Chapter 5 ~ Sofie Von Tirol

 

There was fire at the walls, and I covered my ears so I wouldn’t hear the sound of metal clashing and men dying. The door had given away, and the enemy was through the gates.

I was sitting in my ladies’ chamber with my ladies and our servants. Several of my ladies had run off after the gate had given in because they didn’t want to be found with me. They wanted to hide away and pray that they wouldn’t be found.

I was the highest royalty left in the castle. My allies had been slipping away, trying to go over to the other side, especially after it was clear that we were going to lose because the gate had given in. The farmers and the Trioler men were trying to defend us, but I could hear more war cries coming from the other side. Our cries grew weaker.

The servants were crying. Hope was gone. Prince Burkhart of Lion’s Paw was scratching at our door. Perhaps we would have been able to hold them back if the symbol of our house wasn’t an Eagle.

As soon as they busted opened the barred door, I would see exactly what happened when lions caught an eagle between its ferocious teeth. The young women were frightened of what the men would do to them before they killed them. The men were still below, fighting. They hadn’t been able to come up the stairs yet.

I sat perfectly straight, pretending not to hear them. It was my duty to say something encouraging to the servant girls, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. The screams from below robbed me of any clear thought. I didn’t know how much longer I could pretend to be brave.

“We’ll hide in the secret passageways,” I told the women with me. “We’ll be as quiet as can be. They won’t know where we are and go away.”

They nodded at my plan, but already they were sobbing loudly. There was no way that they could be quiet in their fright.

I prayed for a swift death, knowing that it was unlikely. I couldn’t stand the noise of people suffering and dying a second longer, but the next second came and many more after that. I was forced to listen to the noise that wasn’t stopping. It was getting closer and closer. They were up the stairs.

I was shaking with fear as I sat as stiff as a board, holding onto Greta and Martha’s hands. Secretly, I wished the men would have broken through already so this could be over.

Then they were at the door. The women were screaming at the top of their lungs, clinging to one another as I tried to push then into the secret passage way. I wanted to curse them and tell them to be quiet. They were letting the men know that we were in here, and that their barbaric efforts would be rewarded. They would know to look for a hidden room or passageway now.

I began to pray anew, but I wanted to ask the Father in heaven to watch over the women with me and indeed my entire folk.

If anything had happened to my husband and brother and father, there would be no one to lead my people. The line ended with us. Sir Burkhart would take over, and the people would have a new prince, an evil one, who was at the moment slaughtering them and making women scream out in terror.

Thick chunks of the door broke into the room. The men were hacking at it as if it were timber for the fireplace and not the door that was hiding the princess.

“Hurry,” I told the women, but the ones inside the dark passage were too scared to move ahead.

A face appeared in the hole of the door. “My princess, you have to flee. Your husband is dead.”

“What?” I recognized not only the voice but also the face of the man peering through my door. It was Marcus, my husband’s childhood friend. A common man who had played with him when they were young. His father was the smith who shoed the horses, and his mother worked in the kitchens. Marcus got my horse ready when I wanted to go for ride.

“Frederick is dead?” I asked, forgetting that I had thought that we were being attacked. I stood and walked to the door.

“Unbar the door. We have to flee. Frederick’s last words to me were to keep you safe. You’re under my protection now, my lady,” Marcus told me.

“Me?” I was of no importance to them. With their prince dead and me with no heir in my belly, I was no one to them. I had merely been the wife to the prince on their throne, but he was gone now. I was no longer their princess. Only a prince could rule. A prince was something that I could never be. No woman could rule.

One of my maids opened the door for me. I saw a group of three common men and five men-at-arms outside my door. They bowed to me.

“We have to go now, or we won’t make it out on time. I don’t have to tell you what they would do to you if they caught you.”

“No, you don’t,” I said, agreeing with him. It was a lie. I had no idea what happened when men had their way with a woman. I only knew about Frederick being gentle with me. I had heard the phrase before, but I’d led a sheltered life before I married. I was born a royal princess with servants constantly to my left and right. The only thing I knew about men was what my husband showed me that one night that we had enjoyed together.

My ladies came out of their hiding spots, wanting to attend me as I followed the men, promising safety, but the men pushed them back inside. “The castle is lost. They’re pulling it apart stone by stone. The fewer we are the better our chance of getting out.”

