The Icy Prince

Chapter 8: The general

Lucas
The servants hurried to help me put on my heavy metal armour. Polished oh so impeccably, it shone blindingly as it reflected the light rays that were hitting it. It was the crack of dawn and the sky was was barely awake with a handful of stars still scattered across the velvety canvas of the sky.

Today was the day where I leave for the war and as the general, I was to leave earlier than all the other men departing for the war. After checking that I had my armour on, I strode through the castle hallway, past the grand ballroom which housed several masterpieces and valuable artefacts and was about to reach the grand staircase when my footsteps haltered. I found that I had stopped outside her room. My mother's room. The doors were closed but I could imagine the interior for I had been there countless of times before she left. It was probably left the way it originally was after she died for Papa did not have the heart to stay in that wretched room after she had left. He now sleeps in one of the hundreds of rooms in the castle but never that room. In the past, walking past this room always tore my heart apart and left me on the brink of crying out loud in agony. However, I felt no pain this time but found a certain kind of steelness within me, like a fortress around my heart, keeping my emotions locked.

I walked on coolly, trailing down the stairs and nearly bumped into Papa who was standing stoically, waiting for me at the foot of the stairs.

"You should be asleep, father. What are you doing on such early hours?" I asked.

"Lovely morning, isn't it?" Father sighed not seeming to answer my question.

I eyed him suspiciously, surely he hadn't woke up to greet me. "It's a magnificent morning, yes but I really have to go now Father. I have to reach the barracks before any of the other man and they might be reaching any moment, only to find the place desolate of a general." I hastily rushed on, partly because I was rushing for time and because I didn't want to hear any long goodbyes.

"Well then, hurry up and get along. Best of luck for the war." He added absent-mindedly as though I was going for a meagre event instead of a seemingly brutal war.

I nodded hurriedly and was about to reach the castle gates when I heard him mutter softly," Oh holy christ, please don't let him die. I have already lost her please don't let me lose him too."

It wasn't meant for my ears but after hearing it, a sudden ache overtook my heart. Without thinking, I swung backwards, striding towards him and gave my father a tight hug. The whole thing happened so quickly and I did not realise it until I found myself in his embrace. When we broke out of the hug, I saw the tears brimming in his eyes and a drop began trickling down his cheeks. Before I knew what I was doing, my finger involuntarily reached out to brush the tear off his cheek.

"Don't fret, father, I'll be fine." I reassured him in an almost loving way. Realizing how emotional the situation was, I cleared my throat abruptly and tried to clear away the awkwardness and unease that was creeping through me. "I should get going."

I hurried on and made my way to my horse and the commanders who were already mounted on their horses, awaiting me outside the castle gates. I mounted my horse before turning back to face my father. Giving him a small tentative smile, I yanked the reins and galloped off with the rest of my commanders.

Our cloaks fluttered behind our backs as we breezed through on horseback. Flattened pavements that were constantly trampled on soon narrowed into rocky terrains before giving way to forested paths that were riddled with stones and twigs. As we finally cleared through the overhanging leaves, I was met with a sprawling piece of land completely filled with tents left unpitched, folded neatly in a nice order across the massive land. There were two tents which were already pitched and blatantly larger than the rest, one of them had its flap open, revealing weapons, with numbers vast enough for the entire army, gleaming with malice. Needless to say, that was the armoury. The other large tent had its flap closed but I knew it was the tent where the commanders and I would discuss about the war. The rest of the tents were the temporary accommodations for the soldiers, looking at their voluminous number splayed across the land, I'd say it was enough to house all of the soldiers.