The Pearls - RUYI

Chapter 7 - War

Ruyi woke to the sound of shouting. It was time. Yuan opened her tent and was relieved to see her awake. "They're coming," he said.

Ruyi hurriedly got dressed before racing to the hospital tent where Bolin was already briefing his doctors.

"Be alert," he said. "They might attack our tent. It's not honorable. But the Qing's aren't famous for their honour. None of you are to leave the tent. Especially you, Ruyi. If they were to discover we had a female doctor, you would become a target. The soldiers will take in the wounded. Attend to them in order of severity. If you need help, call on me."

Beside her, Yuan's face was fierce and unafraid. She had never seen him like this. She wondered if Enlai was the same, an ant amongst the soldiers, but a fierce fighter nonetheless. She prayed for him inwardly, hoping she wouldn't see him today in the tent.

Her thoughts were disrupted by the sound of a gong. Her people had begun the battle song. The sound of marching outside the tent heightened the pounding rhythm. She wanted to peek outside, but stayed focused on preparing her station.

The hospital opening flapped open and the ginormous shape of the General filled its space. He was wearing his armour, magnificent and embellished with red tags and ties. His hair was tied back and in his arm held the heavy helmet which he would wear into battle. Slung across his hips was a long sword, his weapon of choice. He was a fighter of brute force, much larger than the Qing men, but perhaps slower too.

He exchanged quiet words with Bolin briefly, and turned to leave. Before she could stop herself, almost unintentionally, Ruyi blurted, "Be careful!"

She clamped her mouth shut immediately and her cheeks flushed. But she remained eye contact with him when he turned to face her.

He tilted his head in acknowledgment but gave nothing else away, before opening the flap and leaving.

Twenty minutes later, the battle began.

The metal clanging of sword against sword, the sound of bodies being impaled, the cries and groans of pain and shouts played sharply in Ruyi's ears as she worked. Men had already been rushed in by their fellow comrades, some with large cuts and gashes, some with serious stab or arrow wounds.

As she worked to stitch the soldier at her station, she tried not to let the horror show on her face. "My name is Yilong, miss. And you are the famous female doctor of the Song Empire." He attempted to smile at her, but instead managed more of a grimace. "I'm sorry. Let me give you something for the pain," Ruyi said. The soldier was young and healthy, despite his shoulder injury, and Ruyi knew he would be well enough for the next battle. It frustrated her, knowing she would fix him only for him to return broken once again.

As if reading the look on her face, Yilong said, "I'm proud to serve our Emperor, miss. Our country is the best it's ever been because of him. But we must fight back. We must teach them that to kill our Emperor is to earn his son's wrath."

Ruyi didn't answer. What use was it to fight back? Would it ever end? The death of Qing's Emperor, would only serve to fuel his army, to fight her people more fiercely. Taking their land would only make its people hate hers more. She saw no meaningful end.

Shouting from the entrance disrupted her thoughts and she screamed in horror at the sight of Enlai being dragged inside by two soldiers. The General was one of them. But she barely noticed him with her brother's limp figure on the hospital bed.

He had been stabbed in the torso. Bolin was already working on him and she squeezed her brother's hand in terror as he made steady work.

"What happened? Shouldn't he have been amongst the back flanks? He has been in the army for less than a month."

"Somehow he stuck to the front line. He shouldn't have been there," General Lang said. For the first time since her brother had arrived, she noticed him. His face was splattered with blood, hair wild-looking beneath his helmet. His eyes were the darkest she'd ever seen.

"That's your responsibility," Ruyi muttered softly. Then with more courage, "You were meant to protect him."

Lang's eyes softened ever so slightly, but still, his voice was steely when he said, "You're wrong. I did protect him. But I can't control a man's actions."

Angry, Ruyi turned away from him and looked at Enlai's pale face. Bolin had already cleaned the wound and patched him up. He would live, but Ruyi when would he be thrown into battle again?