#wow defensivelee comes out with a short piece of writing when does that ever happen

[defensivelee]

The Lamentations of Mistress Morley: Because You Betrayed Me First

This is a new side story I'm trying out for Six Lives! Anne (Stewart) has a lot of things going on in the story, but I feel like it's impossible to fit them in and portray them as accurately as I'm thinking because the main POVs are all of her antagonists. So she gets her own side series! It'll be mostly in between main chapters, and very short compared to what I usually do, just to show what she's doing meanwhile-- it should be less than 10k words, and if it's more someone can hit me on the head with a baton.

So this is the first mini-chapter! Here is the link to the fic on AO3 (separate from the Six Lives link, but in the same series tag!) if you don't want to read on Tumblr. This takes place during the dwaallicht spirit festival in The Tenth Hot Spring, and Anne thinks she may have the beginnings of a plan to out James for the monster he really is.

CW: implied/referenced past child abuse, implied/referenced domestic abuse, implied/referenced torture, ableist language.

Even at the latest hour New Amsterdam was awake; Anne thought maybe it was the hour when it was actually most active. Especially now, with the beginning of the Western Kingdom’s reign, there were parades on every street, families taking their youngest children to witness their first religious celebration. If there was darkness, it came not from the sky, but from the haze in the air that made the stars impossible to see.

“Ugh, look at them, it’s disgusting,” Sarah said beside her. “Feeding their babies Ally propaganda! You see; that’s why the theocracy’s still here. Because of people like that.”

“You don’t complain when the Ally they worship is Marly,” Anne teased.

“His devil’s from the Eastern Kingdom,” Sarah huffed. “No Western Kingdom bullshit like Ally Bentinck. I’m just saying, if they’re gonna be stupid, they could at least do it the right way.”

“You sound like my father,” Anne said. She paused in front of the Hoerenkast they had been headed to, large and imposing with columns that twisted towards the sky in the shape of devil horns. She could see an Ally servant sweeping inside, but it was nothing remarkable. These places were open at all hours. “Is there a right way to be stupid?”

“There’s a wrong way to be smart,” Sarah said. She looked back behind her, in the direction of the ocean, where Anne knew her father was hosting a celebration for the dwaallicht spirits. He had complained in all the days leading up to it, but he was there now, and he couldn’t come for her here. He’d be furious later, but what else was new?

“I guess.” Anne turned resolutely to go inside the Hoerenkast, whisking past the servant without a greeting. Sarah followed her, and down the hall they went until they came to one of the only meeting rooms with its candles still on. Anne hesitated, reaching out to push the curtains to the side.

“Do you want me to stay here?” Sarah asked.

“No,” Anne said, a little more frantically than she intended. “I mean- no. Come with me?” She held out her hand, and Sarah took it with a laugh.

“Calm down, I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know,” Anne said. She took a breath. “I know.” They stepped inside the room, where they found the Ally George fussing around with the plants beside his throne. There were gold bracelets hanging from his wrists, jingling with every movement he made, but other than that he wore nothing really flashy like most Allies. Somehow he had chosen his most boring suit today.

“Anne!” he blurted as he looked back. “Oh, my Ferocity, Anne. I didn’t expect to see you tonight. I thought you were going with James to the spirit party or whatever.” He cocked his head to the side. “Did something happen?”

“No, I just didn’t want to go,” Anne said. “So I didn’t.”

“And he...let you?”

“There wasn’t any way he could stop me if he didn’t know.”

“Anne!” George jumped slightly, stumbling back into the stream of water that twisted all around his room. He yelped and stepped out again. “Ferocity, I hate that thing. Why does there have to be water everywhere? It’s not like it ever did anything for the Allies.”

“Maybe you could start dressing more like the other Allies?” Sarah said. “You make everyone uncomfortable when you cover up that much, and it won’t be so annoying when you accidentally step into the water.”

“Why are you encouraging him to be like the other Allies?” Anne asked. “I like him like this. Besides, he looks great.”

“Yes, see, there we go,” George said. “Thank you, Anne.” He coughed awkwardly, and Anne snuffed out the candle closest to her with her tail. “So, isn’t your father going to kill you? What are you going to tell him?”

“That I love you and he’ll be the last thing to keep me from you,” Anne said. “But only in my head so he doesn’t actually kill me.”

“Then—?”

“I’ll think of something.” She shook herself out. “What are you doing, George, we literally haven’t seen each other in days and you’re out here asking about James?”

“Can I ask about you?” George smiled.

“By all the stars, you fool!” She laughed and leaped into his arms, kissing his face and pushing him back until he fell back on his throne. She lifted herself onto his lap and kissed him, one hand gripping his wrist and the other buried in his hair. He met the kiss with a small chuckle.

Don’t listen to Sarah, you look so hot right now, she thought at him, and his face flushed.

