Michael
Michael walked through the battlefield. The surviving intruders were currently bound by the uninjured while Sola ran in between the injured.
"Everyone who is still able to fight gather up," Michael yelled to get everyone's attention.
Michael had to order some to sit back down as they still wanted to fight even with missing limbs and other gruesome wounds. In the end, twenty-six men in fighting shape had gathered. Other than Geron and a smoking Eydis only two other knights were there; there hadn't been many left in the castle with some having accompanied Lord Rowan and some more being redeployed to the eastern border. Michael was still concerned about the number as there should have been six, five if Michael took out the injured Lance who had collapsed right after the fight was concluded.
So many losses, Michael thought with anger flaring in his chest. He tried to shake it off and focused on the here and now.
"Geron, organize our forces into hunting parties and scour the castle of enemies. I want a unit to go to my brother's quarters and secure them, make sure to tell them about the lynx mask and that he is an ally and not to be bothered. I want another party to secure the gate and send someone to call Kiran, he might make it in time to be useful."
Michael then turned to the old man with the helmet as Geron began barking orders. "Sir Kilev, right?"
The man raised his helmet off his head and revealed his grizzled face. It was indeed Sir Kilev, an old noble knight of House Ragar, a baron in the northern Reen. "Yes, milord. I am glad to see you have survived this scuffle." He looked down at Michael's bloodied shirt and sword with a satisfied gaze.
"How are things in the noble quarters, Sir?"
"Most nobles have locked themselves in their rooms with their guards. Me and Lord Ragar" - he pointed at a blond boy, maybe sixteen years old - "rallied who we could but as you see the bounty was rather underwhelming. We killed what we could on our way here but there are still many left there looting. We couldn't take them alone, so we came here to lend our aid."
"You have done well, all of you,” Michael nodded, “Geron?"
The knight looked over and then said, "I split into three groups of five led by me, Sir Pluke, and Sir Gellan. One going to the gate, one to your brother's quarters, I will start hunting the enemy down in the hallways. The rest will go with Sir Kilev and clear out the noble quarters or stay here to take care of the prisoners and wounded."
"Me and Eydis will join the push into the noble quarters," Michael said.
Geron nodded, knowing fully well that he couldn't talk his ward out of it anyway, and this way he was with the biggest group. Solon walked into the group at this point, "Sola and I will stay here and take care of the wounded."
The soldiers grabbed any gear they could get their hands on quickly, mostly chain mail and helmets. Shortly after Michael left with his contingent back the way Sir Kilev's group had come from.
"Sir Kilev, you have the most experience here, you are in command," Michael said while running in between the jogging guards. The greyed knight took his promotion with a silent nod, and they moved on.
It didn't take long for them to reach the noble quarters and find absolute chaos. Doors were broken in, people screaming and dozens of intruders running around with gold and chests in their hands.
"NO STEP BACK," Sir Kilev roared and led the charge into the hallways. They were outnumbered again but things were different now, they were armored, in formation, and the enemy was filled with greed. Some fought, others tried to run, and others again just gave up on the spot.
What followed couldn't really be called a battle, their enemies weren't trained soldiers but thugs, the few augmenters here and there couldn't turn the tide and there seemed to be few mages present in the whole castle, the one mage that they met was rummaging through a chest when a guardsman surprised him, he tried to blast him with fire but a well-placed punch to the face ended that attempt before it started.
It took them an hour to clear out every hallway and broken-in room of the noble wing. Michael stood in the dining hall of the wing, looking at the corpse of the girl that he had judged only a day earlier when multiple nobles entered the room.
Michael had ordered most of the guards that had accompanied him to join the clearing effort but some he had ordered to gather the nobles that had locked themselves in.
"Lord Michael, how is it possible that something like this happens under your watch? This is a scandal, we are under your protection, and you fail to ...," a heavy man named Lord Uger began to rant.
Michael turned around and glared at the man with all the anger and hatred that he felt at this very moment. He was a child, but his wrath must have been so strong that even the fully grown nobles recoiled in fear.
"Do you have no shame, Baron Uger," Michael snapped at him, "I know for a fact that you came here with four guards because we had to clear out extra housing for them near to your room and you dare to even speak after you barricade yourself in your room with four men that could fight. You are pathetic."
