The Medieval Marine Part Eight

CHAPTER XXXV

Luke had just planted his explosive when he felt the first arrow find its way through his armor and hit his leg, but he had no time to think about it for the explosive would be going off in fifteen seconds. He made sure that it was planted right and turned to run. That’s when he felt the second hit. This one was serious for it was in his abdomen. Before he could get out, he was hit once more in his leg. He fought through the pain to make sure that he was out of there in time. He ran out and dove into the open door of a nearby building. As he was passing through the door the charge went off. Normally he should have been far enough away to be safe, but where he took cover at was right in line with the entryway and the thick stone of the castle wall directed part of the blast back at him. The blast was powerful enough to shake the stone of the building loose. Before long Luke had been pinned under a large piece of rubble. Slowly more rubble came down and Luke admitted to himself that he wasn’t going to make it through the day. He was pinned and bleeding. He couldn’t even reach his wounds to bind them so instead of struggling he decided to send the rest of his life thinking about his beautiful wife and adorable child. He prayed that he had taught enough people enough; so that Marion could led them to a much better future.

Slowly he felt his life drain out of him. He was becoming delirious. He had to be for he could hear Marion calling for him and she sounded frantic and panicked. ‘That can’t be her’ he thought. Marion had been so pissed at him the last time he saw her that she cursed him out and ordered him not to touch her ever again. He began to see more light reaching his eyes and he finished preparing himself to finally leave this cruel world. He felt himself getting lighter and he was amazed by the sensation for it felt like he was being lifted up to heaven, but he had to admit that he would much more likely end up in hell. ‘Oh well, I am a devil dog after all’ and he smiled weakly at that thought. He felt a pair of warm, soft hands on his face and heard Marion’s voice again. As his face turned toward the light, he fought to open his eyes. There was an angel looking down at him with a warm smile on her face and tears streaming down her face. It had to be an angel for she was beautiful, timeless, and had a halo.

It was Luke’s eyes that had moved for Marion could now see the blue of his eyes. Those eyes that she loved so much; more than land, or power, or money. He was alive but barely. She wanted to do nothing more then pull him out of there and take him to bed, but the medical training that Luke had pounded into her head ever since they met; stopped her. She knew that he might have a broken back or other injuries. One of her men found part of a door that they could slip under Luke to lift him out. As they lifted Luke’s massive body out Marion knew that he most likely would die for nobody survived those kinds of injuries. As she was holding his hand, she felt it go slack. She was finding that it was increasingly hard to hide her tears and so when she seen one of the men that had helped her get Luke out of the rubble break down in tears, Marion could no longer hold it back. She cried and cried. She didn’t care who seen her and didn’t know for how long she cried. She didn’t even know when she finally stopped, but the next conscious thought that she recognized was that she was back in her old room in the castle. She was still in her uniform and still had Luke’s blood on her.

As she swung her feet off the bed, she realized that she felt like shit, she was thirsty, hungry, her hands were killing her, and she was worried about Mackenzie. By now she had admitted to herself that she wouldn’t see Luke until she made it to heaven. She stubbled to the door and opened it. The two guards by the door came to attention and presented arms. She saluted and asked them:

“Where Gabriel was at?”

“She was in the great hall the last time I seen her ma’am”

“Ok” as Marion began to walk that way another thought came to her. “One more thing, what day is it?”

“10 March ma’am”

“I was out for three days?!?!”

“Yes ma’am. The Coronal gave orders that you were not to be disturbed unless your life was at risk ma’am”

“I see. Thank you”

With that Marion was off the find Gabriel. Every soldier she passed came to attention and saluted her with military precision. As annoying as it was Marion was starting to feel a growing pride in her army. They were becoming professionals and had now won two battles against forces of superior numbers. Question was could that trend continue with Luke gone. When Marion got to the great hall, Gabriel wasn’t there, but one of Marion’s female bodyguards was. The guard snapped to attention. Marion actually heard the guards boot heels clicking together. The guard was as stiff as a board, her breast pointed straight forward and her dirty blond hair in a French braid that was barely visible under her helmet.

“Do you know where Gabriel is at?”

“Yes ma’am. The Coronal just stepped out to get some news. I believe she is probably still in the telegraph room ma’am”

“Telegraph room?”

“Yes ma’am. It’s in the small room through that door other there with the two guards on it.”

Marion turned to see Gabriel coming through the door. Her uniform was clean and crisp. Her steps were even and she carried herself with pride. Gabriel hadn’t seen Marion because she was busy giving orders to a courier. As soon as Gabriel sighted Marion, she stopped, snapped to attention, and saluted. Marion returned the salute and walked up to Gabriel.

“Come Gabriel, we need to talk.” They walked into a small room nearby and closed the door.

“So, what all has been going on the last three days?”

“I gave orders to bring the prisoners, from the first battle, to town right after the battle here ended. I figured that they would be much easier to guard here plus we need as much manpower as we can get our hands on so we can get the large number of chores done. I also requested that Alice send every person that she could spare but instead she brought the entire unit. Pollyanna came through the battle without a scratch so she has gone out with a strong escort to map the rest of your lands. We found Cecilia’s treasure hoard and I have been using it to pay the civilians in town to help clean up the town and clean away rubble. I also have been looking into installing plumbing into the castle and eventually through the entire town.”

“What about causalities?”

“Not as bad as it could have been. So far, we suffered eighty dead and a further one hundred wounded. Almost all of them came during the storming of the town. I think that it would have been far worse if we hadn’t gotten here so quickly. So far, we have counted twenty-three hundred dead or wounded out of Cecilia’s army and the rest are prisoners. Seems to be that most of the ones taken prisoner were ones that she had forced into the army. Speaking of her, Alice told me a little while ago that she expected Cecilia to recover.”

