Defense - Short Story

I wandered through this empty city for days. There wasn't one living soul, not even rats. It's now city of nothing, of emptiness. Long path and bad decisions led me here in this point of my life. I was, and now became Prince of Nothing.

Here, where the old street of art was I used to spend all of my days whenever I was in visit to my grandparents. I sill don't know how my mother succeeded in marring my father, the King, from this poor life that she used to live. I loved to be here, more that to be in caste in capital city, Kings Pearl. There, I was Prince, so everyone used to treat me like some kind of deity. Besides, there was always more obligations for me there. Go to history class, go to ball, go to sword practice and so on. Here, I was free of that. Like a bird a flew everywhere without restrictions. In those my adventures I got to know more knowledge than in all those years under my tutors.

Five days ago, this city was full of people, regular people, but more full of solders. I was sent here to be their Capitan and defender. Foreign conquerors came again on our border, not so foreign because we killed each other on a regular basis every ten years or so.

We were delivered with great pomp and they regarded me as a great and worthy successor to my father and his great conquests. He personally gave me this assignment with the words that he can not trust anyone else except me. Of course, I knew why. This is the birthplace of my mother, and he loved her immensely. I also knew that he had complete confidence in me.

Personally, I knew that my knowledge and training were sufficient to solve this problem without major losses in my little army. However, a strange feeling was born in me at the very moment when we left the walls of our city in a ceremonial procession.

As this town was at the very border of our Kingdom, our path lasted for fifteen days. The people welcomed us with great joy, although in their ordinary faces, they were deeply concerned and I saw many unslept nights. This old enemy, Marjaci, still did not come close to the city, but our messengers sent extensive reports and directions of the movement of their troops. According to their assessment, they should have been here in five days. Just enough time for me to organize the defense.

The organization of our Kingdom was planned to the smallest detail. Our people, the Mayor and his closest subjects, knew their task. And they got a warning, of course less obscure than we, but they had enough information. And, as expected from them, they did the job in the best possible way.

Reserve army units were mobilized and ready. The warehouse was full of foods foreseen for a long siege. The barricades were placed all over the streets, and the large barrels of water were right next to them. My father's strategic plans were great, and they predicted a lot of trouble in which we could fall.

Every day from dawn to dawn, whenever I was passing through the streets, in front of each house, women made turns and made medicinal balsams or bandages. Everything was subordinated to future troubles. Even children were forbidden to run on city streets so as not to disturb the soldiers.

I scattered scouts everywhere around, even though I knew that they could come only from one direction. I wanted to be assured of some surprise.

The father and his advisers did not think that he had to send battle mages with us. In my department, I had only seven mages with knowledge of the healing. Marjaci did not possess knowledge of magic, at least not the one that could be used for battle.

The sinking of stones from the nearby building woke me up from wandering of my thoughts. The whole building of a small city library was collapsed. The dust cloud covered the whole neighborhood and I lurched on the opposite side.

For half an hour, right when the sun was at its highest point, I found myself in front of the house where my mother was born. And then I felt the pain. Deep and invigorating pain that can not be compared with any wound gained in the battle of the previous days. I failed them all.

I sat down in the doorway, thinking about it until early in the morning

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