"Milord, we didn't know of the situation out in the castle. It was more reasonable to defend ourselves until reinforcements came," another lord spoke up, Michael couldn't remember his name.
"How many did you kill while you defended yourself," he stared at the man, he tried to find words, but Michael interrupted him again. "As many as the sixteen-year-old Lord Ragar? How many did you kill Lord Ragar just so that we can see if any of these 'men' can compare."
The boy looked not happy with the attention and quietly said, "I landed the finishing blow on five, milord."
"Five! Has anyone here done the same? Can anyone here say they have contributed the same amount as a sixteen-year-old," his voice had become yelling as he berated the nobles. "I directly killed two men today and injured many more! And I am FUCKING TEN YEARS OLD!" He had felt the disappointment from the back of his mind, but his feelings had overwhelmed it easily.
No one spoke up they all looked like children who were currently scolded. Michael shook his head, "Congratulations, you all lived because others put themselves at risk. Be proud of yourself and if you want to maybe redeem even the slightest bit of your honor go out there and help with the clean-up."
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Michael whirled around and stomped away, he had said what he wanted to say and didn't want to subject himself to their excuses. He knew that his father would get an ear full of complaints from them, but he didn't care.
Michael decided to make his way to his brother's room next. They were reasonably close, and he felt like the situation had been brought under control and he wanted to make sure they were alright.
They didn't meet any resistance as Michael and his escort of Eydis and guards moved through the hallways. He could hear some screams and clashing of metal here and there, but the castle had calmed down a lot.
Michael reached the room of his brothers shortly after, they still shared a room as they were still young, and the same nanny took care of them. Multiple corpses of the assassins lay in the corridor and a bad feeling began to sink in. Michael walked up to the door where he was met by Sir Gellan, his expression was dark, and Michael's gut turned the moment he saw him.
"I am sorry, milord," the brown-haired knight said, his arms were covered in blood, even more so than the rest of his body. "We came too late."
Michael wanted to push past him, but the knight stopped him, "I don't think that you should see this, milord."
"Let me through," Michael growled and the knight lowered his hand with a sad expression. He stepped to the side and Michael brushed past him.
The moment he entered the room his senses were overloaded, the scent of blood, the two children's corpses on their beds covered in wounds. Two more corpses were in the room, one man lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood a knife in his throat and another one stapled to the wall by multiple knives. The man on the wall was a gruesome sight and Michael turned away his gaze before he could take in too many details.
His mouth trembled open as he slowly tumbled over to Jona's bed, his face was corrupted by pain, and his mouth open in a voiceless scream. Michael's head turned to Sieg's bed and found a similar scene.
He fell to his knees, tears rolling down Michael's cheeks but for the first time in this horrific night, he felt numb. There was no anger, no pain, no hatred, just this numbness pulsating to the tune of his heartbeat.
"I failed you," the voice of the lynx-masked man appeared out of nowhere, followed instantly by the sound of weapons drawn.
Michael looked up and as if through a haze he saw that the man stood next to him. "They were dead when I got here. The only thing I could do was to punish those who have done this." He didn't seem to be fazed at all by the weapons pointed at him.
Michael looked at him in the holes of his mask, "You did what you could," his voice was trembling and barely audible, "None of this is your fault. Without you, I would be dea ..."
At this moment his emotions finally broke like a dam, his voice failed and became a whimper. He turned his head back to his brothers and raised his voice stronger than he ever had. A scream that told the whole story of the night ripped itself from his throat. Fueled by his pain, frustration, and to a good part flaring mana, the scream could be heard throughout the hallways of the castle.
It took two more hours to search the whole castle and bring in the last of the intruders. Michael had spent most of this time in his brother’s room, going from emotional outbursts to lethargic staring and back over and over again.
After a while, his anger finally overcame his desperation and he rose from his place between his brothers.
The guards instantly snapped to attention and Eydis and Lynx looked at Michael.
“Put my brothers on your shields, we will bring them to the training yard,” Michael said with a hoarse voice.
No one questioned his orders, and the men carefully prepared an honor march for the youngest of House Rowan, covering them in clean blankets they grabbed from the cabinet.
