THE END

by Jim
jimguy46@hotmail.com

CHARACTERS: Q H CM CG DH V M
WARNING: Character death
RATING: R . This is a battle what else would it be
SYNOPSIS: The end of a regime on a killing field.
DISCLAIMERS: The characters from the Queen of Swords are copyright to Fireworks Productions and Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended or revenue expected from their use. The story plot and other characters are copyright to the author, James Guy.

~~~~~

It was a warm California summer day as the Queen of Swords found herself in the middle of the Pueblo surrounded by at least fifty soldiers. Montoya watched from his balcony. "Don't capture her you fools, Kill her! I want her dead!" he yelled.

The soldiers closed in on the Queen. The look on their faces told the Queen that this was not going to be the usual sword fight of slash, parry and escape. There was no escape and she was outnumbered. She knew that these men were absolutely going to kill her. A chill ran down her spine. She was not going to walk away from this one. From the corner of one eye she saw Don Gaspar and Vera in their buggy entering the square. Many peasants were in the square watching also.

So this is how it ends, thought the Queen as she blessed herself.

Grisham was seated at the cantina watching, but his attention was focused on Vera. "If Montoya wants her dead, he will have to do it himself. I have better things to do." He muttered under his breath as he ordered another beer.

A few soldiers charged The Queen. She parried their sword strokes until one came so close that he caught the sleeve of her blouse. She parried and cut back, slicing him from right shoulder to left hip. He screamed as he fell, mortally wounded. Cut, parry, stab another soldier went down.

More soldiers charged and she was in the fight for her life. She sent her blade into the stomach of one soldier and her sword held fast. With other coming at her she lifted her foot against the man's chest and pulled as hard as she could. Blood spurted at her and drenched her from a severed artery. She got her blade loose just in time to bring her sword down on another soldier, this time amputating his hand. Again blood splattered everyone. The Queen fought on instinct without thought to the fight or the terror in her heart. Soldiers were disemboweled and the Queen received a few cuts herself. A deep cut opened her thigh and blood gushed out and ran down her leg. A two-inch chunk of her raven black hair ended up in the muck and the soldier who cut it died with half his facing missing.

More soldiers appeared to replace the ten dead and wounded. The ground was turning into a muddy quagmire from blood and intestines on the ground. The soldiers now numbered seventy-five attacked in waves as Montoya kept shouting,

Suddenly, some of the peasants attacked the soldiers from behind with anything they could find. Pitchforks, shovels and rocks turned out to be no match for swords as the soldiers cut the peasants down. Don Gaspar could hold back no more. He approached a soldier who promptly struck at him. Don Gaspar caught the soldiers wrist snapped the man's arm against his knee and took the sword. The soldier writhed on the ground nursing his broken arm as he watched the aging Don wade into the melee. Vera cried out for her husband but he paid no attention. A soldier ran forward and aimed his rifle at Don Gaspar's back. She picked up a fallen sword and with both hands and all her strength brought the sword blade crashing down on the soldier's head. It split like a ripe watermelon spewing blood and brain matter all over Vera. She was not trained to fight, but she managed to strike several soldiers as she followed her husband into the gory mess.

Doctor Helm came out of his office after hearing all the ruckus. Seeing the battle, he ran towards scene. A soldier struck at him. Ducking and landing a roundhouse punch, Doctor Helm grabbed a fallen sword and proceeded to fight his way towards the Queen, cutting a swath through the soldiers.

As Don Gaspar and Doctor Helm reached the Queen the two men acknowledged each other. "Doctor Helm, I told you that we were brothers in arms."

"Don Gaspar, you were right. Watch your back brother."

With clenched teeth, Montoya ran down the stairs with sword in hand. The Queen went to meet him. "You will die, Reina."

"One of us will, Colonel."

