07-18-2020, 09:30 PM
Note: this post mentions suicide.
Mothers and Sisters
Patel Estate, Kerlile
18th July 2020
Nirmala Patel knew, at least logically, that her mother would likely die in a Sanctarian prison, but emotionally it didn’t make it any easier, especially so quickly. Nirmala wasn’t naïve, nor was she so caught up in Kerlian ideology that she didn’t know her mother was guilty of what she’d been convicted of, but it still hurt like hell to hear the news. In response, she’d hid in her bedroom and told her servants not to let anyone pass.
Her sister Yamunda was running through the corridors angrily yelling about patriarchal democracies hating Kerlians, black ribbons and something to do with fingers and prisoners that slightly disturbed Nirmala, but she was in no fit state to handle her highly strung younger sister at this point. Reena, the pro-reform member of the Patel family best known for appearing on Xiomeran television, and Nirmala’s niece, could handle her mother.
Nirmala was too busy sobbing into her bedsheets. There was already a visible puddle of tears appearing on the bedsheets. She’d spent the last year in denial that her mother would likely never return to Kerlile, pretending she was just keeping the chair in the Council chamber warm, but now she could deny it no longer. The woman who’d raised her, made her strong and taught her what she needed to know for her future role on the Council was gone and was never coming back.
Despite turning 50 next month, Nirmala did not feel prepared to be a Councillor. Her mother had always seemed immortal to her, like she’d be there forever. Now, Nirmala was the official head of her family and she had nobody look to anyone for guidance. The Matriarchy was going through changes she was unprepared for and did not fully understand. She had never supported the cruelty with which so much had been carried out in the name of Kerlile, but at the same stage she feared the direction reform could take them.
And now her mother, her role model, was dead. Under suspicious circumstances, no less. She’d been somewhat prepared to accept natural causes related to old age, or even suicide, but the thought that someone killed her scared Nirmala. Apparently taking Anita from her beloved country and locking her up wasn’t enough for some people. Unlike Yamunda who reacted with anger, however, Nirmala just sobbed harder.
“There’s no purpose in revenge,” she whispered aloud to herself, gulping for breath and wiping away some tears. “It just creates a vicious circle of hurting more and more people and never ends well.”
This was a revelation for Nirmala – one which distracted her momentarily from her grief. Kerlian society was rather built on the idea of revenge and punitive justice – it was, after all, designed in such a way as to do unto men as had been done unto women for centuries. Nirmala was not sure what this revelation would mean for her future voting in the Council chamber but she hadn’t plans to return there anytime soon.
Anita Patel was the first former Councillor to die outside of Kerlile. It was what she’d been most frightened of when she first realised she’d likely be on trial. She’d confided that in her daughters, and had even considered taking her own life before she was extradited, but – to her shame – Nirmala had convinced her not to. She’d still had the foolish hope that some other solution could be found and it wouldn’t come to this. Nirmala felt an intense guilt for this, in a rather ironic fashion.
“Nirmala! They won’t let me in but we need to talk!” yelled Yamunda from the other side of the door. Nirmala decided she better let her sister in, lest Yamunda do something unwise without her input.
“Yamunda, I’m a little upset,” Nirmala said as she opened the door, “can this wa…”
She didn’t manage to finish her sentence before Yamunda had dodged past the servant keeping guard and entered the room, flopping down on a chair next to the bed and attempting to hand Nirmala a pile of paper.
“Okay, so here’s a list of all our mother’s enemies, ranked in order from most to least likely to be able to infiltrate a Sanctarian prison. For all those with relatives who are resident in Kerlile, I suggest we take one member of each family captive, and then…”
“Stop, Yamunda,” sighed Nirmala, taking the papers and pointedly throwing them in a bin. “We can’t just keep this cycle of hatred growing. You have no idea who did anything, and we need to wait for the investigation. And besides, we’re long past the day of Council families taking private prisoners, the Reformists would never allow it.”
‘You’ve spent too much time around them, you’re getting weak. The most likely culprits are those she had interrogated during the war. My money’s on Josephine Alvarez, using the apparatus of the Lauchenoirian state to end her personal grudge against our mother. She’s friendly enough with Sanctaria.”
