For the next two days I kept my ears on the ground in hopes of hearing news on Klien and Leo's case but nothing came. It felt like Hugo had forgotten about them and continued life like nothing happened.
I began doubting the High Thaumaturge had plans of letting news of the castle's situation go beyond the walls of this castle.
Is he even thinking about the future?
Does he remember the expedition is meant to last only a month?
After our month here, what happens next?
When news of Klien's detainment and possible death reaches the Kingdom of Loth can he handle the backlash?
When Leo recounts his horrifying experience at the hands of this general, would he be able to endure the wrath of king Emberfall?
"What exactly is his plan?"
This was a question I asked every hour. Since I couldn't see through his emotions, I couldn't tell his intentions. He was like a closed book I couldn't read and that's what made him much more dangerous.
And most importantly, his troops were extremely loyal to him. To keep this matter a secret for this long, it meant everyone was loyal down to the cleaners and servants.
If King Emberfall could bribe soldiers to keep his son safe during dangerous times, why haven't they secretly written back to the king?
Did the king actually pay someone to give Leo special treatment or was it carried out under Hugo's orders just to give him a reason to jail Leo?
The more I thought about it, the worse my confusion became. While I strongly believed Hugo had a hand in all these events, there was no real evidence to back this up.
Anyways, the last three days were not only spent worrying about Hugo's intentions. I delved into the map first and I was flabbergasted by how massive the Thorned Peak Empire was. An empire built atop snowy peaks was quite interesting.
Beneath Castle Black was a territory called Skardrith, the southern kingdom of the Thorned Peak and the bordering kingdom and ultimate rival of the Loth Kingdom. At least, until their fall to the Knolls.
My curiosity was piqued and I wanted to learn more about the Thorned Peak Empire. For some reason, I couldn't help but suspect finding out more about this place will help me understand Hugo's intentions.
The passion in his eyes when he spoke about it coupled with the repeated use of the wired "we" when talking about the people of this defeated empire, made me believe there was more to this expedition than the empire is aware of.
"I'll play along and check mate you at the end!" I hissed.
_____ Expedition Day______
Seated on a spirit-bred horse, I was positioned somewhere at the center of the army where it was safe. At the forefront of the army were a thousand Black Guards armed to the teeth and their sides were flanked by five hundred frost fang riders on each side.
These frost fang riders were dressed in partial plate armor with reinforced leather and equipped with lances and throwing spears fastened to the back of the hell fang.
Frost fangs are domesticated frost wolves, known for their stunning azure colored fur which earned them their name. These beasts were 2.4 meters tall with 7 inches long claws. They are known for their good sense of smell which allows them to alert the team to approaching enemies and their loyalty to their riders was superb.
This beast was the ideal mount for all Gyro Empire cavalry troops.
Directly behind the one thousand Black Guards were three hundred members of the thunder corps. They were the ranged specialists made up of 100 archers, 100 musketeers and 100 heavy artillery operators, divided into teams of 20 each per cannon.
Then at the center were me and roughly six out of the ten mages in castle black. Then surrounding our group were non combative officials who were in charge of supplies and repair of war weapons. There were about 200 hundred of them mounted on Iceback Ursals—massive bear-like beasts with plated backs and icicle-tipped fur.
Behind us was another team of five hundred black guards flanked by another five hundred frost fang riders on both sides.
In total 1500 Black Guards, 2000 frost fang riders, 300 thunder corps members and 200 non-combative units
4000 soldiers in total.
Most of these soldiers weren't the ones stationed at Castle Black. They received reinforcements for today's expedition from the empire. This leaves me wondering if they are unaware of their prince's current situation.
At the forefront of the army were two Howlsteeds—Giant wolf-elk hybrids with silver antlers and glowing blue fur. Lord Hugo and Colonel Bennett, a name I only learned recently stood side by side, prepared to address the expedition force.
"Centuries ago they said we were done for. Humanity will never regain its lands from these invaders. However, a few decades ago, under the leadership of Tyron Emberfall, we fought these monsters and pushed them out of Winterholm, claiming Castle Black for the empire!"
A thunderous cheer followed, quaking the entire structure. This would have been a problem if this was my first day here. But after surviving nights of chaos, this was nothing.
"Today we will embark on a journey that will be recorded in history. One that will remember us, not just as peasants but heroes who fought and retook the lands of their forefathers. We will be remembered as the ones who pushed the Knolls out of Thorned Peak and rebuilt Thorned Peak to its glory days!"
Another thunderous roar followed and I frowned.
"Lin… are the inhabitants of Count Ravenshire's Frostlands indigene of the Gyro Empire?" I asked and there was a brief silence.
{What you seek to know can be found in Castle Black's library. All I can tell you is that, upon defeat at the hands of the Knolls, Thorned Peak Empire citizens sought refuge in the Gyro empire.} Lin said and my frown deepened.
It wasn't much but I understood the implications. I was sitting in the middle of an army of Thorned Peak Empire forces, not Gyro Empire forces.