A Short Medieval Chess Tale - Part 2

This story is the sequel to part 1, published on September 14, 2023: A Short Medieval Chess Tale.

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After the death of King Stephen and being forced to leave her old castle, Queen Mary Black cried gallons of tears for many days. She could not believe or accept that her beloved husband was gone and killed so brutally. It was only after several weeks of mourning that she was able to lift her head and vow that King Evans would suffer the wrath of her vengeance!

Time passed and she now lived in Sicily with her brother, King Paulsen. He had not yet chosen a wife for himself, so the room reserved for the queen was still free, and Mary was allowed to stay with him until she could find a new husband, which everyone thought would not take too long. What her brother didn't know was that she was already having a secret romantic relationship with one of his knights.

At the same time, she was planning her revenge and how to do it. King Evans' army was very powerful, Queen Lucy White was a great warrior, and their territories were huge. Just when she was about to give up, fate gave her the opportunity she wanted.

On a calm and sunny day, Evans decided to invade her brother's kingdom as well! This was bad news for everyone there, but not for her. She saw this as a gift from her husband and the chance she needed to prove her courage and finally destroy his murderers. Watching everything through her window, she heard her brother screaming in panic and shouting orders to his soldiers.

"We are being attacked! All hands to the defense of our territory and our castle!"

Mary left her room and ran in his direction.

"Brother, please don't panic. This is why my beloved Stephen is gone! Let us concentrate and plan a good counter. I suggest we use the Sicilian Defense to stop the enemy's advance."

"What is a Sicilian defense?"

The Queen looked back through the window and saw that a soldier from her wing of the castle had already advanced on the flank, but avoided direct confrontation with the opposing army.

"Oh, I see you already did it! That is exactly what I meant!"

"That? We just call it 'defense' here. I didn't even know there was another..."

"OK, OK, forget it. I have been thinking about this day for the last two years, and I have planned a strategy that I think might work. I called it 'The Dragon'. Do you trust me?"

King Paulsen was not so experienced in battle, and he obviously knew how much her sister wanted King Evans to die before her. So, he decided to give her a chance.

"Okay, fine. I give you the command of our army. What is the first step?"

“Well, their knights are coming, and they are very dangerous. We have to start building a fortress for you! Stephen trusted one of the low-ranking soldiers to defend the entrance, but I suggest you tell Bishop Chris to do the job.”

They began building the fortress and ordered the bishop to protect the entrance. Meanwhile, the situation in the center of the battlefield was heating up. The first soldier to advance had already killed one of the enemy warriors, but he was immediately executed by the powerful knight.

"Okay, what now? That archer bishop of theirs will come and aim his arrows at me, just like he did at my brother-in-law!"

"Don't worry, I have a plan. Tell your knight to help defend the fortress and let us build a solid defense first."

She avoided mentioning the name of his knight for fear that her brother might somehow suspect their relationship.

"Do you really want me to seek protection there? Look at the battlefield again! They understood our strategy and sent another soldier to attack it directly!"

"Yes! Please trust me. They are overconfident, but I think that will only cause more weaknesses on their side. Hide there and leave the rest to me!"

King Paulsen hesitated but decided to keep his promise and leave the strategic planning to his sister. He was now inside his fortress, protected by his loyal bishop, the knight, some soldiers, and the tower guard.

Queen Mary Black now had the calm to focus on organizing the rest of her army. First, she ordered the knight of her castle's wing to go to the battlefield and destroy his enemy of the same rank. They had a wild battle, and the mighty knight of King Evans was victorious, but he was already too tired, and with the help of a soldier, she could finally smile and see him killed. It was not her final goal, but part of her revenge was done and going well.

The other enemy bishop tried to help his army in the center of the field. Queen Mary cried out to her secret lover, begging him for help. He could read her eyes and her soul, and understood how important this battle was to her, so he was determined to do anything for his woman. 

"Attack the Bishop!" she ordered him, and he immediately obeyed.

After he retreated to protect himself, Queen Mary saw an opportunity. She was confident that she could organize the army, but had not yet left the castle. She remembered not being brave enough in the last battle and staying in her room the whole time while her husband was killed by the terrible Queen Lucy White. This time, things would be different! Mary turned to Bishop Francis beside her.

"Please lend me your arrows! I will go out there and kill that damn Evans myself!"

“Are you sure, Majesty? Aren’t you afraid of being too exposed?”

"No, I lost my husband, my kingdom, and my dignity last time. I have nothing to lose, nothing to fear, and refuse to be the same coward I was in that battle. Either I will avenge Stephen's death, or I will die trying!"

The bishop, being a religious man, understood her feelings and accepted her speech. He gave her his arrows and she went to the battlefield. Looking at King Evans from a distance in his partially exposed fortress, Mary Black aimed them right at his head.

