CAPTURED BY THE EVIL WARRIOR QUEEN
As I looked out across the plain, I will admit that there was degree of fear within me. I am human after all and I knew that the size of the enemy forces drawing up to battle against me, meant an almost inevitable defeat. But the largest emotion coursing throughout my body was one of a steely determination. For I knew and trusted every one of the considerably smaller army of mine, one vastly inferior in size to those about to oppose us in combat. The hordes ruled, and commanded by the cruel and evil Warrior Queen, Mathilde. A true tyrant and despot, one who had demanded that I surrender my small Kingdom to her, almost as soon as her father, the decent and honest King Charles, had succumbed to his illness.
However, what my force lacked in sheer quantity, it made up for in pure quality. My men, like I say all known personally to me, were all handpicked, experienced, brave and loyal. This situation then, reminded me as a wry smile emerged on my lips, of the Three Hundred Spartans and their King Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae in Greece. Facing certain defeat and death, but utterly determined to make the cost of said death extremely expensive and said victory for the enemy almost pyrrhic, with the terrain I had selected for the upcoming battle rendering that prospect very real.
For knowing what I did about her the one thing I did resolve is that I must NOT allow myself to fall into her hands and power. If I was to be defeated by her, I was going to fight to the death. I would go down fighting, I was going to take as many of her minions into the underworld with me as I could. No way was I going to allow myself to be taken alive. After all, that would almost certainly result in my death anyway, but at the hands and manner of choosing of Mathilde. It would definitely be painful and embarrassing, just to satisfy her evil bloodlust, and for her to make some sort of point about her power over me to the rest of the world. I was determined that even if defeated I would NOT allow her this pleasure.
As Mathilde’s hordes rushed towards us, no doubt expecting us to run at the mere sight of them, instead they found themselves confronted by a disciplined, solid ‘shield wall’ formed by determined and skilled troops. Upon which many of them perished upon our short, but very effective swords, without making any progress at all in their desperate attempts to break said wall. And unable to simply out-flank us, because we were located within a narrow mountain pass, sheer rock rising sharply on either side. As I say, just like at Thermopylae, although there it was the sea that had protected one of the Spartan’s flanks.
Falling back swiftly in total disarray after this first assault, leaving behind the bodies of vast numbers of their comrades, with very few of our number having fallen. But, with Mathilde in command there was no prospect of the day being abandoned by her hordes. On and on they came again, but in a slightly more disciplined order by now. Which began to tell.
For if it was true that for every one of my men that fell, at least six of hers did so in return, those were losses at a rate that she could afford to sustain, and I could not. And, by the time that my army had been depleted to a mere handful, the one situation I feared above all occurred, not that I realised it at all. For one of her minions brought a battle axe crashing down upon my helmet. But he did so with the face of said axe, and not the edge. Meaning that I was immediately sent into the state of unconsciousness, instead of death, as I fell to the ground, out cold, but most definitely not dead. Upon the sight of which caused the small number of my exhausted force to lose heart, and they finally surrendered to the evil Mathilde.
Therefore, when I emerged from the state of unconsciousness, roughly thirty minutes later, I discovered that my most ardent fear had come to pass. I was now the cruel Mathilde’s complete captive, firmly held in her hands and power, and utterly helpless. For while I’d been out cold, my armour had been totally removed, in fact all I now wore were my underpants. I had a solid leather collar fitted around my neck, complete with ‘D’ rings mounted within it, at the front and the rear. For two small padlocks were holding either end of a length of chain to these, both in front and behind me. The rear one had been fed through the equivalent ‘D’ rings of the solid and secure, leather cuffs that surrounded my wrists, holding my arms behind my back, and with their buckles padlocked firmly shut.
Identical cuffs had been placed around my ankles, and a chain linked to the front ring of my collar had also been fed through their ‘D’ rings, forcing me into an almost ball shape, my legs doubled up upon themselves. But this wasn’t the end of my predicament.
For I came to, finding myself sitting in the middle of a rope net, just ever so slightly lifted, so that more padlocks held the chains linking my wrist and ankle cuff sets respectively, to the some of the rope forming part of the net. And when it became noticed that I had awakened, Mathilde’s men pulled the drawstring mounted within the edge of the net, pulling it tightly into the same sort of ball shape, that my body had been forced into. Surrounding me completely, and then they’d tied said drawstring shut, holding me within. The rest of the tie was then secured to a stout wooden pole, which several of Mathilde’s men lifted into the air, so I was suspended, then securing each of the ends to a saddle mounted upon two large cart horses. And as if this wasn’t enough ignominy for me, I had been placed facing backwards, I wouldn’t be able to where we were going, when obviously we would set off, each horse becoming mounted but would have to view where we had been instead.
