The Peoples Inquisitor

"Prolog"

A shadowy figure lurks behind a large oaken desk. The light from his cigar burned brightly, but his face, shrouded in darkness. On the other side of the table a young woman wearing military garb sitting confidently. She spoke with authority to the shadowy figure.

"Supreme Commander, Poshterim is ours! The Autocrats have fled, we have control of every major port, of every major military base, of every major town. The people are rejoicing in the streets!"

The Supreme Commander's cigar lit up brightly and then smoke puffed out of the shadows, he cleared his throat.

"Thanks to you Sundima, you have done an incredible job and you will be justly rewarded."

Sundima smiled, "What is to be my reward?"

The Supreme Commander slid a glossy magazine over to Sundima.

"I know, you know who those two are?"

Sundima looked down at the cover of the magazine, it was a well-known magazine throughout Poshterim, "Posterim Glitz and Glam." A state-sponsored propaganda magazine, that existed purely to present the autocrat's daughter's as cosmopolitan beacons of modern fashion. On the cover like always was a glamour shot of the Autocrat's two daughters, Alessandra and Isobel. The two women were both stunningly attractive. Isobel being the elegant presumed heir to the autocrat's seat of power and Alessandra, who had no ambitions herself, except for domineering over others.

"Of course I know who they are, you know what they did to my family's manor? What they did to my family's servants?"

The Supreme Commander relaxed back into the shadows and took a puff on his cigar, after blowing some smoke he began to speak.

"Yes, of course, this is why I bring it up! Sundima your family has been military leaders for generations, true patriots to this nation. Your family had always owned the large estate by the coast outside of the capital. Your family deserved this estate, through generations of sacrifice and patriotic dedication. Then a few years ago these two seized it and seized your servants like they were chattel. They proceeded to use your family's estate as a place to stage elaborate parties and to abuse your former servants."

Sundima sighed. "Yes my father was crushed, he died shortly after, my mother is still heartbroken." Isobel paused contemplating the tragedy, "What relevance does this have? Isobel and Alessandra have long fled."

The Supreme Commander laughed, "No! They are the only members of the Autocrat's family we have captured. They must be punished and there is an opening for the position of "The People's Inquisitor. The position is yours if you want it, your reward is revenge."

Sundima lurched forward, "You have captured them! Of course, I accept your position! I will make them pay!"

The Supreme Commander lurched forward out of the shadows to reveal a hardened face with a severe scar over his right eye, he snuffed out his cigar harshly in a nearby ashtray. He spoke in a voice restrained but clearly about to burst with rage, "You must make an example of out of them! They must not just be punished, but crushed! Do this not only for yourself but your people!"

Sundima smiled wickedly, she would finally get revenge on the two evil women who seized her family's estate, she would finally avenge her former servants, she would finally avenge her country. Sundima stood and saluted the Supreme Commander.

"The Trial"

The gavel struck against the sound block over and over again. The sound resonated through the "People's House of Justice" silencing the obstreperous crowd. A half circle of raised benches loomed over the two cowering defendants. In the center of the imposing benches sat a young woman, beautiful and elegantly dressed in military garb. Medals adorned her jacket, three stars decorated her ornate service hat, she held the gavel, her icy stare forced the defendants to look away and the crowd in the gallery to stand at attention and salute. The woman was flanked by five men on either side, each one of them dressed like Sundima, each one of them sat up straight and looked sternly upon the crowd. The woman began to speak.

"Now that I have the court's attention, I would like to proceed. As all witnesses well know The People's Republic of Poshterim was only two days ago given back to the people, by the glorious actions of the People's Army."

The woman paused and shifted her eyes over the crowd, remaining stoic as the crowd clapped and cheered. Before the woman hit the gavel against the sounding block to silence the crowd. A restrained smile fell upon her, indicating a certain pride in her statement.

"I am General Sundima, the Supreme Commander has recently appointed me as People's Inquisitor. It is my job to bring justice to this the People's Republic of Poshterim and allow the citizens of this great and mighty nation to heal. For years we have all had to suffer through a corrupt and heinous Kleptocracy. While most of the guilty have fled and are in hiding, we did manage to capture two of the most condemn-able individuals and we promise that justice will be served."

