Please Note: As a reminder, this story is rated PG-13. This chapter has rather a lot of gore (and that's after a lot of really heavy editing in a (probably futile) attempt to make it more tasteful). Also, somebody dies. Don't worry, it isn't someone you know well. If you need something calming *and* tasteful, I suggest the external link.
The ear-splitting crash seemed to occur only seconds after Mulberry had finally closed her eyes, but in reality it must have been hours. The watch was calling midnight when Aurelia had finally decided that sleep was an acceptable goal, and when Mulberry found herself shocked awake the sky was already starting to fade from black to blue.
The baby set to crying at once, as Salix, and then Tsuga, each leapt to her feet. Mulberry rocked Aurelia as Marcus rushed to her side, and Petro sleepily struggled with his blankets. By the time the second scream echoed down through the ceiling, Salix and Tsuga were already pushing through the door.
“That’s a woman’s scream,” Marcus said in surprise, standing protectively over the baby and Mulberry. She rocked Aurelia more vigorously, trying to will the child to be quiet.
Petro, sword in hand, rushed to the door after Salix and Tsuga, calling back, “Come on, Marcus! We have to help her, whoever she is.”
Marcus nodded in agreement. He turned to follow Petro, but then faltered, looking back towards Mulberry and Aurelia.
“Marcus!,” Petro repeated, “Hurry!”
Marcus reached for Mulberry, his fingers barely brushing her arm before he turned, and, scooping up his sword, followed Petro out of the room.
Mulberry stood alone in the empty room, alone except for Aurelia, who was still screaming. She stared at the open door. They aren’t protecting us, Mulberry realised. Not even Marcus, who pretends to be Aurelia’s father, is staying to protect us.
By the time Mulberry reached the upstairs room, the woman was alone. There were gouts of blood splashed on the floor leading to the bedroom. Her four companions appeared to be trying to help the woman, who looked pale and bloody.
“This isn't going to work, Marcus Marius!” Salix panted, “Even the salve can't save her. She's been butchered.” Still, Salix dug the little pot of cream out of her pouch.
“Just keep trying,” Marcus pleaded, “We have to try.”
Salix looked like she couldn't tell where to apply the salve. Mulberry gasped at the gory scene. The small sound made the others finally notice her.
“Get Aurelia out of here!” Marcus barked, “This isn’t good for her to see. This isn’t good for you to see, Mulberry.”
Mulberry barely registered Marcus’ words, or Petro’s hand on her elbow. He started to guide her back to the door, but Mulberry shook him off, fascinated by the terrible scene. The woman's dark hair lay against the white pillow, contrasting oddly with the spatters of blood. The woman's face was very pale, her eyes staring at nothing. She was still alive, though – her rough breathing proved that.
“It – it’s her,” Mulberry realised in surprise.
“Her who?” Marcus asked.
“The woman who tried to steal Aurelia! The one who was tailing us!”
Petro leaned around Mulberry, and after a good, long look gave a low whistle, “It is her. That’s the same woman, Marcus.”
Marcus, his head canted to one side, asked “But how is that possible? I thought the guards arrested her.”
The woman, her eyes still unfocused, muttered something in Estavacan. Mulberry's eyes grew wide, and she approached the woman, holding the baby out to her.
“Mulberry! What are you doing?” Marcus demanded, reaching out a bloody hand to try to push the baby away.
Mulberry dodged his attempt, pushing the baby into the woman's arms.
“Thank you,” the woman breathed, using the imperial language.
Marcus reached again for the baby, leaving off of the futile attempt to save the woman's life. Mulberry caught his hand in her own, preventing him from taking the baby.
“Leave her be, Marcus. Let her hold the baby.”
Marcus glared at Mulberry, but she shook her head, still keeping her hold on his hand. They knelt like that, across the woman's body, for what seemed like a long time. The dying woman murmured Estavacan words that Marcus couldn't understand. She spoke mostly to the baby, but now and then she looked up at Mulberry. When she spoke to Mulberry, it seemed that she grew insistent, her diction more careful. Mulberry responded softly in the same language, and watched as the woman fell silent. Finally, the strange woman gave a last, shuddering breath, and her hold on the baby slackened. Mulberry neatly caught Aurelia in her now-bloody hands before the child could roll off the bed and onto the floor. Silently, she handed the child to Marcus.
Marcus held the sleeping child close, his face red, his eyes smouldering. He demanded, “Why did you do that? Why did you let her hold my daughter?”
“Because – because she honestly thought Aurelia was hers. I know she isn't. I know she can't be, but Marcus . . . I'm sure the woman had a child somewhere. A baby. The baby really was taken. There were other things too - she mentioned a nephew who had watched the baby, and family members who had died in the war. She was dying, what harm did it do to let her hold the baby? And besides - “ Mulberry faltered and trailed off, her eyes filled with tears.
“Besides?” Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Besides, she knew the baby's name. Earlier, when we met her. She knew Aurelia's Estavacan name. I assume she read it off the blankets, same as I did, but still – she called the baby by her real name.”
Marcus sighed. “Go get the baby washed off before I lose my temper over this whole thing, okay?”
Mulberry took the baby back, nodding silently.
Meanwhile, Salix quietly wiped her hands on her trousers, and grabbed Tsuga by the arm. While the others looked over the body, Salix stood on tiptoes and quietly whispered something into the taller girl’s ear. Tsuga nodded, and in a moment the two were gone.
“Where did they go?” Mulberry demanded, “And what do we do next?”
“What we do next, is call whoever passes for the law in this town, and then get the heck out of here before it occurs to anyone that we could be the murderers,” Marcus replied.
“Why are those girls always disappearing?” Petro sighed.