Inside the Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Late Afternoon
There were a lot of things Karla had wanted to do as soon as they entered the estate. Look around again and see how much had changed from her memories. Find old servants and friends and see if they were as glad to see her as she was them. Drag her friends by the hand and show off the home she'd grown up in. Make an inventory of every hideous decoration that had been bought and figure out what to do with it. Stand in front of her uncle and do the 'I win, I win, Neener neener boo boo!' dance (it borrowed a few steps from the 'No Contract' dance).
But she was the Queen and what she wanted to do had to take a back seat to what needed doing. Even the emotionally-satisfying 'fuck you' to Hobart. She'd been planning this for forever and the sooner they took care of everything officially, the sooner Karla could have the freedom to do as she pleased.
Which was why by the time the sun had started its slow descent over the horizon, Karla and her Court were assembled in the largest receiving room they had. It was packed, with as many peopleas possible jammed inside to be privy to Glacia's own Trials of the Century. Ludmilla, pale and trembling and still clad in her finest gown, was standing before Karla to answer the long list of crimes that had occurred under her rule. Rape, murder, Yllestad, the extermination of the mind-twisted landens, the outlawing and subsequent hunt and mutilation of Black Widows...the list went on and on and on. Karla knew it would take months to track down every person who had participated in these atrocities, if they ever did, but punishing the two people who had allowed (or, in Hobart's case encouraged and even ordered) these things to happen would go a long way to bringing peace back to Glacia as a whole.
Of course, she hadn't expected this sudden turn. She gaped down at Ludmilla. "Excuse me?" she said. "Could you repeat that?"
Ludmilla
"I said, I take full responsibility for everything that happened," Ludmilla said, voice small and frightened.
Karla
Karla was trying to stop gawking, she really was. But this was not how she'd planned the trial to go. She'd figured that Ludmilla would explain that Hobart had been the mastermind behind everything, which would allow Karla to nail his ass to the wall. And yet, this was not happening here.
Judging from the murmuring of the people around her, at least Karla wasn't the only one who was taken aback by Ludmilla's sudden show of spine.
"Are you sure?!" she asked. "Do you understand what you're saying here?"
Perhaps not the most politic way of saying it, but Karla was having a little trouble collecting her composure.
Ludmilla
"I understand," Ludmilla said with a small nod, her earrings chiming like tiny bells."I was the Queen and these incidents occurred under my rule. I may not have committed these crimes but I am just as culpable as they were done in my name."
"You don't know what you're saying," Karla said, with rising desperation. Ludmilla taking all of the blame for herself would not only take away Karla's own chance to punish Hobart, but it would condemn her utterly. There would be no escape for her. "You couldn't have known what they were doing, what they were planning!"
Ludmilla
"But I should have known. I should have asked. I was content to have pretty dresses and all my friends be Queens, but that's not what it means to rule." She bowed her head. "I know I'm not very smart, but I'm trying to be a good Queen, now. And a good Queen takes responsibility for what happens in her Territory. So all guilt is mine. I deserve the punishment that is due me."
Karla
"But you're going to die!" Karla said, trying to make Ludmilla see. "The only acceptable penalty for these crimes is death! If you take full responsibility for them--!"
Ludmilla
"Then I'm going to die," Ludmilla responded with a sad, little smile. "It is an honor for a Queen to sacrifice her life for her people. Maybe mine will begin to atone to what's been done to Glacia while I was blind."
"It can't," Karla said, voice cracking. "Your death will be meaningless. The true architects of these atrocities will get away with it. I need those names, Ludmilla. Your death won't bring justice--it will prevent those that deserve it from seeing justice of their own!"
Ludmilla
"Then maybe they'll see what I have done for them and turn their lives around," Ludmilla said, shoulders slumping. "This is my last chance to be a real Queen. A good Queen, like you. Don't take it away from me. Please, Karla."
Karla
That plea made Karla swallow her last demand for the names of the truly guilty. She hated this, loathed it, but if Ludmilla was determined to stand firm, Karla could not badger her over it. "Are you sure, Sister?"
Ludmilla
Her chin trembled and her eyes filled with tears, but she nodded.
Karla
Karla bowed her head, accepting Ludmilla's choice, even as she internally raged against it. "Then, in accordance to the Darkness and the Old Ways, I, Karla, Queen of Glacia, do sentence you to death before the sun rises tomorrow."
She looked up again, staring directly into Ludmilla's cornflower blue eyes. "I will carry out the sentence myself."