I reached for my maids as the men pulled me away. I knew that I would never see them again. I was encompassed in grief.

Marcus took hold of my arm, and we swiftly went to my husband’s chambers. Briskly, he walked to a plain wall and pushed in a stone. The wall swung in a circle. This was a secret passage that I knew nothing about. This wasn’t the one that led to my room.

I shoved my astonishment aside and followed them into the wall.

The eight of us went through. On the other side, there was a staircase that led both up and down. We went down in the darkness. No one had a light along. I had spread my arms out to fell where the walls were. With my feet, I felt for the steps under my slippers. The men begged me to make haste. I was so fear-stricken that I could hardly move.

“Princess, they know that this castle has secret passageways. That’s why they are taking the castle apart.” Josef, the gatekeeper, explained. “Lord Burkhart has promised a new sword made out of the best steel to any man who can find you and bring him to you. He said it didn’t matter if you were dead or living. Do you understand, my lady? We have to hurry.”

“Yes,” I whispered into the darkness, picking up as much speed as I dared.

“We have horses waiting, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, Marcus.” Marcus had been a stable boy, but he had such talent with horses that my husband had promoted him to head of the horses before he left. It was a very high position for the common born boy, but he had an eye for the job. He deserved the position. He had been so kind to me since I arrived here.

“Did you pick the horses?” I asked him, wanting him to understand that I would feel better knowing he had.

“Yes, my lady, but I didn’t have much to choose from,” he admitted.

I could hear that he wasn’t happy about the horses. I hoped it was because he was a perfectionist and not because the horses were old and slow.

Marcus opened a door. The light blinded me after the darkness. The sun was coming up. I covered my eyes. Once again, my vision was impaired. This time by light and not by darkness. I was in the middle of the graveyard. We had come out of a tiny stone chapel.

The men took hold of my arms and urged me to move forward. My feet were barely touching the graves under my feet because the men-at-arms lifted me up as they walked, pulling me along with them at a rate I couldn’t have run at. We had to hurry, or we would be easily spotted riding away.

Then I turned my head and looked back at the castle. I saw fire and smoke. My new home was being ruined. I gave a little scream when I saw the north wall crumbling down. That was the wall we had just left through.

“Please be silent, my lady. The longer they think that you are in there the more time we have to get away.” Samuel wisely warned me.

“Where are the horses?” I asked Marcus.

“Behind Bear rock,” he replied.

I knew the place. Bear rock was a rock that looked as if God had dropped it there while he was creating the Earth. Behind it was a wading pool. I rode past there just yesterday with my ladies. It was the perfect place to hide horses because they could drink when they needed to and the rock hid them out of sight.

Now we gathered the horses and rode past areas that were meant for us to calm down and enjoy the beautiful mountainside, but we were racing away for our dear lives.

Where were they taking me? I trusted these men and knew that they were risking their lives to save mine, but at the same time they were running away from battle. Would it have made a difference if they had stayed and fought?

Most likely not, there had been too many of Burkhart’s men. He was a callus, power hungry man, and I was indeed thankful that I no longer had to sit in my room and wait to be killed by Burkhart and his men.

“They’re following us.” Samuel called out.

I turned and looked back, but I couldn’t see anything. The other men pushed the heels of their boots into the side’s of their horses to make them go faster. They believed Samuel without looking back, so I did the same.

We passed by a small village without riding into it. The village was situated in a valley. Marcus wouldn’t let us stop. “We’re almost there,” he called back.

At the edge of the village, we rode up the side of the mountain.

With great haste, Marcus brought us to a cave. We dismounted our horses and walked them inside the cave as far as they could go, but we had to leave them behind when the ceiling got so low that they would no longer fit.

“In my memories, this place was larger. Sorry about that,” Marcus told Frederick’s men. We left the horses tied together and walked deeper into the cave. With each step, it got darker.

“Do you think we lost them?” Samuel asked Marcus.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

We sat down on the cold stone floor and waited. We spoke in whispers, introducing one another. A few of my husband’s men were here. He’d sent them to me, using his last breath. They told me his orders. All hope was gone. My husband was truly dead.

