Chapter 1.3

Sir Slanted Eyes looked at the soldiers, frowned, and waved a hand, apparently not wanting to share the moment with them now. They looked hesitant but did as told without resistance. Sir Slanted Eyes slithered over to Alice’s side with a slight look of satisfaction on his face, his long sword and dagger clattering on his waistband.

If only I could get my hands on that sword… thought Alice. All in good time. Just need to have a little patience. She glanced at him again and smirked, lifting both hands in the air. “To our wedding.”

Sir Slanted Eyes, unable to hide his excitement anymore, held in his snorting and grabbed his new future wife by the waist, pulling her body close, tightly. Her tiny body pressed against his armor. Alice wrapped her left arm around his neck and tilted her head to lick his soft lips. It smelled fishy and tasted like garbage. All the while the man’s heart was thumping out of his chest. Her lips drew a longer smile. Sir Slanted Eyes pressed down harder on her lips.

While he was busy violating her poor lips, she pulled the hairpin out of her hair with her right hand. The decorative end of it was tightly gripped in the palm of her hand, and the end of the long rod was sharp enough to poke through a thick head of hair. Amy, her maid, had complained that it looked more like a hunting knife than a nice, beautiful hairpin. Alice was glad of it now.

There are some spots in the human body which when pricked could be fatal. Alice’s favorites were the arteries. She had studied all about arteries trying to situate them in her own body. They had fascinated her. If you pricked an artery, the blood spewed with such force that it could turn fatal in a matter of minutes.

Of course, her expectations now weren’t as high as they’d been though. A hairpin is not as sharp nor as good of a weapon as a sashimi knife. There is only one chance, and surely you have to put some force into it. There is always a heavy difference between thinking of a perfect plan and going through with it.

Suddenly Alice’s eyes met with Aaron over Sir Slanted Eyes’ shoulder. He was looking at her with a pale face as if he were witnessing something absolutely terrible. His sister winked at him. There was nothing to worry about. Because she was going to put an end to all of this. She was going to save them. It would be alright.

She lifted her right hand high, then used all of the strength in her shoulder and upper body to strike down. Sir Slanted Eyes, who had been filling his greed, grunted above her lips as a piercing sound rang out. About half of the 20-centimeter-long hairpin was stuck inside his neck.

But this wasn’t the end. It wasn’t enough to kill him. It would’ve been better if the hairpin needle was angled instead of rounded, but thankfully it was enough to pierce the skin. Alice’s memory and skills must have come to mind at the last moment. With both hands she grabbed the hairpin as tightly as she could and pressed it in deeper, pushing the man’s belly with her foot. It wasn’t time to take out the hairpin yet. The ball was in her court now. She had to make sure to tear his skin and blood vessels apart.

As Sir Slanted Eyes’ body fell back, Alice felt the hairpin resisting. As she put strength into both hands, she tried not to fall back with him. The thin but hard hairpin eventually tore through the man’s blood vessels, muscles, and skin. The crimson-red blood shot through the air like a stream of water from a fountain. Warm blood sprayed on her cheeks, neck, and arms. A gurgling noise escaped from the man’s lips, then he slumped over onto the floor, unable to scream out.

Gasping, the two soldiers turned their heads to find Sir Slanted Eyes lying on the ground with his eyes bulging. Alice dropped the hairpin, quickly pulled the dagger from the man’s waist, rolled herself over to the foot of the first soldier, and stabbed the inside of his thigh, splitting it with all of her strength.

By the way, what’s the point of a dagger when a knight has to live and die by a sword? It doesn’t cut the flesh but barely tears it open. But still, it was a better weapon than the hairpin. Soon after blood started flowing out of the soldier’s thigh wound, he fell to the floor, screaming in pain. The other soldier, who’d finally sensed the danger, was getting ready to pull his own dagger out. It was a stupid move, because it only stalled him further. To Alice, however, it was a blessing.

The second soldier also fell to the ground, bleeding from his leg. Moments later, the carpet became soggy and stained with their blood. The first soldier was already starting to lose his strength as he stumbled over trying to pull himself up.

Alice stood up to pat down her wrinkled skirt and adjusted her pannier back into place. After that, she tapped her foot on Sir Slanted Eyes a couple of steps away. His eyes were already rolling to the back of his head and blood was seeping out through his shaky lips. Though the speed of blood had slowed down, there didn’t seem to be the need for cutting his throat again. He was already half gone. Blood bloomed on the stone floor everywhere.

“Alice?”

She wiped her cheek with her sleeve which didn’t do much to clean the blood but smear it more and stared over at her brother. At least Aaron, who was conscious, had gathered enough strength to lift half of his body up from the floor. Aaron seemed as okay as he could be, considering the situation but Alex was lying in the pool of his own blood. Alice paled.

“I will go call a medic,” she said, “Go see if Alex is okay. Stay with him.”

“Alice, you…” he stammered. Her brother couldn’t look away from her. There was something like fear in his eyes.

“Aaron, this isn’t the time to talk,” she said, firmly, “Right now, you both need medical attention. Talk later, alright?”

The sound of her heels clicked on the floor and echoed through the walls while she walked fast to the front door. The hem of her skirt left a trail of blood on the floor. But she felt refreshed. She thought she could have made it less bloody, and more fun if she had the time. Maybe next time, she thought. After all, she wasn’t a typical fifteen-year-old girl.