Ren had really stepped in it this time.
The fire had been an accident. She wasn't as careful as Gareth--or anyone--wanted her to be, despite what she considered to be marked sacrifices in her normal work routine. But the thing was, the fire that had landed her on death row had been an accident too, and for far nobler a cause then the development of a more effective version of coal.
Longer burning... check... hotter burning... also check... Resistant to the damp... checkity-check-check. She really did need to learn to think these things all the way through. She got too caught up in her mind, she knew she did, all she could think about was the project at hand and her mind just fired with so many ideas and she had to do them all now while they're fresh before they fade and--
And that, kids, is how you end up with a legendary coal fire in your place of work, trussed up like a thanksgiving turkey and ready to be paraded with your boss and their boss in front of a goddamned dragon. The goddamned dragon. He hadn't even been at her trial. He probably hadn't even known her trial existed. When the fuck had she become significant enough for this?
It probably wouldn't have happened if Gareth had just called her a lost cause and let her hang. That knowledge tasted bitter in her mouth for a number of reasons.
Grilka fussed over her, and she, for her part, allowed it. She allowed Grilka to do an unfortunate number of things she wouldn't allow anyone else to do, but not because she held any particular fondness for the naga. No, ey just gave her the absolute terror-creeps. Ey was too much snake, and she was too much rat.
And then, it was time to enter the throne room. She couldn't hold Gareth's hand, and he wouldn't have wanted to, so she clutched at the hem of her uniform, trying not to betray her nerves. If anything, she supposed, death-by-a-dragon-who-is-also-the-king would be a hell of a way to go for a street rat who was never supposed to amount to anything more than--as Gareth so colorfully put it--a belligerent corpse.
She was half a step behind Gareth before she stumbled to catch up, two steps for every one of his. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be looking up, but found she couldn't resist. She'd never seen a dragon or a king, and she absolutely needed to get a good look at the bastard who'd put her in this position to begin with.
He was beautiful and regal and breathtaking on his mountain of treasure, a drop of which could have changed to course of her life to such an extent that she never would have wound up here. Every cold winter, every minute of growling stomach, every night spent buried in someone else's filth. Every single second of her imprisonment, the indignities and the punishments and the horrible, endless boredom.
She was unable to look away as he began to approach. She hated him utterly and instantly, and if he ate her, she hoped to hell she gave him indigestion.
She was a second late on the bow, Gareth catching her arm on his way down and all but dragging her onto her knees. She forced her head down as well, but couldn't help glancing up through the black bangs shading her eyes.
The fire had been an accident. She wasn't as careful as Gareth--or anyone--wanted her to be, despite what she considered to be marked sacrifices in her normal work routine. But the thing was, the fire that had landed her on death row had been an accident too, and for far nobler a cause then the development of a more effective version of coal.
Longer burning... check... hotter burning... also check... Resistant to the damp... checkity-check-check. She really did need to learn to think these things all the way through. She got too caught up in her mind, she knew she did, all she could think about was the project at hand and her mind just fired with so many ideas and she had to do them all now while they're fresh before they fade and--
And that, kids, is how you end up with a legendary coal fire in your place of work, trussed up like a thanksgiving turkey and ready to be paraded with your boss and their boss in front of a goddamned dragon. The goddamned dragon. He hadn't even been at her trial. He probably hadn't even known her trial existed. When the fuck had she become significant enough for this?
It probably wouldn't have happened if Gareth had just called her a lost cause and let her hang. That knowledge tasted bitter in her mouth for a number of reasons.
Grilka fussed over her, and she, for her part, allowed it. She allowed Grilka to do an unfortunate number of things she wouldn't allow anyone else to do, but not because she held any particular fondness for the naga. No, ey just gave her the absolute terror-creeps. Ey was too much snake, and she was too much rat.
And then, it was time to enter the throne room. She couldn't hold Gareth's hand, and he wouldn't have wanted to, so she clutched at the hem of her uniform, trying not to betray her nerves. If anything, she supposed, death-by-a-dragon-who-is-also-the-king would be a hell of a way to go for a street rat who was never supposed to amount to anything more than--as Gareth so colorfully put it--a belligerent corpse.
She was half a step behind Gareth before she stumbled to catch up, two steps for every one of his. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be looking up, but found she couldn't resist. She'd never seen a dragon or a king, and she absolutely needed to get a good look at the bastard who'd put her in this position to begin with.
