As soon as they saw the smoke, Gregory felt the prince tense up next to him. Bryce was on edge, clearly affected, though his face was calm and devoid of all emotions. They stopped walking and stood in a clearing, watching the smoke filter into the clouds.
“How long?” Bryce asked.
“What?”
“How long do you think it’s been burning,” Bryce said. “A few hours?”
“I don’t know,” Gregory said. “I’ve never seen a city burn before.”
“I have,” Bryce said, then began walking again. He said the words casually. Gregory rushed to catch up.
“What do you mean?”
“I saw a village burn when I was younger,” Bryce said over his shoulder. “I think I was six.”
“What city?”
Bryce was silent for a long minute. “We didn’t have a name for it, but the locals called it Mistan. Only a few hundred people lived there.”
“I haven’t heard of it.”
“Few people have,” Bryce replied. “It was built in Comer’s territory, inside the set boundaries we allocated for the natives. My father threatened them if they didn’t remove the village, and they were steadfast.”
“So, he burned it down.”
Bryce nodded. “He brought his army in, forced the citizens out, and then set the village on fire. It burned for days. I was there with my mother. He insisted I be with him, so I could learn how to be an outstanding leader.”
“You were six?”
“If even that. The only thing I learned was how scared and sad people could be when they were forced out of their homes.”
“The natives must have been pretty upset.”
Bryce laughed sardonically. “They thanked him.”
Gregory scrunched his face in confusion. “Your father?”
Bryce nodded. “They thanked him and gave him gifts, saying he was an honorable man for protecting his border.”
“Wow.”
“I know,” Bryce said. “That’s how powerful Comer is: my father kills the natives, and they thank him for it.”
The smoke plumes were getting larger as they got closer.
“How big is Mulrich?”
“Big?” Bryce said.
“It’s about forty miles from the border?” Gregory asked. He had seen the city on his map, the closest to the territory of the natives.
“Closer to thirty. The maps exaggerate the border to make our territory look bigger.”
“Do you think...?”
“That the natives did this?” Bryce finished. “We have a lot of enemies, but none that would have gone out of their way to attack Mulrich except the Otagin.”
“But why would they attack at all?”
“To start a war.”
“But don’t they remember how the last one went?”
“We destroyed them without mercy, killing hundreds of thousands and taking their territory,” Bryce replied. “But there were considerably more of them we didn’t kill, and if they have united against us, they can deal considerable damage to us.”
“So, you think that they have united?” Gregory said.
Bryce shrugged. “I think it is the most likely scenario.”
Gregory grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him. “Then where are we going?”
“To the city to help.”
“Help with what?”
“Survivors.”
“You said yourself that it is probably an army that burned the city down. An army of enemies who already captured you once and intended to execute you.”
Bryce opened his mouth to respond, then changed his mind.
“If that really is an army of the Otagin, then we shouldn’t go anywhere near it. Even if it isn’t, it isn’t worth us risking our lives to get close enough to find out.”
“We can’t just leave the people, if they need help,” Bryce said. “They are my people.”
“And right now, there is nothing you can do for them,” Gregory replied. “If you want to help your people, then right now we need to warn Comer that there is an army marching toward the Capital.”
“The army isn’t a threat to the Capital,” Bryce said, looking west toward Comer.
“It isn’t?”
“No,” Bryce said. “But it could destroy over a hundred towns and cities before we could stop it.”