~

The day turned into night as we waited in fear. I now knew how my husband died, an arrow had gotten him. He died surrounded by his friends, and his last thoughts were to save them as well as me. He ordered them to my side, probably hoping that I carried his heir.

What would become of the kingdom with no heir? It was clear that I couldn’t hold the lords together with my soft words when the Lion had his steel sword to sway them into doing what he told them to do.

“Let’s go to the cave opening and look out,” Marcus suggested. He was getting restless as we waited for it to be safe to leave. “If we lay on our bellies, no one will be able to spot us.”

The men were impatient from sitting all morning and afternoon. They told me to stay where I was while they went to take a look.

At first, I obeyed them, but I was scared alone, so I decided to follow them. Besides, I wanted to see what was happening too.

The opening of the cave was easy to find in spite of the darkness of night arriving. Burkhart and his men had torched the village below us. It was completely ablaze, no house was left standing. Marcus was repeating over and over that his grandmother lived down there.

The others ignored him. I noticed that one of my husband’s friends was missing. “Someone’s missing,” I whispered.

“Josef is scouting the area. We need to know if the Lions are still down there. If they’ve moved on, we can go down and help the villagers put out the fires.” Samuel was being very cold about everything. He wasn’t the type to show his emotions, whereas Marcus couldn’t keep his feelings hidden.

Marcus looked at me and pointed at the village. “My grandmother is down there.”

“I’ll add her to my prayers. Her name will be the first name that passes over my lips.” I promised him.

He sadly nodded at me before he turned back to the village.

Josef almost stepped on the others as he returned. “They’ve found us. They’re right behind me,” he warned us.

I could hear men shouting. I looked out and saw that the flares from the village were climbing up the mountainside. I could see men running from the flames towards us. The flames seemed to be chasing the men in our direction.

Marcus grabbed onto my hand and yanked me towards the back of the cave.

“Were those villagers?” I asked him.

“I hope so, my lady,” Josef told me.

“She isn’t a my lady,” Samuel corrected him. “She’s a princess. Sadly, those were Burkhart and his men,” he answered us.

“Are you certain?” I demanded to know.

“Villagers don’t carry swords and shields when they are running for their lives,” he replied.

“They’re coming for us? Is there no other way out of here?” I asked them.

“I’m afraid not, Princess,” Marcus answered me.

“I have a bit of wine,” Josef informed us.

“What of it?” Samuel asked.

“This is it. Our end. I’d like one last taste of wine before I go to the other side,” Josef replied.

The men nodded at him. He got out a flask and took a sip and looked at the others. “It’s been real good knowing you.” He passed the flask on to Samuel.

Samuel took a sip and smiled at everyone. “We will die as men for the noblest of causes.” He looked at me when he spoke.

How could I be a noble cause, one that was worth dying for?

The flask got passed to everyone and lastly it went to Marcus, the youngest of the group and barely a man. “I promise I will protect you to my last drop of blood,” he said, staring at me.

Tears were running down my face. I didn’t want them to die. I was certain that I wasn’t worth it.

I begged the men to run if they could. Pointing out that it didn’t make sense for them to die with me when they might have a chance to live without me.

“We promised your husband that we would take care of you and protect you. He was our sworn liege. It is our duty as well as our honor to obey him until our dying day. That day has come, my Princess. You can be sure that we won’t leave you,” one of his men-at-arms promised me.

I wanted to point out that dying before me was leaving me. What would The Lion’s men do to me after my men were gone?

“If anyone lives, could they tell their kids about me? I mean, I don’t have a wife or kids. When I’m gone, there’ll be no one to remember me. It will be as if I didn’t exist.”

The men swore to each other that if anyone lived that they would remember the others and tell them the stories of the others’ bravery.

“Do you promise too?” Samuel asked me carefully.

“Of course, I will.” I doubted that I would live, but if I did, I would never forget what these men had done for me. They were fighting for me until their last breath.

I could hear the men in the cave. They were shouting and coming closer to us. The soldiers drew their swords, ready to protect me until they died, knowing that they didn’t really have a chance to save me.

Samuel and Marcus stayed close to me, standing in front of me as if they hoped to hide me out of sight. Josef stood in front of them holding a small dagger.

The clashing of swords in this enclosed area was so loud that I had to cover my ears.

