THE KING SHOULD’VE BEEN FIRST
1119 Words
THE KING SHOULD’VE BEEN FIRST
Trigger warnings: mention of ra/pe(not romanticized)
[SULIANA]
Suliana’s hand cupped over her mouth, and her eyes stung with tears. She was gasping out of breath, smelling how Cantatans reeked with body odor and a rotting soul. She looked away from Camia’s lifeless body but she couldn’t get her eyes out of her mind, how vibrant they once had been and how they turned like bottomless pits of nothing.
Suliana looked at Barry who threw the spear on the floor where it clanged. He smiled joyously and faced the Cantatans again. He shook his head like Camia’s death is something silly, a punch line of a tasteless joke.
“Based on the examination of our soldiers, a blunt weapon was used to hit her head. Cracked a part of her skull. The rebels slit her wrists as well, and also her breasts. Not surprisingly, traces of semen were also found inside her vagina.”
It was so astonishing how Barry can smile while saying all that as if he’s just talking about someone’s marriage anniversary. Suliana wanted to put a spear through his chin and pull it until she could rip that juicy piece of his face.
“What a terrible way to go,” Barry said with a sigh. “But let this be a warning to all Cantatans out there who wants to join rebellious groups.” His jolly voice turned sinister in a snap, hoarse with anger. “Rebels are animals. They’re lower than krills. They have no honor. It is a big mistake to join those kinds of groups, or to even think of rebelling because we have the most wonderful king in the world, am I right?” Barry raised a brow. “Am I right?”
“Yes!” Almost all of the Cantatans screamed as a reply. “Viva Akir Doroteo! Viva Akir Doroteo!”
Suliana looked at King Doroteo still sitting on his chair with a smile on his lips that resembled the smile of a proud father. The morning sun illuminated the tiny pinprick holes of his face, most accumulated on his big oily nose.
Barry also looked at King Doroteo like a secret lover. “Before we end, let us hear a few words from King Doroteo, an akir to us all,” Barry said. “He is here to assure us that we have nothing to be afraid of.”
“Viva Akir Doroteo! Viva Akir Doroteo!” the Cantatans chanted.
King Doroteo rose from his chair. Barry walked towards him and handed him the shingku. King Doroteo walked slowly at the edge of the platform, facing Cantatans. He placed his left hand on his chin like he’s trying to be cute, and then he spoke. “I’m mad, you know. I’m mad that this happened.”
Suliana was still mad and profoundly sad and she hoped, just a little bit, that for once King Doroteo would say something that can appease those emotions rumbling deep down inside her. She hoped he’d say that he’d punish those Millos who killed Camia, that he’d avenge her cause she was a Cantatan.
She shouldn’t have hoped.
“I’m mad…” said the King again. “What went on my mind was… this woman was r***d. The rebels took turns into r****g her.” King Doroteo shook his head with a smile. “And I looked at her corpse and I see… she is so beautiful. What a waste. The king should’ve been first.”
Some Cantatans gasped after hearing that followed by uncomfortable laughter. King Doroteo chuckled with his remark and the people probably noticed that, cause the uncomfortable laughter got louder, and soon a lot of men are howling like hyenas, some even clapping each other’s backs, as if that was the funniest joke they had ever heard.
Suliana’s mouth was agape, her face hurt with suppressed sobs. She swallowed a lump on her throat, walked one step back, and wanted to scream. Her father held her steady, and she looked at him as his jaw clenched.
“He shouldn’t have said that,” Suliana said in a whisper.
Her father didn’t say anything but shook his head in warning. He’s afraid that the crazy Doroteo supporters might hear her.
“I commend the soldiers, one successfully shot a rebel with an arrow, according to the report,” said King Doroteo. “I’m proud of my boys. Make me proud even more by f*****g our whores. All on me.”
“He shouldn’t be saying this, he shouldn’t,” Suliana said like a squeak, her eyes were now filled with tears. “He shouldn’t akir, he shouldn’t…”
“Let’s get out of here,” said her father, wanting to pull her away but before he managed to do that, the king spoke again.
“So this beautiful woman is a rebel?” said the king. “Well, if all women rebels are as pretty as her, my boy soldiers should just shoot arrows on their p*****s. That would be a perfect way to punish them, right? Without their v*****s, they are useless.”
“That ugly scum,” Suliana said with so much hatred and disgust. Some of the Cantatans that chanted “Viva Akir Doroteo!” looked at her. Her father noticed that so he smiled apologetically to the men and tried to pull her away hard, almost dislocating her shoulder. Suliana opened her mouth so she can say something but her father shot her a look. “Don’t,” he said under his breath. “He is a crazy man, Suliana. He’s mad and he made all of Cantatans mad, too. Don’t.”
He pulled her away from the insane and rabid Doroteo supporters, but her entire body still clenched with so much hatred. Tears streamed down her cheeks and wouldn’t stop, sobs escaped from her lips. Her father pulled her like she was a little girl who got bullied, and that was how it felt as well.
She looked back at what was happening and she saw Camia’s body, so pale, so little, so alone, displayed there like a grotesque decoration just to be ridiculed by the cruel king.
This doesn’t end here, Camia. It will not end here.
- Writer