“Can you send word that my daughter is to stay where she is at. I don’t want to risk her health by bringing her to this filth hole until we can get sewers installed. Next, set up watch post on our borders for I suspect that the other local nobles will be wanting to take away everything we have won. Then we need to see to the army’s refit and they will of course need some rest, for I expect to be attacked within a week or so.”

“Yes ma’am”

“Gabriel, you’re my lover. There’s no need to call me anything other than Marion when we are alone or with our close friends.” Gabriel gave Marion a warm smile and a quick hug.

“I suspect that you’re right about the surrounding nobles attacking us, Marion. I do know that several of them have had representatives here over the last couple of days asking about you. They remind me of vultures. You know what has truly surprised me, Marion?”

“No, what?”

“That you haven’t asked about Luke yet.”

“Why should I concern myself with the dead?”

“Oh Marion, my darling, you need to follow me, and as your lover I order you to follow me so I can show you something.” Marion smiled and giggled as she followed Gabriel. As they walked, Marion’s eyes were pulled down to Gabriel’s swinging hips Marion was sure that she was exaggerating her hip swing on purpose. Marion checked to make sure that they were alone before she reached down and grabbed a handful of Gabriel’s ass. Gabriel jumped and giggled for Marion had quickly pinned her to the wall. Their lips quickly interlocked as they moaned into each other’s mouths. Gabriel was able to break off, she still had to show Marion something. Taking Marion’s hand Gabriel told her:

“Come on you naughty girl. I really do have something that you need to see.”

“Yes, you do” purred Marion as she rubbed Gabriel’s mound.

“Want am I going to do with you?” laughed Gabriel. “I know. You deserve to have your hot, bare ass spanked!”

“You promise?” asked Marion with a hopeful look on her face. After seeing Gabriel’s ass swinging in front of her had reminded Marion that she hadn’t had a good lay in almost two weeks and that was after she had gotten used to getting fucked several times a day. She just hoped that Gabriel could keep up with her.

“Come on Marion.” Marion and Gabriel walked down the hall, hand in hand. Marion was confused when they stopped in front of the old infirmary.

“It took Alice commanding almost a hundred workers a day and a half to clean these rooms to her standards when she got here.” Gabriel said as they were acknowledged by the guard and let in.

Inside Marion was amazed at how clean the room was. Not only that but there was bed after bed all down the length of the room. Each one had someone laying in it and each one had a chart at the foot of the bed facing the isle. Not only that but each bed had clean sheets on them.

“There’s beds for one hundred in here and they have round-the-clock care from two nurses and a doctor.” Explained Gabriel. “The person you need to meet though is through here.”

Marion followed Gabriel through several rooms of wounded men and woman. Finally, they came to a door. Gabriel flashed Marion a smile as she opened the door and stepped through. When Marion stepped through, she froze. She noticed in passing that she was in an old storage room that had been cleaned, but that wasn’t what had her attention. There in front of her was a single bed with a very large person laying on it and resting comfortably.

“NO! NO! IT CAN’T BE!!” Marion cried “I FELT HIM DIE!! Gabriel if this is a joke, I swear to God that I will fucking kill you with my bare hands!” screamed Marion.

“No joke my dear. Luke survived. What you felt was just him passing out. Alice guesses that it was from pain or blood loss. He will be confined to a bed for at least a month and will be weak for a while afterwards but Alice is confident that he will recover.”

Marion collapsed to the floor and sobbed. She cried harder than she had ever cried before, because she was so happy. Even when she had gotten married, she wasn’t this happy. Gabriel helped her up and into a chair that was next to Luke’s bed. Once Gabriel was sure that Marion was ok; she quietly left the room and made sure that the door was shut.

Marion sat quietly next to the man that she loved more than anything. The man that had saved her life numerous times before and had given her something that she had never had before, hope. Hope in the present, hope in the future, and hope for her people. As she sat there, unconsciously grabbed Luke’s hand and held it tight. She could feel his heart beat and his warmth. She didn’t know how long she sat there but she did remember a nurse coming and going a few times to check on Luke. Eventually, Alice came in. She was wearing her uniform of course, but over it she wore a white overcoat. She looked just what she was, a military doctor. Alice gently patted a sleeping Marion on the shoulder and she stirred. Marion’s eyes were bloodshot from her crying and her constant dozing off.

“Come on Marion. You need to get some real sleep.”

“NO! I can’t leave him again.” Alice gave her a warm but tired smile.

“Marion. Look at me. Look into my eyes” Marion turned to look into Alice’s bright green eyes “I promise that he will be here when you return. His vitals are good and there’s no signs of infection so far. He might develop an infection later, but for now he needs rest and so do you. Oh, before I forget, your sister has been asking for you.”

“Where’s she at?”

“Down the hall, although you might want to clean up before you go see her. You look like shit.”

“Gee thanks.” The ladies shared a laugh. “I guess I should clean myself up. I do kind of smell.”

“Aye. I’ll say you do and “kind of smell” is an understatement.”

Marion stood with a small smile on her face. She kissed Luke on the forehead and left to return to her chamber. When she got there, her bed had been changed and all her extra clothes were hung up. Additionally, Gabriel’s and Luke’s clothes were there as well, and Marion smiled to herself. Suddenly she heard a voice coming from one of the other rooms. She drew her sword and advanced. She burst through the door and found a naked Gabriel bent over a tub with hot water. She stood up and turned when she heard Marion come in. As always, Marion was struck by her beauty. Gabriel’s eyes were shimmering and her long hair was loose, but Gabriel had it draped over one of her shoulders and covering her left breast.

“Well, you going to join me sweetie?”

That was all the encouragement that Marion needed. She had to have Gabriel help her with her uniform for Marion was stiff from sleeping in the chair by Luke’s side.