Pay No Mind To The Rabble

This is a short piece based on a story that's mostly in my head. It was done for a contest on GaiaOnline.com where you picked a song to inspire a short story and include a line from that song. I used Pet by Perfect Cirlce and it fit so well with these two

Name : RyoseiHime

Song Title/Artist : Pet by Perfect Circle

Line From Song : "Pay no mind to what other voices say. They don't care about you like I do."

Word Count : 978

Title : Pay No Mind To The Rabble

In a large palace, down dark arching cooridoors, there sat a small girl dressed in a sparse black gown on her bed. She hummed to herself as she rocked back and forth, cradling a home stitched doll. Her aunt had made the doll for her though she often wished it had been her mother. Her mother tended to be an overbearing woman who sometimes frightened the girl but she longed for her attention none the less. However Empress Alexandrea was far too busy furthering her empire to pay attention to the mistake she'd made ten years ago.

Everyday since her last birthday she had spent her days being educated by her mother's oldest and strictest advisors. Afterwards the general herself made it her duty to teach the timid child the art of swordsmanship and hand to hand combat. In the time she had to herself the girl didn't seem able to find anything to occupy her time. So she was often found in this way when her aunt came to put her to bed. Tonight she knew she would be late because outside she could hear her mother's angry voice and the sound of marching feet. The feet of soldiers.

The oft-times neglected child slid off her large canopy bed and wandered over to the window. She never enjoyed the sight of the soldiers stomping through the courtyard below her window but sometimes she managed to bring herself to view the rallies and speeches simply for the chance to see her mother. She appeared as a tiny dot on the other side of the courtyard. She stood upon the balcony of her own bedchambers and shouted to the men below. What it was she said the child did not care.

When the rally was over and her mother had disappeared into her room she took her doll back to bed and waited for Cassandra to come tuck her in for the night. She hummed as she waited and stared across the room at her blank walls. They glared back until she was forced to lower her eyes. Her mother did not allow decorations of any kind, fearing it would make her frivolous. Frivolous and useless. If Alexandrea was forced to live with her mistake she would make use of the results in any way she could.

The door opened silently and the girl did not notice the entry of the tall, regal woman. Her skirts flowed behind her for several feet so the door was left ajar. Her slippered feet and years of military training did not give her away. It was only when the woman stood beside her that the girl noticed her looming - almost sinister - prescence. She looked up into a face as hard and blank as the stone walls of her room. Ice-blue eyes glared down into her soul with a fierce intensity that caused her to shrink away.

"Child...Marina" Alexandrea whispered, somewhat uncomfortabley. "It is time for sleep."

"I watched you speak to the men, Mama." Marina whispered as she pet her doll's stringy hair. "Are you angry at them?"

"No."

"The doll Aunt Cassadra made for me has hair like yours." Marina muttered, holding the doll up.

Alexandrea surveyed the disgusting bag of cloth and stuffing with a look of resentment. It's hair was nothing but bits of black string though it did seem to be of a similar length to her own. She took her skirts in her hand gently and pulled them to the side as she sat by the girl she had given birth to unwillingly. The doll was retracted quickly and Marina put a few more inches between them. Alexandrea's war-hardened face seemed to soften and a look of what could be interpreted as pain shot through her features like lightning. She placed a hand on Marina's head softly.

"I won't hurt you my daughter."

"Will you stay here until I fall asleep Mama?" Marina asked, looking up into her mother's face with those innocent hazel eyes.

Alexandrea had never like children and she barely knew her own daughter. She was not comfortable with anyone who wasn't old enough to fend for themselves. She felt simply useless when she was with the girl and she hated feeling useless. Powerless may have been a better word. Alexandrea was terribly frightened of being powerless. However, this she could manage to do. She felt she owed it to the girl. So she nodded her consent with as much of a smile as she could manage to force out of her stolid features.

Marina smiled with her whole heart and even Alexandrea could feel the happiness radiating from her as she laid her head in her lap. Outside the soldiers were still exiting the courtyard and their footsteps could be heard echoing in the enclosed space. These sounds frightened Marina but their steady beat was soothing to Alexandrea. It always had been. She ran her fingers through her child's golden locks that reminded her so much of her father. No one else knew of the man. In her rage over such a burden in her life she had savagly beaten him to death. An easy thing to cover up with her power but when she saw Marina it sometimes sent a chill of guilt down her spine.

Alexandrea began to hum the same tune that Marina hummed every night. It was a song she had sung all of her life and though she did not know it Marina had learned it from her long ago. She could not grow comfortable with the child no matter how many times she tried. She would not be comfortable with her for a few more years. In the meantime she knew her most loyal subjects would make certain she grew into a woman deserving of her lineage.

"Pay no mind to what other voices say." she whispered to the child. "They don't care about you like I do."