This is the second new chapter I posted today. Make sure you read ch 15 before you get to this one. Thanks!
The man that had pulled Alek out of his wheelchair was a giant. His arms felt like large anacondas gripping him around the chest so tightly he couldn't breathe. When he was finally released, Alek had been carried to another room without realizing it.
The large beast of a man threw him onto the floor with a grunt. Alek winced from the pain in his side, but managed to open his eyes to take in his surroundings. Two other men stood next to the large one. They both had their arms crossed and wore identical black suits. He thought he recognized them from the hallway downstairs.
"Aleksander Ferdinand." Said the one on the right. "I'm ashamed that this has to be done, what with you being so young, but I'm sure you understand that orders are orders and have to be obeyed." Beside him, the man in the middle raised a revolver and pointed it between Alek's eyes.
Somehow Alek was able to duck in time before the bullet was shot. It whooshed over his head and he could feel the wind from it brush through his hair. Quickly he stood and ran from the men with a sudden burst of strength. He ignored the pain in his side and dashed for the door on the other side of the room. The men in black suits were so shocked that he was no longer handicapped they forgot to run after him, and Alek dashed out into the hallway, slamming the door behind him and running in a random direction.
It didn't take him long to hear them following him, so he rushed into another hallway, through an open door to an empty bedroom and shuffle behind a curtain near a window. As cliché a hiding spot as it may be, the men didn't follow him into the room. Instead he heard them scamper off down the hallway, yelling threats and curses.
Alek sat for a moment, trying to gasp for breath without making any noise. He listened to his pursuers' footsteps fade and realized that he was hearing another, even more terrifying sound. It was a woman screaming.
He moved the curtain to hear it better. It sounded like Deryn's voice, although he had never heard her scream with such agony and fear. He was instantly afraid for her and felt the need to find and protect her.
He scrambled out of the bedroom and into the dark hallway again. The screaming was coming from a room at the other end of the corridor so he scampered toward it, ignoring his limp from the wound. He came to the only doorway with light flooding under and made to open it, but it was locked. He pounded on the door and the screams coming from inside stopped for a moment.
"Who is it?" Said a deep silky voice. Alek didn't answer, but lowered his eye to the keyhole so he could peer inside.
It looked like a small meeting room with a long wooden table and a scattering of chairs. It was very dimly lit so he could barely make out the figures of two men huddling over a body. Both men had their faces pointed to the door, but lowered them back to the body once they realized that no one was answering them.
The body suddenly moved and Alek recognized a face beneath a layer of dark blue silk, it was Deryn. He felt his heart leap into his throat as one of the men flipped her on her back and the other began to lift up her skirts and try to pull her legs apart. She started to scream again and cuss, giving the first man a good smack with her fist, and to Alek surprise he smacked her right back, which caused her cry out in a high pitched screech.
Alek felt his blood boil and he clenched his jaw causing the veins in his neck to bulge. How dare they do that to her! Those monsters! I'll kill them!
Before thinking it through, he had lifted his leg and kicked the door handle so hard it snapped off. All that remained was a hole where the handle had been and a severe twitching pain in Alek's wounded side.
But he didn't stop to assess it. Instead he pushed his way through the door and across the room. The men stared at him in silence until he had his hands around one of their throats.
That didn't last long. The other man, who was taller, pulled Alek off of his companion.
"Hey boy, enough of that." He stood Alek up and took a good look at him. "You must be Prince Aleksander, how did you..?"
Alek didn't let him finish and instantly drew his sword from his hip. The other man grinned and drew his own sword. His was a long soldier's blade where as Alek's was only a dull dress sword that he had worn for the ball. It wasn't a fair match, but Alek moved into the fencing stance anyhow.
"So, the archduke of Austria is challenging me to a fencing match? What do you think Jenson, should a squash that little royal face of his?"
