Assassin!

Emily was watching the play with a big smile on her face breaking out into the occasional fit of laughter. Teslaimia couldn't help laughing harder because of it. The play they had chosen to attend this time was a comedy clearly targeting Mr. Duke, who either didn't know this or who thought the material was funny enough that he just didn't care.

One of the actors on stage clearly meant to be playing a character based on Emily wearing a very short skirt bent over toward the audience showing her knickers which caused the men to whistle and hoot with joy, turned back to the audience and said, "Mr. Duck, I don't understand, I thought you said it was at the bottom of this box?"

The actor playing the Mr. Duke character winked out at the audience and said, "Maybe look closer, it was really far into the box."

The audience roared in laughter as the Emily character bent over again. She looked up and touched her bottom lip cutely and said, "It's just not in there."

The character based on Mr. Duke said, "Not yet it isn't Lady Constance." He winked at the audience once again causing another roar of laughter.

Emily hid behind her hands, "I would never!"

Teslaimia laughed even harder nearly gasping for breath. A man under the box seats Teslaimia and Emily were sitting in turned and looked up at them. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of throwing knives sending them up at Teslaimia with shocking force. Emily caught sight of the man just as he reached into his jacket, she pulled Teslaimia down to the floor just as the first of the throwing knives hit Teslaimia in her right shoulder the others stuck into the roof of their box.

The Man shouted out, "Die Rakshilesh Whore!" Captain Alexander's men seemed to appear out of nowhere capturing the man before he had a chance to take a step toward the exit.

Princess Teslaimia sucked in a breath and said, "It hurts so much, why would anyone want to be a knight?"

Emily quickly pulled out the blade and pressed her scarf on the wound. She called out, "Someone help she's been stabbed!"

Everything had happened so fast the actors were late to start breaking character, the stage manager quickly brought them off stage. The Audience which had been laughing was suddenly completely quiet. Ushers rushed out to guide the audience out into the lobby for an unplanned intermission.

A man Emily recognized from the defensive wall's medical center quickly appeared beside her, "I was here to see the play, I always bring my bag just in case." He gave her a reassuring smile, "I want you to slowly remove the scarf when I say."

An Usher came over carrying a bowl of water, "Is this enough Doctor?"

The doctor nodded and said, "Lady Connaissance, I am going to apply some alcohol to the wound, she might pass out from the pain, so I'll need you to brace her and keep her upright. Can you do that? Remove your scarf now please."

Emily nodded, "Of course Doctor."

Teslaimia frowned as her forehead beaded with sweat, "Will this leave a scar?"

The doctor pulled out a syringe from his kit and touched it to the wound. Teslaimia smiled and said, "Oh, thank you, doctor, I think it's all better now."

Emily looked at the doctor strangely who answered without looking at Emily, "Morphine. It's to take away the pain." He took a cup of water and rinsed the wound looking inside, "It's just through muscle thankfully. I'm going to stitch it up and dress the wound. You'll need to clean the wound with alcohol just as I demonstrate right now, each day and dress the wound like this, is this something you'll be able to do?"

Emily nodded as she watched him work. He worked as quickly as a seamstress sewing up the two-inch-long wound. After he finished sewing the wound he poured alcohol over it and then pulled out a thin strip of clean white cloth from his bag. Pardon me, Princess. He pulled down her dress partially exposing her right breast which caused the Usher to abruptly turn around with a bright red face. The doctor worked quickly wrapping the cloth tightly around the shoulder. After he was done, he pulled her dress strap back up covering her once again.

He turned to Emily and asked, "May I see the blade, let me confirm it was not poisoned?"

Emily quickly handed him the blade asking him, "She'll be ok then?"

He said, "There is no poison, thank goodness. Will she be ok? That depends on if you can clean the wound with alcohol as I showed you and if you keep clean bandages on the wound. It's best if she avoids any strenuous activity for at least a month. Bring her to see me in fourteen days at the camp, I'll remove the stitches then." He looked at Emily and said, "If the wound turns red and puffy bring her to see me at once. If she gets a fever or acts strangely beyond the normal discomfort you would expect from a cut, bring her to see me at once." Emily nodded.

The doctor finished cleaning his hands of blood in the water and then used a clean towel to dry them. He then turned to Emily pressed his hands on the sides of her face and started looking into her eyes, "You've been doing the exercises every single day, right?"

He tilted her head left, right. up, and down staring into her eyes the whole time. "Doctor?"

He asked, "Have you still been getting headaches while overworking?"

She murmured, "A few times."

He asked, "If you kill yourself overworking for the city, will that benefit the city or the beautiful Princess here?"

