We crossed the great hall to the Regency side. Everything had been freshly cleaned. It was empty except for the lit hanging chandeliers, all the candles burning instead of the usual half dozen. The outside doors had been shut. I assumed they were barred from the inside, though I didn't bother getting close enough to inspect them. I'd do that later when I came back to the Golden Scroll.

Sorina and I met Ellie and Doina coming out of the rooms that held the wounded women. One look at my smiling face standing in front of her and Ellie went to pieces.

"Don't touch me...I'm all bloody," she wailed as the tears came. Doina caught her before she fell.

"I'm fine now," I said, more to Doina than Ellie, though I did get a nod among the tears. "She took me to a chamber, and I'm all better."

I watched her as she tried and failed to regain her composure. I rubbed her head before finally giving up. "Doina, take her to her rooms. Get her cleaned up and in bed. I'll handle whatever needs to be handled. Don't let her get up until well after daybreak."

She nodded, looking at the starburst hanging from my jacket, then at Sorina before taking Ellie back toward the Realm wing.

I stepped toward the infirmary when Sorina pulled my arm. "Some of the women may not be clothed properly. You shouldn't go in."

I nodded. This many hours in, my meager first aid skills probably wouldn't be needed anyway. "You check here. I'm going to see what security has been set up."

I made it as far as the next doorway. Men lay scattered throughout the next room, some moaning, others asleep or moving. A matronly woman approached me, her eyes wide as she curtseyed.

"Milord Kevin of the Realm. You are...walking."

It was like she was seeing a ghost. A couple of other women turned to stare, and a few men shifted or sat up.

"I am...better." This may have been stupid. "My injuries seemed worse than they were. I came to see the injured."

She must've seen me because she knew I lied, but she curtseyed again and said, "Yes, Milord."

There were so many men and boys lying on the floor or the large table that there were bloody paths around the table. Some boys lay across multiple chairs.

I went to the closest man sitting and squatted next to him. "How are you?"

He tried to do something, probably get up to bow or genuflect. This was stupid, and I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Stay still, and that goes for everyone here, ladies included." Except for the moans from one man, the room went quiet. "You nurses are busy with your duties. Don't let me get in your way. Men, you're injured. You don't have to bow or do anything like that right now. You might hurt yourself more, and that's the last thing I want. Just tell me how you're doing if you feel up to it. If you don't, I understand." I looked back to the man who was studying my face. His own looked haggard but alert. "How are you?"

"Better than many," he replied and swept the sheet off his legs. Both calves were bandaged, plus one thigh. "Those, Milord, plus one in my back. It bowled me over, and I hit my head. My ears ring like a bell."

"Mine do that, too."

"They tell me that the metal pieces that hit me were small compared to some of the others." He nodded at another man who lay near. I saw bloody bandages around a stump where his arm had been removed below his elbow. My stomach churned. Maybe I shouldn't have come in here, but I was here, so I'd make my rounds. Ellie had been doing a lot more, so I could at least do this.

"Heal up and walk again," I said, patting his shoulder lightly, then moved to the next. It went on like that, listening to whatever they wanted to tell me before moving to the next. I stopped at one boy who was maybe six. He had red hair and freckles and lay on his stomach.

"Do you know how my sister is? She's Maid Zoe, and she's—"

"One of my sister's ladies-in-waiting," I finished for him, smiling. "I don't know, but I'll find out. Tell me what happened to you."

He frowned. "I lost my bottom."

"He means," the first nurse said, "one of those chunks of metal sliced through his trousers and cut a hunk of his left buttock completely off. It'll heal, but he won't sit comfortably for quite a while."

"He'll walk?"

She nodded. "It wasn't that deep, though I'm sure he'll always have a divot there."

"I haven't seen my Mama either," the boy said. "She's next door, too." He took a breath. "Papa's dead."

My insides crawled. The boy was so matter-of-fact about it. His father was some landed cavalier from down south. He'd come up specifically because Ellie and I came to Baemardis, and now he was dead. And...his wife and children were all injured. I managed to mouth another "I'll find out" to the boy, then staggered along the path spotted with gore until I got back outside.

I gasped, leaning against the wall until I caught my breath, my entire body shaking. A scream echoed farther down the hallway, and I ran toward the sound until a man stopped me at the closed door.

"Another amputation, Milord," he said. "There's nothing you can help with here right now. You should get some rest," concern coloring his voice.

I felt lightheaded, so maybe I looked pale in the torchlight. I clapped his shoulder and went back the way I came. As I got to the great hall, Sorina walked from across from the other side, dressed plainly now, her new dress gone.

"I didn't want to ruin my new dress," she said, looking down at herself. "I'm going to go in and help with the women. I heard screaming, so we'll be getting someone in new. There isn't any room, so someone able will have to leave. I...."

She looked at me and stepped forward. "Lord Kevin, are you all right?"

I was beginning to feel better, but I must not have looked like it yet. I nodded.

"It's just too much. So much...Zoe's brother is in with the men, lost part of his butt, but he wants to know how Zoe and their mother are doing."

