Chapter 62 Pain and Blood
The bedroom prison.
Esteban: Danilo, tell me if there are any hidden messages in these.
Danilo: Of course, Steba.
Esteban: Do not call me that.
Danilo took the parchments and used the ashes from his pipe on his message and looked for words with irregular letters on the one for Heinrich.
Danilo: Send message Marisela. Two days after Unification. That means the fleet attacks then.
Esteban: Nothing else?
Danilo: No. This has the words delay, security, south, castle.
Esteban: What does it mean?
Danilo: I suppose it means delaying the decision. The southern castle is Colinas Gemelas. A safe place.
Esteban: I need the truth.
Danilo: I have no reason to lie now.
Esteban: Before, you had no reason to lie.
The Count took the parchments and left.
Esteban: He seemed offended when I asked him to tell the truth.
Tatiana: Two hearts suffer, love.
Esteban: Yes, but I did not betray him.
Tatiana: It is difficult for him. You can be yourself. But he needs to hide his true self most of the time. He acted out of love and fear. You have called men heroes for acting for these reasons.
Esteban: Why do you always defend him?
Tatiana: I love every part of you, including the part that loves him. What were the responese from the Ridges?
Esteban: The noble houses of Puerto Blanco are traveling west. They left with everything. The houses loyal to here and those from the north are divided. They offer a small force.
Tatiana: I need to travel north. My uncle can gather many warriors to fight against Aurelio.
Esteban: I need your voice in court. We also need Danilo.
Tatiana: Now, we need food.
She called Yegor, but Kerstin and Lupita appeared.
Tatiana: Where is Yegor?
Kerstin looked at the ground and remained silent.
Lupita: Marco escaped.
Both: Goddess!
Quarters of the servants.
Marco knelt in the darkness moved his head into the corridor to look in both directions. There were two doors, one in each direction. Each door had three pages standing in front of it. The boy silently rejoined the others.
Marco whispered and gestured to help Yegor: Three over there and three over there. Two with swords and all with daggers. Those with swords are taller. Sword, Yegor, and I on the right. Sword, Freider, and Gunther on the left.
Gunther: I do not think I can.
Antonio whispered: Gunther, six against six. We need you.
Frieder: It is fine. He does not know how to fight. Gunther, stay here with the candle. If anyone tries to escape, stab them with this in the kidney. Up and in.
He showed the section of his body under his vest, above his hip. He offered a small sharp blade,
Francisco: Tono, go with them. I can help Frieder. I am good with a sword. Do not run. Walk quickly. When you see them, watch how they are holding their weapons. If the point is toward you, they intend to stab. If it is pointed to the side, they intend to slash.
The four nodded. They walked with soft, but quick steps, until they were closer and the other pages saw them.
On the right, Jaime spotted them. He drew his sword easily and approached Antonio. A young page drew his dagger but froze in fear. The third advanced with Jaime and drew his dagger but almost dropped it. Antonio approached Jaime until he was just out of range of swords and waited for an attack. Marco approached the nearest page and watched the point of the dagger extending towards him. He moved the hammer swiftly and struck his hand such force that the dagger fell to the ground. Yegor ran towards the frightened boy and stabbed him in the arm he had never moved.
To the left, Frieder and Francisco walked purposefully toward the pages. One of the pages uttered a few curses. As the three drew their weapons, Frieder threw an axe at one of them, striking him in the face. The axe fell to the side, but the wound began to bleed. Francisco and Leandro approached each other until their swords almost touched. The other page approached Frieder with his dagger after the other page bent over, covered his face and screamed in pain.
Jaime attacked with his sword, but Antonio easily deflected it and thrust his sword towards the eyes of the other. Jaime stepped back to dodge the attack. Marco swung the hammer towards the head of his opponent, who tried to dodge it and fell against a wall. Yegor tried to stab the other page in the face, but he started to flee and the blade only found air.
Leandro and Francisco made small circles with the tips of their swords. The page swung the dagger in a wide arc to attack Frieder. The blacksmith caught the blade in his leather glove, grabbed the head of the other, and smashed his forehead against his nose.
In the hallway, Gunther looked at the knife and thought: Coward. Bitch. The blond boy placed the candle in a nearby stone ledge and ran towards his friend.
Jaime slashed at the stomach of the dark-haired page. Antonio dodged it and leaped forward with his sword pointed directly at his neck. The tip went in deep above the collarbone. When Antonio withdrew his sword, blood gushed from the wound. Marco failed to hit the page on the head with the hammer, but it landed very close to his face. The page fell and began running on his hands and feet down the corridor, following the other.
Leandro feigned a stabbing motion, and when Francisco moved his sword to block, he bent his knees and stabbed the page low in the ribs. The body of Francisco froze for a few seconds. Leandro stepped back and pulled his sword free. Frieder bashed the nose of his opponent and released him. The page fell to one knee and gazed at small stars in a large circle of darkness.
Marco looked around. Yegor followed the two who were fleeing, shouting furiously. Antonio looked at Jaime with a strange feeling. Jaime fell to the ground and began to breathe heavily. His eyes filled with tears. Antonio felt nauseous and vomited on the wall beside him.
Frieder turned to face Leandro and adjusted the dagger in his hand. Leandro slashed across his stomach with his sword, cutting through his shirt, and blood gushed out of a long and curved line. Leandro prepared to cut in the other direction when the blade of a knife entered his body and stabbed him in the left kidney. Leandro trembled for a moment and slowly fell to his knees, then quickly to his side. He lay on the wooden and stone floor. His body shook for several minutes from the shock. Gunther approached Frieder and hugged him. He did not know what to do except hug his boyfriend.
Marco grabbed Antonio by the shoulder: Go find him.
Marco ran to the other side, brandished his hammer, and shouted. The two wounded pages decided to flee together, leaving blood on the ground behind them.