Return to Glory

Unsettling Acceptance

The following morning was unexpectedly cool after the fires were all extinguished. The people's adrenaline had waned completely and the sinking truth began to settle. The entire town would need to be rebuilt and most of the villagers had now lost everything they had. As she watched the despair grow among the individuals, Alex couldn't help but feel it was somehow her responsibility to help them out. She knew if she asked Aidan, he'd agree to lend their workforce to aid in some way. It was something she'd discuss with him later on.

Right now, as they sat in the eerily cool hall of the temple, both listened to the accounts of the multiple villagers who had been able to witness what had happened. Apparently, all their versions matched, telling how a rather large group of individuals had gone quickly, house by house, igniting the fires in the middle of the night. One of the villagers stated he tried to tackle one of the arsonists, but was knocked out immediately by a blow to the back of the head. The others who had casually seen what was going on had tried to turn out the fires, but it seemed there was something, some possible potion or even magic, which made the initial flame unstoppable and extremely fast. Nothing they had done seemed to stop the combustion and, before they could even ask for help, the edifications were more than halfway burnt.

"Is there anything that could indicate why they did this?" Aidan's voice seemed suspicious and Alex knew it must be he was considering the same possibilities she was. This had something to do with the chaos in the citadel. There was no royal order in place since the king had passed, and havok was beginning to expand all over.

The brunette's heart sank at the thought. It meant both that her mother might now be in danger, and that Aidan truly should be considering going back to see if something could be done.

"I don't know… I think I saw like they had some fancy clothes and things. Like capes and fancy crests, but, m'lord, I don't know. I was too scared…" an elderly woman began to cry. Alex watched how the blond didn't even bother in correcting her; he was no lord in either of his personas, but there was no point in trying to rectify the poor woman's words. She already had very poor-looking rags to start, and now she had lost all of what little she possessed.

The description, however, was unsettling. This hadn't been an attack from another peasant village, then. "Fancy" attire meant wealth. Alex wondered if it was possible this had even been carried out by the kingdom's army. Her stomach turned; it would be the worst possible scenario. If the army began to attack its own civilians, there was no stopping whoever was on the throne now. And that wasn't even the most dreadful part; if they were making the army attack their own people, this ruler clearly had no intentions of reigning in peace. Alex had never been into politics, but she knew well that this that had happened was nothing more than a bad omen.

This was a peaceful village, by what Aidan had told her; the people clearly were nothing other than a few nobles who owned farms, and peasants who did their daily jobs. Nothing of this place was menacing to the crown. There was no true reason for this attack.

Then it hit Alex; whoever was in power now had no idea where the true prince was. And, following what her gut had suspected after their home raid, the new ruler probably wanted Aidan dead. This hadn't been a specific attack to the village; it surely was something that was happening all over these types of small towns. They were probably killing everyone mindlessly, just to make sure to somehow down the prince with their massacres.

The folk continued to give as many details as they could, but all they provided only served to cement the idea further in Alex's mind. As her eyes locked on Aidan's now stern green ones, they both knew what was to come for them.