“Thank you,” he said. “Um, you too. So, have you killed anyone lately? Has your father sent you out on anything?”

“No,” Anne said. “Not yet, anyway, but the way Mary’s so bad at killing William, he might make me do it next.” She wasn’t completely opposed to the idea; out of all the people she had killed, he would be the one who deserved it the most.

George winced. “Anything about Charles’ murder?”

“Oh, please,” Sarah piped up behind them. “We all know it was James. Those are dwaallicht spirit tears.”

“Yes, George, it...doesn’t make sense,” Anne said. “It is to William’s advantage to take credit for the murder, it’s a whole thing if you kill an Overlifer, and the fact that Ally Bentinck had no idea what we were talking about when we asked him should say something. James pushing the blame so vehemently on them is no coincidence.”

“Oh, devils below,” George murmured. “So you really think your father killed his brother?”

Anne shrugged, sliding off of him to pace around the throne. “It’s what I’m thinking. I just wanted to get you in his presence, maybe, to see if you can pick up any clues from his mind when we talk about Charles to him.”

“I could do that,” George said, standing up. “I just don’t want you to upset him if you ask too many questions.”

“I’ll try not to, but what can I do?” Anne sighed. “Some days it could be anything that sets him off.”

“I know.” George glanced to the side. “And if it turns out to be true?”

“Then we tell all of the Disciples and we can get rid of James forever!” Sarah’s eyes flashed. “Nobody will want him around then! It’ll be a glorious revolution!”

“You would kill your father?” George’s eyes widened.

“Why not?” Anne said. “The Law of Honorable Succession is still in place and the Overlifers follow it, I could do it.” She took a deep breath, more shaken than she let on. It wasn’t so hard wishing that he was dead, praying to the Overlifers that had come before James to put a quick end to his reign, but it was something else to say that she would be the one to kill a violent, powerful man with six lives who happened to be her father.

I can do it, though, if I hate him enough. No problem. It’ll be nice to stab that self-satisfaction out of him. Besides, the Law of Honorable Succession stated the heir of any ruler may kill the ruler to take their place— clearly the devils before had thought of her. Clearly she was using the law as intended.

George blinked. “Anne, if you-”

“George, it’s fine,” she said hastily. “He’s an awful man, and I know he doesn’t deserve to live. I’ve always known that, this is just where I take action.” She’d come to the realization that her father was not just cruel, not just abusive, but pure evil, when she was rather young. She hadn’t known what to do with that information, though, not until now, when she saw that no one would question the divine authority of even the worst of Overlifers.

So it has to be me. It has to be us. Her and Sarah and George and Marly. The revolution within the revolution.

“You have a way of making things look easier than they are,” George said. “But if that’s what you want to do, I’ll be beside you as you slit his throat.” He seemed to immediately regret that statement as soon as he said it, shrinking back. “Just, uh, as long as I get to stand far enough away from him that I don’t have to really see it.”

Anne laughed. “Sure, I don’t mind that. The Law states I have to do it by myself, anyway.”

“About the Law...” George glanced at Sarah, then back at Anne. “Doesn’t it technically apply to James, too? If he killed Charles, isn’t that covered by the Law of Honorable Succession as long as the ruler has no children?”

“Well...yes, but you saw how angry everyone was about his death,” Anne said. “And they’ll be even angrier that James hid the fact in the first place and used it to stir up another war with the Devils of Orange-Nassau. It’s like Sarah said; nobody will want him around then. Nobody ever did want him around.”

“Ugh, except for Mary,” Sarah said, rolling her eyes. “Law or no Law, she won’t care that James killed Charles, and she’s gonna be furious that you killed her beloved father. You know she’s next in line after him.”

“Oh, is that going to be trouble?” George asked.

“Mary?” Anne hesitated. “She’ll be the next Overlifer after James.” Try as she might, though, she couldn’t imagine her sister as the supreme authority of the Disciples, humanity, and ultimately, the world. She had always appeared too subservient to her father, as if she herself never expected to take over after him. Maybe she never would, if James’ lives lasted forever.

“If she lives long enough,” Sarah scoffed. “She’s bound to overdose at one point and die on the fucking streets as if she didn’t come from the richest family in New Amsterdam. Either that or she’ll kill herself first. She’s fucking psychotic.”

“Oh,” George said, clearing his throat. “Well, the Law doesn’t apply if you’re the youngest child, right, Anne? Mary will have good reason to execute you.”

“She could...but she won’t,” Anne said. “Because she won’t know it was us who killed James.” She raised her eyebrows, and Sarah narrowed her eyes with a wild grin.

“So we’re pulling the same thing your father did!”

“Yes.” Anne nodded.

“But before Mary gets her six lives-” George began, and Sarah interrupted excitedly.

