- Chapter 4
~ The Trial of the Kidnapper
= Warning: Major Character Death, Explicit Descriptions of Violence.
Gothel was taken to the prison heavily guarded. She was not the old woman described by the king and queen, therefore she was a witch. As such considered very dangerous. After taking her from the royals, they took the simple expedient of knocking her out from behind by surprise so she couldn't put a spell on them. There were special instructions for dealing with the Kidnapper of the Lost Princess.
Gothel woke up as they were finishing the final bindings. She found she couldn't move, heavy iron bands secured her chest, waist and hips, more iron bands held each limb and joint, even her fingers and toes were secured. The iron felt warm, she had been unconscious for some time. She was not blindfolded nor did she feel any thing around her neck. Not that it mattered, the gag was secured to the large wooden table she was secured too, as was the band across her forehead.
She was flattered, they were treating her as if she was Maleficent herself. She wasn't much of a witch. She could conjure fog and a light breeze, strong enough to blow out candles and not much more, and a few other little things like that. She was gratified to see the guard blanch as she laughed through her gag.
"She's awake, sir," he called.
"Good. Time for the trial." Six men picked her and the wooden frame she was attached to up and carried her out of the prison.
The guards followed the Captain of the Guard to the courtroom and propped up the accused in front of the defendant's seat.
The Kingdom of Corona had a strong tradition of justice and mercy, so every attempt at fairness was made.
The judge was introduced as the Chief Judge of the Kingdom of the Congo, Ota Benga. The other judges of the kingdom and, of course, the king had to recuse themselves as they were emotionally invested in the welfare of the princess and biased against the defendant. He was a pygmy, studying at the University of Corona, in an attempt to make the laws of his kingdom more fair.
One by one witnesses stood and gave testimony against the Kidnapper of the Lost Princess. The king and queen spoke of the incredible effort it had taken to become pregnant. The queen's sickness and the gratitude they felt to the kingdom for the healing flower they brought to cure the queen. The heart-rending lost they felt for the kidnapping.
Flynn Rider aka Eugene Fitzherbert spoke of how he found the tower, and the girl. Everyone gasped as he described the kidnapper had forced her to lick up her own urine. Several men had to be restrained when he revealed the terrible punishment the kidnapper inflicted. A woman cleared the banister and almost made it to the helpless accused after he told how the princess reacted to the reward of hazelnut soup. As the courtroom returned to calm, Eugene requested extra security, which was put in place. Eugene then revealed that the princess had been naked under her hair. A groan of pure hate swept the courtroom.
The Captain of the Guard moved away from the accused, his hands flexing in anger. He had to protect the accused, that was his duty. However, right now he was ready to rip out her liver and feed it to her, sautéed with apples and onions.
Eugene could feel the terrible weight of hate on the courtroom, and lightened the mood with an entertaining version of getting the princess into a nightgown he had found. Soon everyone was laughing and the worst of the mood dissipated.
The Captain of the Guard and other officers recounted how they encountered Flynn Rider carrying the princess at the bridge.
The doctor and headmistress of the orphanage described her condition as they found her. How she had reacted when the kidnapper was brought before the king. The mood darkened again.
The judge turned to the accused. "You stand accused of kidnapping, torture, and abuse. You are also suspected of being a witch. So you have heard the testimonies against you. Do you wish to say anything to your defense? Blink once for yes and twice for no."
She closed her eyes and then opened them. The Captain of the Guard unlatched the gag.
"I was the one wronged here. I am the Freiin Gothel von Ellwangen. Where is the girl?" Gothel demanded.
"She is quite safe and in protective custody as she recovers," explained the judge impassively.
"The flower was mine, it was on my land! The whole kingdom should stand for theft!" Gothel accused.
"It is illegal to deny any food to a pregnant woman, which is the case here. How do you plead?" countered the judge.
"I don't have to answer to a runt like you!" shouted Gothel.
Ota Benga smiled and Gothel was taken aback. The small man had sharp, pointy teeth, like a monster from her nightmares.
"Insulting the court will not curry favor nor anger me. I've been at this too long. How do you plead?" The question was asked in a hard, no-nonsense tone.
"Guilty," spat Gothel at him.
"Very well. Guilty," and the gavel rang out. "The usual sentence for kidnapping in this kingdom is death by hanging. However, there is a special sentence just for you. The court will adjourn to the plaza balcony for the sentence to be carried out."
Gothel certainly felt fear when they threw her over the plaza balcony, but she was left hanging upside down just above the ground. She was expecting something else, but wasn't sure what, they hung people in this kingdom. It was hard to think as all the blood rushed into her head. After a while her toes began to tingle a little as her heart worked to push blood to them.
The king was speaking. Telling of the return of the lost princess and her capture. He had told the crowd that the princess had been abused by the kidnapper and was recovering. The king's voice broke then. The people gasped at the pain they could hear in his voice. Then a low rumble began to spread through the crowd. The king asked the audience to be silent as the queen meted out the punishment.
Gothel could see the people of the kingdom, all who were watching quietly, and she could feel the heat of their hate. It was a little unnerving how quiet it was. Then the queen came into view, she was dressed all in white with her crown on. Was that her wedding gown? The queen bent slightly and looked hate right into Gothel's eyes. Gothel felt the base of her spine quiver as those huge green eyes bore hate into her soul.
The queen quietly and calmly said, "I am Queen Rebecca. You stole my baby. I am going to drink your blood."
"What!?" Gothel's mind didn't want to comprehend that last calm statement.
The queen pulled out a small knife and Gothel felt the cut on the side of her throat, but it wasn't very big.
"What the... What do you think your doing!? You're crazy! How dare you!" Gothel screamed as she felt the queen's lips on her neck and the sucking.
