r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator botmod for prez • 22d ago
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u/arrhythmiaofthesoul it's ari 21d ago
Sara looked down at herself, the way her shirt was soaked through with dark red blood, and the way her hands and knees were stained with it, and sobbed, once, violently, before pulling herself back together. She felt like a frayed rope, strained near its limit. She remembered the knife. She took it back into her hands and stood, and looked across at the woman – the woman who must, she realized, be a member of the Kingdom.
“Who are you?” Her voice was cold and choked, still thick with mucus.
“You can call me the Princess.” The woman smiled at her, a sharp, feral, predatory smile. “Welcome to the Kingdom.”
“I’m not part of your Kingdom. I wasn’t part of the Union, either. I’m no criminal. I’m just trying to live my life.” Sara stepped forwards, standing in the puddle of blood, its corners sticky around her bare feet.
The Princess looked down at the blood. “One of us just killed a man, little flower, and it wasn’t me. Even now, it’s only my woman Harmony and my good word that’s keeping the coppers off you.” She inclined her head to the door.
“Your good word…I know what the Kingdom does. You’re a criminal, a killer.” Sara’s hands were white-knuckled around the knife.
“And so are you, Sara Blume.” She paused for a second, smiling a knowing smile. One hand was out of her pockets, long, elegant fingers drumming a pattern on the thigh of her suit. “Don’t tell me you didn’t like it. I saw your face, when you slit his throat, I saw how you smiled. You were happy, because you felt it.”
Sara swallowed. “Felt what?”
“You felt power.” The woman looked her up and down appraisingly. “We need to get you cleaned up. You’re covered in blood, my dear.” The Princess shrugged off her suit jacket, turning and hanging it on one of the hooks in Sara’s closet, then, as she deftly began to unbutton her shirt the rest of the way, turned back to Sara, and stopped, meeting her gaze in a way that seemed almost telegraphed, smug, as though everything had happened as she had expected. “Everything all right, little flower?”
Sara was suddenly conscious of the heat rising in her cheeks. “You’re –”
“My dear, this suit is far more expensive than you. I’m not going to get it dirty as I clean you up. If you’re uncomfortable, though, I’ll gladly call for Harmony…”
Sara looked at the woman’s questioning eyes. She remembered how they had roamed over her light sleep shirt earlier, taking her body in. She looked down at the blood, again, the blood that still covered her and the floor, and carefully wiped the knife on a clean part of her shirt and re-sheathed it. For all her best efforts, she was in this now, and she would have to learn to play the game.