The Kaiserine's Champion

"And who might you be?" he asked.

"I said, Thenck sent me. Let me inside, quickly."

"He didn't tell me to expect any visitors. Go away."

He tried to shut the door but I stopped it with my foot and grabbed him by the front of his jacket, pulling him up so his boots kicked air. The Wardens were less than a hundred paces away. I wanted to be safely inside before they reached the doorway.
 
"Listen, Stumpy, I told you, Thenck sent me. This is where he lives, isn't it? So you'll let me inside, unless you want me to bash your face in."
The dwarf rolled his eyes, inviting me to look behind him. I did, and saw two soldiers armed with muskets at the other end of the entrance hall. They had me in their sights. The Tirpitz musket is the deadliest piece of weaponry ever developed by the Kaiserine's clever scientists, and rarely misses at ranges under five hundred paces. I put the dwarf down gently and brushed the front of his jacket to iron out the creases.

"Thank you," he said, grinning.

"Don't mention it," I said through clenched teeth.

Then he looked me up and down, his nose wrinkling in distaste at my sweet bouquet. He snapped his fingers in sudden realization. "You wouldn't be from the prison, would you?"

"How astute of you," I said. "Indeed I am."

He turned his head and said to the soldiers, "Easy, lads. This one's expected, after all." To my relief they lowered their muskets, carefully thumbing the hammers forward.

The dwarf said, "Come inside. I'm Ludwig. What should I call you?"

"The name's Manfred." Thenck hadn't asked. Perhaps he'd already known. He seemed to know everything else.

A distant cheer suddenly reached us from the direction of the city square, as a thousand throats cried their appreciation of a fine morning's entertainment. My hand rose involuntarily to my throat. I didn't have to be told the forger's neck had just been stretched. I hoped he'd died quickly and without pain, for he'd suffered the fate that should have been mine.
Ludwig slapped the small of my back, being unable to reach my shoulders. "Cheer up! You look as if someone's just walked over your grave. Come with me, I'll take you upstairs to the laboratory. You're very fortunate, you know. Not everybody gets to meet the great Doctor Schmidt."

The dwarf slammed the door shut behind me just as the Duke's Wardens came into view. It had been too close for comfort. Relief swept my guilt away and left me feeling light-headed and weak-kneed.

Ludwig waddled down the corridor, trailing his sword behind him. I followed meekly, until I drew level with the two sentries. The sight of their faces shocked me so much that I nearly recoiled in horror. They were so scarred and mutilated that it was difficult to imagine they might be human at all. Their flesh had been sewn together with rough stitches, and some of the pieces of skin didn't seem to match. As a result, their bloodshot eyes were hooded, their mouths were lop-sided and their noses were shapeless lumps of flesh with oddly-matched holes. I'd never seen anything quite so hideous, yet they seemed unaware of my attentioneither that, or they simply didn't care what I thought of their skewed features. I recalled the scarves the highwaymen and the coach driver had worn, and guessed they must all be veterans of The War. Evidently they'd received horrendous injuries, and equally horrendous repair surgery.