“STOP!” yelled Nirmala, tears returning to her eyes. “You are making things worse! Goddess, if I’m going to have anyone imprisoned it’s you for your own good! Can’t you see what’s going on? We are tearing ourselves apart because of that damned war, and the more things that happen the worse it gets.”
“Our mother would never have just let people get away with murdering one of our family.”
“We’re not doing that! We’re letting the Sanctarian authorities handle it. Can’t you see? The country we love, the country our mother loved, is being destroyed by our infighting. You want to honour her memory, so do I. Then let’s honour it by ensuring that the Matriarchy she worked so hard for, in the end gave her freedom and her life for, does not collapse.”
“It will collapse if we are seen to be weak.”
“Yamunda, we are weak!” Nirmala cried aloud, to an incredulous look on her sister’s face. “We are economically weak, militarily we can’t stand up to most of the other powers, and culturally we haven’t changed since the 1920s. Didn’t you listen to what Mother was saying in the days before they took her? She knew we had to change.”
“She knew we had to appear to change,” corrected Yamunda. “We could no longer literally call things the Restricted Region or hold public executions for sex offenders. But she did not support the reformists, and you know that.”
“I don’t support the reformists either! I’m just saying, cruelty for no reason is not good strategy. Kidnapping people’s family members when they wrong you serves no purpose. I’m not suggesting we hold presidential elections or let men vote, I’m not suggesting we abolish prisons or capital punishment, I’m just saying that we shouldn’t be acting outside our own laws, Yamunda. You should understand that.”
“I just don’t understand why we suffer while those who hurt us get away with it!” yelled Yamunda, who then began crying as well. “People hate Kerlians, they hate us because they’re misogynists, they hate us because they’re scared of us, they hate us, and they hurt us, and they treat us different from any other state that does the same thing. They hate us, they hate us, they hate us and so I hate them!”
“Yamunda…” Nirmala went over to her sister and hugged her tightly. They both sobbed into each other’s shoulders, sitting together on an armchair in Nirmala’s bedroom, two grieving daughters searching for a solution to the unsolvable problem of death.
Mothers and Sisters
Patel Estate, Kerlile
18th July 2020
Nirmala Patel knew, at least logically, that her mother would likely die in a Sanctarian prison, but emotionally it didn’t make it any easier, especially so quickly. Nirmala wasn’t naïve, nor was she so caught up in Kerlian ideology that she didn’t know her mother was guilty of what she’d been convicted of, but it still hurt like hell to hear the news. In response, she’d hid in her bedroom and told her servants not to let anyone pass.
Her sister Yamunda was running through the corridors angrily yelling about patriarchal democracies hating Kerlians, black ribbons and something to do with fingers and prisoners that slightly disturbed Nirmala, but she was in no fit state to handle her highly strung younger sister at this point. Reena, the pro-reform member of the Patel family best known for appearing on Xiomeran television, and Nirmala’s niece, could handle her mother.
Nirmala was too busy sobbing into her bedsheets. There was already a visible puddle of tears appearing on the bedsheets. She’d spent the last year in denial that her mother would likely never return to Kerlile, pretending she was just keeping the chair in the Council chamber warm, but now she could deny it no longer. The woman who’d raised her, made her strong and taught her what she needed to know for her future role on the Council was gone and was never coming back.
Despite turning 50 next month, Nirmala did not feel prepared to be a Councillor. Her mother had always seemed immortal to her, like she’d be there forever. Now, Nirmala was the official head of her family and she had nobody look to anyone for guidance. The Matriarchy was going through changes she was unprepared for and did not fully understand. She had never supported the cruelty with which so much had been carried out in the name of Kerlile, but at the same stage she feared the direction reform could take them.
And now her mother, her role model, was dead. Under suspicious circumstances, no less. She’d been somewhat prepared to accept natural causes related to old age, or even suicide, but the thought that someone killed her scared Nirmala. Apparently taking Anita from her beloved country and locking her up wasn’t enough for some people. Unlike Yamunda who reacted with anger, however, Nirmala just sobbed harder.