King Evans gulped, realized the threat, and ran to the safety of his fortress. He had always thought of Mary as a coward woman who would never leave her own castle or take risks in a real battle. But this time he could read the fire in her eyes and could not believe that she was willing to kill him herself.

He moved to the farthest corner and felt much more protected there, out of sight of her angry expression and out of range of her weapons.

Queen Mary then felt something... she didn't know what it was yet, but it really looked like God was telling her that her goal was closer than ever. She just could not figure out how. She remembered Stephen, whom she still loved, and then thought that the answer might lie in her actual lover, the knight who fought bravely in the middle of the battlefield. Was he perhaps a gift from the universe, the reincarnation of Stephen sent to help her fulfill her mission of revenge?

Though she was still unsure how to win this battle, she could certainly see that he had to be the one to help her!

"Attack the king, my love! I swear it will work!" she shouted to him. Both armies could hear her desperate voice.

The fearless knight was a loyal lover and would do anything for her. Without a moment's hesitation, he rode his horse to the entrance of the fortress, where he began to fight the soldiers and came close to decapitating Evans.

The king, frightened and still stunned that such a small enemy could cause so much trouble, ran away from the knight, and returned closer to the protection of the tower guard.

Then she prepared her bow and arrow, aimed at the head of the king she hated so much, and concentrated for the fatal shot. The aim was perfect, there was no wind, the spear was sharp and would surely pierce the enemy. The only obstacle was the knight who blocked the path of her arrow. All he had to do was open the space at the last seconds and the battle would be over.

Sensing the right moment, Mary gave her order in an almost pleading tone.

"Now get out of the way! I will get him! We must attack at the same time. He is not stronger than the two of us together!"

The knight left the straight path that connected the queen directly to King Evans. They now faced each other again from a distance. Besides, not wanting to make life easy for his enemy, he continued to attack him from the side. Evans' soldiers looked stunned and could do nothing to stop them. No one could step in front of the arrow and fight the knight at the same time. It was two against one, and the king had no choice but to run for his life.

Evans quickly returned to the corner of his fortress. Incredibly, he managed to dodge the horse's blows, and the arrow grazed his ear without causing a fatal wound. It was a relief, but he felt death approaching and saw his life pass before his eyes. Could Stephen's death have been his greatest mistake?

Queen Mary Black was frustrated to see him escape so narrowly. She was determined, but from a distance, it seemed there wasn't much more she could do. Ask her knight to attack him again? It seemed to be a repetition of a failed strategy. She had to think of something else...

"I will attack him again!" he screamed.

"No, it is useless. This will be an eternal loop! We must think of something!"

The queen then had a vision and seemed to finally have the answer. Obvious! How could she not have thought of it before? Her mission was to avenge her husband, but it wouldn't be complete if she couldn't rest in peace at his side. There was only one way! She would have to sacrifice herself for her beloved Stephen.

Mary had to swallow her cowardice and enter the fortress alone to fight the bastard face-to-face. She knew it was suicide, the king had a strong protection of his soldiers and the guard of the tower. They would surely kill her, but she no longer feared death, she just wanted to end the agony and send Evans to hell. The beautiful queen looked at her knight with tearful eyes.

"I must fight him face to face! I cannot handle both of them, but I will be a distraction. You must deal the final blow! For me, please..."

She ran across the battlefield, dodging attacks from the entire enemy army. Queen Lucy, who thought this would be an easy battle, had not even left her room and was stunned to see this brave woman so determined and ready to kill her husband. As their faces crossed, she knew there was nothing to be done to prevent it. Despite not knowing yet how, she knew it was written in the stars.

Mary entered the fortress and began the final battle of her life. She was alone against the king and his guards.

The fight was intense, but she was beginning to feel tired and dominated by the two powerful men fighting together.

Queen Mary Black was about to die... but she could trust Stephen, personified in the Sicilian knight, to finish the job for her. When she received the divine sign that this was the right moment and saw the guard's sword about to kill her, she cried out to the world.

“Philidor, now!”

Mary was hit and fell lifeless to the ground, and she knew she would not be disappointed. Philidor raced his horse into the castle, leaped over the tower guard and the body of his beloved lady, and plunged his sharp sword into the heart of King Evans.

From that day forward, the battle became a legend told in kingdoms around the world, and the final blow became popularly known as Philidor's Mate.

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[I hope you enjoyed reading the Revenge of Queen Mary Black and that the "happy" ending was satisfying enough. I would like to thank my friend Harish for suggesting me to write it. Here is the PGN of the battle:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Bg7 5. Bc4 d6 6. O-O Nf6 7. f4 O-O 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Be3 Ng4 11. Bd2 Qb6+ 12. Kh1 Nf2+ 13. Kg1 Nh3+ 14. Kh1 Qg1+ 15. Rxg1 Nf2# 0-1]