The crowd again cheered, one of the defendants seemed to stumble as she was about to faint, only to be held up by a military officer that flanked her. Again the gavel silenced the crowd and again Sundima spoke.

"I must present the defendants, for they must be judged and sentenced."

General Sundima moved her eyes towards the first defendant, a tall woman with olive skin and long wavy brown hair. Even now while wearing a shapeless burlap dress her beautiful sleek and fit body could be seen. As she was addressed she held her head up high, as the defendant looked into Sundima's powerful gaze her eyes watered ever so slightly and her voluptuous lips quivered.

"Isobel Tiran, you stand accused of using your position of power as the Tyrant's oldest daughter to pursue your own decadent and debauched lifestyle, to destroy the lives of others and to steal from the people."

The crowd booed loudly, as Isobel's nostrils flared in anger. After hitting the gavel against the sounding board Sundima switched her gaze towards the other defendant and began to speak.

"Alessandra Tiran, YOU stand accused of using your position of power as the Tyrant's youngest daughter to pursue your own decadent and debauched lifestyle, to destroy the lives of others and to steal from the people."

In stark contrast to her sister Alessandra openly wept, her curly bleached blond hair was in disarray, tears streamed out of her eyes, makeup running down her face, her chin violently shook as she incoherently replied to Sundima's accusations. She was shorter than Isobel, but her features were more pronounced, her hourglass figure could be seen through her burlap dress.

Sundima looked upon Alessandra with pity and called out in a harsh and vindictive tone. "Stop your whining, you pathetic strumpet, or I promise you your fate will be worse."

Alessandra tried to compose herself, eventually looking down at her bare feet, shivers came through Alessandra's body as she realized how cold the marble floors were.

"Very good! Now, before the sentencing we will have a brief trial, there are too many victims to count, in fact, the whole nation is a victim of these two. So I have gathered three victims, who will give their testimony. I will remind the gallery that these victims were chosen as examples because they highlight common crimes committed by the defendants. Our first victim will highlight the theft that the defendants constantly and maliciously perpetrated against the people."

An older man emerged from the gallery, he had a short white beard and wore thin wire frame spectacles. He was led to an unoccupied bench to the left of Isobel and Alessandra. The two guards flanking the defendants instructed Isobel and Alessandra to turn towards the old man. Isobel clinched her jaw and stared at the old man attempting to intimidate him. Alessandra continued to stare at her feet, unable to meet the man's gaze. The man cleared his throat and began to speak in a quiet but dignified voice.

"Some of you may know me, I am Tybalt Hyka the curator of the People's Museum of Poshterim in the capital city of Bujar, I have run the museum with my wife and children for many years. Our Museum holds some of the most valuable treasures in Poshterim. This is why I must tell you that several years ago, a great theft occurred. These two women, who stand before us today as the accused, strode into the museum, wearing fine modern fashionable clothing, they insulted my wife and my daughter's choice to wear modest clothing as is the tradition for this great nation. I still remember their high-heeled shoes clanking through the People's Museum. They were, of course, accompanied by their goons. They told me that our most valuable painting and artifacts were, and I quote "Propaganda of the old Guard" This, of course, was untrue, they were valuable reminders of our great history. Paintings of past kings, busts of our great generals, documents of our past were stolen on that day. It would be one thing if this theft was actually some naive attempt to actually erase a history of oppression, but it certainly was not! Instead, it was the opposite! It was an act of grave oppression! Of course, after they ransacked the People's Museum, I find that they sold our precious history to foreign powers for their own personal gain!"

Tybalt was now red in the face with anger, staring at the two women, he reached up and took off his glasses, his voice was no longer quiet, but seething with rage."

"This theft against the people was an atrocity, we will never get our artifacts back! Yet these two women had to also personally attack my family as well. You see my dear wife Isla who runs the museum with me, was reluctantly helping to move the precious artifacts, the goons pushed her around with their rifles. As Isobel and Alessandra watched over the operation, they smiled and taunted my family. Of course, my wife was angry and at one point she couldn't help but curse these two. This is when she personally felt their wrath. You see Alessandra noticed my wife's beautiful necklace, it was a family heirloom, many generations old. They said my wife did not own this heirloom, even though the People's constitution explicitly allows heirlooms to be possessed. It was taken right off of my wife's neck and placed around Isobel's neck! I still remember Alessandra taunting my wife as she wept, her connection to her heritage destroyed. I hope these women are eviscerated, they deserve a lifetime of SCORN!"

