I only fear God, not his creation

She thought back to that one evening two weeks ago, when she had sat on the porch, watching her husband doing yard work with the kids. When suddenly a lone rider had raced, full gallop leaving a dust trail, the rider hadn't stopped, hadn't signalled, it just raced past, going North. Her husband had watched, and had stared after the rider, too long, then she her gut already knew something was about to change.

He was stuck in thought in the evenings, he did his work, he played with the kids, but his mind was elsewhere. One night she woken up to an empty bed, the sky was still dark, no light to hint at a morning. He hadn't come. She lit a candle and wondered around the house, he wasn't in. But through the window she noticed that the light in the workshop was on. Wandering out barefoot through the garden, she looked in, trough the open doorway. He was there, his shirt wet with sweat, in the vice his sword was clamped, and in his hands the sharpening stone was going back and forth. She didn't know why, but when he stopped and looked over his shoulder, she quickly stepped back into the shadows, as if she was hoping that if he didn't see her he wouldn't go. Because she knew, he would.

A few days later he spoke, she didn't ask him to stay, just sat on his lap one more time and cried.
"I can't give you the perfect home if it stands in a country that goes to shit."

The next day he prepared his horse, stuffed the saddlebags with food. Then he dressed in his old uniform, a uniform she hadn't seen since their wedding day. Sword on his hip, spear in his hand. But when she looked at the spear, shivers ran down her spine, the banner of the King. The flag that had been outlawed half a decade ago, even combining the colours was already a crime for which people disappeared.

The dogs were happy, thinking they'd go out for a run while their master was riding. Their son, too young to fathom the consequences, but old enough to understand something big was happening, asked: "Papa are you afraid?"
I only fear God, not his creation.
She truly believed her husband meant that, and not only repeated the motto of the Kingdom they once were part of.

He rode off without many words, the banner flying when he kicked the horse to a trot.
Her daughter even younger asked: "When is daddy coming back?"
She didn't know how to answer that, but when her daughter asked again, she said: "When he's done making the world a better place."

While she was still watching her husband disappear down the road, another rider came, he saluted her. Most likely he had seen her husband ride off. And he was trying to catch up. Now two banners were going South.

In the afternoon of the next day, while working in the garden, their old neighbour came by. He normally never walked that far. "He went South didn't he?", she just nodded. While they were standing there, another group of six came by. In a flash she recognised the butcher of the next village.
"They are closer to death then I am." The old neighbour said, she didn't think he meant to say that out loud.