She was not a soldier, but a Mother always carries a soldier within

Clear night sky, the moon looking slightly bigger than usual with a misty gleam around it, distant stars are shining on second glance…

“It is freezing here, Father”, said Matthew.

“Hmm…”, The Father.

“You seem to enjoy the cold nowadays”, Matthew continued, “You looked tired after you had arrived from the shop, That’s why I made you fresh pottage with cabbage and leek.”

“It was as good as fine lamb stew !! Thank you, Son”, The Father.

“Let me help you to get to your room downstairs, You’ve been here on the terrace since the sunset”, Matthew.

“I’m proud of you, Son.”, The Father, “You’ve started working at the horse stable, and now you are replacing me as the main cook in the house.”

“It’s nothing”, Matthew continued..

“You fed and cared for me every day since as long as I can remember, You closed the shop and stayed with me when I got the fever, and now you are teaching me how to write !! all despite having one of your leg cut off !!”

“You are a Hero”

“No…!, Son”, The Father. “It was my duty as a soldier to fight wars and risk loosing Hands, Legs and even Head. And it is my duty now to care for my young son, legacy of our family !”

The Father continued, “ The only Hero, you, I and this whole castle should be grateful forever for is your mother !!”. [with firm and proud voice]

Stunned face from Matthew.

Father’s eyes slowly turning red.

“My Mother…. Mother ..?”, Matthew continued.

“Whenever I ask you about her, you dismiss me.” “Sometimes you say, I’m not grown enough to understand her.”

“What happened to her ? Why can’t I remember her face ? I have few glimpses of some ladies in my head from childhood, but not sure which is which..”

*********************************************

Long Pause from both.

The Father with a slight rejuvenated voice, “She was young, small nose, enchanting eyes and a round face just like the moon tonight.” “When she wore clean white dress and a headband made of fresh lilies on our wedding day, It looked as if the god of beauty descended from the heavens had presented her to me !!”

“Some guests mistook her for the princess of this castle.” The Father, with slight chuckles.

“I was attracted to her beauty, and admired her kindness.”

“Haha… The only problem that I had with her initially was with her overly generosity towards her sisters! Kind of extra tax on our earnings!” [The Father, chuckling]

“It was only after couple of years into the marriage and when I returned home with my right leg amputated, seeing my pain, her heart got hardened.”

“Later, she took care of me like I was her child.” The father.

Teary eyed Matthew, “Oh….She was kind...and beautiful..”.

Matthew continued, “I miss her more now as you talk about her.”

“I miss her too! War took my leg, but fate took half my life and left the other half to suffer!”,

The Father.

Father glancing at the castle around him, “You see, Son. The stone walls around us as thick as two beastly rhinos put together has stood here for many generations. Even my grandfather couldn’t remember a time when it had been shaken or broken by thunder or by the enemy fireballs!!”. “We can cook, eat and sleep peacefully inside our houses because these walls exists, and because few soldiers are guarding and are ready to die for it”.

“I know about the walls”, Matthew.

Long pause from the Father.

“you were very young, getting fed from your mother’s breast”. Father continued, “It was not a decent night, dark clouds covered the moon, colder than tonight. I slept not long after the sunset, you would have had taken your own time to cry before sleeping as usual. What happened later that night was narrated to me by the fellow soldiers who were in the high ranks of the army!!”.

She had heard noises from outside the house sometime around the midnight. It was as if someone was walking or running slowly in front of the house. This aroused suspicion in her head. The house is at the end of our street and the only place on the left side, few yards away from the house is an abandoned cattle shed which is yet to be repaired, the closest watchtower had no guards in it as our part of the lower bailey is close to the edge of the cliff and arrival of enemy army is not possible or expected here.

While she was still awake and had her ears on the lookout, similar noise emerged from the cattle shed, got little louder and then disappeared into the street towards the primary bailey. She had to have a look at it, so she peeked from the left window, and after sometime, A soldier with dark attire which is different to our own emerged from the cattle shed and carefully walked past the house.

As the wife of a soldier, she knew the basics of war, siege and other fighting tactics. What was happening in front of her doesn’t look right, It was most certain that these soldiers were enemies and something had to be done !!.

What can she do now..? Wake up her husband who can’t run or fight..? or run towards the primary gatehouse which is at the far side…?

“Son, it’s not wise to judge someone’s decision when they are in face of danger”, The Father, “What your mother did was not ordinary, but a brave action”.

*******************************************

She took out the arming sword from the safe in the house and then went to the cattle shed to check it on her own. The sword was not long but perfect to hold and face close targets. She was careful. The shed was abandoned and had a wooden fence around it. At first glance, she couldn’t notice anything, but after entering it, and waiting for some time, a kind of noise started to arise, that is the noise of metal rubbing against the stones !! It was coming from what appears to be a rat hole from the inner wall !! On close inspection, it was much bigger than a rat hole, it could fit an adult but with difficulty. 

Her breathing got faster, not much time to think, she sat beside the hole pointing her sword towards the entrance, Her hands are shaking while her mind is still not sure about this decision !!

Slowly, a head starts to appear crawling out with the face pointing downwards. She aimed the sword to his neck and pushed it on him !!

“Ughhh…….” Soldier shouted, but wasn’t too loud.

The stab was deep but on the upper shoulder, she didn’t wait, even with her hands shivering, she tried again and stabbed his upper neck close to the skull this time.

A fountain of blood from different vessels gushed out !

And a splash of blood on her face too !

Her face looked both relieved and guilty at the same time. After few normal breaths, she dragged him slowly out of the hole and laid him opposite to her.

The second and subsequent kills which continued for some time were not as messy as the first one. Direct strike on the neck had done the job.

Now, there laid a heap of dead soldiers with blood running like it was a meat festival !!

Tunn.. Tunn… Dunn... sound from distance.

Bells from the main Gatehouse started to ring. Realizing, this could mean that the guards had become aware of the enemies inside, she rushed outside to the door of the shed.

From there she could see men with torches lit running atop the watch towers and alerting more guards. A sense of relief in her.

Her heart was drawing her to check on her child until she started to hear footsteps from the shed behind her.

She turned around; But the enemy was close, already drawn his long sword, with a smirk on his face, looking to have his revenge !!

*********************************************

“Did he……kill our mother ?, Father”, Matthew trembling.

[Father, gasping for air]

“She wasn’t killed, but Martyred!”, The Father.

[Tears rolling down from both, and after a long pause]

“While we were sleeping in our beds in warmth, She was lying with her blood open in cold”.

[Uncontrollable cry from Matthew, father is in grief]

“Later, guards scouted the whole castle and found one more enemy near the shed after already fighting couple of them at the gates before raising the alarm. Bells had made the remaining enemies outside the walls to flee”.

Father continued, “Guards and our soldiers were Proud at the sight of a women sacrificing herself while fighting, with tens of dead enemies as her trophies!”

“The Royals were too insecure to acknowledge that a gentle mother saved the whole castle from a siege!”, “So, it was never publicly announced.”

“Son, Martha is not just your mother who took care and safeguarded you, but a mother to this castle too!! Guarded it when needed!”

“She was not a soldier, but a Mother always carries a soldier within”.