"If you must, General, I think he was supposed to be killed by now anyways." Said the man on the floor. Alek saw from the corner of his eye that the man had his hands around Deryn's waist and her face looked petrified. Anger pushed through Alek's veins again and he raised his saber against the General in front of him. The man parried his thrust and blocked him, but Alek kept pushing forward. Once, twice, three times Alek swung his saber at the man, but he was blocked all three times. But his anger was so strong that he was able to pin the other man against the table, his sword pointed at his heart.
"Alek, behind you!" Deryn shouted, he spun around to face the shorter man named Jenson who had pulled out his sword as well. Alek swung his blade at him only to be matched by a strong block. Ignoring the fact that he had just turned his back to a General, Alek continued to swing at Jenson, the blood rushing in his ears.
BANG.
The sound was like lightening piecing through his brain. Alek smelled gunsmoke and froze. He whipped around only to see the General lying face down in a puddle of blood, his sword arm outstretched. Across from his body, Deryn was standing with a pistol in her hand still pointed at where the General had been standing. Her eyes were wide and staring directly in front of her. She seemed to be looking at something that wasn't there. Her lips were barred showing her teeth that were clenched together in a grimace. Alek felt himself step away from her in panic. She swiveled to point the gun at the other man.
"Drop the sword!" She shouted. He immediately let go of his weapon, which clattered onto the floor, and then lifted his hands above his head. Alek saw how terrified the man looked and turned back to Deryn.
"Now Deryn, think about what you are doing…."
"SHUT UP ALEK!" She held the gun to the other man's face, pondering whether to shoot or not. Jenson waited a few moments before he gained enough bravery to bolt out of the room and down the hallway. After his footsteps retreated, Alek was finally able to move.
He gently walked over to Deryn, who was still pointing the pistol and as he moved next to her, he realized that she was quivering.
"Let go of the gun Deryn, it's okay now, he's gone." But she didn't budge. Gradually he moved his hand to hers and pried her fingers off of the pistol. When he finally had it out of her grasp she fell to the floor and began to sob in large gasping heaves.
He didn't know what to do. He tried sitting next to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, but she just pushed him away. He tried talking to her, but she was obviously not listening. Finally he gave up, and slightly crying himself, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.
She struggled against him violently, but he held tight and eventually she seemed to cave in and crumple into his shoulder.
"Did those men…did they…hurt you, at all?" He didn't know how else to ask her. It plagued him to think of what they must have done, and that he wasn't there to stop them.
But Deryn was shaking her head. "They tried to," she whispered. "But I put up too much of a fight." The side of her mouth lifted in a bit of a grin and Alek felt his body relax with relief. Thank heavens he hadn't gotten here any later then he did.
A few minutes passed and Alek began to hear voices from the hallway. It occurred to him that Jenson must have run and told someone where they were and what had happened. Quickly, his mind focused again and he pulled Deryn to her feet.
"We have to get out of here! Come on!" With one hand around her wrist he pulled the frantic girl out of the blood bathed room and into the hall. However, he couldn't run very far without his side complaining smartly, so she offered him her shoulder to lean on and together they found an elevator which took them back to the first floor.
The elevator doors opened to the front hall, where hundreds of screaming and terrified people were pushing each other out of the way in order to escape outside. They were the guests from the ball, and Alek turned around to see that the ball room to his left was on fire. People were shoving past them, but Alek stood glued to the spot. He couldn't stop staring at the immense flames and listening to the screams of the guests and the frantic honks of the swans who were running out of the ball room in horror.
Deryn seemed to have gained her senses and steered him out of the front hall and outside with the remainder of the crowd. The people were headed towards the road where their carriages were parked, but Deryn was pushing Alek aside down a path into the imperial gardens beside the palace.
They ran in silence, and Alek had to clutch his side because the pain was suddenly overwhelming. But Deryn forced him to keep running. Even though she didn't say anything, Alek could feel the intensity of her driving him forward. She was determined to get him through the garden, and wouldn't let him rest for even a moment.
