The Kingdom of Liticea: The Sorcerer Prince

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Horith Ryden

The Prince's army was not three days from Rainguard when a rider rode in bearing word from the mounted army that was sent ahead four days ago. it was a young man with a clear scar on his right cheek from a recent battle and his colors were of some small house under House Oaran. He was brought to Tauron immediately, saying he had brought news from both Yorod Dayvey and Horith Ryden.

For the first time in weeks, the Prince felt his spirits lift. The besieging army consisted of about fifteen thousand Morcars, a poultry number compared to the rest of their hordes but nearly twice the number of the mounted army. In a brilliant maneuver, according to the messenger Parendir Davey, the second son of the Duke of Forthren orchestrated a night attack that took the Morcars running and had their army in flight before their general was out of his bed. Even better they had captured the general himself, apparently a relative of the Morcar King. The name of the general was not known to the messenger, but after the marvelous tale was told to him Tauron had the man given food and relieved him of the letters.

The first one had the seal of Dayvey and so he opened it first to see what that good of a duke Yorod had to say. It was a repeat of everything the rider had told him a few minutes before, except that the fool opted to give himself a bit more credit. Parendir was not even mentioned in the letter.

The next letter was sealed with the Boar of Fury, the mascot for House Ryden, the beast that had run down the tree of Rorchistyr. The envelope itself was green in coloration, and gave a off a pungent smell when the Prince opened it.

Prince Tauron Heflite,

You have my gratitude for the quite excessive force you sent to aid my castle. Your men have proved very impressive at surprising the enemy whilst he sleeps if nothing else. With that, it would be inconsiderate of me to not to offer you the full hospitality of Rainguard. Upon you arrival, we shall scrounge up whatever scraps we can find and have supper together, if you will accept my invitation. Your men are currently stationed on the the Banks of the Great River as I have no reason yet to allow the to overrun my castle and create a mess of it. As I'm sure you have heard your men hold the Morcar General prisoner, though they have not seen fit to allow me to speak with him, the man who plundered my land and laid siege to my castle. Nevertheless, I eagerly await your arrival. Myself and my sons shall be honored to meet your acquaintance.

Horith of House Ryden, Duke of the Westland and the Hammer of Rorchistyr.

Hostility was already growing in the young Prince towards the Duke of the Westland. He had sent nearly half his army and they routed the Morcars. Horith Ryden did not, however deem it important that his men have shelter and food for their efforts. At least they had the satisfaction of keeping the Morcar general to themselves. That will be the first worthy thing Yorod Dayvey IV has done in his life.

"Robert," the Prince snapped and the boy stood at attention, "How many days did Lord Gramman say until we reach Rainguard?"

"A-a-according to Baron Nicholas, we should be there by tomorrow, my Prince."

"Send orders to the lords. We move at double time. I want to be at Rainguard by dusk," and I will teach Horith Ryden to disregard my men, he said as he crushed the letter in his hand. 

"Yes, my Prince," the plumb little boy scurried his way out of the Prince's tent to spread the Prince's orders.

Tauron glanced at the ball of paper as it fell gently from his loosened grip. Hd it really taken just some mere harsh words to ignite his anger. And now he was going to take his anger out on the men pretty much. If he had acted a moment sooner he would have called the boy back and let the soldiers relax. He and a small entourage could ride ahead and let Rengle or Nicholas take care of marching the army the rest of the way. But he turned down the thought at once. Horith Ryden was going to see him at the head of his army, the army that was going to free the Westland from the Morcar plague.