Isobel stared coldly at Tybalt as he left the podium, seething with anger, his red face juxtaposed to his white beard. Alessandra stomped her foot and muttered "It's not fair! I had every right!"

Sundima crashed the gavel onto the sounding board and spoke again, this time with anger in her voice.

"You see! This is the character of the defendants! We have Isobel who is scheming and plotting, her belief is that she will not face punishment and instead will punish her accusers. We have Alessandra who believes she did nothing wrong, who stands here as a petulant child despite the fact that she is a 25-year-old woman, she is stomping her foot and complaining about fairness. These women stand before the people completely unremorseful..." Suddenly Sundima is interrupted by Alessandra.

"IT ISN'T FAIR! I HAD EVERY RIGHT!"

The court gallery booed and jeered wildly, the courtroom was descending into chaos. Sundima slammed the gavel into the sounding board, startling Alessandra.

"SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!"

Sundima took a deep breath and looked directly at Alessandra, "You will not speak, until I allow you to speak, you will be gravely disciplined if you continue to interrupt this trial. Do you understand?"

Alessandra swallowed, her deep breaths were unsteady, she was wild-eyed and frothing with anger, Alessandra meekly said "yes."

Sundima satisfied looked over the gallery and began to speak again.

"The next victim to give testimony will give testament to the decadence, hedonism, and debauchery that these two women indulged in."

A young man, about six feet tall with black hair stood up and nervously walked forward, he clearly had a hard time looking the two women in the eyes. Isobel could be seen narrowing her eyes, clearly, she was machinating her own plans for revenge.

The young man began to speak, he seemed started by the volume of his own voice as the mic picked up the sound.

"Oh, wow, I...I...I am Silas Salah, for the last five years I have been a servant in Isobel and Alessandra's estate, which is located fifty miles outside of Bujar on the coast, it is a beautiful and opulent place and when I was first placed there as a servant I considered myself very lucky. You

see back then it was owned by Sundima's family and they treated their servants very well.

Sundima interrupted, "It is true that these two women seized my family's estate for their own personal gain, but this is not the nature of Silas' testimony, these two are not on trial for the seizure of my property...You may continue Silas."

"It turns out that I was very unlucky, for my masters were these two. They had other estates, throughout the provinces, and I can only guess the servants witnessed the same everywhere. When these two wicked sisters occupied the particular palace where I was stationed, there were many parties. Foreigners of great importance and influence attended these parties. Fine wine and liquor were consumed rampantly. These women lived a frivolous and decadent lifestyle that any normal citizen would be in awe of. I suppose this is to be expected, these women are, after all, the offspring of an autocrat. Yet the level of hedonism present at these parties grew over time. I will relay one story that may seem too insane to believe but believe me it is completely true. Us servants, mostly men, some women, some young, some old, were one day told, that we were expected to act as human furniture for a party. If we objected we were told at a family member of ours would be sentenced to hard labor, so really we had no choice."

The gallery started whispering among themselves. Sundima lightly hit the gavel and told Silas to continue.

"I know it's strange, human furniture. Anyway, we were told to strip naked. Some of us were chairs, naked on our hands and knees, the foreign guests would sit on our naked backs. A young woman servant was faced with the indignity of acting as a coat rack, coats were piled over her head as she stood motionless, laughed at by socialites and dignitaries. I personally was a footrest. Isobel herself rested her feet, clad in designer shoes on my naked back. I remained silent and did not move as I heard Isobel and Alessandra taunt and diminish us repeatedly. Probably the one who had it worse was this old servant, I won't mention his name, for what was done to him was truly awful. An older man who prided himself on his acumen as a loyal servant was outside facing the ocean naked and on his knees. The smokers, meaning Alessandra and some of the foreigners used his body as an ashtray, Alessandra got enjoyment out of putting out his cigarette on his flesh. By the end of the night, most of the naked servants were still standing or sitting motionless with tears streaming down their faces, and these two women got an immense amount of sadistic pleasure from our pain. They laughed at our humiliation, they treated us worse than dogs! SHAME!"

