Sophia's Revenge

Visiting SonyaI enter the hospital to visit my Aunt Sonya, as I have every few days lately. She's in the final stages of cancer, and I'm very sad about that.She's not my real aunt, but she's always been like the mother to me that I wish I had. I don't mean to put my mum down. She has done her best, but when it comes to affection, I don't get any from her. Aunt Sonya has always filled that gap."Is she awake?" I ask the nurse at the station near her room."Yes, she's just had breakfast and a wash, so she's fine.""Thanks," I say as I head down to room 117.I knock and enter. I see her look up at me and smile. "Ah, Sara, nice to see you again.""Hi, Aunt Sonya. How are you feeling this morning?""I'm good, Sara. Ready.""Ready?""Yes, dear, it's about time."I start sobbing and throw myself onto her, giving her a big hug. "Oh, Auntie, I don't want to lose you. You're everything to me."She lets me cry until I finally stop. "Now, Sara, we all have to go sometime, and I've had over a hundred years, most of them great, especially lately. And I will always be with you in spirit. So take a tissue and dry your eyes." I blow my nose and sniff."Now, Sara, I'm going to tell you a fairy tale. It's pretty long, so make yourself comfortable.""Okay," I say, as I sit in a chair next to her bed. She takes a deep breath and begins.In The VillageOnce upon a time, a kindly lord ruled a small remote village in Russia. It was in an area largely hostile to human life, but its valley was surrounded by hills that provided shelter from the most brutal arctic winds. The village was at the south end of the valley where most of the crops were produced, but there was a hamlet at the north end which scratched out a meagre existence.In exchange for a fair share of the villagers' produce, the lord provided protection from invaders with his small army. In reality, the remoteness of the village meant that there were hardly ever any visitors. Invaders would have found little of value to plunder.The lord's son Ivan was a bitter, angry young man. He always wanted to leave and explore the outside world, but he was trapped without the resources to achieve that.When the lord died, Ivan became the new lord. He took out his bitterness upon the villagers. In retribution for his perceived imprisonment, he commissioned a small but heavily fortified castle, so he could have the air of grandeur that he craved.His army intimidated men of the village to work slavishly in the quarry and on the construction site. After five years, he had his castle. His power became menacing.His wife Natasha was said to be a witch. Over the years, girls of the village were lured to the castle with spells she cast, people said. They were made to be servants in the castle, and stories leaked out that some were forced to be concubines for the lord and his army. The lord denied any such thing, of course.Ivan built up a larger army, not because it was needed for defence, but to exert his dominance over the village. With his threats, he exacted ever-larger portions of produce, causing many in the village to depend upon neighbours to have enough to eat. Anyone who complained was punished, perhaps by having all of their crop taken or by suffering a beating.Soon after, the castle was completed, Ivan proclaimed that any dissent would incur a nighttime Anadolu Yakası Escort curfew. The villagers soon learned that those who protested loudly would disappear that night during a curfew, along with their family to eliminate witnesses to the fatal abductions.Some villagers did watch the death squads perform their duties by peering out their windows, but they were terrified to speak out for fear of being subjected to the same fate.One time, twin sixteen-year-old girls, Sophia and Ludmilla, were lured to the castle, and their parents were murdered. Being very attractive, the girls were assigned to act as personal maids to the royals, Ludmilla to Ivan and Sophia to Natasha. At first, they weren't treated too badly, but Ivan, with his chronic nasty temper, started berating them, especially Ludmilla.Ludmilla would not accept this and often talked back to Ivan, who bashed her mercilessly. Sophia withdrew emotionally and became compliant to Natasha, who was demanding in her own way but was not as overtly cruel as Ivan.One night, Ivan was drunk and called Ludmilla into his chamber. He said that from that time on, Ludmilla would be his personal concubine. She refused and shouted at him that he had no right to do that. He flew into a rage, choking her. She kicked back and he hit her with all his might.He called in a guard and told him what to say at the emergency trial that Ivan convened. Ludmilla was dragged to court, and she was found guilty of attacking the lord and was sentenced to death. Ivan, in his drunken rage, insisted that a guard execute her on the spot.Sophia was a witness to the trial, and she went numb and white as she watched her sister's death. Back in her bed, she sobbed inconsolably, with Natasha providing no sympathy. She didn't sleep a wink, furious at Ivan and determined to do something.EscapeThe next day, her mind was reeling with ideas. She decided that she could not survive any protest, so she plotted her escape.Sophia knew that Natasha had a set of keys to the castle that she rarely used. She also knew that almost all guards were asleep in the wee hours. During the day, she stole the keys and hid them near the back exit which led to the woods. Her heart was pounding, hoping that she would not be found out.Late that night, she dressed warmly and slipped on a coat. Carrying her shoes to be quiet, she sneaked down to the place she had hidden the keys, watching for any roving guard. Luck was on her side, and she was able to open the door and escape from the castle.Her plan ran out - now where? Then she remembered about the hamlet to the north. Luckily again, there was a full moon, and she could see the north star to guide her. Still, it was a hard slog through the woods and across the river which she knew made it difficult for the army's horses to cross.After many hours, she came upon a farm outside the hamlet, went into its barn and collapsed onto a pile of hay.The FarmerIn the morning, Sophia was discovered by the farmer. She woke up and was startled to see him, fearing that he was from the castle. She cowered.Igor reassured her that he wasn't going to hurt her, and he invited her into the house for breakfast. Sophia reluctantly followed him inside. She was too scared to talk until after she had Anadolu Yakası Escort Bayan devoured the eggs and sausage that he had made for her.Igor asked if she had come from the village, and