After a while the queen stopped to breathe, she felt fingers on her throat and the queen said very calmly again, "I am Queen Rebecca. You stole my baby. I am going to drink your blood."
The fear grew in her belly, those eyes held nothing, but hate for her specifically. The queen began to drink again.
The crowd quietly began to chant "Die, die, die, die," that matched the thudding of Gothel's heart.
"What kind of monster are you!" Gothel yelled.
"I am Queen Rebecca. You stole my baby. I am going to drink your blood."
She couldn't feel her fingers and toes any more. She had to break that calm hate the queen had. She let loose a screaming string of all the expletives she had learned in over 500 years. The queen kept up a steady rhythym of suck and swallow on her exposed throat.
"Die, die, die, die."
She was getting cold in the warm sun. She couldn't let the queen had the satisfaction of winning this contest. She had to break the queen, make her react in some way.
"I am Queen Rebecca. You stole my baby. I am going to drink your blood."
The queen was really going to do it. Gothel didn't want to look into those hate filled eyes anymore, but there was no where else to look.
"Die, die, die, die."
"If only our daughter could see you now," taunted Gothel, but the queen kept up a steady pace of sucking.
Tears finally came to Gothel's eyes as she felt Death's hands on her hips, pulling her close.
"I am Queen Rebecca. You stole my baby. I am going to drink your blood."
"Die, die, die, die."
"Don't forget to wish our daughter a happy birthday." Gothel whispered quietly with the last of her fading strength. Looking back into the eyes of the queen, but the queen did not break.
The queen did not stop until she had sucked and swallowed every last drop of blood from the body of the kidnapper. Which was taken down, cut into separate pieces, burned in separate fires and the ashes scattered.
Queen Rebecca walked calmly and steadily back to her rooms, her hands balled into shaking fists. She existed in an empty place of focused, fierce calm. She didn't really see everyone including her beloved husband give way before her blood smeared face. Her stomach felt so full, pressing against the corset of her mother's and her own wedding gown.
She entered her rooms, she wanted to change before retrieving her daughter from the headmistress of the orphanage. She had not wanted her precious daughter exposed to the trial and the punishment.
Queen Rebecca stopped in front of the stand mirror. The precious dress was unspotted, she had done well in bleeding the kidnapper. However, her face and hands were smeared with blood. She carefully moved to the side table with the porcelain pitcher and washbasin. She poured the water into the basin and scrubbed her hands with the soap. She scrubbed and scrubbed, the blood was gone from her hands, but not her soul.
"That witch had taken her miracle baby and she would never do that again!" The queen thought fiercely as she pulled out a washcloth and scrubbed the blood from her chin and cheeks.
She had executed the kidnapper herself. She had watched the body start to be burned. Men would be taking the ashes to the forest to be buried, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to be scattered.
She reached behind her and began to undo her mother's wedding dress, a special gift. She missed her mother so much sometimes. It had been so long. She put the dress carefully on the bed and went back to the basin to scrub more of that feeling off.
But why wasn't it enough!? Why was she still so empty inside? That witch had dared call her daughter, her miracle baby, "our daughter." She had been stronger then the kidnapper, though she has wanted to rip her lungs out through her nipples for an instant.
Her heart pounded in her ears from the strong hatred she was still feeling. She could barely see straight. She wanted to scream in frustration. She picked up the pitcher and smashed it down on the basin splashing bloody water and shards of porcelain on her undergarments.
A whimper snuck past the sounds of tinkling porcelain.
Rebecca dropped the handle of the shattered pitcher and spun around. In the far corner, partially hidden behind the wardrobe, was her fearfully crying daughter hidden under a pile of her golden blonde hair.
Solara knew she was seen and prostrated herself toward her real mother.
"Good girl, no punish." She pleaded from the floor.
Rebecca's heart leapt to her throat. She hadn't wanted her daughter to see her like this, "I'm sorry. Good girl, no punish."
Solara looked up uncertainly. Rebecca approached and knelt in front of her daughter. "You are a good girl. I punished the bad woman that hurt you. You will not be punished by that bad woman ever again. I love you." She pulled up her daughter and held her in her arms.
The headmistress came in, and was surprised to see the queen back already on the floor with her daughter. "Oh, what happened? I'm sorry. I needed to go to the bathroom."
"It's okay. I understand. I left early. The ...part they are doing right now is going to take a while but I couldn't stay anymore," explained the queen.
Rebecca looked to her daughter. "I scared her. I was still angry when I came in here. I didn't see her. I broke the pitcher and basin in my anger. She was expecting to be punished."
Solara whimpered a little upon hearing the work 'punish.'
"No, no. Not you. I love you and will never punish you like she did. I punished the bad woman that punished you. You are my good girl," reassured Rebecca.
"Here, let's move to the love-seat, that'll be easier for all of us," said the headmistress. They got up and the queen and the princess settled themselves on the love-seat and the headmistress covered them in the soft, yellow, satin-edged blanket the king and queen had given her that morning.
"You like your birthday present, don't you?" asked the headmistress.
The princess nodded as she snuggled down with her mama, "Good."
Rebecca felt a surge of emotion, but she fought back with the sure knowledge that she had not forgotten her daughter's birthday this morning. The kidnapper's parting words had enraged her, but she knew she was the good mother.
There would be cake tonight and the lantern launch. Hopefully, she would be able to do that much, even if not go into the people which no one thought she was ready for. One step at at time. They would get through even this.
Rebecca began to sing, "Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine
Little one when you play
Don't you mind what you say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine
If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The right to hold you
From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine"
The headmistress smiled and closed the door quietly behind her as the queen and the princess fell asleep together.
Author's Note: That song is the lullaby from Dumbo.