Elizabeta lie in the foot well, body tucked in the foetal position and her mind racked with despair - This can't be happening! They don't believe me – and why should they? I'm cursed with that link to that bastard Roderich!
"Hello? Hello? Are you still there?" came a voice from the radio, cutting through her despondency immediately. She quickly grabbed the mouthpiece and asked him who he was.
"Arthur Kirkland. I trust that you're Miss Herdervary?"
"Yes! No one else trusted me so I-"
"I don't trust you that much, but you're all I have. Is Alfred still in the Hiroshima Prefecture? Inside the Axis HQ?"
"He is – the HQ is a big European style building to the northwest of the pine forest. It looks a little bit like the Reichstag in Germany."
"Thank you. What about Alfred?"
"Alfred was shot and I had to extract the bullet from his leg." Fearing confusion, she quickly added "I'm a nurse you see."
"Is there anything else you can tell me?"
She hesitated, then sighed
"Ludwig and Kiku are very cruel men – they've…abused him pretty badly."
The line went quiet as Arthur tried to contain his sheer rage and bile - Just those fucking bastards wait…
In moments, he snapped himself together and gave her a set of instructions to follow.
"Miss Herdervary, you mustn't use this radio again – God only knows what will happen to you if you get caught. In fact, I want you to destroy it and forget that you ever spoke to me."
"I will."
"And please tell Alfred that his big brother is coming to get him."
"I promise."
The line went dead and Elizabeta, taking off her shoe, duly smashed the radio facet into pieces. She then picked up her bag and climbed out of the plane, as natural as anything.
As he flew over the Pacific Ocean, Arthur could not stop his mind from obsessing over the past few hours' events.
Careful now Arthur, she could still be a lure and there could very well be a trap lying in wait for you.
His expression became quizzical
But why would she give out so much information? Would the wife of such a prolific nation give out her full name and position at the drop of a hat? And why did she seem to care about Alfred so much?
It's all very dodgy, but what else can I do? I cannot just sit on my arse all day whilst there's a slight chance my baby brother could be out there in some Godforsaken Japanese prison!
He smiled a little to himself and gave a small chuckle
Wait til I tell him that I punched Ivan in the face – he'll be so impressed!
Meanwhile, down below, Elizabeta was making her way out of the forest, when she caught sight of the same two Japanese soldiers who initially discovered Alfred and brought him in. Fearing that they saw her hovering near the plane, she tried to avert her gaze and sidle out unnoticed.
"Who goes there?" the larger one demanded, pointing his rifle in her general direction.
"E-Elizabeta Herdervary! I was just passing through this forest for some fresh air!" Of course, this is not the first time she had been on the bad end of a weapon, but she still had to keep up that shy, unassuming pretence, lest they suspect her true motives.
"We apologize greatly for startling you, Herdervary-sama. Please, continue on your way and pay us no attention."
"Thank you very much" you slimy bastards"I'll be sure to mention to Honda-san that you're doing your jobs very well, the moment I get back to HQ."
They both grinned and bowed graciously
"Honda-sama is rather busy at the moment, I'm afraid" The smaller one relayed "he's having a lot of fun with that cry-baby American!"
"Oh?" She tried hard to keep the strangled note of panic out of her voice.
"It's too grim to talk about such things with a lady – but we know that he's got a lot of things planned out for him!"
"Oh my! Though I never get involved with mens' business anyway, it is not my place." And with that, she bade them a polite goodbye and tried not to walk too fast back to the main path.
What are they doing to that poor boy now? And more importantly, what could I do to stop it?