The Potions Master
Apr. 7th, 2011 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eiremauveTitle: Catharsis
Author: eiremauve
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mild violence and language, nothing major but...
Word Count: 987
Prompt: schadenfreude
A/N: For the curious, the title of the post is because I'm using Harry Potter chapter titles for all my posts until Deathly Hallows, Part 2 comes out. :) And it seems vaguely appropriate, because while this piece obviously has nothing whatsoever to do with Harry Potter, Snape is kinda petty (he does have his reasons), so it's mildly appropriate. Also, I have never written a battle of any sort before. This is set place in both the present and an alternate universe 10th century southern Spain-notice that woman know how to wield a sword and the fact that there is a court case. I had a great name for the villain, but I forgot it. Ah, well. Incidentally, this is Just for Fun.
I was pacing around, boiling with indignation. How could that horrible person do such a thing? Luckily, it seemed that she was going to face justice for what she had done. Sitting down on a comfy chair, I picked the book up again and began to read.
Shaun and Catalina were pushing through the crowded streets to go to the trail of Anselma. Everyone wanted to see the trial of their betrayer. It required some cat-like sneakiness, but they managed to get inside.
“You are accused of bringing pirates in to attack us. How do you plead?” said the judge. He was sitting in the center of the room, surrounded by the witnesses on one side, and the jury in the other. The defendant and the lawyer for the defense and the prosecutor faced him
“I am not at fault” Anselma said, sounding bored. “I merely wished to find out about these pirates. It is not my fault that they came gallivanting in.” Not her fault? Hah! I remember that; remember the desperation, the fear, of the attack. Catalina and Shaun had woken to the sound of screaming, and found some of the guards lying in their own blood, the others fighting for their lives. The pirates had come to take them captive, there are many different things they could do with rulers. They had both been captured and tortured before, and did not wish to repeat the experience. They had fought back to back, the harsh clang of swords ringing in the air.
“Then how did the pirates know where to strike?” the prosecutor asked.
“I told them about us, to find out more.”
A juror decided to introduce her head to her desk; another decided that his eyes needed to know his hands better. The lawyer for the defense heaved a deep sigh and shook his head.
The prosecutor started shaking his head, with an odd expression on his face. His eyebrows were raised but he was smiling as if to say that he could not believe the denseness of the defendant and was grateful that a conviction would be so easy.
Sometimes Catalina wondered is Anselma was stupid. Other times, she thought she was a sociopath. I wonder the same thing. I have called her crazy, mean, and a bitch at various times (and I do not even like using that word).
Time passed, many people went to the witness stand to tell their tale. The verdict was not in doubt.
“Guilty” said the head juror softly.
“As king, you get to decide her fate” the judge informed Shaun. Shaun looked soberly at Anselma. Catalina did know why Anselma had not gotten banished at least before now. Her husband was kind and gentle, and did not wish (and before, had not needed) to make an example of her. And, until know, both he and his mother Isabelle hoped to rehabilitate her-but it was not to be. She got on well with Isabelle, despite the occasional strain that Anselma caused. Before the wedding, people told her many horror stories and jokes about mother in laws, but Isabelle was a grand lady, and she happened to be sitting in the front row, looking coldly at her traitor sister. It was the aunt she should have been warned about.
“The penalty for what you have done is death.” He said sadly but firmly. “And so it shall be.” Halle-freaking-lu-jah!
Low murmurs greeted this pronouncement.
“But-you don’t like giving executions!” exclaimed Anselma.
“You might have thought less about what I would do, and more about the consequences of your actions. Those pirates could have killed you. We could have been killed, or captured. If you don’t care about that, you should,” said Shaun.
“They promised!” Anselma was desperate now. Catalina could almost smile. YES! YES! YES! YES!
“So did you. You promised to protect this place when you were given your sword.”
Catalina interrupted, fingering the leather scabbard of her own sword. He would feel guilty about this to the end of his days, unless she did something. If it harms Anselma, do it! Just don’t get hurt in the process.
“Senor judge?” Catalina asked.
“Yes, my queen?”
“Let me decide her fate. It is my right, as queen, as one of the ones she has hurt.”
“When have I ever hurt you?” demanded Anselma.
“You have done nothing but abuse me and my husband for as long as I have known you.” Catalina said in a rush. “You are no aunt. You are solipsistic and cannot understand that other people have value, that what you has consequences. You value no thoughts but your own. You care not what your actions do down the road. Have you listened to yourself throughout this trail? You were the most powerful witness for your own prosecution!”
There was that time she smacked him for disagreeing with her and then acted as if he should be the one to apologize. The time she had called Catalina a whore for being a widow, which led to Shaun sending her to the corner to think about what she had done, a memory she still treasured, though Anselma sadly did not seem to care or notice. All these incidents and more flashed through my brain.
“Do what you like” the Judge said. But don’t let her go, the judge’s look said. Unbiased as he was supposed to be, he had been affected by the attack the same as everyone else.
Catalina went up to the Anselma.
“This is what could have happened to your cousin, and your sister, what did happen to many unfortunate people.” Catalina unsheathed her sword and stabbed Anselma through the heart. A look of total shock passed over Anselma’s face as she breathed her last. I have been hoping this would happen for a long time. It was finally over-but Catalina felt guilty, which was unexpected. She put her sword back in it’s scabbard, then Shaun came over and embraced her, and she embraced him back.
Bad guys are the ones who are supposed to feel satisfaction when someone dies. It is wrong. I feel it anyway. And yet she could still find a trace of sorrow in her heart. A life spent being so condescending toward others that you cannot see them. It must have been very lonely.
