Blood, Ice & Steel

- Chapter Five -

Daniel had not fought in the small skirmish that had taken place in his village because he knew he was no fighter. He was just a man tasked with governing the village, and not fight for it even if he wanted to. He had watched the slaughter occur, and even after the battle he had watched as the corpses were dragged away and burned outside Steelfrost. He wanted to express his feelings of the matter to Prince Arthas, but he was too busy gathering his men and telling them to prepare for what could be a possible battle. After all, clearly Breynth was guilty of doing something against Radour, or those Breynth soldiers that were killed earlier wouldn't have reacted when Arthas spoke of what Ethan and Jacob told the prince what had supposedly happened there. Also, he didn't want to speak with the prince since he was telling the squire Ethan something about that he would serve under Arthas has his squire, and he would be sure to make the squire be at the frontlines with the valiant prince.

Instead of speaking with the prince, or anybody in that matter, Daniel went home with the memories of war lingering in his head. He knew that Steelfrost would most likely be on the frontlines of the war with Breynth, and that would just cause more trouble for him. He wanted to just pray before God and demand that Steelfrost be invisible in this war about to erupt, but he knew it would do no good. Steelfrost, his lovely home that he adored so much, was going to be just another town that a battle would most likely occur if Prince Arthas should fail to defeat Commander Percy's army at Castle Highrock. Either way, he felt as if his hometown would serve as something like a battle or skirmish in the war, and it would most likely be burned to the ground and he would be left to suffer, watching everything turned to ash. However, he shrugged that thought away as he entered the mansion and headed upstairs in which his wife, Mercia was on the bed, under the sheets as her eyes moved over to him.

"You're home early," Mercia said, brushing her hair as she sat up. "Usually you-"

"I don't really want to talk about it," Daniel said, sighing. "If you heard the screams near the gate, well that is Radour's problem, not ours. Breynth apparently betrayed Radour and now Prince Arthas is going to head over to Castle Highrock and fight Commander Percy."

"What?" Mercia exclaimed, a shocked expression on her beautiful face. "But, if that means Radour has been betrayed by Breynth, the war will just-"

"Yes, it's not over," Daniel said with a sigh, walking over and crashing down on the bed next to his wife, finding comfort being beside her. "The war will now go on longer than expected. It's a tragedy more lives must be lost by such greedy intentions, though I don't know why Breynth decided to do such a thing to Radour, but as long as Steelfrost is safe, I couldn't care less what happens."

Mercia sighed, leaning over and gently kissing Daniel's cheek as a soft smile formed across her face. "I know it's rough, but we can't let Radour fight an enemy alone. We have to help in some way before they leave our town. Prince Arthas isn't the kindest son of His Majesty, but I-"

Daniel groaned, rolling on his side to look at her, interrupting, "No. I don't have an army, but mere soldiers that were raised here. Prince Arthas can fight Breynth, as well as the rest of the Radour kingdom. It hasn't fallen before, and it won't now. Radour will crush them for their treachery. Now, please, let's rest. I am exhausted and I don't want to think about such matters."

Mercia let out a sigh before finally deciding to give up on it. She didn't know much about war or politics like Daniel did, and since he didn't care about it, she didn't want to either. So, she just smiled at him and closed her eyes after he had first. Afterward, they peacefully slept without a worry in their heads.

~-=-~

The moon remained over the large encampment as Prince Arthas's army prepared itself to march. They gathered anything that was made of steel, and armed themselves for battle. Knights wore their famous armor with their longswords sheathed at their side while also grabbing a kite shield for protection, squires took their shortswords, archers grabbed their elegantly crafted wooden longbows, and spearmen took their steel-tipped spears and grinned at the thought of stabbing some poor fool's eye out. War was on the horizon, and the squires could already feel the fear rising within their hearts.