The castle had fully awoken by now and was filled with soldiers of the castle and also town watchmen who had probably arrived a little while ago.
Everyone stopped what they were doing the moment Michael and his small honor guard came into view. He could see the shock on the faces of the watchmen and absolute grief and rage on the faces of the guardsmen that they passed. Many even joined the group and marched in silence with them.
When they reached the training yard their group had grown considerably, and many faces turned toward them as they entered.
No one said a word as Michael walked to a free spot in the middle of the yard and signaled his men to put down his brothers. It was as if time had stopped for anyone but them as Michael saw frozen faces and wide eyes.
He could see Sola with tears on her face sitting next to an injured servant, too weak to get on her feet. Solon was plucking at his beard with an unsatisfied look.
He could see the shame on the faces of many nobles who hadn’t initially participated in the fight.
Geron at the side of Kiran entered the training yard with a couple of prisoners just as Michael began to speak.
“We failed tonight,” he started with a tone that fits the situation. “Enemies entered our home and ravaged it. My brothers are dead. Killed by those that nearly took my life as well.”
He could hear someone say, “These damn devils. It must have been magic.”
He breathed in, this was not the time to lecture his men. His gaze stuck to Geron, who looked heartbroken as he stared at the corpses of Sieg and Jona.
“We have killed or captured most of the intruders, but we have failed. I don’t even know what to say. How can I talk about it if I have no idea how or why this happened? I want answers!”
He looked at Geron with a piercing gaze, “Geron, bring me answers. I don’t care how.” He could see the hate that flowed in himself rising in his knight's eyes.
After that Geron started interrogating the intruders, trying to find the leader. Some were dragged into adjacent rooms and Michael didn’t care to think about what was happening to them there but not just one corpse was dragged out of them after.
Michael’s head pulsed, it was a blanket of sadness, hate, and disgust coming from so many different parts of his mind that he thought he was going crazy.
“Michael, sit down,” Sola grabbed his arm and forced him to take a seat on a small stool. He had no strength left to resist and more or less fell onto it only staying upright with Sola’s support.
She began cleaning him up as multiple nobles, guards and other people came by to express their condolences and respect, but Michael’s mind was not able to comprehend much anymore.
"He is in shock," he heard Solon say after Michael hadn't reacted to multiple questions.
"I might be in shock, but I am not deaf," he said weirdly calm. A ruckus erupted before anyone could reply. Michael turned his head and saw four guardsmen being dragged in front of him and forced onto their knees.
"We found the path the enemy took in while chasing some intruders, milord. They came through the small servant gate and these four traitors were just snoozing around on their posts," one of the guards said, his voice filled with disdain.
Michael inspected the guardsmen on their knees and even through his dazed state of mind he could see that they were completely beside themself. One even said, "What happened? Where am I?"
Michael cut off the guardsmen who wanted to answer violently. "The castle was attacked, and the enemy entered through your gate. Tell me what happened before you fell asleep."
The man blinked a couple of times before the realization set in and panic began to slowly settle on his face.
"I-I ehm I..." He didn't manage to get a clear word out. "Concentrate soldier," Michael roared but his anger was quickly subdued by the numb blanket that was his mind.
"I-it was all as normal. We kept guard. Everything was quiet and then M-Miranda came by to bring us some drinks. After that, I can't remember clearly," the guard explained with visible strain on his face.
"Who is Miranda?"
"One of the servants, milord."
"It must be magic," another man said and grasped his sun pendant.
"Don't be ridiculous," Kiran interjected, "The servant has put a sleeping powder in their drinks." Solon nodded in agreement.
"How could you have been so dumb to accept something like that while on duty," the angry guard yelled, "We should have strung you up right then and there."
"How could we know? Miranda has worked here for years already! She was here even before I started and I have been in service for five years already," the guard defended himself and his mates.
Silence fell on the group as dark thoughts invaded their minds. Has this been planned for years already? Or was Miranda just a turncoat?
"Put them into house arrest until they have been thoroughly questioned. And find this Miranda," Michael said with little force in his voice. This was just too much for him and the thought that they were after him didn't let go of his mind.
Were my brothers just collateral damage?