The Highland Tale; The King Act One Scene Two Sub Act Five

 

VICTORY

ACT ONE

SCENE TWO

SUB ACT FIVE

 

“General MacBeth will be made Thane of Cawdor.” The words went out to the land, and all rejoiced.

“The General saved us all.” The approval of the people was there. “Hail the Thane.”

But how fared the general?

“MacBeth, are you mad? Please let the Healer do his recovery. You must...” Banquo was pleading with the general, who had left the healing station. He had moved to see to the welfare of the infantry. He stopped to chat with survivors and instructed the wounded to be sent with haste.

“MacBeth, please prevail with sanity.” Banquo had shed his armour; only his side arm was on his belt, but Geneal was limping ahead.

“Banquo, these men fought with us, and now we must make sure they are taken care of.” MacBeth whispered to the Colonel. “We are only as good as their leader if they see us with humanity.”

“I know that, MacBeth, but you are wounded. Your stitches are loose and... bleeding.” Banquo held out his arms to stop the general. “More to it, the King awaits you to give you the title of Thane of Cawdor.”

“Thane? I am no Thane. Give it to someone else. I am more comfortable with my men than with those... Plump Thanes. They are all there for the King and await to be rewarded by him. Most of them had not fought a single battle, let alone led any men.”

Banquo was to protest when the general was approached by a junior officer.

“General, we have secured the area around the citadel. We could not find access to the inside. We have tried, but nothing seems to work.” The officer bowed to the general.

“Lieutenant, do not feel bad about it. You may not be around here.” The general patted his right hand on the left shoulder of the office. “The myth of the citadel was that only the invited were allowed in. You may not be.”

MacBeth made his way past the carnage of the battlefield and soon reached the citadel. It stood like what many had said—a huge cauldron that reached to the sky. The citadel sat on the hilltop and could be seen from afar. Even with the battles going on there, none of the fighting is near it.

MacBeth saw the King’s Engineer pitting their expertise at the base of the cauldron, but they seemed to be lost in their work. He saw them lay the explosives that could flatten any hill, but there was not a scratch on the structure.

“It is utter madness. Nothing will break that.” The Chief Engineer spat out the curse in the aftermath of his work. He spat at the ground there.

“Do not do that, Chief. I was told that.” The assistant engineer cautioned the chief.

“Bane with your beliefs, Jimmy. I have cursed at more places that your mama had licked at.” The chief took off to the setup command centre. He was watched by the general with a grin.

“That Chief... If I am told well, he may just get himself killed by his own works.” MacBeth heard the warnings from the so-named wiser ones, and that intrigued him.

“Do tell, MacBeth.” Banquo stood by the right side of the general. I knew that expression well.”

It was a personal request from a friend at the time.

“I do not know much, but the scant words of those who had visited this place or heard from their friends.” MacBeth stated at the walls there. It had stood that way for over a generation, and there were rumors that only the invited would get in and be told of their prophecy. Coincidentally, the last King to step in was the founding King of the Highlands.

“Shall we give it a go there?” MacBeth was curious to tempt his fate there. “I may be told of my future.”

“MacBeth, I have known you for years, and you are not a believer in these...” Banquo made a joke about MacBeth’s call.

“I have lived my life holding to my wits and sabre. It may be true, but maybe this could be the turning point.” MacBeth laughed. “After all, I am Thane. That is a dishonourable title.”

“Dishonourable? You …” Banquo was ignored by the general, who had moved towards the citadel.

Unknown to the Colonel, MacBeth had a calling to visit the Citadel. It was in his dream just before the battle. He had a vision of someone calling him to the Citadel. He woke up with a start, and being a military figure, he was not into the unknown. That did not end well for him. The lady died at childbirth, as did the mother and the baby that was to be his heir. He had attributed that to his mass killings as a soldier.

“I would not repent for them. They all deserved to die. We are at war. And in war, soldiers die.” MacBeth had cursed at the priests that tried to pacify him, but, on that day, he was to take his chance with the unknown.

An unknown for dreams are not any words to read again but heard only once.