The men fought bravely, but there were too many of them. As soon as one man was defeated and dead on the floor, another man replaced him. Blood was being spilled all around.

“Stop, stop. I demand that you stop.” I called out as loudly as I could, but no one listened to me. The men were still obeying the orders from my dead husband and ignoring mine.

“They want to die as heroes, protecting you and not at the gallows.” Marcus explained to me, still blocking me with his body.

“I feel the same way. I want to die here by my people.” Samuel added.

From the looks of it, they were about to get their wish. The last of the soldiers had fallen to the floor. The Lion’s men pressed into the alcove, stepping over the bodies of my husband’s men-at-arms, Josef’s, as well as their own fallen countrymen, pressing forward to get to me.

I fought for each breath that I took. My hands were over my heart as it raced. I hoped the men would run me through and kill me quickly.

Marcus and Samuel leaped forward to protect me with their bare hands. Then Samuel dropped to the floor of the cave. He was dead, and I hadn’t seen how. Another soldier took hold of Marcus and held his hands behind his back as he cussed them for killing his friends.

The men took hold of me, several all at once.

“Unhand me. Let me go.” When they didn’t listen to me, I screamed out, demanding my release. The men tugged at my dress.

“Make way for the prince,” someone called out.

The men released me, but not before they pushed me down to the blood-damp floor so I was groveling on the ground when footsteps stopped beside me.

“Why is this boy still alive?” the Lion asked his men so coldly that a chill went through my bones.

“We were just killing him, my lord,” they answered to him.

“And her?” he asked.

“She’ll be next, but first, we wanted to have fun with her, my lord.”

“Get up,” he nudged me with his foot, prodding me to stand up.

It took all of my courage, but I rose to my feet to face the man who killed my father, my brother and my husband.

I shook in fear, but I managed to get onto my feet. I took a moment before I lifted my eyes, and then I looked into his light blue eyes through the slits in his helmet. Ice was in those cold eyes. The same color of frozen ice over a sheet of snow on the mountainside. I shivered again as I looked into his soul and saw no heart.

“Can I have her after you, my lord?” one of the Lion’s men asked him.

My eyes darted over to the man who had made the request. A soft yelp of fear escaped my throat.

“Don’t worry, my lady. I’ll protect you until my dying breath,” Marcus told me.

“That time has come.” The lord lifted up his sword ready to run the lad through.

“No, stop. He’s only a stable boy who my husband foolishly told to protect me before he left for war. This young man is only trying to obey his lord. Don’t kill him because you want to kill me. Just kill me and let him go,” I pleaded with the man who had no heart, knowing that my pleads would be fruitless.

“Keep him alive and let him watch,” one man joked.

“Watch what?” the Lion demanded of his man, turning to face him. There was pure menace in his voice.

“The lady,” the man replied, surprised by the question.

The Lion looked back at me, taking his time and looking me up and down. “I want to play with her first. I might need her. We’re taking her to my castle until I can decide what I want to do with this conniving bitch.”

“You will not talk about my lady that way.” Marcus fought to get away from the two men holding him.

The Lion bashed the base of his sword into the side of Marcus’s head, killing him. I screamed out in terror.

“He was merely a child. How could you hurt him in good conscience?” I demanded to know.

“You speak of conscience as if you believe that I have one. I don’t. Especially not where you are concerned.” He turned away from me. “Have her brought along, but no man is to touch her intimately. I’ll do that myself.” He walked out of the cave, and his men forced me to follow him.

My hands were tied behind my back, and they shoved me ahead of them without holding onto me. I stumbled and fell many times before we arrived at the horses.

The Lion was already mounted. “Give her to me. Lift her up,” he told his men.

They lifted me up so I could sit behind the Lion. I hated touching him and leaned away from him.

“No, not like that,” he complained. “I want to take her to my castle in a manner that fits her station. Place her face down and arse up over my lap.”

I was yanked down and then tossed up and over the horse directly across the Lion’s lap. The horse reared up in protest at being so misused.

The Lion held the reins tighter and drove his heels into the animal, making it leap ahead in surprise.

The Lion smacked me on my rump several times as we raced to his home, towards the unknown. It was clear that he wanted to toy with me before he killed me, but he would be the death of me.