Episode 16.

Two weeks have passed since Lidia's birthday, or rather the princess's attempted marriage. All the guests suddenly left the next day. They were scheduled to stay for about two weeks, precisely to carry out the marriage ceremony that should have taken place today. Luckily, I was able to avoid it, maybe not in the way I had expected, but it worked. Unfortunately, I had to pay the consequences of my actions that evening.

I may have been lucky enough to avoid being imprisoned or hanged for escaping the castle with the princess; however, my mother would not forgive me that easily. I argued with her throughout the early morning, trying to give reasons for my actions to protect Lidia and my daring behavior during the party. Despite my justification, Mom no longer trusted my words; I challenged her authority and lost part of her trust.

She ended up punishing me all this time by sending me to work in the slaughterhouse with Mr. Jakob, an old cattle rancher who looks tough due to his chillingly stocky physique and the scar on his face but who contrasts with his very outgoing personality; he always seems happy and lively every time you meet him, he is even quite a joker, although his jokes are not very good, to say the least. Together with his wife, he raises the castle's pigs and sheep to fatten and slaughter them, being the main meat suppliers for the royal family and other families of the colony.

It was a martyrdom to endure the resounding smell of that warehouse that looked like a torture room; having to collect the useless remains of the corpses and rinse the blood off the floor of those poor animals every hour was such hard work. The smell was so strong that I had to bathe almost daily to try to expel the stench from my clothes.

I thought about borrowing (nice way to refer to stealing) one of the glycerin soaps from the palace bathtub to help, but that was impossible because of Max.

My brother kept an eye on me during all this time so I wouldn't get even an inch near the palace; he never left my back whenever I was next to him. It was always the same routine, helping at the slaughterhouse early in the morning, working in the stables until late, and returning home to finish the day.

All this prevented me from seeing Lidia as frequently as I used to. It seemed like nothing had changed, as if the promise I made her that night had never happened. Everything remained just as boring and busy for us, with the same duties and the same worries. We were still in two different and distanced worlds.

Max: 『 Hey, Shun, did you clip the horses properly? 』

Shun: 『 Yes, I did. Although they don't require much cutting, with this cold, they'll need some hair to keep warm. 』

Max: 『 And the window seals? 』

Shun: 『 I'm on it. 』

Max and I had to carry on with our usual tasks. With such freezing weather, it was much more essential to keep an eye on the horses. There was quite a bit of work to do: feeding them, brushing them, exercising them so they don't weaken, keeping their water from freezing (we use salt for that), cleaning the barn, edging the windows and doors, and warming the space with a bunch of old and thick carpets. All this was necessary now that winter was very close.

That's how these days were: gray and cold. Autumn was entering its final stage; the trees were clean of leaves, and the flowers in the garden were beginning to close. The morning dew and mist were already an everyday occurrence, and the dense clouds in the sky did not give way to the sun's rays. Everything seemed the same, with the same melancholic aura as always, which inevitably makes me remember those peak days of childhood with an identical landscape... so calm and desolate...

Shun: 『 … 』

Max: 『 … 』

Cmdr. Laurens: 『 *Kick* 』

"BOOM!" The door was completely broken by the violent blow that the wood received, and the horses got startled. Suddenly, we were surprised by the abrupt entry of a group of soldiers in armor who entered without warning and hurried by the incessant shouts of their superior.

Cmdr. Laurens: 『 Quickly, ladies!! we don't have all day!!... GO UP, GO UP!! 』

Max: 『 Hey, what do you think you're doing?!! 』

Cmdr. Laurens: 『 Just as you see, we're taking the horses, so step aside, brats. 』

Max: 『 You must be joking! They haven't eaten or drank anything yet, and two are in no condition to trot! Hey!! 』

Neither Laurens nor the soldiers were listening to Max; they ignored us like stray dogs and rushed towards the horses. They grabbed the saddles and placed them on the horses without much care. They mounted them and shot out through the back door that the commander himself had opened. Then, he took Snell, the unique and unusual spotted horse (black and white) we had who had a case of tendonitis a few weeks ago.

Shun: 『 Hey, stop!! His hoof isn't ready to run yet! You will hurt him more!! 』

Cmdr. Laurens: 『 Nothing will happen to him. Step aside… HYA!… 』

The stubborn bastard didn't listen, and almost ran me over, taking off with poor Snell. I was already expecting the worst for the poor horse; I hope he was well and managed to endure the bad treatment from his ungrateful rider. These guys have never been interested in taking care of "their horse", there are those who don't even know their real names. Max and I are the only ones who really care for and know them; they only use them as tools for their fateful and heavy training, where they whip them mercilessly, forcing them to run beyond their limit. It made me want to take their rods and hit their behinds so they would know how it feels.

