Conquered | BrightWin | WatTine (Hiatus)

15. Two Loves

Lord Peregrine Astepta, Portmaster of Dernir, smirked at Wat from the battlements of his fortress.

"It's a simple trade. Give to get" he said, absolutely unperturbed by the sight of the vast Faateh Army at his doorstep, baying for blood.

It had already been a full day since the attack on the river.

Wat had jumped on to one of the surviving horses that had made its way to the shore, and ridden all night without a break until he reached Dernir at the cusp of dawn.

Hawks were sent immediately to King Dimitris, who had just docked at Antiope, and Hafza, who was running the Faateh Army's operations from Salehah.

Wat had wanted to invade Dernir right away and bring back his Tine. Mad with fury and driven to despair by Tine's capture, he could barely think straight.

Arman coaxed and cajoled him into keeping his patience until they got counsel from Salehah.

Dernir was an important port. The Faateh Army had been instructed to minimize damages to the infrastructure and ensure that operations could continue unabated once it had been captured.

In addition to the siege on land, the Faateh had established a blockade on the waterway leading to Dernir from the Western Sea to stop ships from docking.

Large trebuchets and shore-to-ship harpoons had been set up on the western frontier of Dernir ahead of the port, to discourage vessels from forcing their way within.

The narrowness of the strait that connected the Western Sea to the inland waterways made it difficult for the large ships to manoeuvre to defend themselves.

So no ships had ventured past the harbour on the Western Sea in the week since Arman and Bosavar had set up camp at Dernir.

The Portmaster was rumoured to be aligned with the Faateha'a philosophy and the Faateh had fully expected negotiations to begin as soon as Wat arrived.

A full-blown battle had not been part of the Faateh plan. But that was before Dernir had kidnapped their beloved Prince.

Lord Astepta had sent a raven, along with Tine's wedding ring, granting them an audience that afternoon.

"The Young Wolf and the Camp Commandant can make an appearance, unarmed and unaccompanied, before the eastern gates at an hour past noon"

Wat had not slept since the river attack, worried out of his wits for Tine's safety.

The vision of an unconscious Tine flying away from him played before his eyes every time he closed them, until he couldn't bear to so much as blink.

Arman replied calmly to the enemy, seeing how keyed up Wat was.

"We want to see Prince Vincentine, establish his well-being with our own eyes.

King Dimitris is already on his way here, Lord Astepta. Your informants at Antiope and along the way can confirm this."

Lord Peregrine sighed and snapped his fingers.

Wat's heart jumped to his throat as he saw Tine be brought forward. He was unconscious still, his body limp and held up by men on both sides.

"What have you done to him?" he screamed in anguish.

Lord Peregrine looked bored.
"I've already told you, your Prince is my guest. He's too pretty to be a prisoner. I could happily spend hours just watching him sleep.

He's simply sedated at the moment. I have only his best interests at heart and don't want him to injure himself with silly attempts to escape."

"If you hurt a single hair on his head, I will burn every fucking blade of grass in your fucking city" said Wat in a chillingly cold voice that held all the promise of catastrophic violence.