Responsibility Ch. 15

Author's Note: A male friend of mine seems to think that this story is "GrimDark." I'm disagreeing but I'm also unsure. I don't know much about that concept. What do you think?

***

Itching. So much itching.

That was the part that bothered her the most. The bugs. She'd scratched herself so much that she'd bled.

Another part that bothered was the guards' incompetence.

On the moldy bench Rahela had often sat on, every single day she'd take her knife and dig a little line on the seat.

She still had her knife, and everything else that had been attached to her girdle. She even had her scissors!

According to all the marks she'd left behind in the bench, she'd been kept for almost a month. When a guard came, she'd wrap her cloak around herself to hide the tools that had been so foolishly forgotten about. At first, she was questioned often. They told her the Empress Dowager was bed ridden, and it was all her fault because she'd apparently poisoned her. It would be best to confess, they'd usually claim.

Rahela chose not to say anything to them.

One day, her stubborn silence angered a guard so much that when it was his turn to exchange her full chamber pot for a clean one he decided to just knock the full pot over, nearly splattering her with the contents. A younger guard came by an hour later and volunteered to clean everything up. He'd even put down fresh straw for her, and because of that Rahela quietly performed every mental trick she could think of to remember his face and name.

She supposed she should be thankful. Not talking was dangerous. They could always torture her. What she truly worried over was Gabi. Gabi was only a child, an innocent little one. Legally, she knew that Gabi and the ladies-in-waiting weren't supposed to be punished. They were meant to be interrogated, but otherwise they'd be confined to Rahela's bedchamber.

But she knew extremely well that just because something was illegal didn't mean it didn't happen, especially not among governments.

Sometimes Rahela wept.

She was starving. She knew it. Some days she wasn't given food, only water. She could see and feel more of her bones. Her skin was dry with scaly patches. She was always cold, and she trembled. Sleeping was extremely difficult.

The reason why she had hope ...

The only reason why she hadn't sent Gabi away ...

Was because she trusted the Empress Dowager not to let this go on for too long.

Before Gabi could truly be in any danger, Rahela had to be shown at court and found guilty, at least. Even those who hated her would demand it. For Rahela to die in prison, that wouldn't satisfy anyone.

When the cell door was opened one morning, Rahela had thought someone was going to come and clean up. Perhaps it was that nice young man that had been helpful to her.

No. It wasn't. It was only a group of guards telling her it was time for her to show up to court.

She was unstable, in danger of collapsing. That's how weak Rahela was, but her chilled fury drove her on. The guards didn't even see the need to touch her. They probably didn't want to. She didn't smell nice and perhaps three different kinds of pests were in her hair and on her skin.

That kind guard stopped them and insisted that she had to eat something before she went. Nobody else seemed to hate her enough to care whether she ate or not. So nobody protested when that kind guard gave her food and watched her eat. A proper wedge of ordinary cheese. A bowl of broth that actually tasted like pork, and there were tiny pieces of real pork too! And a roll of fresh bread. It was all still a tiny meal, and Rahela ate it as slowly as the kind guard allowed, but it was heavenly when compared to what she'd been given before.

She was already exhausted when the meal was done, but she drank all the water she was given. The kind guard decided to join the other guards. He decided to stay near her so he could keep her face from meeting the ground.

The moment they were outside, Rahela's eyes squinted from the sunlight, which was almost like a shock. The fresh air, however, delighted her lungs and almost made her feel giddy. If she had more energy, she would've tried to skip.

Along the way, they were stopped by a woman with a long veil and a headdress shaped like a crescent moon that had been turned with its outer curve on top. This woman introduced herself as Esfir Koztrov. She showed a document with the Empress Dowager's signature and wax seal.

"Her Majesty is confined to her bed," Koztrov said, "but she was still able to send for me. I'm your barrister, Your Highness. I'm here to argue for and defend you." As she put the document away, rolled up into a tube, Koztrov asked, "While you were in your cell, did anyone tell you had the right to ask for a barrister, or to hire one?"

Rahela barely had the energy to whisper, "No." Her voice was similar to a frog's cry.

Shaking her head and making disapproving noises with her tongue, Koztrov said, "I should've been sent to you long ago. What a hapless little woman. I'll do my best for you." Her eyes were soft as she looked down at Rahela's emaciated face. "Have you answered any questions?"

