CHAPTER THREE
The Wedding
“The wedding ceremony was beautiful.” People said to Trina, who positively glowed every time. I couldn’t deny that it was, although it was a tad crowded for my taste. In search of somewhere less populated by guests, I slipped away towards the lake the ceremony had been held by. I plopped down on the dock, and kicked off my shoes. I dipped my toes into the water, and stared at my reflection. A rock shattered the smooth water of the lake. I jumped up, and spun around.
“How unexpected, I lasted longer than you did.” Peter said. He came and sat down beside me. I smiled, and let myself sit back down. I put my feet back in the water, and let my mind drift off over the hills and into the night.
“Do you think my clothing makes me look large around the belly?” Peter said.
“Hmm?”
“I was just trying to draw your attention. It worked”
“Did you just ask me if your clothing makes you look large?” I asked, with a laugh.
“Don't you laugh at me,” he said, and pushed me into the lake.
I shouted at him, and pulled him in with me. He had seen it coming, and came down with a splash.
“You’re absolutely one of the most ridiculous human beings I have had the serious displeasure of meeting,” I said, and splashed water at his face. He sliced a wave of water at me. I dove down into the water, plucked up a bit of algae and slime from the bottom, then came up and smashed it on his head.
“That’s thoroughly disgusting, Ellasis,” he said, flicking it off.
“Trina will strangle you in your sleep for ruining my dress.”
“mother will not, besides I will buy you another one.”
“Oh yes, because you’re so wealthy now, Mr. Second in Command.”
“They’re about to start the fireworks. We’ll be able to see them nicely from here.”
“Here as in the middle of the lake?”
“It’s not the middle of the lake.”
“Look there they are. I can’t believe you were able to secure fireworks.” I said watching the fireworks explode over our heads. Reds and greens and blues and yellows shot through the sky, forming beautiful patterns before disappearing. I could hear the guests cheering, and see Kathy and Aron kissing on the hill.
“They’re beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like them.”
“I thought you might think so. You’re the reason I put so much effort into securing them.”
“Why on earth would you go through such trouble for me?”
“You deserve to have joy too. I knew it would make you happy.” he said. I leaned back against the dock. The fireworks became even grander and larger.
“Thank you, they’re beautiful.” The fireworks stopped, and all that was left were the wedding guests’ cheers and applause.
“Seems like you made a few others happy as well,” I said. A loud explosion sounded in the distance.
“Oh is there more?” I asked, getting out of the water.
“There shouldn’t be.” he said. I looked up at the sky. A fiery object fell and there was an earsplitting explosion. I collapsed to the ground as the world shook. The dock collapsed and I fell back into the water. I latched onto one of the posts of what used to be the dock. Flames erupted where the majority of the guests had been celebrating. Screams had replaced the cheers sounding in the night.
“Trina, Chani!” I threw myself out of the water, Peter behind me. Another ball of fire dropped. Explosions, fire, ash, and screams filled the night. Peter and I reached the top of the hill and a sob racked through me. Where the wedding and its guests had once been was now only ash and flame.
“Chani,” I said. I ran down the hill, getting as close to the flames as I could. There was another loud explosion. I could see explosions across the village. The sound of the hooves of many horses reached my ears. It was the king’s guard.
“Chani, Trina, Kathy!” I screamed. An arm grabbed my shoulder. ‘Let me go! I need to find them.’
“Nurse, we need you at the castle. There are many who are injured. There are preparations that need to be made. You have to come with us,” a guard said.
“No, I have to find them.”
“Ellasis,” I heard Chani’s voice call out.
“Chani, Where are you?” She emerged out of the flames, her skin and clothing covered in cinders and ash.
“Go, I will find Trina and Kathy. I will take care of it. Go on!”
“No,”
“You have to come with us Nurse; willingly or not. We have orders,” The guard holding me said.
“Ellasis, go. Everything is going to be okay,’
“We are leaving some of our men here to put out the fire. You need to come with us”’ The guard said. I nodded. I could see I didn’t have a choice. I mounted the horse waiting for me, and we took off at a full run. Peter’s horse ran at my side. I knew he should be leading the group but I was grateful that he stayed back with me. The fastest route to the castle was through the village,but when we got there it was in ruins. Crying and screams echoed in my mind. The king’s army was spread out everywhere.
“No, my baby.” A woman cried. I turned to see one of the king’s guards pull an eleven or twelve your old boy from his mother’s grasp. The boy’s eyes were wide and I could tell even from this distance that he was shaking.
“Please, take me instead.” an elderly man said. He threw himself in front of the boy. The solders shoved him aside.
“Please,” I heard another woman say. A sixteen year old boy was being taken, his mother holding onto his sleeve. He shook her off. Unlike a lot of the boys who were being held by the army, he didn’t look scared. He looked determined. Tears began to form and slip down my cheeks as more mother’s cries joined the smoke and flames, and twirled up into the sky like ashes. There was a house still standing a few feet away. The guards looked in the window then burst down the door. They pulled many boys out, families had hidden inside with their young men, but it was of no use. I pressed a hand to my mouth, and looked at Peter. His tear filled eyes met mine, and then he looked down and away. Bits of my skin hurt from small burns I had sustained from falling sparks.He would be leading a child army to war.
Once we made our way through the throng of guards and their captives, we ran again. I knew the scenes of sorrow and pain would press on my heart forever. When we reached the castle we saw that the grounds and many of the buildings were on fire. My heart in my chest, I looked towards the infirmary to find it intact. Everything was in chaos. Servants were rushing to put out flames, and guards were running shouting orders to each other. From what I could tell, the flames were set in the form of our neighboring kingdom Hingalsta’s seal. After being helped off my horse we were rushed through a back corridor of the castle up to a pair of grand doors.
