*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*.
Deep in the night, suddenly, this loud, very rude banging sound echoed across the hallways as a few armed guards pounded their fists against the luxurious door leading to Cambyses's room, the speed of their hits very quick and even panicked.
While inside Cambyses was peacefully tucked away under her warm blanket, the room being heated by a roaring fire going on, as her nubile body slept while hugging a scantily clad Mean like she was her body pillow, her dainty arms and legs wrapped around the petite maid like a koala.
"What is it now?" And hearing this disturbing din, the first to wake up was actually the latter, as the petite woman popped her head out a bit of the heavy wool quilt with scrunched-up brows and slowly muttered in an annoyed voice.
Mean knew that Cambyses had worked late tonight, and then, given there was no Alexander, her mistresses and she had decided to enjoy a bit just between themselves, which ran quite late into the night, and so they had fallen asleep not so long ago. meaning both were still quite tired and more importantly cranky.
Mean even felt that if they did not get a good night's sleep today, it would be hard for them to work properly.
And so unless it was very urgent, she planned to give the guards quite an earful.
But all those irritated thoughts were instantly swept away as the soldiers immediately after pounding loudly for a while and getting on response, started to shout in an alarm tone from outside the door, "My lady, fire! *Bang*, There is a fire! *Bang*, *Bang*, Wake up! Wake up!"
The soldiers struck so strongly on the door that it almost appeared they were ready to smash through the door.
"What!" And the moment Mean heard the word 'fire', she involuntarily screamed a shrilling cry from the top of her voice, as her body began to feel both hot and cold.
Hot because of the urge to get up and get out of the house, and cold because of fear at how this could have happened.
Because from the soldier's wording, she thought that the mansion itself had caught fire,
While hearing Mean's terrified screech, the sleeping Cambyses next to her too immediately bolted straight up, throwing away her blanket in the process and snapping her eyes open to look around, her gaze filled with terror and vigilance, as the bloodshot organs, tried to identify the threat.
"What! Wh..y happened?" She fearfully asked, or more exactly shouted, as her ears were still ringing with that frightening scream next to her that had shattered her sleep.
And in her haste, after being so suddenly woken up from her fragile sleep, Cambyses miss pronounced 'what' to 'why', while her eyes still hurt from being so suddenly woken up.
"Mistress, fire! There is a fire! We get to go!"
But Mean did not have the luxury to give Cambyses the time to slowly wake up, as the petite girl deemed the situation to be dire.
So she was already out of bed and grabbing a nearby cloak for Cambyses while shouting this, and hearing the word 'fire' Cambyses, like Mean too found all her grogginess disappear.
"Fuck!" Cambyses did not ask any why, or where, or how, hearing this, and simply threw off the blanket entirely and then jumped out of the bed before quickly putting on the thick cloak over her negligee.
Following which she rushed to open the door to ask what exactly had happened.
And while on her way Cambyses's heart was racked with all sorts of questions, as she repeatedly wondered, 'How can there be a fire? Who could have done it? Was it an accident? Or sabotage??'
Cambyses could not wait for more answers, as she, like Mean thought the manor was on fire.
" Where is the fire? Which wing? How did it happen" And so immediately as the doors were opened, Cambyses shouted this in full alarm at the soldiers that had come to inform her.
And facing this barrage of inquiries, the temporary captain of the bodyguards took the lead and quickly told her what he meant.
"Mistress, the iron mines are on fire! The entire smelting facility is on fire!" The man even subconsciously pointed his arms toward that direction, even though he was actually just pointing to an empty corridor, as he quickly shouted this, adding,
"I have sent men to check the exact situation."
"But many of the watchmen are reporting seeing Tibian uniforms in the light. They appear to be slaughtering the citizens there!"
"We are in danger!"
The man sounded panicked like Cambyses had never seen before.
This man that Alexander had left temporarily in charge of protecting Cambyses and his manor was actually Juminus, who you might remember as being the guard captain of the kitchen, and given that the man was previously responsible for making sure Alexander was not poisoned, naturally, he was quite trusted.
And as this trust had been built over many years while being in the same mercenary company, given the long time, Cambyses too got to know him well.
And in all her years knowing him, this was the first time she had seen the usually calm man so fearful.
And this was totally understandable given if the reports about Tibias being already at the mines were true.
The roads along that path were really well made, as Alexander wanted to make the mines as productive and as efficient as possible.
So, if the enemy took that route, they could very well be in front of their manor at any moment, and at that point, it would be as simple as just waltzing into the city.
That could not be allowed to happen.
Hence Juminus's alarming 'we are in danger' sentence.
So Cambyses naturally understood this.
So hearing this report, her heart almost drowned in fear and she began to really wish it could have been just the manor that was on fire, like she had initially feared.
That would have been a minor inconvenience compared to this.
"Wha…ho…" Hence, given the gravity of the situation, and how precarious it was, the young girl suddenly felt her brain go blank.
Cambyses was only nineteen and had never thought things would become so dire so quickly.
One moment they were firmly holding the front line, the next second, Tibias was pointing their spears at her back, right in the middle of the night without any warning.
So given the circumstances and the complete unexpectedness of the situation, Cambyses was for a moment caught in decision paralysis, even unable to form coherent words, while the others simply looked at her intently.
The pressure of which made Cambyses even more forgetful, as her hands could be seen literally shaking and her knees felt weak, while her sight began to suddenly darken.
Cambyses was about to pass out from fear!
"Evacuate! We must evacuate the manor, mistress," And it was only after Mean, who had at last put on her own cloak and joined from behind, shouted this to Cambyses that she finally got her brain running.
"Yes! Evacuate! Get the maids and the women out. And conscript the men to defend!" The first thing that Cambyses did was repeat and add to the order, as she felt her world brighten up as Mean's loud, comforting voice worked to drive away the dreadful panic attack she was about to suffer from.
And Cambyses would look back on this particular event for many years to come with a relieved sigh, knowing that if she had lost consciousness then, it was very possible Zanzan might have fallen that day.
But for now, Cambyses did not have that luxury to sweetly reminisce, as upon saying this, she then turned to look at Mean to further add, "Mean, you go find Lady Nanazin and the twins first. Get them out of here as quickly as possible! Take them to the temple and stay with them."
Even in this moment of crisis, Cambyses still remembered Alexander's message regarding the twins and she worked to prioritize keeping them safe, sending them to the place it was the safest to be in any war.
She even ordered Mean to be with them so they do not face any problems.
"But mistress, what about you?" But upon hearing this order, Mean was more interested in what Cambyses wished to do.
The loyal maid would never think of leaving her mistress behind and taking shelter in the temple all by herself, as the mere thought of that made Mean's heart shake. and hence seemed determined to stay here or at least take her mistress with her.
And Cambyses of course understood this, which was why, in order to placate her, Cambyses thought quickly, and in a cajoling tone answered, "Of course, I will soon come with you. But I just need to take care of a few things."
"The slaves and servants need to be evacuated."
"The male servants need to be hired."
"And the defenses for the manor need to be organized."
"You go ahead and wake the ladies and ready the horses."
"I will soon be behind after giving Juminus some instructions and writing out some orders."
"Now go!"
Cambyses then hurriedly pointed outside the door to urge Mean.
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