An older man walked across the town square. His sharp, blue uniform at odds with his ruffled hair and deep worry lines. The younger men moved out of his way, but a woman headed straight towards him. Pauline Danworth.

“Shit,” Luther said under his breath. He served under commander Danworth before rising in the ranks himself. He owed the Danworth family, and after the battle at Linton, he had a bad feeling about why she was walking towards him.

“Luther! Pardon, Lord Allen. I only need a minute of your time.”

“Pauline, lovely to see you. How can I help you?”

“It’s about my son. No one has heard from him since Linton.”

“Pauline… I’m sorry but-“

“They haven’t found his body. They’ve recovered almost everyone else. But no one from his regiment.”

“The odds are slim. You know that we do not hold Linton. It’s dangerous for any men to be there right now.”

“I have no right to ask this of you, but if I don’t I will regret it forever. Will you go save my boy?”

Luther clenched his fist and released it with a slow breath. “I will try. That is all I can promise. It’s been many years since I’ve been in the north. Things may not be as I left them.”

“It can burn for all I care. As long as Willem returns home, I care of nothing else.”