An Oath Of Lords And Ladies (ARTK, Book 1)

Chapter 100

Janor 11th, 3329 A.G

  Home.

  Her time on the other continents had been difficult, and this place would always be home. For a few moments she'd been still at the bottom of the large, long hill that overlooked both House Ashhand and it's farmlands- her heart beating fast.

The soldiers waited patiently, ready to sleep in real beds wherever they could get them. From what Tuyon had been telling them, House Ashhand's people were kind to travelers and strangers, and would be even more so to those serving their queen.

Nara wished only to sit on her throne for a few moments, to speak to Lillian and Terricus. The closer they'd gotten to House Ashhand, the more she'd started to miss them- and the more she'd noticed how quiet everything was.

Ordinarily, farmers would be doing things near the bottom of the hill and with the crops in front of it; making sure the covers were up if it was snowing or taking them down if it wasn't, carrying the harvest in since it would be time to do so for the vegetables of the coldest weeks of the year, counting everything-

But there was nothing.

No matter- Nara thought. Every now and then they did have a free day.

Renard smiled. There was nothing left for him on the island he'd grown up on- save an advisor or two who'd treated him kindly. With his father's bastard ruling as high lady until such time as a second child of his and Nara's came of age, there was no reason for him to even think of them. He would be the island's king still, but House Ashhand was his home now too.

He lightly kicked nightmare's side, and she began riding uphill. Nara was slower, with the three giants following and stopping about halfway up to look back at her army again.

When she finally caught up with Renard, hardly a moment before they reached the hill's top- Nara thought she'd never seen someone's face drop so quickly. She frowned in response, her eyes only on him for a moment.

"What's-" Then, out of the corner of her left eye, she caught it.

Then, she felt like screaming- killing the next thing that looked at her wrong.

The farmlands had all been burned, their crops reduced to ash and the farmers slaughtered. There were countless others laying dead in the snow too, having fled from the worst of it only to have been cut down by more soldiers than they could fight.

Suddenly, something was sitting on Nara's chest.

House Ashhand's stone walls had been reduced to almost nothing, having melted over the ground and melted the snow around it. The innards, even from where Nara stood- looked worse off still.

As her soldiers started to ride up the hill, there were screams behind her and some who stared silently as she did. One Kroban kicked his horse, not caring that his queen hadn't gone forward yet. He'd left his entire family home; a mother and two child brothers, a young wife and babe.

Apparently; he ended up finding the wife among those who'd fled- clutching the babe with her throat and it's own slit open. Nara had never heard a human make the sounds that came out of him then, nor did she have to think too hard to know who'd done it.

She brought a Dedori man forward then, knowing any one of her Kroban soldiers wouldn't be stable for a long time.

"Search for survivors...Any..... bring.... Any of them to me." She struggled with words as she kicked her own horse's side, clearing the rest of them to ride in too.

Though the recent snow had put out fires and smoke and helped the melted stone and buildings to cool, everything had been so hot that said snow melted almost instantly. Inside the ruins, where the melted buildings were still warm- the snow was gone as well.