Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter 271: End of a campaign

Chapter 271: End of a campaign

Alpheo and his companions stood outside the encampment made near the walls of Arduronaven, The prince's dark hair was bound at the nape of his neck, and the breeze toyed with the loose strands that escaped the tie,as his eyes, scanned the horizon for signs of Egil's approach. His scouts had reported that his companion was near, and Alpheo was excited to see him once again, given the victory he had achieved in the field with the Golden steeds

Behind him, the city of Arduronaven stood, now reluctantly settled under new rule. A month ago, its walls had echoed the screams of the dying and the clash of steel. The siege had left its mark: decomposing cadavers, and corners of the city where rubble had only recently been cleared. Yet, for all its scars, the city now breathed anew.

The stench of death, once so thick that even hardened soldiers had gagged as they marched through the streets, had dissipated. Alpheo had ordered the bodies burned and the rubble cleared, knowing that a city drowning in its own ruin could never be made whole again. Now, a man could walk through Arduronaven without fearing that every breath might carry the sour reek of decay.

The people, too, had begun to emerge from their shuttered homes. At first, they had been shadows, slipping from doorways only when absolutely necessary, their faces pale with fear and suspicion. But hunger and the pressing need for survival had drawn them out. Merchants had returned to their stalls, even if their wares were meager, and children, thin and wary, skulked near the marketplace. Alpheo's decree—that the people of Arduronaven would not be sold into slavery despite their resistance—had done more than any sword to settle the city.

It was not a purely merciful act, and Alpheo knew it. A city emptied of its people was a corpse; its markets silent, its coffers barren. Arduronaven would serve him better alive, its streets busy with trade and its fields tended by farmers who could pay taxes rather than ghosts haunting ruins.

''Got no use for them if they don't produce anything for me '' he had said to lord Damaris when he proposed on slavery for the population

A flicker on the horizon caught Alpheo's attention, and he turned back toward the road. A plume of dust rose against the darkening sky, the unmistakable sign of riders approaching. Egil was coming.