“There’s no purpose in revenge,” she whispered aloud to herself, gulping for breath and wiping away some tears. “It just creates a vicious circle of hurting more and more people and never ends well.”
This was a revelation for Nirmala – one which distracted her momentarily from her grief. Kerlian society was rather built on the idea of revenge and punitive justice – it was, after all, designed in such a way as to do unto men as had been done unto women for centuries. Nirmala was not sure what this revelation would mean for her future voting in the Council chamber but she hadn’t plans to return there anytime soon.
Anita Patel was the first former Councillor to die outside of Kerlile. It was what she’d been most frightened of when she first realised she’d likely be on trial. She’d confided that in her daughters, and had even considered taking her own life before she was extradited, but – to her shame – Nirmala had convinced her not to. She’d still had the foolish hope that some other solution could be found and it wouldn’t come to this. Nirmala felt an intense guilt for this, in a rather ironic fashion.
“Nirmala! They won’t let me in but we need to talk!” yelled Yamunda from the other side of the door. Nirmala decided she better let her sister in, lest Yamunda do something unwise without her input.
“Yamunda, I’m a little upset,” Nirmala said as she opened the door, “can this wa…”
She didn’t manage to finish her sentence before Yamunda had dodged past the servant keeping guard and entered the room, flopping down on a chair next to the bed and attempting to hand Nirmala a pile of paper.
“Okay, so here’s a list of all our mother’s enemies, ranked in order from most to least likely to be able to infiltrate a Sanctarian prison. For all those with relatives who are resident in Kerlile, I suggest we take one member of each family captive, and then…”
“Stop, Yamunda,” sighed Nirmala, taking the papers and pointedly throwing them in a bin. “We can’t just keep this cycle of hatred growing. You have no idea who did anything, and we need to wait for the investigation. And besides, we’re long past the day of Council families taking private prisoners, the Reformists would never allow it.”
‘You’ve spent too much time around them, you’re getting weak. The most likely culprits are those she had interrogated during the war. My money’s on Josephine Alvarez, using the apparatus of the Lauchenoirian state to end her personal grudge against our mother. She’s friendly enough with Sanctaria.”
“STOP!” yelled Nirmala, tears returning to her eyes. “You are making things worse! Goddess, if I’m going to have anyone imprisoned it’s you for your own good! Can’t you see what’s going on? We are tearing ourselves apart because of that damned war, and the more things that happen the worse it gets.”
“Our mother would never have just let people get away with murdering one of our family.”
“We’re not doing that! We’re letting the Sanctarian authorities handle it. Can’t you see? The country we love, the country our mother loved, is being destroyed by our infighting. You want to honour her memory, so do I. Then let’s honour it by ensuring that the Matriarchy she worked so hard for, in the end gave her freedom and her life for, does not collapse.”
“It will collapse if we are seen to be weak.”
“Yamunda, we are weak!” Nirmala cried aloud, to an incredulous look on her sister’s face. “We are economically weak, militarily we can’t stand up to most of the other powers, and culturally we haven’t changed since the 1920s. Didn’t you listen to what Mother was saying in the days before they took her? She knew we had to change.”
“She knew we had to appear to change,” corrected Yamunda. “We could no longer literally call things the Restricted Region or hold public executions for sex offenders. But she did not support the reformists, and you know that.”
“I don’t support the reformists either! I’m just saying, cruelty for no reason is not good strategy. Kidnapping people’s family members when they wrong you serves no purpose. I’m not suggesting we hold presidential elections or let men vote, I’m not suggesting we abolish prisons or capital punishment, I’m just saying that we shouldn’t be acting outside our own laws, Yamunda. You should understand that.”
“I just don’t understand why we suffer while those who hurt us get away with it!” yelled Yamunda, who then began crying as well. “People hate Kerlians, they hate us because they’re misogynists, they hate us because they’re scared of us, they hate us, and they hurt us, and they treat us different from any other state that does the same thing. They hate us, they hate us, they hate us and so I hate them!”
“Yamunda…” Nirmala went over to her sister and hugged her tightly. They both sobbed into each other’s shoulders, sitting together on an armchair in Nirmala’s bedroom, two grieving daughters searching for a solution to the unsolvable problem of death.
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax