Inside the Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Late Afternoon

[glacial_queen]

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!]

Comments

In the Antechamber...

[glacial_queen]

It was almost five and she was the Queen anyway. Karla reached for a glass of wine, trying to explain to herself how the day was going to end with Ludmilla dead and Hobart only exiled and all done legally and by her decree.

Re: In the Antechamber...

[heromaniac]

Okay. Momoko wasn't First Circle, but she was Court, so she'd held her place until Morton had dismissed the room and she could tear out after her Queen.

And by tear, she meant fly, and she was upset enough that she barely noticed when Dinah grabbed hold of her hand to 'tag' along. The upset You're not going to yell at Karla without me! came through loud and clear via Dinah's grasp.

Re: In the Antechamber...

[glacial_queen]

And they would find Karla knocking back her second glass of wine. Because the first hadn't lasted long at all.

"Kiss kiss," she said, raising her glass at their entrance. "This Queening thing is great!"

Re: In the Antechamber...

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah took a second to get her bearings when she landed, and huffed out a breath. "Made of awesome. And win. And..." She took a breath. "Okay, what are we going to do?"

Re: In the Antechamber...

[glacial_queen]

"Do?" Karla shrugged at them. "I am going to drink another glass or two, then I'm going to go out and sentence my miserable uncle to exile while he gets off scott free and then I'm going to go put a Queen only a few years older than myself to death. After that, I figure I'll cap off the evening with a light salad and maybe a good book or two."

Re: In the Antechamber...

[trigons_child]

Raven could sense that Karla hadn't liked making the decision she had, but that wasn't going to stop her from expressing her own dismay about it.

"Karla, please, you cannot do this!" she said when they'd reached the privacy of the antechamber.

Re: In the Antechamber...

[glacial_queen]

"That's where you're wrong, Raven," Karla said, rubbing her temples. "Can and will, actually. Must."

Re: In the Antechamber...

[trigons_child]

"But she was used!" Raven protested. "She is not responsible for what your uncle did. It is not justice to condemn her to death for something she did not do!"

Re: In the Antechamber...

[glacial_queen]

"Oh thanks for pointing that out!" Karla snapped. "I might have missed the glaringly obvious if I didn't have you right here making sure I didn't miss the blinking neon lights! I know full well this isn't justice! But it's what needs to be done!"

Re: In the Antechamber...

[wwiii]

Warren didn't have anything to say. What could he say? While he was certain other people weren't happy with the corner Karla had been backed into or the sentence she had to hand Ludmilla as a result, he understood why.

So he simply stepped up to her, and reached silently for her hand.

Re: In the Antechamber...

[glacial_queen]

Karla clung to him, drawing strength from his hand. She knew why Dinah, Momoko, and Raven were arguing with her. Bloody Hell, she agreed with them.

But what was right and what was happening weren't the same thing. At least not right now.

Re: In the Antechamber...

[wwiii]

Warren sighed, and more than just his hand, he stretched his wings forward and gathered her up into them, pulling her into his arms.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, because what else was there to say? "Darkness, Karla, I'm so, so sorry."

There was supposed to be justice today. This was supposed to be their victory. And then... this.

After the discussion in the antechamber. ELSEWHERE.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah couldn't catch her breath. Crying too hard. Panic, mortification, shame, anger. Cycling over and over. She finally managed, somewhere over... something that was not Sidra, to say, "Thanks. Where. We goin'?"

Re: After the discussion in the antechamber. ELSEWHERE.

[heromaniac]

"Away. Somewhere. Mountains." Momoko looked down briefly. "Unless you want to go back." It was cold, after all.

Re: After the discussion in the antechamber. ELSEWHERE.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"No." Ragged sniffling, and shaking her head. Dinah closed her eyes. "I... just don't wanna think. Look at some pretty scenery."

Hobart's Trial

[glacial_queen]

Karla let none of her inner turmoil show as she looked down at her uncle's sneering face.

"I don't suppose you'll do the moral thing and come clean about all that you have done?"

Look! She managed not to call him a pig! KARLA DESERVED A COOKIE.

Re: Hobart's Trial

[glacial-enemies.livejournal.com]

"What I've done?" Hobart asked, unable to keep from grinning. "All I've tried to do was help Lady Ludmilla and Glacia to the very best of my abilities. Surely there's no law against that."

Re: Hobart's Trial

[glacial_queen]

Karla indulged herself in a very brief fantasy of striding down to where he stood and clawing that smile off Hobart's face with her fingernails. She wouldn't even use her snaketooth. Just sharp nails and temper.

"Cut the sh--" She frowned and tried again. "Don't play me for a fool, Hobart. Your so called 'helping' involved breaking witches, murdering and enslaving landens, abusing Control Rings, and setting witchblood on fire to massacre an entire Blood town. If that's what you do to a Territory you love, I'd hate to see you acting against one you hated."

Re: Hobart's Trial

[glacial-enemies.livejournal.com]

"I'm sad to see that your elevation to Territory Queen hasn't improved your manners any," Hobart said with a sigh. "What would your parents think of you?"

