself. Valcroy, from before the incident, was a person who wouldn't even take revenge for himself, but here he is now. This was getting interesting.
Valcroy extended his hand, stopping for a moment before continuing as he put it over her head. Her charred and short hair made his chest burn ever so much more, wanting to burn everything. His eyes turned red for a moment as he uttered, his voice lacing with fury, "Whoever did this to you will pay."
......
Meanwhile, Valcroy was swearing to take revenge. Erik, who was meditating, opened his head. His eyebrows scrunched, mouth cornered down, as he felt a stifling feeling in his chest.
"What is going on?"