she said yes, from the castle, in fact. He was surprised that she had made it out of there, having heard the horrible stories. When Sophia finished eating, he took her plate to wash it and offered a bath to her.Sophia was hesitant, thinking that it could be risky to be naked in a stranger's house, but his gentle, generous manner convinced her that it was safe. He went into the bathroom and drew a hot bath! She had never even heard of anyone having a hot bath, even the lord in the castle.Igor explained that the farm was over a hot spring, which provided hot water as well as energy for his projects. He left her alone with a towel and closed the door behind. Sophia undressed and gingerly stepped into the water, which was deliciously soothing.Soaking in the bathtub, her anxiety level descended from astronomical to manageable. She went through the recent events in her mind, sad and angry about the brutal murder of her sister and amazed that she had successfully escaped. She wondered if the lord's army would be able to track her down, but she also remembered hearing that the army was superstitious about taking horses through the woods and crossing the river.When she felt that she had relaxed enough, she stepped out of the tub, dried herself off and got dressed. She found Igor in the main room, smoking a pipe.She asked Igor about himself, and he said he was a farmer, blacksmith and all sorts of things. His wife had died three years before, and they had never had children, so he was alone.He asked Sophia why she had escaped from the castle. She choked on her feelings but finally told him about the living conditions of the girls, Ivan's sexual demand and Ludmilla's refusal and consequent execution.Igor gave a guttural condemnation of the lord, saying that he had often heard of his cruelty but never from someone inside the castle. He asked her what she wanted to do about it.Sophia said that she wanted to behead Ivan and Natasha and massacre the army to free the village. Igor sat quietly and thought, finally saying that he could possibly help arrange something like that.Sophia had been more figurative than literal with her death wish but she asked Igor if he was serious. Igor said he'd think about it. He asked her about the castle, and when he learned of its construction he was pessimistic about breaching such a fortress. Sophia pulled the keys from her bag and asked if they would help.Igor's eyes widened, and he said that it might just be possible after all. He left Sophia, telling her not to venture outside just in case the lord's army did come by. He was gone for a few hours. When Igor returned, he said that he had recruited all the fit men to help, since they all hated the new lord and would do anything to get rid of him.The PlanIgor said that this could be a suicide mission, but no man in the hamlet was backing out. Sophia said that she wanted to fight, and was willing to die if there was any chance at revenge.It turned out that a man in the hamlet had stolen a crate from the village many years ago before Ivan was lord. It contained Escort Anadolu Yakası ten modern rifles and plenty of ammunition. Sophia told Igor to teach her to shoot; she wanted to be the one to kill Ivan. Igor laughed and told Sophia that she had the soul of a Siberian tigress and that he'd be honoured to teach her.Igor hoped that the lack of any invaders in recent memory would have rendered the army complacent and armed only with hand weapons. If this were true, then the hamlet's men had a chance of victory.The men and Sophia planned their assault and practised with the rifles over the next few weeks. Sophia drew the plan of the castle, pointing out the royal chamber and the army barracks next to them. The servants' quarters were on the far side of the courtyard, which meant that they would be out of the line of fire.Sophia said that normally, all guards would be in the barracks late at night, except for two patrolling the streets and two protecting the lord and his wife. Igor decided to prepare explosives to throw into the barracks to kill as many men as possible at once. Then those coming out could be shot.The operation was timed for the next full moon, allowing a nighttime trek to the castle and a surprise attack. Fortunately, the lord's army had not ventured to this end of the valley in the meantime.Sophia was outfitted with clothing appropriate for the journey - pants, a shirt and boots from a small man. Igor packed a few things into a pack.Finally, the day came. Igor, Sophia and eight other men carried rifles. Two other men would act as scouts. They crossed the river before dark, then as night fell they made their way to the edge of the woods and waited.The AssaultAt midnight, the two scouts carefully roamed the streets of the village. When they returned, they said that all was quiet but for two guards patrolling the streets. Igor and another man proceeded with the two scouts into the village, having the others follow but remain a hundred metres or so outside the village.As Sophia and the seven others waited, they heard four gunshots. Then Igor and the other men ran back to them. They had killed the two patrol guards. Igor asked Sophia if more than two guards typically went into the village at night. She said she didn't think so.They waited another hour to make sure all was quiet, then they crept through the woods to the back entrance. Sophia and Igor went up and opened the door. Hearing nothing, they all stepped inside. Eight men went to the barracks. Igor, Sophia and two other armed men headed for the royal chamber and halted just short of the guard positions.A large explosion detonated inside the barracks. Several shots were soon fired. The royal attack group rushed forward and killed the royal guards. Ivan rushed out of his bedroom to see what was happening. Igor and Sophia pointed rifles at his head and ushered him back in. Two shots rang out from the adjoining room, and the other two men came in, saying that Natasha had been killed.Ivan fell to his knees and begged for his life. Sophia stepped forward and put her rifle to his temple, asking where his compassion was when he had Ludmilla executed. She shot twice, and Ivan collapsed.Igor ordered the men to patrol the castle to make sure there were no guards left. He took off the pack that he had been carrying, and pulled out an elegant dress, handing it to Sophia. He said that Sophia might as well have his wife's clothes and that she would present a striking image to the villagers in her finery. Then he pulled out a pendant with a broken piece of amber and told her to wear it over the dress and come to the court in a few minutes.