The black pawn admires the white queen ever since the beginning of this chess game, even though the white queen had tramped through the battleground with unrivaled cruelty and many of his companions were killed under her bloodstained scepter: She slashed the throat of the black bishop, stabbed the horse of the black knight, took over two insignificant black pawns in the front and checkmated the king into the corner of his unprotected kingdom.

It's time for the black pawn to proof his loyalty. He has to step forward, guarding the path to the king with his own flesh. No doubt, the white queen will take his life without hesitation. But it's worth it, even romantic, to die under the hands of the woman he admired. The white side is going to win the final battle but the white queen can't live long enough to see the victory, because the black rook is watching the particular square the black pawn is going to step upon. And yet her death is unavoidable because that's the only way to distract the black rook so the white rook can drive down to the bottom and deliver a final and fatal checkmate to the black king.

Nothing he can do to change the game. He is just a simple black pawn. Death is his destiny and responsibility, just like the inevitable sacrifice of the white queen. Her people will remember her, no doubt, but she can't see her admirers and hear their praises. What is the meaning of victory when the mind that can discriminate proud and shame no longer exists?

He trots one step forward. The queen smiles at him coldly. He thinks -- he hopes - it meant admiration for his valiant. He wants to tell her it's not worth to waste her life for a small pawn like him but nothing comes out from his mouth. The elegant white queen steps forward. She kissed him, not more with admiration than sympathy, before she finally slashes his throat. He feels his life drain away from him. He knows her death will immediately follow his own and neither of them will feel the joy of conquest or the shame of defeat. He only wishes that eventually they two would lie together outside the chessboard. That's his last wish.