"No," Rahela repeated, her fingers digging deeper into the cloak she so tenaciously held closed.

"Excellent," Koztrov said. "Don't even speak without my permission. Normally, I wouldn't even dare to give Your Highness an order, but this is for your own good."

The group then continued on to the Imperial Throne Room. The moment Rahela was in there, she knew she might always be remembered as the lice infested, flaky and thin, ugly little foreigner that dared to try to marry their Emperor.

Another glorious court meeting. Brightly colored and glittering people. Princess Tuya on the throne with her girls seated near her.

That princess was frowning when Rahela first saw her. The frown deepened when she finally met Rahela's weak eyes.

Princess Tuya was a vision of gold and black with a purple headdress. That headdress was vaguely shaped like a flower, and the petals had outlines of shiny gemstones. There were even tassels of similar gems hanging from each side of her face, only just touching her surcoat, which had a neckline deeper than the gown underneath. The length of her veil, along with the jewelry pinned to it, had been gingerly pulled away and rested over one of the throne's armrests. She was on the oh so daring edge of fashion and high class in Yahsin culture, but that didn't seem to console her.

The group stood between the throne and the audience. Rahela didn't know what to do. Normally, she would've been more alert, but she was so weak and listless. Her brain could still perform some basic forms of logic, but anything too complex and she might faint.

But she did hear Princess Tuya say, "This is absurdity. Princess Rahela is headstrong and silly, but she's not foolish enough to poison the Empress Dowager. Justice was not applied here, only ochlocracy, or a similar but wild concept."

Rahela thought she understood. It seemed that the reason why she'd been accused and imprisoned was because most of, or even all, of the nobles demanded it. She dared to turn her head back to see their faces. Their furious, accusatory glares were enough to convince her.

Rulers couldn't work alone. They needed support. When your supporters all hated someone, it was only a matter of time for their target to be harmed. One couldn't ignore their wishes so easily.

She looked back to the throne, right up to Princess Tuya's bitter face. Then she looked down at the rug on the floor.

"Well, does anyone want to give an accusation?" Princess Tuya asked. She was holding the scepter Rahela had seen before, and she drew what was almost a circle with it. Then she seemed to point at someone and she said, "You. Stand. Speak."

Rahela heard a man clear their throat and claim it was obvious that Rahela had poisoned the Empress Dowager. When he was done, another man also got up and said it was obvious. Rahela let a thin arm poke out from her cloak so she could furiously scratch her scalp. She hoped none of the bugs jumped onto the people around her.

The moment there was room to speak, Koztrov asked, "What evidence is there to support such a claim?"

"Princess Rahela blatantly collect poisons," someone pointed out, "and she's been courting the Empress Dowager's regard. She must've used all the opportunities available."

"Your Highness, that's not evidence," Koztrov insisted. "Nobody should be appeased with that."

Nodding once, Princess Tuya asked the audience, "Does anyone even know what was used to poison the Empress Dowager?" After a short, quiet time, Princess Tuya announced, "I've already hired two toxicologists to investigate. They'll stand before the court now."

Right then, two men entered the space. They stopped and bowed to the throne some feet away from Rahela and the group near her. They seemed ordinary enough. One was taller than the other. The taller one spoke as soon as Princess Tuya addressed him.

"Small amounts of poison has been applied to the Empress Dowager's jewelry, an invisible and tasteless lacquer. This was meant to damage the Empress Dowager over time."

New lines forming on her brow, Princess Tuya said, "That sounds quite ... difficult."

"One would need to soak the jewelry in the poison for some time," the taller man said, "and then let it dry well."

Almost rolling her pretty golden eyes, Princess Tuya said to the audience, "I suppose most of you will argue that only Princess Rahela would think of such a thing. She might as well be a toxicologist herself. Is that what will be said?"

Silence.

But then, after someone coughed, and someone else sneezed, Rahela heard a woman in the audience say, "The Empress Dowager turned ill after Princess Rahela began regularly visiting her. It's highly suspicious."

Bam!!

One of the side doors was slammed open. Everyone reacted in some way. Some people jolted. Some hopped or bounced. Princess Tuya nearly dropped the scepter. Rahela almost fell onto the guard that had been so kind to her.