She'd come up and hugged me while I spoke. "Their father's dead."

A hard squeeze. "I know. Zoe told me. She may be the next one out since she can probably hobble away. Those who can walk...even a little...leave when the next one is brought in. So many were in here," and she looked around, "trying to move the injured from the first explosions when the others went off. I was late, so I wasn't, but then we found you." She buried her face in my shoulder, and I kissed the tip of her ear where it stuck from her hair.

I kissed her roughly when she moved her head back, grabbing her tight against me. Sorina was life and wanted it, needed it. Each kiss was like a fresh breath of air.

I pulled on her, stopping only when I realized I had her bare butt in both hands. I pulled my head back, realizing I was going to have her here on the floor of the great hall.

She looked scared. "There are rooms," she whispered.

It'd only been a couple of hours since.... I let that thought trail off. What was wrong with me? I was losing it as bad or worse than Ellie. People were hurt—it shouldn't be about me. And Sorina needed time to recover, too.

I shook my head. "I'll be okay. You go help. I should change and do the same...somehow."

I released my death grip on her butt, tried to relax as she slowly nodded, and slid away after giving me one last kiss.

Her butt would probably have bruises now. Everyone was hurt, and I wasn't helping. I couldn't even take the worst down those secret passageways to get healing. I didn't know how to operate the machinery to get them there or somewhere else where they could be healed.

I walked to the Golden Scroll, feeling the static of the touch as it accepted me and didn't fry my hand. We will be coming shortly, no more than a fortnight, echoed Uncle John's voice in my head. Hold the fort while we confer. That was it. The message sounded like a response to Ellie.

We need help, I thought. At least a couple dozen dead, and that many wounded. I heard another faint scream echoing into the great hall, a different person from the last. Another amputation is happening. That would be happening to me if I didn't die first, except for our healing chamber. What can I do to help?

I placed my forehead on the cold metal, and tears dripped off my nose onto the gold surface. I expected them to sizzle or something, but they didn't. Nothing special. I could continue, but Lauretti would've already told them more than I could.

I let myself slump until I sat with my back on the pedestal, staring at the thrones. This was my future, at least for now. I was moving to the royal chamber, even had my lover or concubine...whatever you called it. Maybe she'd be my wife, but why would I be getting married?

I was supposed to be doing my junior year toward getting my bachelor's in psychology, not being set up to lead a country...a kingdom...or a vassal state of the Realm, whatever that even meant. There might be another place very similar to modern Earth where even the Aussie accent would be the same, or close enough that I couldn't tell the difference and the same with Texas. Or maybe not. Maybe it was the same Earth.

And what about this Earth? Biologically and terrestrially, it seemed the same, just populated differently, maybe the Norse rather than Columbus finding the New World, but wouldn't the French, English, Spanish, and all the others have come to stake their claims? The Chinese from the other side?

Or was the Old World as different as the New? Boian never gave any knowledge of others like those. Even this Baemardis wasn't that large of a country. It only took in a few counties...not even a significant part of Texas, though it might be for some other states.

Footsteps echoed, growing louder as they neared the great hall from the main Regency corridor, then into the hall. I saw flickering light on the wall before they came into sight, two guards, one with a lantern and both with spears. The one with the lantern pointed my way. "I hope nobody decided to off themselves. It'd be an easy way."

"I tried, but it didn't work," I said with a hollow laugh as I stood up, and they headed my way.

"Who is that?"

"Lord Kevin, at your service."

They stopped, the one without the lantern shifting his spear into a two-handed position.

"Forgive me, Milord, but last we were told, you were on your deathbed."

I sighed. Who said it...Mark Twain, or was it someone else? Whatever. "Rumors of my death have been exaggerated," I quoted or probably paraphrased, and stepped toward them. "I'd gotten the impression there weren't any guards in here."

They took a step back. It was like they'd seen a ghost.

I sighed again, then took a step back to the scroll and put my hand on it. "I am much better, and as you can see, I still pass the test."

They looked at each other and slowly took a knee. "Forgive us, Milord. We—"

"You're forgiven," I said more loudly than I'd intended, my voice echoing in the hall. "Everything's awful, so I quite understand. I've been here for a while. I didn't see you patrolling earlier."

"All the doors are secured from the inside, Milord," the one with the lantern said, "so they say that any attack would come from outside, and all the contingents are out there preparing the defenses out there and on the dome. We come in every three hours to make sure the doors are secure."

"Then let's check the doors. I'll walk with you until I need to be somewhere else."

They nodded, uncertain. I probably sounded drunk. I felt that way a little. I removed my hand from the gold surface of the scroll and gestured for them to lead on, which they did. We went to the large, heavy front double doors, barred with heavy beams that the three of us might be able to remove if we wanted.

We kept going, past the open interior doors of the Realm to the door I'd gone through the morning before to the garden area where I almost died. I slowed farther behind them as we approached.

"This door is unlatched." The guards turned to me. "Do you know anything of this, Milord?"

