Chapter 24

Luke had just planted his explosives when he felt the first arrow find its way through his armor and hit his leg, but he had no time to think about it since the charge would go off in 15 seconds. He made sure it was planted right and turned to run. That’s when he felt the second hit. This one was serious because it was in his abdomen. Before he could get out, he was hit in the other leg. He fought through the pain to ensure he was out of there in time. He ran out and dove into the open door of a nearby building. As he was passing through the door, the charge went off. Usually, he should have been far enough away to be safe, but where he took cover was right in line with the entryway, and the thick stone directed part of the blast back at him. Even though the satchel charge was just black powder, Luke had packed it very well, and the explosion was powerful enough to shake the stone of the building loose. Before long, Luke was pinned under a large piece of rubble. Slowly, more rubble came down, and Luke admitted he wouldn’t make it through the day. He was pinned and bleeding. He couldn’t even reach his wounds to bind them, so instead of struggling, he decided to spend the rest of his life thinking about his beautiful wife and adorable daughter. He prayed he had taught enough people so Marion could lead them to a much better future.

Slowly, he felt his life drain out of him. He was becoming delirious. He had to be because he could swear he heard Marion calling for him, and she sounded frantic and panicked. ‘That can’t be her; she never wanted to see me again,’ he thought. Marion had been so pissed at him the last time he saw her that she cursed him out and ordered him never to touch her again. Slowly, more light reached his eyes, and he finished preparing himself to leave this cruel world.

Luke felt himself getting lighter, and he was amazed by the sensation because it felt like being lifted to heaven, but he had to admit it would be much more likely for him to end up in hell. ‘Oh well, I am a devil dog after all,’ and smiled weakly at that thought. He felt a pair of warm, soft hands on his face and heard Marion’s voice again. As his face turned toward the light, he fought to open his eyes. A blonde angel was looking down at him with a warm smile and tears streaming down her face. It had to be an angel; she was beautiful, timeless, and wore a halo.

Marion could now see the blue of Luke’s eyes. She loved those eyes more than land, power, or money. He was alive but barely. She wanted to do nothing more than pull him out of there and take him to bed, but the medical training that Luke had pounded into her head ever since they met stopped her. She knew he might have a broken back or other injuries. One of her men found part of a door they could slip under Luke to lift him out. As they lifted Luke’s massive body out, he spoke with not much more than a whisper:

“Marion? ... Marion? Where are you? Semp ... Semper Fi.”

Marion knew that he most likely would die; nobody survived those injuries. As she held his hand, she felt it go slack as he went quiet.

“LUKE!! LUKE, DON’T DIE ON ME! HANG ON, DARLING! Please hang on. Hang on for Mackenzie. Please.” What had started as a waling cry finished as a quiet sob.

She was finding it increasingly hard to hide her tears, and so when she saw one of the men who had helped her get Luke out of the rubble break down in tears, Marion could no longer hold it back. She cried and cried, not caring who saw her and didn’t know how long she cried. Marion didn’t even know when she finally stopped, but the next conscious thought she recognized was back in her old chamber in the castle. She was still in her uniform and had Luke’s blood on her.

As she swung her feet off the bed, Marion realized she felt like shit, thirsty, hungry, her hands were killing her, and she worried about Mackenzie. Her hands were bandaged, so she couldn’t see how badly they were hurt. Marion admitted that she wouldn’t see Luke until she reached heaven. She stumbled to the door barefoot and opened it. The two guards by the door came to attention and presented arms. She nodded to them and asked:

“Where is Colonel Smiten?”

“She was in the great hall the last time I saw her, ma’am.”

“Okay,” as Marion began to walk that way, another thought came to her. “One more thing, what day is it?”

“10 March, ma’am.”

“I was out for three days?!?!”

“Aye, ma’am. The colonel ordered that you were not to be disturbed unless your life was at risk, ma’am.”

“I see. Thank you. Since my hands don’t work right now, can one of you help me with my boots?”