Don Gaspar and Helm were engaged as the two adversaries met sword stroke with sword stroke. Vera had finally reached Don Gaspar's side and he ushered her behind him, killing another soldier before he could strike Vera.

Montoya's and the Queen's boots, which once were black, were covered with the ooze of bloodied mud. Back and forth, they appeared evenly matched, but the Queen was losing ground and blood. Suddenly she found herself against the fountain and her sword on the ground.

"I told you, you would die, Reina." Montoya smiled as he raised his sword.

Helm tossed a fallen sword to the Queen. "Here." She caught it deftly and slashed sideways blocking the downward stroke.

Montoya slashed sideways and struck the Queen in the side. His blade caught on the whalebone stay of her corset as the Queen kicked him away stabbed at him with her dagger and slashed sideways again with the sword.

Montoya stepped back and put his hand to his stomach. Shock and surprise showed in his eyes. Blood and intestines started to seep out through the wound and his fingers as he fell to his knees. He looked up at the Queen of Swords. Montoya pitched forward.

"I curse you to hell."

"You first Colonel."

The soldiers, seeing their commander dead, backed away. At least fifty men, soldiers and peasants lay on the ground. Don Gaspar, Doctor Helm and the Queen eyed the scene of this killing field. Their arms, swords and clothes were covered with blood and guts.

Captain Grisham, who the whole time was watching but not participating in the gore, proceeded towards Montoya's office. His entrance did not go unseen. As he rifled Montoya's horde of stolen gold, he heard a thud and looking up saw a dagger 2 inches from his head.

"Leave it or die."

Grisham turned and set the small bag of Ruellas he was hold on a table. "I am not going to fight you. I just want to leave this god-forsaken pueblo. There is no profit here since Montoya is dead."

"Your life is more valuable than gold take your life and go. The gold belongs to the people it was stolen from."

Skirting around the Queen and her sword, Grisham raced out of the office towards his own apartment. Five minutes later he exited with his saddlebags, mounted and rode away. Never to be seen in Santa Helena again.

Doctor Helm and Don Gaspar entered the office followed by Vera who was covered in blood and her skirt drenched with muck and gore. The Queen put away her sword and retrieved her dagger.

"Will you gentlemen please account for the stolen goods and return them to their rightful owners. I must leave now."

As the Queen left, Helm noticed a trail of blood on the floor. Turning to Don Gaspar "Brother, I have a patient who needs me. Will you see to it?"

"An honor doctor, my brother." Gaspar hugged Vera and gave her a passionate kiss. "You were very brave my pet. I never expected you to do what you did."

"My love, that soldier was going to shoot you and I could not allow that. After that I knew I had to be by your side."

Doctor Helm saw the padre approaching him.

"Padre, those men are beyond my help. They are in your hands now."

"No my son, they are in God's hands."

The peasants began weaving through the bodies and retrieving their loved ones. Women were crying as they saw their men dead. Men broke down when they found the bodies of their wives and children as the peasants who attacked the soldiers were not limited to men only. It was an equal opportunity battle.

Helm mounted his horse and followed the Queen of Swords. He still was carrying a sword. He followed for some time until he saw the Queen dismounted and kneeling down. Helm dismounted and approached her.

"Welcome to my Hell, Queen. I gave up killing when I became a doctor, but you have brought me back to it. I see you finally know what killing a man can do to you. I probably should kill you and end it all."

Looking up and him with drool and spittle dripping from her mouth. "Then do it."

Helm could see that she had been emptying the entire contents of her stomach on the ground. "That is what happens after your first real battle. It's never been this hard before has it? You don't need to answer. I know the answer already. You will remember this day for the rest of your life."

She staggered as she got up. The loss of blood, the vomiting and her adrenaline level returning to normal made her weak. Helm went to her as she collapsed in his arms. He was a half-mile from the Alvarado hacienda. Marta was there and could help him. He mounted the two of them on his horse and took them there. Her horse followed.

