The young woman sat straight-backed and tall in the cell dripping with water, rats scurrying in the corners. Her head was lifted defiantly, her arms crossed in her lap, one leg hanging over the other. She still wore a pair of long white culottes and a loose black blouse, though it was stained and rumpled. In short, she commanded respect and held fast to dignity, even as her frame was interrupted by rusted iron bars.
Her eyes were trained on the Military Commander who walked slowly by. He was flanked by an entourage of soldiers and generals, all silent as their boots clicked against the floor. The Commander was middle-aged, his hair beginning to wisp away. He stopped in front of the woman's cell, surprised to see such a person surrounded by murderers and thieves.
She smiled.
"My, you're a pretty little thing to be in here, aren't you?" He asked. The woman didn't reply.
"Eh?" Silence.
"So, you don't talk much, do you?"
She laughed.
"You don't know much about your prisoners, do you, Commander?" The Commander stood silent; the last thing he expected was to be insulted by a young prisoner behind his own bars. "I talk. Oh, I talk a lot. I happen to be one of the world's finest speakers. I was too good. That's why you threw me in here," the woman said, gesturing to the cement walls around her.
"You?" The Commander asked, pointing rudely at the little-more-than-girl sitting before him. "But you're just a young thing."
The woman's smile dropped and she regarded the Commander with eyes of steel. She stood slowly, drawing herself to her full height. With each word, she walked toward the group of military men. The men shrank back as she came forward.
"'Just a young thing?' Sir, you really must learn more about your prisoners. You put too much trust in your generals to handle people like me. I am the leader of the Rebellion. I have brought thousands to aid our cause. I have led our armies. I have infiltrated your most loyal families and stolen your youth from under you. I have entered the houses of those who have lost hope and made them resilient. I have gathered the young and old, the near and far, the strong and weak, and I have united them. I hold much, much more power than you know, than even you have." She stopped inches from the Commander, gently holding the bars and pulling her head between them. Her glare could break glass.
The Commander grew red in the face and spluttered. "You speak like a queen!"
She smiled.
"Ah."
"You can flab your mouth all you want," he threw out malice and spit in his words. "But you are still stuck behind my bars in my prison."
She laughed.
"And for that, sir, I must say thank you. The best part was not that you made me a symbol. A symbol all over the world. A symbol of passion and sacrifice. A symbol that has made the Rebellion simply boom."
He clenched his fists.
"The best part was not that you have relied heavily on these bars and not your guards. These guards, they're surely not your best. They listen to all your plans and discuss them at length at their post- when they're not asleep. Another person would listen for gossip or news. But I am not like most people."
He waved at one of his generals, who muttered to a boy beside him, "Remind me to switch out these guards and demote them."
"Those were both wonderful things, but they were not the best part. No, the best part was the people you surrounded me with." She was interrupted for the first time.
"They are murderers and thieves! A girl like you should be scared out of her wits here!" One eye bulged out of his socket as he yelled.
"Precisely," she replied smoothly. "And, as I have said, I am not like most people. You surrounded me with murderers and thieves. People who make a living and an art out of outwitting and getting revenge on people like you. These are people who are angry. Very angry. At who? You may ask. At the person who threw them in jail. At you."
"I am the Military Commander! I am in charge! You are forgetting who I am! I can snap my fingers and have you killed!" Spittle hit her cheek and she wiped it away and flung it back at him, disgusted.
"Tsk. The minds that we have produced. So dull." She turned her head as if to leave, as if he wasn't worthy of further conversation.
"You speak treason," the Military Commander whispered, his breath hot with rage.
"That's no surprise. I've done that many times before." She sighed. "Military Commander, I am, quite frankly, disappointed in you. I was hoping for a worthy opponent. Alas, it seems there are none. Your mind is dull and weak. Your eyes can't see what is right in front of them. Your ears are clogged with your own ear wax. You, sir,are sub-standard."
His hand flung up and swung to slap her in the face. She caught his hand with lightning speed centimeters from her face and held it there as he struggled.
She smiled.
"Fortunately, these murderers and thieves, your prisoners, their minds and eyes and ears... Well, they work perfectly fine."
She laughed as roars erupted around the prison and the prisoners within attacked at her command.
Word Count: 923
I'm just obsessed with this and I love it so much but I don't know why. I even acted parts of this out to make sure it was perfect, haha! I hope you like it!
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