Nightingale

Chapter XXIV

P A R T O N E

Empress Nightingale

The courtyard was scorched with the imprints of the explosions. It was eerily quiet. It was a graveyard for the fallen, the corpses of enemies and allies laying amongst the blood-stained grass. The sun still shone and the wind blew, but the heaviness of the battle will carry on after the death of many soldiers.

The escaped survivors of the invasion were brought back into the palace, yet kept in the west wing to avoid the sight of the dead bodies littered along the halls. Gallia and Erebus met Ambrose, (Y/N), and Dimitri in the church's chapel. They march through the doorway as Kaiya was seized and chained by a group of imperial guards.

With such fury in her eyes, Gallia whirls her hand back and strikes Duchess Lotteshu across the face. Kaiya yelps as his face whirls to the side with a resonating slap. "I'll be counting the days until you're hanged," Gallia spat at the white-haired woman.

Stepping inside, Erebus carried Selina and Chiara just as Agatha followed him to carry his own son, Magnus. Setting his red eyes upon (Y/N), he breathes out, "You're okay...!"

Ambrose frowns as (Y/N) pressed a kiss to the imperial advisor's cheek. "Thank you for keeping them safe," the young mother took Selina in her arms as Erebus set Chiara on the ground.

Chiara looks around the chapel before asking, "Where's my father?"

"Still with the other soldiers perhaps," Ambrose suggests, "He is their general after all."

Glancing through the tall windows of the glorious cathedral, (Y/N) found her (e/c) eyes drifting toward the courtyard. Though the voices were far away, she could tell that many of the soldiers were screaming. Her brows furrowed as she found a series of medics interfering with a group of gathered soldiers. A nylon cloth was stretched onto the ground and an injured soldier was moved to lie on top. The four medics quickly hoist the man up and carry him, racing across the courtyard.

Though the group was tight-knit in order to shield the fallen soldier, (Y/N) miraculously caught a glimpse of the unknown guard.

Gallia recoils as (Y/N) suddenly hands over Selina to her. "Wait, where are you going!?"

(Y/N) picks up the fabric of her skirt and races through the palace's halls.

The large double doors of the castle's entrance are slammed open. And many soldiers pile through to follow their fallen brethren.

(Y/N) shoves her way through the crowd until she was able to practically see over one of the medic's tall shoulders.

"Beowulf..." (Y/N) gasped out.

"Ma'am," one of the medics spoke, "You shouldn't be here."

"I'm his only kin," the young woman lies.

"It's true," Malachi, one of Beowulf's soldiers confirms. (Y/N) recognized the ebony-haired male as being one of the three boys who teased Beowulf and were forced to run 100 laps.

"Y-Yeah," another soldier, the red-haired boy named Leo, struggles to lie, "S-she's, uh, his wife!"

The medic sighs, revealing to the young woman, "General Beowulf appears to have been stabbed along the abdomen. He is bleeding profusely and we fear it might have hit an organ or artery."

"M-Meaning what?" (Y/N) ran in order to keep up with them.

The medic doesn't answer, giving a look of grimacing and hesitancy.