Shun: 『 What the hell was that?! 』

Max: 『 I don't know, there wasn't supposed to be practice today. 』

We went out to see where they were taking the horses and found something even more complex. The group left through the crowded secondary entrance of the castle which was quite hectic and filled with more soldiers and carts full of arsenal: carbines, pistols, spears, and swords, all filled with artifacts ready for killing.

More and more soldiers came from the internal road that led to the military school and divided into sections that went out of the castle and towards the main entrance. Some were in such a hurry to put on their armor that they shouted from one side to the other to pass them on or lend them their missing items. What was happening was complete chaos; we had never seen them behave that way.

Max: 『 What's going on here? 』

Shun: 『 I have no idea, but it might not be a good idea to stay here. 』

Max: 『 What about the horses? 』

Shun: 『 For now, I don't think it's convenient to wait for them to bring them back. They'll surely take much longer than usual... This is not a simple practice, Max... Something bad is happening here. 』

Weapons, soldiers, absolute disorder; everything indicated that something big was about to happen..., and it did..., or rather...

Max: 『 What the-?! 』

Shun: 『 MAX, MOVE!! 』

It hit us... A huge stone crashed into the southeast section of the wall, right where the stables and pens were located. Several pieces of rock fell, forcing us to react as quickly as possible to get out of the way. We threw ourselves on the ground to prevent any fragment from crushing us, being lucky enough to escape; however, the stables…

Max: 『 … Oh, no… No, no, no, no! Why…?! 』

Completely buried under large pieces of hard and rough debris, both the pens and the other barns where we stored the hay were destroyed; only fragments of the wood that kept the horses warm and pieces of the worn-out window glass that gave us a little light remained. There was no longer any trace of our workspace.

The place that was our refuge, our lair, where we put all our effort and dedication for many years, the home of our dear friends: Wander, Vlie, Seraph, Rosette, Zen, Taurus, Roby, Zwart, Tzar, Snel... every one of them who was born and raised there; the place of laughter, jokes, games and discussions of two brothers and their friend who sometimes visited them secretly and was gladly welcomed for lunch, the place that was for many years our second home disappeared in an instant, in a blink of an eye.

Castle Soldier: 『 IT'S COMING AGAIN, GET READY!!! 』

"BOOM!!!" A second projectile hit, this time near the main entrance. Whoever was launching such stones had the objective of breaking down the rocky passive defense of the castle, starting with the enormous front door that would try to remain closed and hold out as long as it could.

The soldiers moved to all sides of the castle, inside and outside, hurriedly and agitated. Amongst that commotion, we heard a sort of familiar voice calling out for us with some urgency.

Cadet Marco: 『 You guys, what are you doing here?! 』

Max: 『 Cadet, what is going−? 』

Cadet Marco: 『 You have to leave the castle; the place is no longer−! 』

Castle Soldier: 『 CAREFUL!!! 』

"BOOM!!!" A third projectile hit the door head-on, breaking the enormous reinforcements they had placed and cracking it considerably. Now, it was only a matter of time before they knocked it down any time another stone came. The soldiers became increasingly agitated and called for the sappers to re-fortify the gate as soon as possible. Cadet Marco went to help at that point, without finishing his previous sentence, but asking us to do something so important that no one took the time to carry it out.

Cadet Marco: 『 Listen, there isn't much time; you have to evacuate all the employees before they arrive! 』

Shun: 『 They?! Who are—?! 』

Cadet Marco: 『 It doesn't matter, so hurry up and get out of here!! 』

The cadet ran off without giving us a clear answer about the situation. But seeing how bad things were, there was no point in stopping to think and figure out what was happening; there would be time for that later.

Now, our priority was to get all the families of the worker colony out of the castle. Surely no one had yet gone to tell them that it was necessary to evacuate; perhaps that is why the cadet entrusted us to do it; he must have been the only one who was interested in the castle employees, unlike the other soldiers who do not care about us and despise us. It was up to us, then, to keep everyone safe.

Max: 『 Damn it! What do we do now? 』

Shun: 『 Just that, Max... we get everyone out of here. 』