Responsibility Ch. 33

One woman even said, "Do you remember Batu Markov? Thanks to you, his throat was slit. That was my cousin."

A few more slaps to Rahela's face. Someone pinched her lower lip and tugged it enough to make it bleed. It hurt much more than the hits to the face. Rahela wanted to cry. She tried to use a hand to shield her lips, but a man had her hand soon.

While others held her in place, he actually broke her index finger with his bare hands while everyone else cheered.

The pain had tears trailing down.

Then the middle finger.

She screamed.

Another scream.

That hadn't been Rahela.

Some of the guests were bleeding. No, not only that.

Large sections of their flesh were sliding away, splashing into the water, adding blood and who knew what else there too.

It became such a distraction that Rahela was released.

Then the bathers panicked even more. Some clutched their hearts and slumped over, as if their hearts have given out. They slipped down to the water, with nobody caring to stop them from drowning. Some began coughing up blood. Some were the cause of suspicious bloody brown clouds forming in the water.

The Emperor seized Rahela by her armpits and lifted her up from the water before anything unpleasant could spread out to her.

As a towel was draped around her shaking form, Rahela managed to smile. She looked back at the confused guests and hollered down to them, "Does anyone remember when a Tashkilan prince gave me a deadly fungus for my wedding?! It's known to eat away at the flesh when moist, and it's a very quick worker!!"

The Emperor kicked a particularly bold bather back into the water once he'd tried to crawl out and swipe at her. Even laughing a bit, Rahela continued with, "All I needed to do was add my most effective poisons to the bath, and then observe as you soaked into your deaths!!"

"An antidote!" One woman shrieked out. "Give it to us! Our true leader is Princess Tuya! She's the one that supported all of us! Please!!"

The Emperor shrugged and began lightly patting and rubbing the top of Rahela's head with another towel. "That's incredibly useful information, kind Duchess. Thank you. Still, there is nothing to be done. No antidote exists, particularly not where your skin is concerned. It can't be sewn back onto you."

It didn't take long for the bathers to try to escape, not that it would've done much good for them. Funny enough, His Majesty told a servant to open the door and let them go.

And they did.

Everyone saw what had happened to those nobles. They were horrified. Many vomited.

It didn't take long for those nobles to have all-consuming deaths.

Rahela had specifically made certain that inhaling the poisons in the steam for a short time wouldn't harm anyone.

The flesh eating fungus could have killed them slowly, leaving them open to infection.

But the additional poisons had seeped into their muscles and blood, unhindered by the water, sometimes even enhanced by it. That was the end of it all.

Even with her broken fingers, Rahela insisted on washing herself, then she bathed in her chambers. Only when she was certain that she had not even a hint of fungus or any other cruel thing on her body did she let someone come in to tend to her fingers.

***

Empress Consort Rahela Hermol had splints on her fingers. The remaining digits had thick and heavy rings. Pink diamonds and blue sapphires. Pearls too.

The first gown she wore was black with a small pattern of gold trees without any leaves. The sleeves were long fitted with thick gold borders. A matching border was on the high neckline. These borders also had rows of little pearls sewed in, simply for the sake of visual pleasure and exorbitance.

The second gown wasn't a surcoat. It was a slightly looser gown with open, wing style sleeves that hung down a considerable length. Those sleeves, the hem, and the neckline all had dark red borders with the base of the garment itself being a striped pattern of yellow and blue. Her cloak was a deep green and the lining was soft fur.

Her wimple and veil matched the cloak, green and shiny.

Her shoes were fancy too. Black velvet with soft leather soles, filled with more fur, and kept in place with golden buttons.

She sat on a stool that had been brought for her, well carved with a silk covered cushion on the seat. There were other stools in the Loveless Tower, but since she was the Empress Consort those common stools were not worthy of her.

Across from this empress, there was prison cell. Inside the cell, there was a woman sitting on a wooden bench. She was highly visible through the metal bars. Any fine garments or jewelry were taken from her. Her gown was a plain gray. Her hair was up in a plain white cap.

Rahela sighed and told the woman, "I won't ask you why. I won't call you a liar. This is simply how people of power behave towards one another. One is loyal to useful allies and one is vicious to enemies. You view me as an enemy, and as any intelligent person would, you gave me perceived support to hide your intentions, even when you were apparently miserable."

Princess Tuya reached up to scratch a shoulder. "I'm not the only person that moves against you."

"Yet you are the most dangerous one." Rahela weaved her good fingers together in her lap. "The rebellions in Testoa. The attempted assault on my virginity before I was married. Batu Markov. The assassination attempt. The quiet insurgency that nearly overtook us. I believe you were the puppeteer for all those plots."

Fairly still, the princess said, "Correct. Long before I'd met you, I'd wanted you dead. You were always an unwelcome alien. You never had any appreciation for how we operate. You would never be truly welcome here. My brother should've married one of my candidates."

One of Rahela's good fingers tapped her hand. "What good would this empire be to you if you have no control? What good would your life be to you if you had no control?"

"What good will this empire be once you ruin it with your incompetence?" Princess Tuya countered with her monotone voice. "What will you do as everyone turns away from you again?"

Rahela stood up from her seat. "I'll do as I'd done before. As long as I'm able, I'll kill anyone I must. You've been forthright. I'll persuade His Majesty to grant you a death with the least pain imaginable. Perhaps I can find a poison that will give you a calm and peaceful sleep from which you'll never rise."

The princess didn't respond.

Rahela told a guard she was leaving now.

She joined her lady-in-waiting, Yana, and her maid-in-waiting, Gabi. Then she made her way back to the castle's keep. Oksana had been dismissed and sent back to her family, but not before receiving the beating of her life and having her own hair chopped off.

Back in her bedchambers, Rahela looked at a chest that had recently been placed on one of her tables. It had been found inside Princess Tuya's bedchambers. Rahela's speculation had been true. They had been planning to choke her with her own hair, and that hair was in that chest.

She opened the chest and pensively stared at the locks. They would've been loose when they were cut but someone had almost lovingly braided them and tied the ends with leather and strings. After a few quiet minutes, Rahela picked the braids up and wondered if they should strangle that rebellious princess with them.

Then she shook her head and put the braids back in their place.

***

Author's Note: Thank you for your patience with this story. I've been so stressed lately. Still, after I finally finish this story (maybe in a century that might happen), I'm considering writing something new again. Maybe something Greek Mythology related since there have been so many Hades/Persephone based stories on the Internet in the past few years. It's many people's favorite Greek Mythology couple so... why not? Do you think I should try that out? Thanks again!

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