They passed tall flowering bushes, forests of bonsai trees and ponds that were filled with glow in the dark fish. Outside in the gardens the world was calm and untouched, the stars were shimmering and he could hear the faint gurgling of a fountain. Every so often he would turn his head and see the chaos of the palace shrinking in the distance behind him. The sounds of breaking windows and screams were dully quieted by the silence of the garden.
Finally Deryn let him stop and catch his breath. They were standing in front of a clump of trees and Alek was about to fall over in the grass when he saw something blue dash out of them.
It was Elsie. And in a tumble of skirts and sparkles she jumped into Deryn's arms and pulled the other girl into a fierce hug.
"Deryn! Thank goodness you're alright! And you were able to rescue Alek!" Deryn didn't look nearly as happy to see the German woman, and tried to pull Elsie off of her.
"Ach, Blisters, get off of me!" But Elsie refused to let go and Alek noted how uncomfortable Deryn looked. He suddenly rationalized that the poor girl probably didn't want anyone touching her after all that she had been through.
"Elsie, let go of her!" He painfully moved over and was able to pry his cousin off of Deryn. To his annoyance, she clamped onto him instead.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy that everyone is alright!" Elsie was slightly tearful, but she held Alek up so that he could find his footing and lean his weight on her.
"Don't mind her son; she's just over delighted that everything has gone according to her plan." Came a cheerful voice from the trees. Alek saw a short red haired man pat him on the shoulder and felt his own eyes twitch with tears.
"Uncle Derek?" He sniffed. The man nodded and then embraced Alek in a gruff hug. Alek might have misgivings about the man, but he looked so much like his father that it was hard not to hug him.
"Elsie's da?" He heard Deryn ask. "How did you get out here?"
Both Elsie and Uncle Derek gave similar grins.
"Note the fire," Elsie said, pointing back to the palace. "I was able to use that as a distraction and get down to the prison in order to rescue him."
"It was quite an ingenious idea, if I do say so myself." Said Uncle Derek.
"You started the fire!" Deryn looked between the both of them.
"No!" Elsie looked ashamed. "It was one of your midshipmen from the Leviathan. He knocked over the candelabra onto one of those giant geese. The poor creature ended up running into a curtain which set the whole room ablaze."
Alek groaned. "Newkirk, you fool!" He muttered under his breath.
"Originally, I thought that Deryn kidnapping Alek would be enough to distract the Emperor's men, but the fire proved to be quite an added bonus."
Something rustled the trees and Alek saw Count Volger and Klopp emerge behind him. He beamed at both of them and Klopp waddled over scooped up both Alek and Deryn into a large hug. Deryn pushed her way out of the embrace and Volger gave them all a disgusted sneer.
"I don't understand what everyone is so happy about." He mooned. "If you haven't noticed, there are people still inside that inferno."
That got everyone to be quiet. Alek saw that Volger looked especially worried.
"I'm pretty sure everyone got out in time." Alek tried to reassure him.
"I haven't seen Nora yet." He replied, almost to himself as if no one was listening. Alek shared a look with Deryn who had one eyebrow raised.
"Of course you haven't seen her, you loggerheaded count. We're too far away to see anything." Deryn grumbled. She walked away from them and began toward the trees. "Now where is that Clanker flying chipper thing you were talking about?"
Elsie answered. "You mean the Gyrocopters? They're behind the trees." She led them through the small tangle of branches to where two large flying contraptions were sitting in silence. Bauer was already in one and Klopp climbed aboard next to him and sat behind the controls. He motioned for the others to follow him and Elsie helped Alek up into the machine. To his surprise she didn't join him. Instead she started walking toward the other Gyrocopter, but Deryn stopped her in her path.