“Under protection of the Law, we kill her too!” She laughed, taking Anne by the shoulders. “This is it, Anne! She’s gonna pay for every fucking thing she did to John!”

“R-Right.” Anne pushed her hair back. When she thought of killing Mary, there was a revulsion in her that was not there when she thought of killing James. Maybe because the idea was too new. Or maybe it was because all she could think of suddenly was when they were children, and she had seen the desperation in Mary’s eyes to please her father while also protecting her sister.

But that was gone now. Anne’s mind shied away from that; she thought of all the times she had tortured someone too gleefully, how she wiped the blood away from her face with a sadism in her eyes Anne had only ever seen in their father. How she smiled when someone begged for mercy, whereas Anne could only look at them with horror.

I don’t know what I want but it isn’t to kill you.

But Mary knew exactly what she wanted— her father at the head of the universe, and all his enemies dead.

That is who we are killing, George. Forget everything else you just saw. Got it? Anne turned to George, who nodded rapidly.

“And then you will be queen!” Sarah cried. “Queen of all the world, Anne! Imagine that!”

“That’s a world I don’t mind living in,” George said, his eyes sparkling. “You’d make a fairer Overlifer than your father. And six lives, Anne, that’s a long time to live.” He lifted his hand to cup her face. “If you lived forever...”

“I don’t want to live forever,” Anne said, turning away. “I just want to live long enough to see Mary and James pay. As an Overlifer I’ll do everything they could never do.” She smiled back at Sarah and George. “As long as you’re with me.”

“Nothing could take me from you, Anne,” George said. He bowed low, taking her hand to kiss it.

“I’ll be friends with an Overlifer!” Sarah bounced slightly, clapping her hands. “You’ll be more powerful than the devils themselves!”

Power. It wasn’t something Anne had ever thought about. More often she thought about leaving, but there wasn’t anything she could imagine doing outside of her life here. Maybe this was something she was better suited for; it was the only thing she knew.

There was silence, and then George squeezed her hand. “But you don’t have to if you think it’s too much for you.”

“It- it isn’t,” Anne said. “Maybe it’s just what I need. Maybe it’s what the world needs.”

“If anyone can fix this fucked up universe, it’s you, Anne,” Sarah declared. She leaned on Anne’s shoulder, her eyes glinting.

Yeah, maybe it’s me. Anne stood up taller. Maybe it was her who would finally get rid of their dreaded rivals and their horrific leader, that Caliban.

Sarah’s phone buzzed, and she flinched as if it startled her. She glanced down at the screen and her eyes widened in shock. “Anne...”

“What? What is it?” Anne tried to peer over her shoulder, then looked at George.

George bowed his head, closing his eyes to focus on reading what Sarah was looking at in her mind. “It’s Ally Marly. He says that Monmouth accused James of killing his brother.”

Anne gasped. “Clever pup! What else?”

“John had to fight him off, but he let him go,” Sarah whispered. “Disobeyed orders to kill him. And James is furious.” She looked up, her eyes clouding over with worry. “I have to go to him—!”

“No!” Anne cried. “We- we can’t go there right now! He’ll be even madder at me!”

“I have to go, Anne, what if James tries some of his bullshit again?” Sarah said. She paused, taking Anne’s hand. “You can stay here if you want, if it’s safer.”

“No, no- no, Sarah, you have to stay!” Anne said. “If he comes here, then what- what am I going to do?”

“He’s not going to come here,” Sarah said. “He doesn’t even know we’re here.” She took Anne’s face in her hands, leaning in close. “I can stop by at your house later, okay? But right now I have to go see him before James does anything to him. I can’t make him stop, but I can try.”

Anne paused, then shut her eyes, leaning into Sarah’s touch. “Be safe.”

“I will. You too.” Sarah pushed the hair out of Anne’s eyes. “Stay with George, okay? I’ll let you know how it goes. I love you.” She kissed Anne on the nose, and with that turned to rush out of the Hoerenkast. Anne watched her go, her heart beating so painfully in her chest until she couldn’t stand anymore, and she stumbled into George’s arms.

“Damnit, George—!” she let out, her tears spilling out all over his jacket. “He did it first! And now he’s fucked, Marly’s fucked, how can we ever expect to fight back when he has such a chokehold on us?!”

“It’ll pass,” George said, holding her tightly. She heard him swallow. “His anger, I mean. You say it passes, so it will this time, as always.”

“I’m scared,” Anne admitted. “Scared for us all. If James and Mary lead the Disciples, then what hope do we have? What hope does the world have?”

“That’s why we’re killing them, right?” George attempted to smile. “So there’s hope in the first place. And- and you’ll be the one to do it!”

That was hilarious; for someone who was supposed to herald a new hope for the ancient Overlifers, she could find none at all within her.