Blood Money - Linus Lyffre

"Linus?" Muffled, familiar. There's a sound of moving furniture and door opens to reveal your mother staring at you through wary, teary eyes.


"Oh, thank the gods, Linus." She opens the door, and she and Lise embrace you. "Are you father, your brothers...?"
 
"Not here. I sought you out first." Linus slips back into the room, ushering them in ahead of himself. "Lise, help me barricade this again. Mother, tell me everything you know about what's going on... and where Father and the others were last..."
 
"I don't know," she says, choking back a sob. "Lise saw them fighting with a guard at the doors and ran up here. We thought your brothers and father would be able to fend them off, and Captain Berwick was visiting with him. I... They must still be in the office."
 
Linus pauses to think. "If they're holed up in the office and the enemy are few enough in number... we might be able to get you two safely out to the woods... do either of you have a guess at how many there are?"
 
Lise looks up at you with red-rimmed eyes, but she seems much calmer now.


"I saw three at the door, and one of them died at the hands of that poor brave boy..."


Mother puts an arm around Lise's shoulders.


"No one would be fool enough to attack with just three men. They must've opened the gates once they were inside, like at the Siege of Regar." She says, reminding you how seriously she takes history herself.
 
Right, an indeterminable number of enemies... to try to get father and the others and then make an escape or to... no, the first obligation was to see Mother and Lise to safety.


"All right... I'll see you two to the woods and then see if I can find any remaining guards to help father and the others." He tried to sound confident and sure... the way seemed safe enough from when he had come in... still, a brief glance to his mother betrayed his doubts. "Shall we go?"
 
They nod, and keep close behind you; Lise stops herself from taking your hand or belt. They both know better than to restrict your sword-arm or range of motion.


As you make it back towards the stairs, Leopold suddenly stumbled into your field of vision. He's holding Father, and both are raising swords out towards an assailant blocked from your view by a wall. As they move through the doorway, towards you, you notice father is clutching a bloody patch at his side.
 
Linus points for Mother and Lise to crouch by the wall as he charges up to take a position beside Father and Leopold. He holds his blade at the ready towards the unseen assailant. "Leo... how many are there? Are you all right?"
 
"Five in here, and Lawfer said there were a good dozen surrounding the gate and other exits." He replies. "Thank the Father you're all alright. We must get behind a heavy door and tend to father, quickly!"
 
"Back to Mother's chambers then! Quickly!" Linus glances at Lise for her and mother to begin making their way back. "We can tend to father there."
 
Once again, you're barricaded into mother's chambers, the light and elegant furnishings with their delicate embroidery making an absurd counterpoint to the blood, grime, and steel.


"Damn it all, if only Lawfer was here," Leopold scowls. "He could've been a surgeon if he'd been of lower birth."


Mother is doing her best to patch your father.


"Linus. What have you seen?" He asks, face not yet betraying the severity of his wounds.
 
"Less than you have unfortunately, some of the out buildings are on fire, it hadn't reached the manor yet... but the yard was largely empty when I came in from the forest... we might be able to make it out if father thinks he can manage?"
 
Father shakes his head.


"It was a deep cut, and ragged. That bastard Berwick was working with them. If I move too much, I'll bleed to match."


Leopold sets his jaw.


"We fight them here, then. Reinforcements will not come in time, and they might well burn the house down with us inside."
 
"We can't hold here indefinitely... I meant only for us to hide here until we could move out..." Linus turns to Lise and Mother, "Is there anything at all you can do for Father's wound? I fear we can't hold this room... we..." Linus's mind balks at the thought. We can't leave father. Cant... but can't hold this room either... "We should try to get out if we can."
 
Lise shakes her head, and mother almost glares as she replies, "I am not a physician, Linus."


"Surely we need only wait for reinforcements? Lawfer should-" Leopold is cut off by heavy footfalls, down the corridor. Doors bang open. They are searching.
 
"I..." This is hopeless... He whispers with the force of a command, "Leopold... we must defend the door." He draws his sword. "Lise, mother, stay behind us." Linus and Leopold position themselves, blades drawn, halfway between the bed and the barricade.
 
Father lashes himself to the bedpost nearest Leopold with a length of silk, and clutches his sword. Neither of them is quite the swordsman you are, better at commerce and riding, but they do not lack for conviction. Even Lise and Mother are assembling a small arsenal of throwable objects as they reach the door, and begin pounding on it.


"Come out, Lionel."


Sounds like Berwick, the mercenary.


"Don't disgrace yourself by hiding like a whipped hound. At least die standing, hm?"
 
"Discretion is the better part of valor here, Father," Linus whispers to his father. "We say nothing and wait for them to press the attack... if they choose to breach the door, Leopold and I attack them there. We hold ground as close to the door as long as possible..."


And we can't hold here forever... we have to move if they run off to leave us to die to the fire... ...
 
Thud


Thud


Thud


CRACK





The wood breaks, but your enemies are still held back behind the furniture and wreckage of the door. A throwing knife sails through a gap, but buries itself ineffectually in the floorboards. Leopold immediately springs forward and rams his blade through the same gap, rewarded with a shriek of pain.
 
Linus throws himself against the furniture pushing it up to shore up the wrecked door and tries to push a small table up over the opening the dagger came through.
 
Leopold moves to assist, trying to heft a small chest of drawers into the way - when a speartip slides between the barricades' segments and takes him in the shoulder. Worse, he's dragged closer as they pull it back - the sick bastards are using a barbed head. Blood stains his doublet and pools on the floor as he stabs frantically through the openings.
 
Linus springs up and comes down with his blade against the spear's shaft. With the other hand, he grabs for the pole of the spear, ready to ram it against the wall with all his weight if his strike is true and frees Leopold from the spearhead...


[dice]1526[/dice]
 
The blow is askew, striking the iron that affixes the head to the shaft, and driving it deeper into Leopold. He wrenches free of the spear tip, falling backwards as it jerks out of your hand and back through the barricade - no doubt preparing to try and catch you, next. Gobbets of muscle and sinew were still clinging to the barbs, and Leopold is bleeding heavily through the ragged hole in his shoulder.
 
Adapting quickly while yet sparing a thought to curse his poor aim, Linus spins and seizes Leopold's uninjured arm and pulls him to the floor. On the floor with barricade and door behind him, Leopold in front of him and wall beside him, they are at least safe for now. Linus cuts the sleeves from his own shirt. One he folds over and over and presses to the wound to staunch it; with the other, he attempts to tie the first in place.
 
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