Ignoring the tearful "Thank you," from the other Queen, Karla stood up and swept from the room, leaving Morton to tell the assembled that Hobart's trial would convene in an hour. She just couldn't remain there while Julian led the condemned woman away under her orders.
[NFB. Second to last post, yay!]
But she was the Queen and what she wanted to do had to take a back seat to what needed doing. Even the emotionally-satisfying 'fuck you' to Hobart. She'd been planning this for forever and the sooner they took care of everything officially, the sooner Karla could have the freedom to do as she pleased.
Which was why by the time the sun had started its slow descent over the horizon, Karla and her Court were assembled in the largest receiving room they had. It was packed, with as many peopleas possible jammed inside to be privy to Glacia's own Trials of the Century. Ludmilla, pale and trembling and still clad in her finest gown, was standing before Karla to answer the long list of crimes that had occurred under her rule. Rape, murder, Yllestad, the extermination of the mind-twisted landens, the outlawing and subsequent hunt and mutilation of Black Widows...the list went on and on and on. Karla knew it would take months to track down every person who had participated in these atrocities, if they ever did, but punishing the two people who had allowed (or, in Hobart's case encouraged and even ordered) these things to happen would go a long way to bringing peace back to Glacia as a whole.
Of course, she hadn't expected this sudden turn. She gaped down at Ludmilla. "Excuse me?" she said. "Could you repeat that?"
Ludmilla
"I said, I take full responsibility for everything that happened," Ludmilla said, voice small and frightened.
Karla
Karla was trying to stop gawking, she really was. But this was not how she'd planned the trial to go. She'd figured that Ludmilla would explain that Hobart had been the mastermind behind everything, which would allow Karla to nail his ass to the wall. And yet, this was not happening here.
Judging from the murmuring of the people around her, at least Karla wasn't the only one who was taken aback by Ludmilla's sudden show of spine.
"Are you sure?!" she asked. "Do you understand what you're saying here?"
Perhaps not the most politic way of saying it, but Karla was having a little trouble collecting her composure.
Ludmilla
"I understand," Ludmilla said with a small nod, her earrings chiming like tiny bells."I was the Queen and these incidents occurred under my rule. I may not have committed these crimes but I am just as culpable as they were done in my name."
"You don't know what you're saying," Karla said, with rising desperation. Ludmilla taking all of the blame for herself would not only take away Karla's own chance to punish Hobart, but it would condemn her utterly. There would be no escape for her. "You couldn't have known what they were doing, what they were planning!"
Ludmilla
"But I should have known. I should have asked. I was content to have pretty dresses and all my friends be Queens, but that's not what it means to rule." She bowed her head. "I know I'm not very smart, but I'm trying to be a good Queen, now. And a good Queen takes responsibility for what happens in her Territory. So all guilt is mine. I deserve the punishment that is due me."
Karla
"But you're going to die!" Karla said, trying to make Ludmilla see. "The only acceptable penalty for these crimes is death! If you take full responsibility for them--!"
Ludmilla
"Then I'm going to die," Ludmilla responded with a sad, little smile. "It is an honor for a Queen to sacrifice her life for her people. Maybe mine will begin to atone to what's been done to Glacia while I was blind."
"It can't," Karla said, voice cracking. "Your death will be meaningless. The true architects of these atrocities will get away with it. I need those names, Ludmilla. Your death won't bring justice--it will prevent those that deserve it from seeing justice of their own!"
Ludmilla
"Then maybe they'll see what I have done for them and turn their lives around," Ludmilla said, shoulders slumping. "This is my last chance to be a real Queen. A good Queen, like you. Don't take it away from me. Please, Karla."
Karla
That plea made Karla swallow her last demand for the names of the truly guilty. She hated this, loathed it, but if Ludmilla was determined to stand firm, Karla could not badger her over it. "Are you sure, Sister?"
Ludmilla
Her chin trembled and her eyes filled with tears, but she nodded.
Karla
Karla bowed her head, accepting Ludmilla's choice, even as she internally raged against it. "Then, in accordance to the Darkness and the Old Ways, I, Karla, Queen of Glacia, do sentence you to death before the sun rises tomorrow."
She looked up again, staring directly into Ludmilla's cornflower blue eyes. "I will carry out the sentence myself."
Ignoring the tearful "Thank you," from the other Queen, Karla stood up and swept from the room, leaving Morton to tell the assembled that Hobart's trial would convene in an hour. She just couldn't remain there while Julian led the condemned woman away under her orders.
[NFB. Second to last post, yay!]