The mud was the first thing that hit him.
It wasn't just dirt; it was a thick, freezing sludge that sucked at his boots, trying to drag him down into the earth.
Prince Aldric stumbled, catching himself on a rotting wooden fence.
He was dressed in plain, dark wool, a hood pulled low over his face, but even in disguise, the sheer misery of the kingdom was impossible to ignore.
He had expected bad conditions.
He had read the reports.
He had seen the numbers on parchment.
Nothing could have prepared him for the reality.
He walked through a village that looked like a graveyard.
Houses were collapsed, their roofs caved in under the weight of the snow and rain.
People huddled in the ruins, wrapped in rags that offered no protection against the biting wind.
Their faces were gaunt, their
