A Thousand Lives I've Seen

59 - Of Lords and Lineages

The battle inside Whiteholm Castle was a far less bloody affair than Quahaug had expected it to be. He was glad Thalas and Erika were already out of the picture; it certainly made getting rid of the rest of the Aesfrosti soldiers that much simpler. House Wolffort worked perfectly as a team, and the forces of Aesfrost didn't stand a chance against them. A century and a half of experience in fighting together had perfected all of the flaws in their fighting style, and soon enough, all of the soldiers in the entryway of the castle had been cleared out. 

Quahaug let out a sigh as he let his staff fall to his side. His shoulders were still stiff, but he doubted that would change until after he knew Patriatte was dead. Quahaug liked to think of himself as not being particularly bloodthirsty, especially when compared to other members of House Wolffort, but in a situation like this... How could he not want his enemy dead? The sooner Patriatte was taken out of the picture, the safer everyone would be. Leaving him alive was a chance none of them could afford to take, and Quahaug wouldn't ask anyone to indulge that risk either. They knew what they were doing, and right now, they needed to prove it by seeing Patriatte dead. 

Quahaug may not have been overtly bloodthirsty, but he was glad others were willing to pick up that weight for him. To be more specific, he was relieved Roland was there to fill in the gaps of what Quahaug was not willing to do. Roland approached the final living soldier from the battle in the entryway of the castle and curled his hand around the man's shirt. The soldier's head fell forward limply, but there was still life in his body, and that was enough for Roland. "Patriatte," Roland began. "Where is he?" 

The soldier remained quiet for a moment, struggling to find the words he needed to respond, before he let out a bloody cough. "He... He's upstairs..." Quahaug thanked the soldier for being kind enough to explain where Patriatte had gone. It would have been easy for the soldier to not answer the question and simply give up on life instead, but he had given House Wolffort the information they needed instead, and Quahaug was glad he had. Upstairs wasn't a strict or defined direction, but it was at least something, and Quahaug could use it. 

Roland dropped the soldier without any sense of grace, and he took off toward the staircase. Quahaug trailed after him without missing a beat, and the rest of House Wolffort followed his lead. Patriatte was within the castle. That was enough for Quahaug. If they fanned out, they would be able to find him and bring him to justice. As long as Quahaug had something to say about it, Patriatte would not live to see the morning. Quahaug didn't know if it would be enough to save Symon's life, but it was the least he could do, and he needed to try. The world was depending on him. 

Quahaug's heart continued to race throughout his journey in the castle halls. His gaze never stayed far from Roland. He wanted to tell the prince that they needed to talk about the situation with Avlora so they could find a concrete path forward... But Quahaug already knew that Roland wasn't going to listen to anything he had to say. Roland had set his mind on revenge, and the rage of the past timelines would not be shaken off quite so easily. Quahaug wished it was that simple, but he knew better than to fall for that right away. He would come up with a plan to set everything right soon. He had to. Avlora would be a powerful ally, and House Wolffort would need all the help it could get when the war began anew. 

"I never would have imagined I would be helping one of Glenbrook's high houses to murder a high-ranking Royalist," Milo remarked, and Quahaug resisted the urge to scream. Milo seemed to be understanding more about the time loop as time went on even though no one was telling her the truth outright. She was perceptive, and she knew how to get to the heart of a matter if she really needed to. Quahaug should have known she was going to keep pushing this even in the middle of the battle to reclaim Whiteholm. Milo wouldn't give up until after House Wolffort had told her everything she needed to know... But Quahaug couldn't do that yet. It would need to wait until the proper moment, and that time had not arrived yet. It wouldn't come until after Whiteholm had been reclaimed and all of Glenbrook was safely out of Aesfrost's hands.