The Empress Dowager.

A blood red surcoat with a thin plackard, so thin that it barely existed, essentially a rope of ermine fur. More ermine fur had been made into a border for the garment. Her gown was black with a little pattern of golden triangles. The gown's sleeves had a light bag style, cuffed at the wrists with some looseness in the fabric on the arms. Her long, golden veil and tall, wide black headdress framed a face so contorted with rage that Rahela almost fainted at the sight.

She didn't have any jewelry, aside from a few things that had been sewn onto her clothes. Rahela didn't even think there were jewels on her veil.

And she didn't look like she'd been sickly and stuck in bed.

Her girl attendants all looked oddly shaken. Their blood had apparently left their cheeks some time ago.

The Empress Dowager marched up to the throne and, not even pointing, only looking up at her daughter's face, she said with an intense, almost booming voice, "You will step down immediately!"

Princess Tuya smiled as she did so. Her girls got up to follow her. After she handed the scepter over to her mother, Princess Tuya led her girls over to a space on the floor, where servants hurried to arrange chairs for them.

The Empress Dowager settled into the throne so quickly that Rahela could tell she was comfortable there. She rammed the lower end of the scepter onto the platform's floor as if she wanted to crush a crawling insect. This time, Rahela did fall over. The kind guard caught her and put her back into a stable position, or stable enough. When she saw a bug jump off of her long hair and onto the guard's shoulder, she nearly sobbed.

"Idiots!" That was what the Empress Dowager said to the audience. "Prejudiced idiots! That's the bulk of you!"

Rahela's eyebrows hiked up at that. Had that woman just insulted most of the Imperial Family's valuable supporters?

Holding the scepter in a horizontal manner, resting it across the throne's armrests, the Empress Dowager took a moment to have a few simple breaths. This seemed to calm her. Her face became more beautiful, gentler, and even smoother. Then, she took up the scepter again and spoke.

"Princess Rahela has been regularly borrowing jewelry from me. There's no logic there, if she was indeed the culprit behind the poisoning. Does anyone have an argument against that?"

Someone did. "With respect, Your Majesty, it would be easy for that princess to choose any pieces she hadn't poisoned."

"Unacceptable," the Empress Dowager said, her lips quirking with what might've been amusement. "I personally chose each piece for her. She said she'd trusted my tastes. In fact, she even kissed many gems before my eyes. If she knew the pieces were coated in poison, she wouldn't have put herself in so much danger. Are there any more arguments?"

Another person said, "Princess Rahela would've known the poison's effects are slow. She wouldn't have any fear. There was such a short amount of time between her habit of borrowing and her imprisonment. It's no wonder she hasn't shown any symptoms."

Her eyes turning so sharp that Rahela felt as if her very heart had been pierced, despite knowing she wasn't looking at her, the Empress Dowager asked, "Are you claiming that Princess Rahela not only planned on being discovered, but also knew precisely when she'd be arrested?"

Silence.

Then the Empress Dowager went on. "There is no solid evidence against Princess Rahela in this case. In fact, I have every reason to believe Princess Rahela had no hand in the poisoning. My symptoms began before she started visiting me and asking to borrow my jewelry. I'd assumed it was all only signs of aging at first, but once I understood the truth I secretly took medicine and pretended to be far more afflicted. Eventually, I was able to ensnare the true culprits."

Rahela imagined the medicine had been at least partly made of charcoal.

With the scepter, the Empress Dowager tapped the platform again, twice.

"Drag the sinners before this court!!"

Some men came. They had two linen bundles of something. They were indeed dragging them against the floor.

There were dry blood stains on the bundles, seeming to have been made from the inside.

One of the men partially opened a bundle.

Gasps!

Princess Tuya put a hand to her lips and turned away. Her girls all covered their eyes. The Empress Dowager's girls had similar responses.

Rahela was stone. A weak little pebble, but still stone.

A dead young woman with a slit throat.

One of the Empress Dowager's older chambermaids.

"That one," the Empress Dowager said, "was responsible for cleaning my jewelry. She was caught applying the poison."

The men opened up part of the second bundle.

More gasps!

Batu Markov, also with a slit throat, but his lovely curly hair had been taken away. He'd been scalped. Even his chin had been scalped.

