“Let me pass!" she shrieked. “You must let me pass! I must see the Queen!”
“Let her through,” Gwendolyn called down.
The guards turned and looked up at her and released their grip on the woman.
As soon as they did, she ran through the gates and up the spiral stone staircase, right for Gwendolyn, weaving through the group of soldiers, crying. She stopped before her, knelt and lowered her head. The woman was sobbing and shaking, and Gwendolyn’s heart broke; she reached down, and gently helped pull the woman up.
“You needn’t kneel before me,” Gwen said compassionately.
"My lady," the woman heaved, between sobs. "You must help me! You must! Please!”
"What is it that troubles you?” Gwen asked.
"My village—it has been evacuated. They say the Empire is coming. Everyone ran. But my daughters are back there, in the House of the Sick. They cannot walk. I could not carry them with me—and the others left too quickly. I have no one to help me. Please! They are my babies!”
Gwen’s heart broke inside, hardly able to comprehend this woman’s suffering.
"We are hearing similar reports from across the Ring, of villages being raided,” Srog said.
"I am sorry,” Gwendolyn said to her. “And what would you have us do?”
"Please, send your men, before it’s too late. Fetch my daughters, bring them here. I can't imagine their dying all alone, at the hands of those savages. It’s too cruel.”
“We might all die here, too,” Kolk said.
“If they are to die, let them at least die here, with me,” the woman said. “Don't them die alone out there. Please. You are a woman—you understand. You must help me!”
The woman reached out and grabbed Gwendolyn’s hand roughly, and Steffen stepped forward and threw her hand off.
"Do not lay your hands on our Queen," Steffen rebuked, standing between them.
"It's okay," Gwendolyn said.
She reached up and stroked the woman’s hair.
"This woman has been made mad by her grief,” Gwen continued. “I understand the touch of grief, all too well.”
Gwen thought of her father, and kept back tears.
“I empathize for your daughters,” Gwen said. “I really do. But you must also understand that we are receiving reports of villages being pillaged, people murdered, from all corners of the Ring, and that we cannot spare our men to send out to each and every one. We are also in the final stages of securing our gates and locking down this city, for the good of all the Silesians and the remainder of King’s Court, and the thousands of lives here. We need every hand we have. Most of all, if we were to send a party out there now, for your girls now, they would not make it back alive. The Empire is too close at this point. Our men would die, and your girls would die with them.”
Gwendolyn sighed. She hated having to make these decisions, but she felt that she had an obligation to look out for the good of her people.
"I'm so sorry,” she concluded. “I pine for your daughters. I really do. But war is among us. And hard decisions need to be made.”
"NO!" the woman shrieked, breaking out into a wail. She threw herself face-down to the floor, shrieking and wailing. "You can’t let my daughters die!”
Gwendolyn looked away, out to the horizon, wishing she had never met this woman. She was beginning to feel what it felt like to be a ruler; she did not like the feeling.
"I will go for them," came a voice.
Gwen turned and saw Kendrick step forward, hand on his hilt, standing nobly, proud and unflinching.
Gwendolyn looked at her brother, touched and inspired.
"You understand that if you leave, we cannot reopen the gates for you,” she said softly. “You will die out there.”
He nodded gravely.
“What better way to die than in a service such as this?" he replied.
Gwendolyn breathed sharply, taken aback by his chivalry, his fearlessness. She loved her brother more than ever in that moment; yet she also felt profoundly sad at the thought of him on this mission.
All the other soldiers stared grimly, no one able to rebut him.
"I will join you," Atme said, stepping forward beside Kendrick.
Kendrick nodded back at his friend.
“Thank you! Thank you!” the woman cried, rising to her knees and kissing their hands.
Gwendolyn sighed.
"Kendrick, I cannot say no to you. You lead by example, as you always have. You do our father's name great honor to accept this mission upon yourself. You have my blessing. Go, and save these girls. I will keep these gates open for you as long as I can—up until the very last second when Andronicus attacks.”
"My lady, I admire Kendrick’s courage, and I don’t disagree with his mission,” Srog said gravely. “But I must warn that it takes time to seal the outer gates. It will not be easy to do with such short notice. You must realize that you jeopardize the entire city to agree to this mission, and to keep the gates open as long as you will.”
Gwen turned and looked out at the horizon. Somewhere out there were this woman's daughters, sick, alone. She could not stand the thought of it.
“I thank you for your counsel, my Lord,” she said softly to Srog. “I do understand the consequences. I will not jeopardize our people. The gates will be closed when necessary.”
She turned to Kendrick.
"Go. Find these girls, and return quickly. I do not wish to close these Gates with you outside them.”
Kendrick nodded gravely, then turned and hurried down the parapet, Atme at his side.
The other men dispersed, and Gwen turned and walked by herself down a stone embankment at the far end of the parapets, so she could have some time alone, to process it all—and so she could have a better vantage point to watch Kendrick and Atme ride off. She stood there, at the very edge of the fortifications, watching them ride away into the horizon, raising a great cloud of dust.
As she stood there, feeling more alone than ever, she craved for Thor. She felt increasingly that they were facing a battle they could not win, and deep down, she felt that their only hope was Thor, the Destiny Sword, getting the shield back up. If she was going to die, she wanted to die with Thor at her side.
She closed her eyes tightly and prayed to God with all she had that Thor returned to her.