Emily wanted to refute his words but just said nothing instead.

An hour later Captain Alexander and a group of soldiers from the camp arrived on horseback and started to interview the audience members and actors.

*****

An unarmed muscular man casually walked with his hands in the air carrying a white flag. He walked up to a guard post for a large military camp, "Uh, hello, can any of you all speak Langlish?"

The guards pointed long spears at him as they shouted loudly in a foreign language. One of the soldiers sprinted off coming back a few minutes later with a sharply dressed man that looked like an officer. The officer asked, "Who are you, and why have you come?"

The muscular man asked, "Hey you fellas mind if I put my arms down now, I don't have any weapons and this getting a little tiring."

The officer nodded, "Now, tell me why you have come here."

"Oh, yeah, well we were flying over you fellas the other day and you took those spears there and shot something at us, you all recall that?" He smiled, "Well, you see I am from that ship. We just wanted to ask you all, you here to try and conquer us, or just passing through? We aren't looking for war but if you all are coming here with bad intentions, well, we're gonna need to unleash the righteous anger of the pissed off on you."

The officer smirked, "Anger of the pissed off? With your balloon? Go back and tell your people the Kruession Empire will be at your gates soon, you can present your offer of surrender at that time."

He shrugged and said, "Alright, I'll let them know." He looked up and sniffed around. "Looks like rain tonight. You all stay dry now."

"What's your name? Who do you represent?" The officer yelled out as he walked away.

He stopped and turned back, "Me? I'm Smitty. I am from the City of Connaissance. That's with two ens and two esses." He waved goodbye and then disappeared into the night just as he arrived.

The officer shook his head and then went back to the commander's tent. A young gaudily dressed man was sitting at a desk in the tent writing out a long document he asked, "Well, who was it? What did he want?"

The officer said, "He said his name was Smitty. He was from that balloon we saw. He wanted to know what our intentions were toward his city called Connaissance. I told him that we'd be there in soon ready to accept their surrender."

"That's all? Nothing else?" The man looked up with an annoyed expression.

The officer thought for a minute and then said, "Well he did say something that was a little strange. He said if we came here with bad intentions they would unleash the anger of the pissed off on us... He also looked up and smelled the air and warned us of rain."

"Rain? Why would it rain in this area at this time of year?" leaned back in his chair.

Moments later several loud 'SHOOM!' sounds went off one after another and then screams sounded all around them. Before the officer and the gaudily dressed young man could act a rain of metal fell on the camp with a sound like popcorn being popped. Only a few soldiers managed by luck to be unaffected, they fired into the sky while shouting angrily.

The gaudily dressed man half dragged himself to the opening of his tent and saw his camp destroyed. He screamed out, "Medic!!"

That night, the living and less wounded soldiers spent the night searching for anyone who could be saved amongst the carnage. By the next morning, the full gravity of their situation made them all lose any thought of returning to Connaissance's area. A few thousand men were all that remained of the once million-man army. The living soldiers loaded those too injured to walk into the wagons. Laying in the back of one of these wagons the young gaudily dressed man looked up into the sky in the distance and saw the two airships lurking, daring them to head to the west while leaving a path to the east open.

He gnashed his teeth in anger and then said out loud, "I'll be back Connaissance, I'll come to visit your city. The anger of the pissed off, good, good. I'll show you the anger of the pissed on!"

One of the other injured men near him chimed in, "Your Highness, I think you meant to say you'd show them even greater anger of the pissed off."

The gaudily dressed young man glared at him, "Explain!"

The soldier said, "Uh, pissed off... It means you know, I'm so angry! But pissed on means that like someone stood over you and pissed on you, you know?"

The gaudily dressed young man laughed and said, "I like you. You have a good way of looking at things and explaining them. When we return home, I'm going to have mother make you my new general."

The soldier seemed shaken, "Your Highness I am too young, this was my first war, and I didn't even make it to my first battlefront."

The young prince laughed loudly, "We will teach you, but you can't teach a man to have the balls to stand up to his ruler and point out when he is making a total ass of himself. I like you, what's your name?"

"My name is Gorki, Your Highness." The soldier slapped his chest hard and nodded.

The young prince smiled and said, "Gorki, I permit you to call me Nicolas. From now on, we are going to be like brothers, you and I. We have survived this anger of the pissed off together and fate has decided to put you in my wagon for this long uncomfortable trip back home." He pulled a flask out and took a drink, "Vodka, try it."

Gorki took the flask and took a drink before wheezing and coughing, "It's like drinking fire!"

The young prince Nicolas laughed, "Yes like fire, but in a few minutes this wagon will feel like we are floating on a cloud."