Innocent Sorrow: A Tale of Twisted Hearts Book One

Chapter Twenty

“Sir, the Reickians and the Beldanians are escaping! Should we pursue them?” The men were frantic; for, despite their early defeat of Reicks, it was obvious the Nyekian army had been pushed aside by the shocking appearance of Beldan. The more shocking note for the General of Nyek, who had led this mission, was the arrival of the Princess. They had been told by a good source that Princess Feliciana was residing at the Reicks castle and had no previous knowledge of her being allowed to go to war, let alone head the army of Beldan. The grey haired General, Thoran, did not like being left in the dark but the question hung in the air as he stared into the distance. “Lieutenants, step forward!” his voice was gruff and brown eyes were hard, at least the one his soldiers could see that is. His right eye was closed, sealed shut by a long, jagged scar that cut from his forehead to his jaw. It was an injury he acquired long ago and it was a mark that showed just how deserving Thoran was of his title. Soon his lieutenants were gathered, four in total and each with a different background. The first, and eldest, was Lieutenant Yoaren who was a stout man with grey eyes and thinning brown hair. His Second Lieutenant was Agron, a man from the south-eastern portion of Nyek. This man had reddish blond hair, blue eyes and thick cords of muscle showing his blacksmith heritage. He was younger than the General and First Lieutenant but still older then the final two. The Third Lieutenant is a man named Icirrus who was barely past his twenty first summer and freshly married. Icirrus had full, blond hair that was seen mostly in the upper classes and this was further noted by his odd, amber colored orbs. Yes, Icirrus was a lesser noble who had joined the military for glory and honor as had many of the second and third sons of wealthy families. The final Lieutenant, yet possibly one of the best in Thoran’s eyes, was a young man by the name of Luka. Luka had no surname by which he could be identified and supposedly no family that would miss him if he died. This was the most prominent reason by which he joined the military.

Thoran looked over to Luka when he gave a two fingered salute that made the others growl at the audacity of the youngster. Luka had hair the color of raven wings and eyes the color of spring clover but his skin was that of freshly fallen snow, creating a clash between dark and light. He was skinny, horribly so but it was common considering he hailed from the western portion of Nyek. He was from one of the nomad clans that are common in that barely habitable region of Nyek. Getting food in the truly frozen areas while moving constantly was difficult and since the men from that area stubbornly refused to come across the river for work most of the time, their lives were made even more difficult. Luka was one of the few who came across the river and sought employment in the military; most likely after the loss of his entire clan. He had earned his rank in an incredibly show of wits just a few months prior to their deployment. Regardless of his malnourished form, Luka was intelligent and cruel therefore, he was trustworthy.

As Thoran assessed his top ranked men and thought over their different strengths and weaknesses, he nodded silently. “General Thoran, what do you wish us to do?” it was the ever polite and scheming Yoaren who spoke first but Thoran knew it was a question that had to be answered none the less. “Those foolish men of Reicks who stormed us in arrogance have obviously been battered by our superior force but those Beldanian curs have obviously taken the upper hand. This is of little concern though for now the river is clear and we could certainly take our line deep into Reickian territory before they could possibly regroup for a counter attack. As much as I would like to say ‘let us forget about them and head towards the castle’ I cannot. Not only do we not know how many soldiers they left to protect the castle, our reinforcements to the north have yet to enter Reicks through the Mountain Pass. We would be attempting to lay siege to their castle with only our own forces and with those horsemen nipping at our heels.”

The men nodded for Thoran was right. There was little they could do in the face of these odds but that left the question unanswered. Clearing his throat, Luka spoke up in a soft, pleasant voice that held quite authority and gentle persistence. “Sir, if you would allow it, let me take the two thousand soldiers under my direct command and follow them. Considering the fact that they also have the princess with them, it wouldn’t be about defeating them, we would just need to capture her to keep them at bay. It should be an easy enough task; she is just a child after all.” Luka crossed his arms over his chest and looked up with the same emotionless eyes as those of the corpses. Thoran stared down at the youngster even while the other three Lieutenants griped about how he was too young to go on such a mission alone. Thoran disagreed though. This boy had more than enough talent to do it and if it is what he felt was the best option, then so be it. “I am charging you to go through with this mission but…on the note of misinformation or lack thereof, call for reinforcements if things are not as you expect. We know not what is at that canyon and, where I would normally err on the side of caution by declining your suggestion, it is the best we can do right now.” Luka nodded and, though Thoran had expected the boy to show some outward sign of pleasure, the pale face didn’t even twitch. Instead, he gave a bow.