- The Prouds 74
The king called the soldier who would carry out the
executions and said to him harshly, “Chop off their heads
one after the other. Leave their leader till the end, so that he
learns that a leader is responsible for the actions of his
soldiers, and that he must follow his orders no matter
what.”
The soldiers were trembling with fear as people
watched. It is true that a soldier expects death all the time at
the hands of his enemies, whereas death at the hands of his
king and a soldier in his country’s army where he serves,
and in front of his own people, is very humiliating.
There was a log fitted above ground level.
The first soldier was brought as he kept begging the
king in a humiliating manner, “Have mercy, My Lord.”
But, the king did not reply as his facial expressions
and his eyes were very harsh. The soldier was forced to
kneel, and then his head was fitted on the log, with his
hands and feet tied. The executioner pulled his sword out
and chopped off the soldier’s head in cold blood, while the
other soldiers were trembling. Blood ran around the dead
body, and people screamed. But the king was stone cold
and did not care at all. The view was repeated several times
as the soldiers begged the king uselessly and they all were
decapitated. Finally, it was the Chief Guard’s turn after
suffering the view of his soldiers’ heads being chopped off,
just as the king wanted.
The Chief Guard shouted, “She ordered us not to go
with her...”
He kept repeating the same words uselessly, as his
head was chopped off while the king watched without even
blinking.