Beheading Beatrice

Chapter four

The halls were lit by torches, their orange hues flickering across the spotless grey brick walls, dancing peacefully, the sound of popping and burning fuel from within the torches base was a calming familiar lullaby for Vedalia, her swaying hips, and bouncing ringlets were a dead give away of who she was, especially from the clacking of her black sharpened heels against the stone. Her arms were crossed behind her back, her shoulders squared, her chin facing up as she made her way down the hall, her regal posture faltering as she entered her chambers. Within the closed-off walls of her gigantic luxurious quarters, she was greeted by a purring black cat, it's yellow eyes narrowed, one holding a milky white hue. The cat was of course female, it's black coat shiny, appearing as perfect and clean as a slate of obsidian. Vedalia stooped down and picked up the kitten, scratching at it's back absentmindedly as she sat down on the large bed, the mattress caving in beneath her weight. She closed her black eyes for a moment, her silence was something the woman wrapped in Vedalia's blankets was not used to. Usually, Vedalia would burst into the room, rambling about how she was the higher power and how disrespect would not be tolerated. The blue-eyed woman sat up, her sapphire eyes glittering in confusion as she touched the woman's bony shoulder, rubbing it. She tried to comfort the silent woman, her thick brown hair tousled like a rats nest. "Vedalia? Is everything alright?" she murmured, her British accent strong and old-fashioned like she had stepped out from a time machine and into the future. 

Vedalia did not answer for a few minutes, then abruptly parted her lips, dropping the kitten onto the floor and turning to the woman. She was slightly taller than her, though not by many inches. "Yes Sophia, I'm fine, although I would prefer it if you would speak quieter, these disobedient cattle minded prisoners are giving me headaches..." 

Sophia nodded and smiled softly, wrapping both arms around Vedalia's neck and hugging her, cuddling into the curve of her neck gently, her cheeks taking a light pink tint as Vedalia kissed her on the head, hugging her back. They always told Sophia that people like Vedalia were incapable of love, not able to return affection to those they loved. Sophia never believed them of course. How could someone incapable of love hug her like this? Keep her in her care and treat her like a princess? It did not matter who people thought Vedalia was. She was a sweet, kind, caring woman who was powerful in every right. She was intelligent and strong and deserved the place that she had earned. She was made to be a leader. Sophia had known Vedalia since the two were toddlers. They had learned to walk together, they had gotten rid of their training wheels together, they had even scraped their knees together on the playground. Sophia had loved Vedalia for so long, the unrequited love between the two just connected them even more. Now that the two were both adults, they were finally able to love each other, even if it was in secret. Vedalia believed that if people had known that the two were lovers, her subjects would see her as a weak, and try to assassinate Sophia. Vedalia knew Sophia was her greatest weakness. Sophia was the only person other than her idiotic sister Clementine that she had ever loved. Of course, Sophia was the only one that seemed to reciprocate that love and be comfortable with Vedalia for who she was, not hate her like Clementine did. "I love you Vedalia..." Sophia whispered, breathing on her pale skin with a soft sigh.

Vedalia smoothed down her hair, lovingly petting it with a soft closed-lipped smile. "I love you too Sophia." 

Clementine had fallen asleep to the sounds of prisoners begging to be set free, and the scent of acrid urine left in the holes that were dug out in each cell. Her emerald green eyes slowly fluttered open, her fists rubbing at her crusty eyes. She had no idea what time it was, though she believed it was at least one or two in the morning. It was cold, and the only sounds were the snoring and sleep talking of drooling men in each cell. She stood, shivering as she rubbed at her goose bump covered arms. Her back was sore from sleeping on the floor, and her lips were dry, though they were surrounded by saliva from her cheek being pressed against the floor, causing her to drool as well. Her skin was itchy, and her hair was a frizzy curly mess, the humid surroundings of sweaty prisoners caused the dungeon to feel almost as though they were in the Bahamas during the day, though the bone-chilling cold of the night caused the humidity to fade away, though her frizzy hair stayed. Her stomach began to rumble from the lack of sustenance, and her lower legs were numb and grimy. She shuddered and stuck out her tongue, licking her chapped lips as a way to relieve the burning feeling. Her fingers were stiff, as well as her legs, and pins and needles stabbed at her waking nerves, causing her to flop back down on the ground with a grunt of cavemen like frustration. People described their life as if it was a prison, almost as though they were birds enclosed in cages, unable to escape until someone else set them free. But how could people describe their life as a prison if they had never been inside one? They can never truly know what a prison is or what it is like unless they experience it first hand, just like Clementine was. She would never call her life a prison, though it was limited, she was still able to have her own freedoms. She was able to use the bathroom without being watched or squatting over a crudley dug hole, she could sleep without having to be numb and cranky from resting on a floor, she could eat when she wanted without being restricted to certain times or meals, she did not have to grow familar to the scent of urine and sweaty unwashed bodies, and she most certainly did not have to live inside a cell, surrounded by delrious men who were going insane, stir crazy from the life of living within a cell without a reason other than their gender. Clementine had never believed she could ever hate her sister more than she already did, but in this restrictive smelly prison, she boiled with a strong repulsion toward Vedalia, deep within her body, even her red blood cells hated Vedalia. Every part of her was ashamed, embarrassed by who her sister was. She was a dictator, the worst kind. Genocide was nothing new to Vedalia, and just like Hitler had done, she placed all men into one bracket, making them a completely separate race from women, objectifying them because of the sex they were born as. Clementine knew that if Vedalia continued to live and breathe, that nobody could truly be happy. Men would live in fear every day, just as women did. Both genders would continue to be on an unequal footing, little girls and little boys would detest each other, and grow old without a taste of what it felt like to even breathe near the opposite sex. Some men and some women died alone, never knowing what it was like to love, to live for someone that was not the same gender as they were. Clementine was not strong like the soldiers in her fleet. She did not approve of killing men, and men killing women for no reason other than who they were. She would forever think back on what the Earth used to be and would continue to miss her old childhood, where it was only cooties that boys possessed, where children did not even mind each other, where wive's and husbands loved each other without being killed for treachery against Vedalia. Public hangings would be gone, and the primitive nature of the two sexes would be eliminated. The boundaries would be crossed, and Clementine would make sure of it. She could never sit back patiently like a pretty princess in waiting, she would have to do something, because she knew that nobody else would try and even touch Vedalia. But what? What could she do in this cell, brooding while hugging her knees to her chest. Sure she could plan her attack on her sister, but she knew that she would have no way to ever execute it without being caught and sentenced to death because of her conspiracy against the governing power. She would have to escape. But how?