~~~~~

Marta's face was white as she saw the two of them ride up. Helping Helm, they took the Queen to the kitchen.

"Get me some hot water, bandages and a needle and thread, Marta." Marta called to Consuelo, who was in the kitchen and told her to heat water.

He proceeded to cut away the Queen clothes with her own dagger.

"You are taking off her clothes? Why?"

"Relax, Marta. I am a doctor and I have no time to be modest. In the field one learns that clothes mean nothing when you are dying. I had to get them off so I could see the wounds. Cutting them was the fastest way

The Queen was totally naked. Sucking in a deep breath as he gazed at her beauty, he inspected her wounds. The worst was the leg. There were several marks on her ribs where swords had struck the corset. Without it, she would be dead.

"She is lucky she wore that damn corset. That whalebone kept her alive from Montoya's blade. Montoya is dead along with half the garrison. You wash away the blood while I stitch up this leg. It is hard to sew when you can't see."

Helm relayed all that went on while tended the wounds.

"Vera? And Don Gaspar? Tyranny gathers some strange bedfellows. When you are finished, your wounds need to be tended."

"No need. I have no wounds to my body. The one thing war taught me was to duck."

As the Queen became conscious, Helm instructed Marta to prepare a bath for his charge. He then carried her naked to the bath. Placing her in the tub, he told Marta to leave. She started to object but then thought better of it.

"Are you planning to give me a bath? That is some bedside manner."

"Move over," he said as he undressed. "You're responsible for me being in this condition, so you can share your bath with me. Now, will you take off that damn mask."

"Yes doctor." the mask went flying.

"Tessa," he gasped. "I should have known." He paused a moment and then stepped in. Carefully he began to bathe her, from bottom to top. When he got to her face, he kissed her then dunked her head under the water.

Sputtering she came up gasping for air. "You saved my life then you try to drown me?"

"Your hair needed washing." A wicked gleam could be seen in his eyes.

"So does yours. " She pulled his head under the water.

Marta quietly crept in and gathered Helms clothes, taking them out side. Without a word, she began washing them, but was that didn't stop her from crying. But who for, Tessa, Helm, the dead or herself? She didn't know.

~~~~~

An hour later they left the tub, dried off and Helm carried her to the bed. She sat down, then grabbed Helm and pushed him onto the bed.

"Tessa, we have been through many things together. I always thought Tessa Alvarado was a spoiled aristocrat and the Queen was almost arrogant. I fell in love with the Queen, why couldn't I see it was you all along. You must have been laughing at me the whole time, especially during those nocturnal visits."

"No, Robert. You weren't supposed to know. That's the sign of a good disguise. I was two women both of whom loved you. You always pushed Tessa away, but you seemed to like the Queen more. I could get closer to you as the Queen."

"A man in love should have been able to see through the disguise. I was blind."

"You loved me?" Her voice faltered.

"More than you know. Now where do we go from here?"

"You saved my life today. I owe you and I repay my debts," her lips and fingers began to massage Helm in all the right places.

Lips met, teeth clashed, tongues probed and hands gropped. Soon they were oblivious to anything else in the world but each other.

They stayed in bed for two days after which, Marta brought back Helms clothes and a tray of food.

"If you stay in here much longer you two will starve."

"Marta, it's over. I think the Queen of Swords can retire now and maybe have a normal life."

"Pray it be so." Marta blessed herself as she left the room.

~~~~~

A week later, Doctor Helm rode up to see Tessa.

"Don Gaspar has taken charge of Montoya's ill gotten gains. He is distributing them back to the rightful owners. Montoya kept a detailed record of whom he stole from. Some of the soldiers stayed but most left. Sergeant Valenzuela will be acting commander and he and his men have promised to act as policia to protect everyone. Eventually, he will report that Colonel Montoya is dead. But not for now."

Helm encircled Tessa into his arms and kissed her. First lightly and then more passionately as she responded. Tessa tried to pull him into the bedroom but Helm pulled away.

"Tessa, I am leaving. I gave up soldiering to be a doctor. Even here I found myself fighting. You once chastised me for my saying that you didn't understand killing and death. I was wrong. Don Gaspar reminded me today that he and I are brothers in arms. You are part of that brotherhood now. I am heading East to Boston. I trust that there I can be a doctor again and not a soldier."

"Robert don't go." She pleaded.

"I must. If I stay I will never leave the war behind. I love you and always will. Perhaps we will again someday meet, but for now I am not ready."

He kissed her a long deep kiss, mounted his horse and rode away.

Within a few months, Tessa married a young don she had known most of her life, became a widow when her husband fell from his horse and discovered she would be a mother. The Queen of Swords would be the Queen of diapers.

Diapers !!! Aaaagh!!!

~~~~~

Tessa sat up with start. Cold sweat ran down her face and her hair was soaked. She lifted her nightgown and fingered her leg. It was perfectly smooth. No wounds and her belly was flat. It had all been a dream.

In the still night air a baby cried.

Now dear reader you decide.

THE END