He was beautiful and regal and breathtaking on his mountain of treasure, a drop of which could have changed to course of her life to such an extent that she never would have wound up here. Every cold winter, every minute of growling stomach, every night spent buried in someone else's filth. Every single second of her imprisonment, the indignities and the punishments and the horrible, endless boredom.
She was unable to look away as he began to approach. She hated him utterly and instantly, and if he ate her, she hoped to hell she gave him indigestion.
She was a second late on the bow, Gareth catching her arm on his way down and all but dragging her onto her knees. She forced her head down as well, but couldn't help glancing up through the black bangs shading her eyes.
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Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-19-2019, 08:34 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-19-2019, 09:03 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-19-2019, 11:24 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-19-2019, 12:43 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-19-2019, 01:16 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-19-2019, 02:26 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-19-2019, 02:55 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-19-2019, 03:51 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-19-2019, 04:28 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-19-2019, 05:12 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-19-2019, 05:42 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-19-2019, 11:21 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 01:03 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 01:47 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 02:41 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 03:15 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 03:41 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 04:23 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 04:53 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 05:48 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 06:09 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 06:41 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 07:03 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 07:28 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 08:11 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 08:39 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 09:01 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 09:53 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 10:14 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 10:47 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 05:41 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 08:32 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 08:48 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 09:36 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 09:53 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 10:24 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-20-2019, 11:05 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-20-2019, 11:45 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 12:02 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 12:39 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 01:15 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 01:51 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 02:16 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 05:47 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 06:13 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 07:08 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 08:01 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 09:32 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 10:30 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 11:21 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 11:53 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 12:51 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 01:31 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 02:09 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 02:28 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 03:24 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 05:32 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-21-2019, 10:18 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-21-2019, 10:46 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-22-2019, 03:26 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-22-2019, 03:51 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-22-2019, 11:13 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-22-2019, 11:47 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-22-2019, 02:23 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-22-2019, 03:02 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 03:06 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 03:39 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 04:52 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 05:07 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 05:49 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 06:16 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 06:52 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 07:20 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 09:45 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 10:27 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 12:59 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 01:16 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 02:14 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 02:30 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 02:57 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 03:22 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-23-2019, 10:16 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-23-2019, 10:51 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-24-2019, 03:20 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-24-2019, 03:59 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-24-2019, 10:40 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-24-2019, 10:57 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-24-2019, 11:43 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-24-2019, 11:59 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-24-2019, 02:05 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-24-2019, 02:23 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-24-2019, 02:50 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-24-2019, 03:01 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-24-2019, 03:51 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-24-2019, 04:05 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-24-2019, 04:49 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-24-2019, 05:07 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-25-2019, 04:40 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-25-2019, 05:08 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-25-2019, 09:04 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-25-2019, 09:25 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-25-2019, 10:41 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-25-2019, 11:00 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-25-2019, 01:07 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-25-2019, 01:28 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-25-2019, 05:52 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-25-2019, 06:58 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-26-2019, 02:53 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-26-2019, 03:33 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-26-2019, 07:35 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-26-2019, 08:09 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-26-2019, 09:24 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-26-2019, 10:09 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-26-2019, 12:13 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-26-2019, 12:44 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-26-2019, 02:06 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-26-2019, 02:24 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-28-2019, 06:58 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-28-2019, 07:41 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-28-2019, 08:37 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-28-2019, 08:54 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-28-2019, 12:18 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-28-2019, 12:40 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-29-2019, 01:51 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-29-2019, 02:09 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-30-2019, 06:25 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-30-2019, 06:47 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-30-2019, 08:16 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-30-2019, 08:34 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-30-2019, 12:14 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-30-2019, 12:57 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-30-2019, 01:22 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-30-2019, 01:37 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-30-2019, 02:11 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-30-2019, 02:29 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-30-2019, 03:05 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-30-2019, 03:33 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-30-2019, 03:57 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-30-2019, 04:15 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-30-2019, 10:46 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-31-2019, 02:52 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-31-2019, 09:15 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-31-2019, 09:33 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 09:25 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-05-2019, 09:53 AM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 01:16 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-05-2019, 01:42 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 02:13 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-05-2019, 02:25 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 02:44 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-05-2019, 02:54 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 03:33 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-05-2019, 03:48 PM
RE: Beg Mercy [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-05-2019, 04:50 PM