Today, something bad happens...
Part 7
Part 8
Chapter 8: No Dinner Plan Survives
The aforementioned relief sigh was immediately followed by a
shriek of terror as the sight to greet the auctioneers and the auctioned was
not the expected lavishly decorated corridor leading to the dinner hall, but a
rather grotesque vision of carnage. Two young men, identical in life, but quite
different in death, were spread across the corridor like strawberry jam on bread.
Various elements of their anatomy were attached to the ceiling and windows of
the long corridor, slowly oozing downward, leaving rust colored lines in their
wake. At the far end of the corridor, a thin black film with numerous pox-like
marks on its surface was whipping about like a curtain in the wind.
“By Crown and Stock! Have you utterly lost your mind, you
demented —” The Princess shouted, instantly positioning herself behind Von
Schmidt, who seemed like the most viable cover in the immediate surroundings.
The latter didn’t let her finish the sentence, which was probably
for the best, since its last few expressions were highly inappropriate for a
lady of her station. “I assure you that this is not my doing. My only plans for
dinner were aperitif, first course, main course and dessert. In fact, have you
not reacted with such genuine vehemence, I would have suspected this pointless
brutality to be your doing.”
“Mine?!” The Princess shouted indignantly, but was
wholeheartedly ignored.
Von Schmidt and Tanka exchanged glances. The former nodded
and the latter charged forth, moving almost too quickly for the eye to follow.
Whatever it was that he endeavored to do was accomplished so rapidly that an
ill-placed blink had prevented the Princess from witnessing it. However, the
end result of Tanaka’s actions was him standing several meters behind the black
curtain, the latter being as dispersed and ruined and the unfortunate menservants
before it.
Jean recovered from the initial shock and said, “Von
Schmidt, the quality of your guests had significantly deteriorated. I can
understand suffering the presence of pirates and merchants, but these filthy,
mindless — ”
“Your ignorance is most lamentable. I would gladly enlighten
you as to its depth, but presently we must seek a safe place before the less
malnourished friends of this somber confetti arrive. In my experience, they
never travel in groups of less than a thousand, as it is impossible to catch a
sufficient amount of solar wind otherwise.”
“Mon Dieu...” The other Jean mumbled. “Are you saying
this is a flap of sun sail? Why would anyone use a sun sail almost sixteen light
hours from the sun?”
Von Schmidt pointed at the corridor side of the
observatory’s gates. The powerful gates were partially molten and the stone
around them was charred and cracked, as if targeted with an industrial-grade
laser beam. “What is provocative to my interior design will be absolutely
ruinous to your flesh. If you wish to be vaporized, burned or torn to ribbons;
by all means, do stay here. However, if your plans for the evening do not
include these pastimes, I highly recommend that you kindly follow
me.”
Not waiting for anyone to reply, Von Schmidt made a series of
motions in the air and a map of the castle and the surrounding area appeared floating
in front of him. It flickered often, making it difficult to read. There were
black dots moving to and fro both around and inside the structure. Ivanov and
Tanaka approached Von Schmidt. The three men had a brief conversation that consisted
of technical terms, and hmmmm’s and ahhh’s. At its conclusion, Von Schmidt
turned to the Princess and the Jeans and said, “It seems that we’ll be heading
to the dinner hall after all. Kindly refrain from all manner of divisive
backstabbing, name calling or social exclusion of servants and gardeners as the
enemy we’re facing is quite united in its cause and does not enjoy the benefit
of classes and roles as we do.”
“Whose enemy, ours or yours?” The Princess asked. It did not
seem likely that her family and Von Schmidt would have any common enemies. In
fact, she felt that any person to whom Von Schmidt or any of those other
present referred to as “enemy” would be her friend.
Von Schmidt turned to the Princess with a grim expression
that caused her to flinch. A second after, his hand shot forth and clenched her
throat with such strength she was forcefully thrust against the wall. The back
of her head hit the hard concrete. Pain and dizziness spread through her entire
frame like molten lead flowing down her veins. However, these were negligible
compared to the paralyzing, sickening fear she experienced. This was the first
time in her life she experienced physical violence used in anger.
“Unlike the others present,” Von Schmidt hissed, “you do not
have the choice to stay here and perish. You will come with me and you will
live this through even if I have to break several of your bones to achieve this
end.”
The Princess was shaking so badly she couldn’t speak. The
rest of the crowd gawked in shocked disbelief. The sole exception was Ivanov,
who was tinkering with the image and seemed to be oblivious to the enormity happening
just a few meters away.
Von Schmidt returned their stares with such animal
viciousness that everyone lowered or averted their eyes. Still holding the
Princess by the throat with a hand that felt like hot steal, Von Schmidt turned
to Ivanov. “Have you rearranged the portals and drones according to our escape
route yet?”
“Da.” The young man answered coldly. “We can move.
But must be careful. Some of this drjan is in our way.”
“No.” Tanaka said. “Let he who’s in our way be careful.”
Von Schmidt let go of the Princess. She crumpled to her
knees, shaking and coughing in a manner probably unbefitting a lady of her
upbringing. The gates in the other end of the corridor slid open, revealing a
disastrous scene of thermal destruction. Bright blue streaks marked locations were
the integrity of the structure was compromised and the damage was automatically
sealed with silicon. The Princess couldn’t even guess at the former utility of
this room. At present, it looked like the core of a rural furnace.
Von Schmidt caught the Princess by the chin and forced her
to look into his strange eyes, two bottomless pits, one artificial and one
natural, both much scarier than a bloodied hallway or a burned chamber. “Let me
make this very clear for you. You’re thinking that the enemy of your enemy is your
friend. You’re mistaken. The injustice which our species has wrought upon our
uninvited guests is so enormous that no amount of spurious apologies or
halfhearted compensation will ever correct it in their eyes. They cannot tell
the difference between a German soldier and a slab of cheese, let alone between
a young royal and an old libertine. Do not attempt to do anything romantically
foolish, because, if history had taught us anything, it is that when a princess
missteps, other people take the fall. Not that they understand what
individual death is.”
“Who are they?!” The Princess finally managed to find
her voice, shouting the words so loudly that her own ears rang long after the
echo of her shout subsided.
Von Schmidt didn’t flinch. “They are your ‘refugees,’ the
chornoi. Believe me, they do not execute justice. They simply execute.”
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