Jon-Napped!

[glacial_queen]

Lemmik lurked in the halls of the estate, covered by a Green shield. He was unworried about being caught, only the bitch-Queen and her Whoremaster at Arms were strong enough to sense the blank spot that denoted a sight shield of a lower ranked Jewel and they were both busy in the great hall, dispensing "justice."

Not that he thought Ludmilla's pretty speech would be enough to save him if they got their hands on him. And Hobart would happily name him the real arson as soon as look at him. The smart thing to do would be to ghost out of the estate and not look back until he was in Little Terreille, reporting Glacia's total lost to the High Priestess of Hell.

That was the smart thing. And Lemmik was a smart male. But first there was just a bit of unfinished business to attend to...

Re: Jon-Napped!

[furnaceface]

And that unfinished business was tired, more tired than he cared to admit, and making his way down the hallway as Hobart's trial went on. Jono didn't want to go, no, but his Healer contingent had nagged at him on psychic threads until he'd given in. He'd been on his feet all day. A short rest, the proper Queen would see to it that justice was met, and they'd tell him all about it when he was through.

Maybe he'd just go and collapse in the room he'd left Joni in. He wasn't thrilled about being kicked out before he could see Karla mete out justice to the bastard that had caused all this grief, but at least there was a kitten to keep company with, just down the hall.

So at least that wouldn't be so terrible.

Re: Jon-Napped!

[furnaceface]

Just as Lemmik had figured. If he was patient enough, his ticket out of this waste of a Territory would just walk down the hallway toward him. No searching necessary. He'd even held out for a satisfying target, and the ugly blue landen freak that hadn't had the common decency to die back in Yllestad was possibly the most satisfying of all.

After all, most other people that Lemmik set out to kill didn't go and insult him by surviving. And they especially didn't survive, and then come back to help some bitch-Queen overthrow the Territory he was working on winning over for the High Priestess.

Lemmik didn't make a sound as he expanded his shield, drawing the blue bastard into it and stepping forward to press a dagger into his kidneys, though it wouldn't have made a difference if he had. His aural shield was as thorough as his sigh shield was, and really, it was far more satisfying to see the landen freak jump when he pushed the blade against his back solidly enough to draw blood.

Now he would speak.

"Walk," he purred. "One foot in front of the other, toward the front door of the estate. Nice and easy. Try anything funny, and I'll blast your brain into ash, you landen bastard. But please don't. I'd much sooner have the satisfaction of taking you apart slowly when we've made it to Terreille. Or maybe I'll give you as a gift to the High Priestess. Let her take her anger out on you."

See how loudly a victim of witchblood smoke could be made to scream.

Jonothon didn't have much choice. He curled his lip, but didn't say a word while they walked, right for the door, passing by people in the hallway who didn't so much as afford them a second glance. And then, from there, they went through the door, walking straight for the crowd still gathered outside. The people wanted to know what justice their new Queen would declare for the people who had all but destroyed their home.

They just walked through the crowd. Walked through people gathered who looked right past them, and continued walking, in the deepening shadows of dusk, through Sidra's streets.

"Dare I ask," Jono murmured once they were a few blocks away from the estate, "who the hell you are?"

"You could." Lemmik pressed the blade even more solidly into Jonothon's back, silently delighting at the hiss the blue bastard drew in between his teeth. "Do you really think you'll get an answer? Turn left, into this building. Talk again, and I'll cut out your tongue. Maybe mail that back to your Queen. Is it the same ridiculous shade as the rest of you? Maybe I'll send her your cock, instead. See if it does the posters any justice."

He marched Jonothon into the building he'd picked out, a tailor's shop that had been mostly burned out in the rioting.

"Now," Lemmick purred, sounding quite pleased as the lingering smoke and ash in the air caused a noticeable change in the sound of the freak's breathing, "I'm going to tie your hands so you don't get any ideas. Hold this."

To the landen's credit, he didn't scream when Lemmik buried the dagger to the hilt in his shoulder. Still, he seemed to be distracted enough that a moment taken to grab some rope wasn't going to lead to any great heroic overtures, either.

Re: Jon-Napped!

[trigons_child]

After Ludmilla's trial and the sentence given there, Raven couldn't bear to witness Hobart's escape from justice. She didn't let her unhappiness show on her face, but she did ease herself to the back of the hall to isolate herself as much as she could while still fulfilling her duties as a member of the First Circle.

Her own emotions and those all around the estate were high, and she couldn't sort out any particular distress at first. But the sudden jolt of pain she felt when Lemmik stabbed Jono, even blocks away, made her gasp and clutch at her shoulder. Back in Fandom, she'd always tried to keep a empathic thread to her friends, and that habit hadn't changed in Glacia. Jono was in trouble.

There wasn't time to alert anyone else. She focused on the pain and teleported herself to the burned-out shop, looking frantically around for Jono.

OOC

[glacial_queen]

LUDMILLA! I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO LIKE YOU!

Re: OOC

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

She has a heart! If not a lot of brain... *gives Ludmilla a cookie. A SAD COOKIE*