The crowd jeered and booed as Silas went back to the courtroom gallery. Sundima let the jeering and booing languish for some time until she again slammed her gavel down on the sounding board."

"What, debauchery, what a shame! I know that the people are ready for sentencing, but one victim remains and I want to let her speak, so please, I implore the gallery to remain silent and respectful until this trial is done. Our next victim will highlight these wicked sisters' cruelty."

A young woman, with her head shaved, wearing what looked like a punk rock outfit walked up to the podium and spoke into the microphone. Her way of speaking was direct and harsh.

"My name is Sheena Wicked, I used to sing in a punk band, until these bitches fucked it all up! My band was all about fighting the power, fighting the regime. We played in underground clubs, then one day the regime found out about our resistance and these two bitches come in with their goons, all of which have AKs. They arrest everyone. It's hard labor for everyone. I had a mohawk at the time, I had a lip piercing at the time. To make a long story short Alessandra shaved my head personally, she enjoyed herself, cackling and taunting as she did it. Isobel, she was crueler, she ripped out my lip ring with her bare had. Fuck that hurt! It didn't fucking end there, after they spit on me they told me that not only was I going to go do some hard labor, but my family would be too. It wasn't an idle threat, not only did my parents get forced to do hard labor, but my ten-year-old brother, and my elderly grandparents. Grandma died in the mines. Look, I know me playing in that band was technically against the law, and maybe I deserved to get my head shaved, and my lip ring torn out of my mouth, maybe I deserved to be spit on and get hard labor, but how the FUCK do you send some innocent fucking people including some loyal elderly citizens to do FUCKING HARD LABOR, you bitches are SICK! I FUCKING HOPE YOU GET WHAT'S COMING TO YOU!"

Sheena flipped off the two sisters and then went back to the gallery. The crowd again, predictably booed and jeered and yet again it was Sundima's gavel that silenced the crowd. Again Sundima spoke.

"The sentencing will be announced in a moment's time, but first I would like to give the defendants a chance to explain themselves and ask for mercy. First Alessandra, since you have been so eager to interrupt, please speak first."

Alessandra looked up, and around, she swallowed deeply as she looked at all the military officials staring down at her from the high benches. Tears rolled down Alessandra's face, she clenched her fists and stomped her naked heel down in defiance.

"IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? HOW DARE YOU SCUM DO THIS TO ME!"

Alessandra's crying made the rest of her speech incoherent, she flailed her arms and dropped to her knees, the crowd cheered as she switched from being defiant and began to beg for mercy. Alessandra's hysterics were uncontrollable, at this point and after Sundima gave a hand signal one of the guards that flanked Alessandra swiftly gagged Alessandra with a ball-gag to muffle her frenzied cries."

Sundima had to pound her gavel onto the sounding board to bring order to the chaotic courtroom once again. Sundima looked at Isobel and pointed the gavel at her, "Isobel you may take the floor."

Isobel held her head up high and spoke in a shaky yet dignified manner.

"I apologize for my sister's behavior, this cruel trial had robbed her of her dignity, as the oldest daughter and heir to the nation, I will not be robbed of my dignity, I will not be humiliated by a crowd of usurpers. You have stripped me of my possessions, forced me to wear the garb of a prisoner, and forced me to listen to ungrateful citizens bemoan my actions. I would like to remind the court that for my sister and myself the laws of the land that governed the citizenry did not apply to us, we were given special powers. Therefore we have broken no laws. Furthermore, our actions were justifiable because we were always acting on behalf of the state. Let me remind the court that there is a provision against any form of "cruel and unusual punishment." I suspect that the sentence will be death, I implore you not to make a mockery of the constitution and to execute me in the traditional manner, that is the firing squad. Just remember if I do end up being executed, I will become a martyr for my cause, my regime will rise again and all of you here today will face swift retribution. So release me instantly!" Isobel looked over the crowd in an arrogant manner, truly believing that she had intimidated those around her into granting her clemency.