"Chamberlain Kou? Sir?" Michiko rubbed her eyes wearily while trying not to wobble the lit, melting candle in her hand. She entered the secret study room in the middle of the night. They had only gone to bed less than an hour before but who knew that her boss ever slept? "I heard noises from down the hall, is everything alright? Did you start to work aga-"
The room was dark and empty and she felt a presence behind her. A rough hand clasped the back of her neck in a tight grip. She felt the sharp edge of a knife's blade against her throat.
Her breathing became shallow and slow. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself but only became more agitated when she heard the sounds of a scuffle ensuing in the next room over, Houju's room. The sound of a chair breaking and a moan of pain reached her ears. She let go of the candle and enclosed the knife at her throat with her other hand.
Michiko cried out with pain as she forced the knife away. In surprise, the hand at her throat loosened and she ripped herself away from her attacker. In the second she had to think, she wondered why the attacker did not come at her again.
Running for the door to the chamberlain's room, she yelled, "Houju!!"
With help of the moonlight streaming through the open window she was able to see another intruder and the chamberlain fighting in the dark. The other assailant wielded a crimson stained knife while Kijin skillfully blocked the attacks with a long strip of cloth in his hands.
Michiko began debating whether or not it was wise to interrupt their fight. Only a few seconds after she appeared in the doorway, the intruder made a decision for her and retreated to the window. Both Houju and Michiko ran after him but the person was already away and running.
Neither of them said anything for a minute, only staring out the inky darkness that had swallowed and covered the intruder.
"Sir!" Michiko gasped as she turned to check him. "You're wounded!"
He grasped his shoulder with his good arm and backed up to lean against his desk. Blood was seeping through his clothes at an alarming pace. She could hear his breathing change and become irregular.
She took her sleeve in her mouth and ripped the cloth with her teeth. Michiko tried to tie the makeshift bandage around the wound but her left hand lost its grasping power from the cut she received earlier. The muscles in her hand began to twitch and she knew that they needed help.
"Hold on Sir, I'll go get Hoshiko-san!" She left him and ran out of the room. Her feet slapped the tile of the darkened corridors.
"Hoshiko-san!! Hoshiko-san!!!" she yelled as she ran. Her mind cried out, Please Houju, stay alive!