Rahela finally remembered what she'd wanted to do.

She opened her cloak. She even let it fall around her quivering frame.

That was the most horrifying thing of all, at least it must've been to many.

Rahela still had her girdle, including her pouch and knife. She also had a string of pearls, although it had been carefully wound into a tight, swirling circle shape, to form a temporary brooch.

As everyone stared with low jaws and high attention, Rahela used all the strength she could put in her fingers to pull the pin away. Then she unwound the string of pearls and revealed that it was a necklace.

It was the Empress Dowager's necklace.

Not only had the guards that took her away been so ridiculously inept that they forgot to disarm her, but they'd also allowed one of the Empress Dowager's favorite necklaces to end up in the Loveless Tower! It could've been misplaced forever, even stolen!

Her face so pink that Rahela wondered if she could pass out, the Empress Dowager pointed to the shorter toxicologist and rapidly demanded, "You will take that immediately and have it tested for poison!"

Bowing, then putting on some leather gloves, the shorter toxicologist said, "It won't be long, Your Majesty. I only need a moment." From a pouch on his own belt, he pulled out a light scraping tool and a magnifying glass. He even promised, "I swear to treat these delicate pearls with the utmost care. I won't dare to leave even a scratch."

One of the guards took the pearl necklace from Rahela and held it out under a spot of light. The toxicologist seemed to tap and maybe only just scrape at the pearls with a his magnifying glass giving him an better view. Then, he seemed to tap his tool with his tongue.

Disgust bundled up his features. He took a flask from his pouch and rinsed out his mouth. He put his tool and magnifying glass away. Then he chose to spit into his handkerchief. He did it quietly, with the cloth held to his lips. Nobody heard nor saw the mass leave his mouth.

"That necklace is coated in poison," the shorter toxicologist said.

"This 'Princess Rahela' case will be ended now," the Empress Dowager said, "unless anyone objects?"

Two dead and bloody bodies were on the floor. Nobody dared to go against the woman responsible for that, at least not in the most obvious way. There were no objections.

***

Before Rahela let anyone try to comb and scrub the parasites from her skin and hair, she demanded to see Gabi and the ladies-in-waiting. She had to be sure they were fine, and they were, but they weren't calm. They were frightened, their eyes all wide as they took in the jarring, likely haunting image of their malnourished, oily, infested, and smelly Mistress.

Yana stuttered so much that she couldn't form a true word. Oksana kept her mouth shut, pressing on her lips with her hands. Gabi waved her hands around and spat out word after word, asking all sorts of worried questions, most of which Rahela couldn't understand.

Rahela found out that the girls had indeed been interrogated, and thankfully they hadn't been harmed or even threatened. That was when she let the chambermaids take her off to the bathing chamber. While she was in there, being undressed, she heard Ammas' voice through the closed door.

"Don't let Her Highness eat any more than what I've suggested."

Rahela wanted to loudly ask what he meant by that, but all she had the strength for was, "Huh?"

"Your Highness? Is that you?"

One of the chambermaids said, "She can hear you!"

Ammas said, "Fine. Listen well, Mistress! You've been starved. If you overeat, your body will be destroyed. You must let your body adjust. Wait until you're well before you overindulge yourself."

Rahela believed him.

Once she was nude, one of the servants noted that a good portion of her chemise was, well, torn away. Rahela explained that she hadn't always trusted the straw in her cell, and there was limited water. She'd had to rip away sections after every use of a chamber pot.

That alone had the chambermaids shaking their heads with pity.

Rahela's hair was slowly, meticulously combed. A mixture of salt, garlic, and some kind of oil had been applied to her scalp. They didn't wash her hair right away, but they did wrap it all up in cloth so she could be scrubbed down.

Rags and brushes. Various kinds of soap and water. It all took much longer than usual. The servants even used a razor and tweezers on some parts of her body, her face too. One girl held up a mirror for Rahela to make sure everything was proper.

Her lips pressed together. Her heart fell.

She couldn't fully recognize herself. Her face was once full, but now it was a drained, almost crushed thing. There were so many angry marks, some from bites and most from her own fingernails. Her lips were crusty and withered. Where white should be in her eyes, there was only pink.