The Union 22 A Knight's Conscience

`The scent of burning corpses filled the air with dread.

Evil. Only this word can describe the scene in front of Henry. And the worst part? He was responsible for this sinister act.

He closed his eyes. He can still hear their screams. Their wails horrify him beyond belief. And the children…especially the children.

A single tear fell from his eye.

This…this was not the way a knight should act. Knights protect the weak. Knights defend justice. But this act does not protect the weak nor defend justice.

He mumbled the Knight's Oath.

I am the wall of the people,

the refuge of the weak

I purge evil

and vanquish the unrighteous

I am the sword of justice,

the spear of morality

I am the banner in which the truth stands

Even in a cruel world

Even if I'm alone

Even for all eternity

I will always be

Because I am a knight

Lies. Sinful lies.

He once believed in Knights. That was the reason why he became one himself. They were the Knights of Tulosa, and they were supposed to be the defenders of righteousness. But now, he doesn't know anymore. Their hands were already dirty with the blood of innocents.

He felt disgusted with himself. For the past days, he kept telling himself that this is war. Casualties were normal during conflicts. He was just following orders. But the more he tells himself of this, the less he believes it.

General Rickard had commanded General Sigurd to lead a portion of the army and raze the villages around the City of Solon. The villages around the city had long provided Castonia with a steady supply of iron. General Rickard wanted to erase these villages so that Castonia would suffer in the long run. Without the iron, Castonia can't support a long war.

Henry thought that their only job was burn the villages. That's why he readily agreed when General Rickard ordered him to accompany General Sigurd. But General Sigurd seems to enjoy his task so much that he slaughters every man, woman and children in the villages. He butchered them like they were animals. This was the third village to fall under their villainy.

But he can't stomach this anymore. This is wrong. Everything they did went against his principles and he was not alone. Many knights had also expressed their dissatisfaction. He had pleaded with General Sigurd multiple times to just burn the houses and let go of the innocents. Their enemies were the soldiers of Castonia, not these people. They had nothing to do with this war. Wars were supposed to be between soldiers. But the General won't listen to him. He even threatened Henry with demotion and even execution.

Now, Henry could only watch as the Castonian villagers burn in front of him.

"Don't feel sad about them Prefect. They deserved it. " General Sigurd said as he walked towards him.

" I apologize General, but my views are still the same. This is just too much." Henry's voice was trembling as he turned towards the General.

He saw Sigurd's profile. The General was a big man, a head taller than most people . His long and unkempt beard gave him an intimidating appearance.

"As long as you do your job, then it's alright." General Sigurd said to him. There was not an ounce of friendliness in his voice.

The wind suddenly changed direction and the air around them was filled with smoke. Yes, smoke from the burning bodies and houses. Henry almost flushed his lunch when the revolting aroma filled his nostrils with horror.

"But can't we let them go General? General Rickard's orders were to burn the villages, not kill the people." He forced a reply with coughs in between his words.

"No Prefect." General Sigurd disagreed "General Rickard's orders were to destroy Castonia's main source of iron. If we merely burn the villages, then the Castonians could just rebuild them. We need to kill every single one of them to make our mark permanent. I told you not to question my orders. " The General's voice was firm as he looked at Henry examining his expressions.

But Henry doesn't care even if the General discovers his resentment. He knew that this is wrong and he must convince the General to stop this carnage. They are Knights, not barbarians. He became a knight because he believes in the ideals of a knight.

"We are Knights, General. Keep us out of this. Other soldiers may find this barbarism tolerable, but we don't." He protested. He doesn't really care that he General would find him disrespectful. What can the General do? Unless he violated his orders, the General couldn't do anything to him. Henry knew that General Sigurd's threats were just that, threats. He was too important to execute or even demote.

Henry was the Prefect of the third cohort of Tulosan Knights. There were about a thousand Tulosan Knights in the Cohort and he was the one in charge of them all. Not to boast, but his abilities were actually quite good, earning him the nickname 'First Spear'. His nickname actually came from the Battle of Mesali three years ago. The charge of the Tulosan Knights under his command tipped the scale of battle. His knights formed in a wedge formation with him at the very front. The charge was so powerful that it broke the enemies' morale and won them the battle. Since then, people started calling him First Spear, a testament to his courage and abilities. He wasn't just a Prefect, he was also the face of the Tulosan Knights.

The Genaral was silent for a while, clearly annoyed by his insistence.

"I was there 15 years ago at Kimpler, or Knightsend as what the Castonians like to call it." General Sigurd said as he looked at the burning bodies

"So I've heard. You were just a centurion back then."

Henry already had heard that the General was a veteran of the failed first Tulosan invasion of Castonia. The defeat was, and still is, one of the darkest moments in Tulosan history. General Kingston took 20,000 Tulosans with him 15 years ago to invade Castonia. Less than a thousand were able to go home.

He was 10 years old when news of the failed invasion spread throughout Tulosa. The King that time actually wanted some quick victory against the Castonians to further cement his shaky rule. But the invasion ended up to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Instead of cementing his rule, the invasion ended it. A civil war in Tulosa followed which would last for 12 years. Henry grew up in a messed up Kingdom because of the failed invasion.

" Do you know what they did to those soldiers they captured?" Sigurd asked him.

Henry shook his head

"They killed the half and enslaved the other half. Many of my brothers died in these mines. The Castonians forced them to work in these mines for more than a decade. Most of them should have been dead by now."

Henry grimaced after hearing of the General's words. It's not that he doesn't understand the General's pain and anger. He does. General Sigurd probably lost many of his friends and even family members. Additionally, the civil war that followed put Tulosa in chaos for more than a decade. Many people lost their lives. But Tulosa was the aggressor. Furthermore, these people had nothing to do with the invasion 15 years ago.

"I'm sorry general. Maybe I'm too young but I still don't think these people deserve to be slaughtered" He said firmly. What they did was evil and nothing can justify it.

" As long as you follow your orders then I don't care what you think. You already have blood in your hands anyway."

These words struck Henry's heart. It was true though. He was not clean of this war crime so he shouldn't act innocently. He was part of the ma.s.sacre even if he didn't like it. Even if he detested what he did, even if it haunted him every night, even if his conscience was being ripped apart, nothing will ever change. He did it. He led the knights to slaughter the innocent.

"By the way, our scouts just reported that there is a camp of refugees nearby. There were at least a few thousand of them. It seems that they are heading to Solon. We won't let them reach the city. Prepare some of your knights. We'll leave in the morning." General Sigurd ordered

Henry was afraid the General would again give him an order like this. The refugees only wanted to escape with their lives. They only wanted to survive. Why couldn't they let the refugees go! His mind was in chaos. Torn by a sense of duty and his own conscience, he remained fixated for a while. But at the end of the day, he was still a Tulosan soldier. He must follow the orders.

He gritted his teeth.

"Yes General"