However, I was to soon discover that this action had been planned and fully intentionally done. For shortly afterwards I heard the approach of more horse’s hooves, from behind, therefore within my line of sight, that of a thoroughbred destrier this time. And I’m sure it will surprise none of you to learn, that its rider was none other than Mathilde herself. Having come with gloating as very much her first aim of the day. “Is the current arrangement to your complete satisfaction, Your Majesty?†Asked in a VERY sarcastic manner, naturally. “Now, I’m sure that you’re expecting a quick death once we arrive back at my castle, but no. I’ve no intention of just killing you, I want you alive and utterly humiliated! Oh, yes, I’m going to very much enjoy holding you within my power!†And the evil smile upon her face simply confirmed her dark intentions, and I will admit, filled my own thoughts with total fear.
Having removed her helmet, replacing it with her crown, Mathilde then ordered, “MOVE ON!â€
Off we set, until belong long the Queen ordered us to stop, when, to me anyway, a pitiful sight came into view. It was the few survivors, only about thirty or so, of my former army. And the sight of them filled me with utter despair.
Just like myself they each had been stripped of any armour, just wearing underpants and some sort of sandal type shoes. Their necks and wrists, as mine, were surrounded by leather collars and cuffs, with chains linking those, just as I had been subjected to. Small lengths of chain then imprisoned the front of each man, to the rear of the one in front, except for the leading man, of course. Each one also wore a leather mask, with holes just formed around their mouths and nostrils, so totally blinding them all. They had been formed into two lines, and behind them each line had been shackled to the yokes of a large and heavy cart, which was loaded. For, you see, the horses that had pulled said cart to this battlefield, were the very ones that were now acting as my method of travel!
“Yes, Your Majesty,†again said with a really sarcastic tone, “take a look at your ‘army!’ For these creatures now belong to ME! Totally, utterly and completely. And every single one of them is going to pay for choosing to take part in your pathetic attempts to thwart my plans for what used to be your Kingdom. Because of that defiance, none of them will ever see their wives, their children or their homes again. No, and as you can see this is a process that has already commenced, with them replacing the horses that now transport you, they now only exist to provide labour for my needs. They will find themselves either in my mines, the fields of my plantations or the sites of my construction projects. Once there, they will be worked to death, no doubt praying for that state of affairs to release them from their lifelong bondage to me!†I had no doubt that Mathilde meant every word that she had spoken, and it truly broke my heart, to see these loyal men, many of whom I knew well, subjected like this. I was actually thankful that they had been blindfolded, as it meant I couldn’t look any of them into their eyes!
Mathilde’s voice soon rang out again, to order our column to move on once more, and I was also grateful that it wasn’t long before I couldn’t see any of those former friends and colleagues anymore. Feeling very ashamed for that, further adding to my extreme distress.
It took over five hours to reach Mathilde’s castle, during which time physical pain in the form of extreme cramp, added itself to my utter humiliation and fear. So, I was actually relieved once we arrived there. To have the pole that my net prison had been tied to, removed from its equestrian mounts, and carried by four strong men into the depths of the building. I could see as this little procession stopped right by a stout, solid door, which not only featured a lock, but also a strong bolt on the outside. The entrance to my new ‘quarters’ it appeared. Especially as once the lock had been unfastened and the bolt slid open, we entered. Into a room that was very much larger than I’d expected, and actually furnished quite well, to a far larger degree than the normal state of the traditional dungeon cell. Once inside the party was joined by two more of her troops, each carrying a crossbow, aimed at me of course.
Because now, I was released from the net at last, together with the chains, leather cuffs and collar that had held me so effectively. But, that aforementioned cramp, not to mention the presence of the two bowmen made escape utterly impossible. Now my captor addressed me. “Welcome to my domain, Your Majesty. This room is just where you will remain until I decide just what fate I intend for you.†With that she turned and left the room, followed by her staff, the last being the two bowmen, their crossbows still pointing in my direction, as they backed out. Then the door was slammed shut, the lock activated, the bolt slid home, there to be padlocked in position, as if that was needed. Leaving me totally trapped within this room, spacious and quite luxurious it might well have been, but it was still a prison cell at the end of the day. Meaning I was simply now the helpless captive of the cruel and evil Queen Mathilde.