“Of course, ma’am,” One of the guards snapped as Marion returned to her room.

It took a couple of minutes for Marion to get her boots on with the guard’s help. Once she had them on, she was off to find Gabriella. Every soldier she passed came to attention and stepped aside for her. As annoying as it was, Marion was starting to feel a growing pride in her army. They were becoming professionals and had now won two battles against forces of superior numbers, with one of those battles being in an urban environment. When Luke led his troops into York, he only had one company and a few support troops before Gabriella brought up support. The question was whether that winning trend could continue with Luke gone. Gabriella wasn’t there when Marion got to the great hall, but one of Marion’s female bodyguards was. The guard snapped to attention. Marion heard the guard’s bootheels clicking together. The guard was as stiff as a board, her breast pointed straight forward, and her dirty blonde hair in a French braid was barely visible under her hat.

“Do you know where Colonel Smiten is at?”

“Yes, ma’am. The colonel just stepped out to get some news. I believe she is still in the telegraph room, ma’am.”

“Telegraph room?”

“Aye, ma’am. It’s in the small room through that door with the two guards on it.”

Marion turned to see Gabriella coming through the door. Her uniform was clean and crisp. Her steps were even, and she carried herself with pride. Gabriella hadn’t seen Marion because she was busy giving orders to a courier. As soon as Gabriella sighted Marion, she stopped, snapped to attention, and saluted. Marion returned the salute and walked up to Gabriella.

“Come, colonel, we need to talk.”

They walked into a small room nearby and closed the door.

“So, what has been going on the last three days?”

“I ordered the prisoners from the first battle to town right after the battle here ended. I figured they would be much easier to guard here, plus we need as much labor as we can get our hands on to get the large number of urgent tasks done. I also requested Alice send every person she could spare, but instead, she brought the entire unit. Pollyanna came through the battle with a few scratches, so she has gone out with a strong escort to map the rest of your lands. We found Cecilia’s treasure hoard, and I have been using it to pay the civilians in town to help clean up the town and clear away the rubble. We also found her ledger for her criminal enterprise, and I have sent cavalry units to each of her properties to dismantle it, free all of her captives, and bring them back to York for medical treatment. Initial reports suggest that her empire was far larger than we thought, and by liquidating it, you should be able to get maybe four or five times the amount of money we found in her hoard. All the rescued people are to be brought back to York and turned over to Alice. If the guards surrender without a fight, they are to be spared, if they resist, then your cavalry is under orders to kill them without mercy. I also have been looking into installing plumbing in the castle and eventually through the entire city.”

“What about casualties?”

“Not as bad as it could have been. So far, we have suffered 80 dead and a further 100 wounded. Almost all of them came during the storming of the town. It would have been far worse if we hadn’t arrived so quickly. So far, we have counted 2,300 dead or wounded out of Cecilia’s army, and the rest are prisoners. It seems most of the prisoners we took were ones she had forced into the army. Speaking of her, Alice told me a little while ago that she expects Cecilia to recover.”

“Can you send word that Mackenzie is to stay put? I don’t want to risk her health by bringing her to this filth hole until we can get sewers installed. Next, set up watch post on our borders; I suspect the other local nobles will want to take away everything we have won. Then we need to see to the army’s refit, and they will need some rest. I expect that we’ll be attacked within a week or so.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

“Gabby, you’re my lover. There’s no need to call me anything other than Marion when we are alone or with close friends.” Gabriella gave Marion a warm smile and a quick hug.

“I suspect you’re right about the surrounding nobles attacking us, Marion. Several of them have had representatives here over the last couple of days asking about you, and they remind me of vultures. Do you know what has truly surprised me, Marion?”

“No, what?”

“That you haven’t asked about Luke yet.”

“Why should I concern myself with the dead when I have enough problems with the living?”

“Oh, Marion, my darling, you need to follow me, and as your lover, I order you to follow me so I can show you something.”