“Wait here,” The guard said. Then he turned and entered through the doors.
“Peter, I don't know what to do. I-"
“The king is ready for you,” The guard said and held the door for us. I entered behind Peter. The king sat at a chair in front of a round table. Peter bowed, and I dropped into a deep curtsy.
“Take a seat Captain, Nurse. Tonight we are equals. Our kingdom doesn’t need formality now, but a miracle.” The king said with small smile at the end. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his face was stretched tight. I walked over to the table, and took a seat on one of the plush, red velvet, chairs. Peter took the chair beside me.
“As you have seen a declaration of war has been made by our neighboring kingdom Hingalsta. Unbeknown to us, they have been setting up catapults around our parameters, in our forests, and in our villages. No negotiations were offered. No threats were made prior to this attack. There is no way out of this war and we haven’t the power to stop the coming destruction. The only choice we have is to make every preparation possible-as quickly as possible-in hopes that we can lessen the damage. I've already met with the Chief Captain and the Head Nurse, they both assured me that you t
wo will be most able to handle this, and I hope that they are right. I need you both to make all the necessary preparations that you see fit, and even those that you don't see as necessary. We have no idea what to expect. We've been caught completely off guard. Until tonight we believed our neighbors to be our allies. I suppose we have been naive. Preparations start immediately, and I expect both of you to give everything that you can towards insuring us the best chances of making it out of this war with some semblance of a kingdom left. I will not lay down my kingdom or my people without a fight." The Kings eyes flicked between both of us. My hands shook in my lap.
"Yes my King, I will give it all I have, to the death," Peter said.
"And I, my king," I couldn't believe this had happened, with no warning, no semblance of any clue of a war; against Hingalsta no less. I had no doubt that they would be very well prepared; they must have been planning this for a very long time. Unfortunately, time was not on our own side, nor was surprise.
‘I thank you, and I hope that it won't come to that. You may go now and rest in the quarters which have been provided you. I suggest you sleep while you can, and wake early. There is very little rest to come. We stood, gave our parting bows and exited the room. The same guard led us down a corridor and a long flight of stairs to two doors next to each other. He handed us two lanterns, then turned and left.
“Peter, I’m-”
“I know. So am I. We'll talk about it more in the morning. Try to rest for now, alright?”
“Alright,” I said. He pulled me into his arms and gave me a long hug. I breathed into his shoulder. In that moment I was overwhelmingly grateful to have an elder brother like him, even if it wasn’t by blood. He let me go, squeezed my hand, then turned and walked right past the door to his room.
“You aren’t going to sleep?” I asked.
“Are you?” I shook my head. He smiled at me for a moment, then frowned and continued walking. I went into my room and put my bag on the bed. I collapsed onto it, cradling my head in my hands. A war with Hinglasta was an almost surefire loss, even if they had played fair. There was no way out of this, and I just hoped that I would be able to save as many people as possible in the infirmary. I looked out my window at the moon hanging over the blood river; it was so named because of the last war. Though the river had long ago become clear again, I knew it wouldn't be long before it lived up to its name and ran red once more. I stood, and lit a lantern. I wrapped a shawl around my shoulders, and slipped out my door and up the stairs. I climbed higher, until I found the library. I went to the shelves of books on healing and medicine, and began pulling the books I would need. Behind me, I heard the doors open, and glanced up. Chani’s green eyes found mine.
“Chani!” I rose to greet her but she motioned for me to stay where I was. She walked over and sat by me.
“Peter told me you’d probably be in here. What do you have there?” She asked. I wanted to ask her about Kathy and Trina, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
“Books on healing, I don’t have my book with me, so I’m just trying to gather remedies I may have missed that we’ll need for the way,” I said, brushing my hand over the cover of one of the books.
“It’s been a while since I’ve studied medicine. May I?” Chani asked. I slid a book over to her. She opened it and held the pages in her hand.
“Trina and Kathy?” I asked. She set my book down and looked into my eyes. My heart shattered. “They’re gone. I’m so sorry, dearest.” I couldn’t find words, and none were necessary. She walked over to me wrapped her arms around my shaking frame. I could feel warm tears falling into my hair as Chani’s tears joined my own. They were gone.
After the dead were counted and gathered, they allowed us to go back to our home to gather what we could for the mass funeral that would be held. The sight that met our eyes when we broke through the trees was nothing less than horrific. Trina’s house was in ruins; only a pile of wood and glass. I knelt down beside the remains, and picked up a picture frame of Trina and her dad before he died. Kathy, Peter, and I were hunched over his bed. Kathy seemed oblivious to how serious the situation was, but by the look on Peter’s face, he seemed almost too aware that his grandpa was about to die as he tried to smile. I handed it to Chani, and she smiled, touching the laughing face of the man who had been almost a surrogate father to her.
“Kathy had just told him one of her jokes. She had said ‘the other day, our cat wasn’t breathing, and we took him to the healer. The next day he was all better and breathing again. You’ll be better too grandpa. Maybe you will even have an extra spot, just like our cat did.’ When she got to the spot part, she touched one of his freckles. Trina was horrified at what she had said. Of course the reason the cat had an extra spot was because overnight we had replaced the old one with a new one. But he just laughed and laughed at that. As I recall you started giggling as well, though you were much too young to understand the joke.” Chani said. I wrapped my arms around her, remembering how hard it was for us all when he died. Then I sifted through some more of the debris, and knelt down next to what used to be my old headboard. Peter came to stand next to me. He hadn’t spoken to Chani or me since he found out. He bent down, and pulled Trina’s favorite book from the rubble. He brushed his hand over the ashy surface, then fell to his knees his face in his hands. It was the first time I had ever seen him cry.
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