"Hang on a squick, why are there two chippers?" She had a very accusing look. Deryn must have realized that all of them could have fit into one of the Gyrocopters, but Elsie seemed to be avoiding her question. Instead she was walking over to where Count Volger and her father were still standing. The three of them were conversing very quietly and Alek saw the Count rush off toward the palace in a huff. Elsie and Uncle Derek didn't follow him, but walked back toward the other chopper. Alek realized what must have been happening and jumped out of the Gyrocopter in order to follow Volger. When he hit the ground he gave a large whine due to the pain in his hip, but continued running after the Count despite it.
"Alek, stop!" Deryn somehow was standing in front of him, her hands on her hips.
"I have to help Volger, he's gone mad and is trying to rescue the boffin."
"Which he is perfectly capable of doing by himself and without your injured bum." She made to steer him back toward the choppers but Alek broke free and continued after Volger. The man might be nuts, but he was Alek's man, and he had to stop him.
Deryn tripped on her skirts but managed to stumble after Alek and grabbed on to his shoulder. He thought she would stop him again but she let him lean on her and together they began to rush back toward the burning palace.
She grumbled. "I can't let you go by yourself you daft prince. If you're so barking certain that you need to get yourself good and killed then I might as well come with you."
Alek grinned at her and would have kept walking forward if Volger hadn't turned around in sudden retreat. He was waving his arms in the air and screaming at them to run away. Alek couldn't understand why until he saw the British soldiers charging after him.
Deryn grabbed his wrist and pulled him back toward the trees. When they reached the Gyrocopters, the engines were running and the blades spinning. Everyone was in the machines except Elsie who was waiting for them.
She wrapped her arms around Alek in a tight squeeze.
"I just wanted to say goodbye, in case I never see you again." She cried.
"Come again?" Alek said.
"I won't be going with you." She muttered.
Deryn pulled them apart. "Is that why there're two chippers?" She spat at Elsie.
"Choppers." Elsie corrected her. "My father and I are going back to Germany, while Klopp will fly you two to Switzerland."
"Germany? We were all supposed to fly back to Switzerland, what's with the change in heart?"
Alek looked between the two in shock. Apparently they had planned the get away ahead of time, he had realized that before, but he didn't expect that it would involve an escape to Switzerland, especially with Deryn agreeing to come along.
Deryn's face looked saddened. "Are you daft? Why would you want to go back there?"
Elsie shrugged. "Frankfurt is my home." She said.
Deryn shook her head. "I don't know Elsie that seems like a bad idea to me. With the way those bastards treated you back there; I wouldn't want to go home."
"So they're a bit mean, I think I can handle it. Can't be nearly as bad as what I've already been through. What more could they do?"
Deryn just looked at her sadly. Alek could tell she was trying to think of something else to convince Elsie not to go, but he had to interrupt.
"I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but we best be on the choppers soon or those soldiers are going to kill us." He saw them edging on the trees now and Volger was right in front of them. They started for the Gyrocopters but Alek's body couldn't take anymore running. The pain in his side tripled and he fell over sideways on the ground. Deryn stopped beside him and tried to pull him up, but the soldiers were already there.
Alek heard Elsie screaming in the background and the sound of bullets racketing off the metal of the choppers. Deryn was shouting at Uncle Derek to take off without them as she tried again to pull Alek to his feet.
Finally he was able to stand, but the soldiers were surrounding them.
At least ten of them were encircling them, and they all had rifles pointed at Deryn. She raised her hands above her head to surrender, and the men swarmed in to grab her. Two of them picked up Alek and began to carry him back toward the palace.
"You dummkopf Alek! You realize this is all your fault! If you hadn't gotten shot by that blasted bird…"
"I know!" He yelled back at her. He couldn't see her face, but could tell by her voice that she must have been smiling. Even he had to laugh a little at the irony of it all.
"At least Elsie get's to go home. She'll have a brilliant homecoming, I'm sure." Deryn said sarcastically.
Sure enough Alek saw the Gyrocopters hover into the sky. From a distance he thought he saw his cousin crying.