Author: eiremauve
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mild violence and language, nothing major but...
Word Count: 987
Prompt: schadenfreude
A/N: For the curious, the title of the post is because I'm using Harry Potter chapter titles for all my posts until Deathly Hallows, Part 2 comes out. :) And it seems vaguely appropriate, because while this piece obviously has nothing whatsoever to do with Harry Potter, Snape is kinda petty (he does have his reasons), so it's mildly appropriate. Also, I have never written a battle of any sort before. This is set place in both the present and an alternate universe 10th century southern Spain-notice that woman know how to wield a sword and the fact that there is a court case. I had a great name for the villain, but I forgot it. Ah, well. Incidentally, this is Just for Fun.
I was pacing around, boiling with indignation. How could that horrible person do such a thing? Luckily, it seemed that she was going to face justice for what she had done. Sitting down on a comfy chair, I picked the book up again and began to read.
Shaun and Catalina were pushing through the crowded streets to go to the trail of Anselma. Everyone wanted to see the trial of their betrayer. It required some cat-like sneakiness, but they managed to get inside.
“You are accused of bringing pirates in to attack us. How do you plead?” said the judge. He was sitting in the center of the room, surrounded by the witnesses on one side, and the jury in the other. The defendant and the lawyer for the defense and the prosecutor faced him
“I am not at fault” Anselma said, sounding bored. “I merely wished to find out about these pirates. It is not my fault that they came gallivanting in.” Not her fault? Hah! I remember that; remember the desperation, the fear, of the attack. Catalina and Shaun had woken to the sound of screaming, and found some of the guards lying in their own blood, the others fighting for their lives. The pirates had come to take them captive, there are many different things they could do with rulers. They had both been captured and tortured before, and did not wish to repeat the experience. They had fought back to back, the harsh clang of swords ringing in the air.
“Then how did the pirates know where to strike?” the prosecutor asked.
“I told them about us, to find out more.”
A juror decided to introduce her head to her desk; another decided that his eyes needed to know his hands better. The lawyer for the defense heaved a deep sigh and shook his head.
The prosecutor started shaking his head, with an odd expression on his face. His eyebrows were raised but he was smiling as if to say that he could not believe the denseness of the defendant and was grateful that a conviction would be so easy.
Sometimes Catalina wondered is Anselma was stupid. Other times, she thought she was a sociopath. I wonder the same thing. I have called her crazy, mean, and a bitch at various times (and I do not even like using that word).
Time passed, many people went to the witness stand to tell their tale. The verdict was not in doubt.
“Guilty” said the head juror softly.
“As king, you get to decide her fate” the judge informed Shaun. Shaun looked soberly at Anselma. Catalina did know why Anselma had not gotten banished at least before now. Her husband was kind and gentle, and did not wish (and before, had not needed) to make an example of her. And, until know, both he and his mother Isabelle hoped to rehabilitate her-but it was not to be. She got on well with Isabelle, despite the occasional strain that Anselma caused. Before the wedding, people told her many horror stories and jokes about mother in laws, but Isabelle was a grand lady, and she happened to be sitting in the front row, looking coldly at her traitor sister. It was the aunt she should have been warned about.
“The penalty for what you have done is death.” He said sadly but firmly. “And so it shall be.” Halle-freaking-lu-jah!
Low murmurs greeted this pronouncement.
“But-you don’t like giving executions!” exclaimed Anselma.
“You might have thought less about what I would do, and more about the consequences of your actions. Those pirates could have killed you. We could have been killed, or captured. If you don’t care about that, you should,” said Shaun.
“They promised!” Anselma was desperate now. Catalina could almost smile. YES! YES! YES! YES!
“So did you. You promised to protect this place when you were given your sword.”
Catalina interrupted, fingering the leather scabbard of her own sword. He would feel guilty about this to the end of his days, unless she did something. If it harms Anselma, do it! Just don’t get hurt in the process.
“Senor judge?” Catalina asked.
“Yes, my queen?”
“Let me decide her fate. It is my right, as queen, as one of the ones she has hurt.”
“When have I ever hurt you?” demanded Anselma.
“You have done nothing but abuse me and my husband for as long as I have known you.” Catalina said in a rush. “You are no aunt. You are solipsistic and cannot understand that other people have value, that what you has consequences. You value no thoughts but your own. You care not what your actions do down the road. Have you listened to yourself throughout this trail? You were the most powerful witness for your own prosecution!”
There was that time she smacked him for disagreeing with her and then acted as if he should be the one to apologize. The time she had called Catalina a whore for being a widow, which led to Shaun sending her to the corner to think about what she had done, a memory she still treasured, though Anselma sadly did not seem to care or notice. All these incidents and more flashed through my brain.
“Do what you like” the Judge said. But don’t let her go, the judge’s look said. Unbiased as he was supposed to be, he had been affected by the attack the same as everyone else.
Catalina went up to the Anselma.
“This is what could have happened to your cousin, and your sister, what did happen to many unfortunate people.” Catalina unsheathed her sword and stabbed Anselma through the heart. A look of total shock passed over Anselma’s face as she breathed her last. I have been hoping this would happen for a long time. It was finally over-but Catalina felt guilty, which was unexpected. She put her sword back in it’s scabbard, then Shaun came over and embraced her, and she embraced him back.
Bad guys are the ones who are supposed to feel satisfaction when someone dies. It is wrong. I feel it anyway. And yet she could still find a trace of sorrow in her heart. A life spent being so condescending toward others that you cannot see them. It must have been very lonely.
