Princess of Valkier

Chapter Four

I'd seen countless paintings and models of what the capital of Caycean, Gentry, looked like, but none of those renditions did it justice.

During the war, Morah targeted both countries, but Valkyr was conquered first. Caycean was stronger, they were knowing for their brawn and ferocity, but without allies, they couldn't beat King Moldor's army.

Gentry was a fortified city, a stone wall with several guard towers protected it, which made it the final stronghold.

The Caycean army had retreated here as a last effort, grouped together, protecting their people. They stood strong for a while, but when the catapults came and crushed the walls, there was nothing they could do except fight until their last breath.

Valkyr was conquered through an eventual surrender, their king being considered weak, and more willing to give in when he saw the inevitability of defeat. The country suffered loss, but after the surrender, it's people were assimilated into Morah. The same mercy was not given to Caycean.

The King of Morah had a special hatred for Caycean, when they refused surrender, he vowed to turn the stone wall into dust, and their people to ash. He succeeded.

When the battle between the armies was finished, the Moran's slaughtered every last Caycean, and lit the city on fire. Moldor wanted there to be no memory of Caycean, and their blood to be exterminated.

For decades, anyone found with familial ties to Caycean was murdered on sight, until the country's people were eradicated. Moldor allowed select literature about Caycean from Valkyr and Morah to exist, but everything from Caycean itself was destroyed.

That's why, in present times, we only have vague descriptions or inaccurate paintings on what Caycean looked like. Because all the information was controlled by King Moldor, it's hard to know what it real, and what is false.

The history of an entire nation was destroyed and almost nothing, save a few names of the former kings and queens, can be found.

That's all I can think of as we cross the open gate and walk through the streets, of the eventual destruction that would come to this place, if I was in fact in Caycean, which was undecided.

Our party did not take a direct path through the city.

Instead, the captain led us in a discreet path behind buildings, and near trees. I could sense from his tenseness behind me that he didn't want to cause a scene, and perhaps the sight of me, a random woman coated in mud and blood, would do that.

I felt as his arm moved upwards, and he signaled to someone in the group behind us.

Hooves moving faster towards us signified a guard answering his call, and the blonde guard from before appeared beside us.

"Ethan," the captain spoke in his professional, demanding tone, and it sent shivers down my spine. Not shivers of fear, because I wasn't afraid of him, I just hadn't prepared myself to hear how deep and attractive it was.

"I want you to ride ahead to the castle," he gestured in front of us to where I assume the castle is, but I can't see anything through the cluster of branches and buildings. "Tell Andre to alert the king of our arrival," he paused, and I could feel him glancing at me, "and give him a brief explanation of what he should be expecting." Ethan nodded respectfully before taking off, his horse disappearing around a corner.

We continued in silence for another minute, but I couldn't let go of what he had said.

"What did you mean when you told Andre to explain to the king what he should be expecting?" I asked this a little more boldly than I'd meant to, but it just seemed like what he'd said was personal, like it had something to do with me.