I shook my head as I stepped up. The door had been pulled to, but the bolt was open. My hands began to shake as they stood quietly. Were they waiting for an order? For me to take charge? I had my armor on, hood tucked under my shirt, but no weapons.

"Let...." My voice cracked, so I cleared my throat. "Let me through so I can see."

They parted. I stepped to the door and swung it slowly open. Well oiled, there was no creaking.

It opened onto a slab of pink granite...the outer protective door. As the one guard brought the lantern closer, I saw it had also been pushed open, leaving a gap I could slip into. I slid through before I could stop myself. This was the last place I wanted to go right now.

Slanted moonlight played on the granite table, and someone lay on it. Long silver-gold hair and a pale dress stained dark in places. The lantern followed me, turning the silver moonlight yellow, the hair blonde, and the dark stains to the red-brown of dried blood. The guard gasped, and the woman stirred, looked at me, then fell off the table almost at my feet. She positioned herself prostrate.

Mara.

"Milord Kevin, I'm sorry. I just had to...." Whatever she had to do trailed off with sobs.

The second guard forced himself through. "What do we do?" His spear tip was a foot from her neck—one thrust.

"Leave," I said roughly. "I'll handle this."

"We need to report this," the lantern-holder said.

"You just did," I retorted.

"Our sergeant will want to know, Milord."

"Tell him, but check the other back door on your way." I wanted them out so I could talk to her alone.

"You're unarmed," the spear pointer observed.

I snatched the long dagger from the lantern holder's sheath. "Now I'm not. Do what you need to do. I will talk to her."

They gave short bows and shimmied back through the cleft between door and wall, mumbling as they left.

"Mara. Get up."

She slowly stood, trembling and gulping air as she fought her sobs. She staggered and caught herself on the granite slab she'd been sleeping on, wincing with the effort.

"You're hurt," I said, and she shook her head.

"Bruised only, Lord Kevin," she replied. "I was in the hall and got knocked down when everyone fled the...."

She stared at the knife in my hand and started trembling.

"Why did you come in here?"

"Adrian died here. I had to come and see. I was only going to be a minute, but I...I...."

"Lay down and fell asleep?"

"I didn't want to leave. I should have, but I couldn't. I couldn't go back in...to all that."

I stepped to her and put my arms around her. She had stiffened, so I'm sure she expected the knife and not my arms. I set it on the table with a slight clang, then rocked her slightly. After a moment, the sobs started again. Another moment and her arms came around me, clinging tightly.

What do you say? Her mother and father were killed a few days back, her brother hours ago, and her little sister survived the Sobeck attack, but in what condition? She'd been caring for the wounded here and was barely in her teens. I had no words of comfort that didn't sound trite, so I could only hold her close.

Several minutes passed as I stared out past the pillared confines of this patio garden into the moonlit surroundings, more shadows than light spots. That horsefly drone could be out there anywhere watching. A dozen armed and armored men with automatic weapons and infrared goggles could be waiting to charge from the darkness, but I was sure nobody was there.

Once her tears ended, I led her back into the great hall. She pulled the granite door slowly shut and latched it, then did the same with the wood and iron inner door.

Rapid footsteps echoed into the Great Hall, and I saw Lord Calin walking rapidly with the two guards trailing him.

"Go up and get some sleep," I whispered and pushed Mara toward the Realm wing. "Don't stop. I'll handle this."

She was halfway there, limping from her bruises, when Calin got to me.

"Where is she going, Milord?" he asked in a loud whisper.

"To go up for badly needed rest."

"She opened the door?"

"Yes, and closed it. Everything's been handled."

"You took care of...ah, I see. Yes, you definitely handled it. She should remember that."

It took a minute for it to register—her stiff walking. I almost swung the dagger into his face. He thought that raping her was a fitting punishment.

I turned to the lantern-holding guard, handing him his dagger back, hilt first. He saw my anger but would misconstrue it, which was fine.

"Nothing more will be said of any of this," I said to all three.

The guards bowed slightly while Calin gave a humorous "Of course, Milord. And you look very well. Much better than last afternoon."

"Yes, I am. We should expect Lady Lauretti in the next two to three days and Crown Lord John within a fortnight."

"Yes, Milord. May I ask where you received this information?" The humor had left his voice.

"From Lady Lauretti," I snapped. I wanted him away from me. Maybe she should've been punished somehow, but that wasn't it. No punishment would've mattered much to her at that point. She expected me to kill her, so what was anything else?

"Was she the reason for your fast recovery?"

"She was."

"Could she not have provided such healing for more of our wounded?"

"Obviously not, or she would've been doing that now." I looked directly into his eyes. "Anything else?"

"No, Milord."

Calin bowed, turned, and walked back from where he'd come from. The guards looked about like they were trying to decide where to restart their patrol.

"Take me outside," I ordered. "I want to see the fortifications."

They took me, and I ended up on the dome, learning about the new preparations. When I was done, I settled onto the east side of this enormous granite behemoth we called enchanted back home and watched the sunrise while trying to make sense of the last twenty-four hours.