Marius's explanation of loaning etiquette was something he could handle. This miniature siege he felt wholly inadequate to perform admirably in. As soon as the window was broken, Marius fired his horse pistol and the guardsman's pistol into the din, sending smoke and the stench of powder wafting through the hall. 

"Doon't feyer unless you hef a shoot." Natasha cautioned with a cool tone. It irked Marius how collected the woman was. In the midst of his furious reloading, he managed to glimpse her slowly placing her chin on her carbine, inhaling and slowly exhaling as she took a shot. A strangled cry went up in the din, and she smirked. 

"Good job," He admitted, breathlessly. She gave him a wink, but before he could share a moment with her, something hit Marius's shoulder and sent him flying back against the side of the corridor. He found himself pinioned to the wall by something sticking into the cloth of his cloak and vest, just beside his neck. He pulled himself off the wall, ripping his top but luckily the merchant found he was uninjured.

"Sheet! They haf crussboos." She said, ducking just as a quarrel broke through another window, embedding into the wood above her head. Marius could guess why that was a problem. They might not have the punch of a musket ball, but they were quiet, with good range, and they didn't need powder. Natasha rolled forward and knelt before Marius, taking one of his pistols to help reload. "Gif me thet." 

The two reloaded together as more quarrels and a few scattered gunshots splintered the wood around them. Marius fumbled the powder, but managed to catch it before it was fully spent and continued to pour it in. Just as they were finishing, there was a large knock just downstairs, followed by another, and then a third. 

"Theh ar tekking ex to duur." She said, getting to her feet in a flash. Marius reached out to grab her hand, surprising even himself. "No, wait! You stay up here. I have an idea." 

She looked at him incredulously, but nodded. Marius took his pistols and turned the corner, hurrying downstairs as quietly as he could. He ran past the barred front door, even then seeing an axe head chip through and rustle the chairs stacked against the timber. He ignored it, heading into the kitchen. This wasn't the most clever idea, but it was something. He opened the cabinet, pulling out flour and jugs of spices, then searching the doors to the counter. He scrambled to the table and shoved it aside, finding nothing underneath. 

"If I were greedy guards, where would I keep the bloody alcohol?" He asked aloud, his thoughts having only the chopping in the next hall for company. Swiftly, it dawned on him. Marius knelt and whisked away the carpet in the kitchen, revealing a small door. He grabbed the iron ring and yanked the portal back to reveal a stairway leading into the darkness. Marius coughed at the sudden stuffiness but climbed down anyway, reaching the bottom of the cellar and finding three well stocked shelves of varying brews. To his utter disbelief, he also saw a sliver of light across the cellar. 

"Sigmar's mercy..." 

Marius grabbed all of the alcohol he could, pouring it over the door and the hallway as more shots rang out. 

"Marioos! Waut ar yuu doing?!" 

"One moment!" He called up, spreading the rest of the powder on the floor to add a bit of kick to his plan. Once four bottled were empty, he felt it was an adequate amount of flammable material, and he sprinted up the stairs to Natasha, who shot once more through the window. There was another strangled yell even as Marius grabbed her arm. 

"Come with me, I know a way out." He told her. 

"A wey oot?" She asked, confused. 

"Yes, come on!" 

The two grabbed their belongings and weapons and hurried downstairs just as the door was about to give way. Gun barrels were shoved through the holes and gunshots rang through the hall, whizzing by the two companions and they fled across the corridor to the kitchen Once they were there, Marius pointed to the cellar. "Get in fraulien. There's a door that leads outside. As soon as I give the signal, you need to go and run for the horses." 

"Tha seegnal?" 

"You'll know it!" He told her, urging her to go. She nodded, not understanding but knowing he had a plan and dropped down into the dimness. Once her black haired head disappeared, Marius gave a small prayer to Sigmar, his hands holding the two pistol barrels against his forehead. Sweat beaded down his brow, and he realized with embarrassment he felt very close to soiling himself. 

He let out a yelp when the door to the main hall burst open, and loud voices rose as big men shouldered their way through. Marius turned the corner in the far doorway to the kitchen, poking his head around to see five guardsmen wearing Grunson colors marching in with axes and guns, one holding a readied crossbow pointed up. Their eyes swiveled to him as soon as they saw movement, and they hefted their weapons as one cried. "Give it up and it'll be painless!" 

"Unfortunately for both my father and you gentlemen, I don't give up." Marius remarked theatrically, lowering his pistol at the gathered pile of blackpowder just a few paces away and exhaling as he pulled the trigger. 

Things seemed to move in slow motion after that. Even knowing what was coming, Marius was taken aback by the explosive force. A concussive shockwave hit him even as he yanked himself around the corner, and he saw a glimpse of the guards faces just as the fire leaped up. One of them had the wits to look horrified, but the rest still looked either confused or simply angered. Of course, they were very dead now, but it was a snapshot he would remember for a long time. Heat billowed into the kitchen as Marius slid across the floor from the blast, flames leaping into sight. Screams outside showed that there had been more men hot on their heels. His ears rang and his head swam, but true to his previous statement, this Wissenland merchant was as stubborn as any Ostland bull. He pulled himself over to the cellar door and unceremoniously fell inside like a fallen rock. He coughed and felt ill, but light streamed from the left, and he heard a horse whinny. Marius pulled himself up and staggered across the cellar, holding his evidently damaged shoulder, bruised or harmed likely from having hit the ground so hard. 

"Marioos!" He heard her voice. 

Marius burst into the light.