Ch. 32B

"What do you mean, Ulrich kidnapped her?!" said Martis, incredulous.

He was just about beside himself. As if anything else could go wrong! Here they had finally found their beloved comrade, but now the Corporal had life-threatening injuries! On top of that, both Martis and Oreldo discovered Alan was dead; but they had no idea who shot him and his brother, Jan. They got to the bottom of the mysterious 906, but now the entire group was in danger of melting like the Wicked Witch of the West! And if all that weren't enough, now Princess Septieme, whom Martis was charged to escort, had been kidnapped by who they thought was a trusted ally!

"Does that mean Ulrich has betrayed Lady Kavi…wait, now where did she go?" he asked.

"Keep it together, man," Oreldo said. "First things first: a hospital for the Big Guy, then we gotta help the 906, then we rescue the princess. Okay?"

"Tell them to send for Dr. Caplan in the Empire," Alice said. "That or we're going to have to transport him back somehow. She'll know what to do." Martis nodded and left the room.

Oreldo pulled a very reluctant Stecchin to her feet and just held her for a long moment, saying nothing. He waited until she calmed down, then gently led her to the doorway.

"Come on," he said.

Stecchin could only sniffle in response. She slowly looked around the room. She had listened to the whole commotion with only half an ear, but it was still a shock to see Oland in such dire straits. She looked at Alice, who sat beside him, her head bowed and her hair covering her face. Seeing the sword hilt sticking out of Oland's side, Stecchin knew the cloud of gloom over Alice was a most terrible guilt.

"You had to do it, didn't you, Lieutenant?" she asked Alice. Alice didn't look up but eventually gave a slow nod.

"Come on, LT," Oreldo said. "You had no choice. He killed two guys before coming after you! You were sure he was going to kill you! Any of us would have reacted the same way!"

Alice remained silent, unmoving.

Stecchin looked at her, and the beginning of a dark sort of knowing bubbled up inside her. Only then did she realize Lady Kavi was missing. She asked Martis and Oreldo, but neither had seen her after they grabbed Oland's lantern to try and fix it. Stecchin thought for a moment. The mysterious masked assassin could have been the one to kill Alan and his brother…but no, he seemed focused only on her. He would have had to go out on stage in order to shoot them from point-blank range, and she had just come from there, getting away from…Lord Taylor. Stecchin didn't know why, but she was sure the ash blonde assassin wasn't the murderer. That only left one person cold and arrogant enough to do it…and if Kavi was off tracking him…

"I have to go after him," she mumbled.

"What?" Oreldo asked. He didn't like how her eyes had suddenly gone dark and flat.

"I have to help Lady Kavi," she said. "And I…I have to avenge Alan!"

Oreldo gasped and shook her a bit. When she didn't react, He grabbed her head and held it in his hands. He knew he couldn't mince words with her.

"No, Lily, dont!" he said in a hushed tone. "Don't do it. You don't want a man's blood on your hands, no matter how guilty he is! Once done, you can't undo it!"

As she stared at his face, genuine with concern, she began to cry again.

"But," she said softly, "but I'm a soldier. Isn't it our duty to do away with the enemy?"

Oreldo was devastated. If only Lily had never made this trip! It was too late now. He shook his head at her.

"Lily, no," he said. " How can you say such a thing? You know full well our duty isn't to kill. It's to defend, to protect. If we go out killing people for revenge, we're no better than our enemies!"

"B-but Oreldo!" she protested. Oreldo frowned. He switched tactics.

"No, Sergeant-Major!" he shouted. "And it's Sub-Lieutenant Oreldo, in case you forgot! We're the Pumpkin Scissors, dammit! We don't cause war, we relieve it! Have you got that, Sergeant-Major Stecchin?"

Stecchin stiffened a bit. She wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. She relaxed, glared at Oreldo, and saluted.

"Yes, sir," she said.

"All right then," he said. "Let's go."

Leaving Alice with Oland for the moment, they all went outside to where the 906 had gathered. Carlotta was waiting for them. They found out that the rest of the royal family was safely escorted back to the castle, but had left a handful of guards behind to assist. Kavi's people were also taking action, making sure the audience members were all right. Oreldo and Martis quickly spoke with a few people to send for an ambulance as soon as possible.

Alice blinked her reddened eyes and held Oland's hand, keeping track of his vital signs as best as she knew how. His breathing was labored, but so far his pulse seemed normal. Her fingers combed his dark, scruffy hair, smoothing it away from his face, taking a closer look at it.

"My poor Corporal," she muttered to herself. "You idiot…still getting hurt on my account...didn't make a sound, just passed out. What am I going to do with you?"

She hadn't removed her sword from his body for dear it might do more harm than good. Impalements and embedded objects could be tricky to remove, even with highly skilled surgeons. Sometimes removing the objects too soon caused the patient to bleed to death, or injured them worse when pulling the objects out. She examined his wound. There was a chance it had missed his vital organs, however slim. She noticed there was very little blood so far, but that could just mean he was bleeding internally.

The wound he gave himself on the back of his neck was much worse, in a way. Alice examined the blood that stained his jacket. An ominous odor arose, and she wanted to throw up. The stench reminded her of the gangrenous infections she had smelled while passing through various field hospitals while still training at the Academy. She rubbed a bit of blood between her fingers. The tackiness of it felt normal, but there was also an almost spongy quality to it. Where the blood had dried, bits of it were gritty, like rust-colored sand, though the particles were far too small to see with the naked eye.

What the hell is this? she wondered.

Aloud she said, "Hold on, Corporal. Help is on the way!"

Don't worry, peeps! the previous scene wiped me out, but I'm still plowing away at it! Stay tuned!