The Inquisition of Arabella Rose
written by: Antaeus
The inquisitors came for me in the dark of a cold winter’s night.
With their silken robes swishing and their lanterns burning bright.
“Come with us, you accursed witch,” they said with pompous pride.
There was no one left to speak for me, both my parents having died.
An orphan of sixteen, my breasts had only begun to swell.
The bastards stripped me bare and tossed me in a cell.
Then the prison guards came. Five of the crown’s best soldiers, they were.
“Let’s have some fun,” they said. “No one cares at all for the likes of her.”
I screamed and fought, as best I could, against the vile and filthy brutes.
But they threw me down upon the floor and kicked me with their boots.
Four held my arms and legs while the fifth one undid his ties.
The two Basterds that held my legs slowly spread my thighs.
Then the angry Sargent burst in, yelling with rage and fire in his voice.
“Leave her,” he said. “Or I’ll have you flogged. That’s your only choice.”
I stood and ran to the furthest wall, my maidenhood safe for now.
One by one, they left my cell; when the Sargent left, he gave a bow.
Falling to the floor, my body trembles in a naked heap.
And I pray to the blessed Lady, my sacred soul, to keep.
My prayers were answered as my vision began to blur.
Then, standing before me appeared a glowing vision of Her.
“Be brave, my Arabella,” she says in her melodic, calming voice.
What must come has been ordained and is surely not my choice.
The unpredictable fates have woven for you a painful, horrid test.
Too soon, your trial will begin, but for now, you must try to rest.”
I try to speak, but my heart is heavy, and my mind is full of dread.
The words won’t come, so I sit in filth and softly weep instead.
“Sleep, Arabella,” the blessed Lady says. “Let your spirit fly.”
My tear-swollen eyes grow heavy, and I slumber where I lie.
Awakened from my slumber by a noise somewhere without.
I listen very fearfully for the guard’s shrill warning shout.
Then, with my heart racing wildly and my ear pressed to the door.
I await the sound of footsteps drumming on the cold and filthy floor.
But all is still and quiet, there’s no sound that can be heard.
Again, from the barred window comes a softly spoken word.
“Arabella.”
I move slowly toward the shadows and whisper my reply.
Then, through the prison bars, I see a tiny package fly.
I bite my tongue in fear that its contents may be broken.
For I know I’ll not endure long without this kindly token.
It lands upon the damp stone floor, sliding through the dung.
I scamper to it on my knees, blood dripping from my tongue.
Hidden now in a corner, safe from any prying eyes.
I open up the package and examine my small prize.
The markings are familiar, and I read them with a start.
“The contents are a poison to stop your pain-filled heart.”
A gift from the kindly Sargent, or one who pities me?
The who does not matter, this venom shall set me free.
I raise the vial very slowly to drink and let this body die.
But then my courage fails me, and again, I begin to cry.
I know I am innocent and cannot end my life on this day.
Instead, I insert the vial in excrement and hide it safe away.
Soon, the guards came marching, bootsteps heavy on the floor.
Then the keys began to rattle as they threw open my cell door.
My captors came, and they took me to the King’s high magistrate.
Before the bench, they chained me naked, then bid me stand and wait.
The chamber was full of men. There’s not a woman there that I can see.
They are there to leer at a naked woman, but no one feels pity for me.
The inquisitor stands before me, and I can see lust within his eyes.
As the magistrate reads the charges, they are a wicked web of lies.
“Your neighbor says you cast a curse, and their prize cow isn’t doing well.”
“They want my land,” I say. “It’s just a wicked lie to get it, can’t you tell?”
The inquisitor quickly moves before me and strikes me hard across my face.
“Be quiet, you wicked woman; we’ll not hear your lies within this sacred place.”
You stand accused of witchcraft, were the charges the justice read.
They said I worshiped the devil and danced nightly with the dead.
Then, he asked for proof of innocence. “Would someone stand and speak for thee?”
But no one will stand or speak, for they fear being judged guilty by knowing me.
“It’s the rack for you, wicked woman, where you’ll confess your evil sins.”
To the torture room, they took me, where they stuck me with hot pins.
With lustful grins, they touch between my thighs. Is no part of me secure?
But, with help from the heavenly Lady, their carnal probing, I endure.
These vulgar, obscene villains will gladly prey upon the weak.
They’ll use any excuse to fondle for the pleasure that they seek.
Their filthy fingers probe my private places like animals in heat.
While straps cut into my flesh, on my wrists and upon my feet.
The club comes down upon my knee, and it causes my bones to break.
I scream as the pain overwhelms me, when my other knee they take.
Now, I see their sweat-drenched faces in a haze of pain and hate.
Then, the blackness comes once again, and I’m helpless to my fate.
Too soon, the darkness leaves me, and I awaken unto the pain.
“Confess, confess, tell us of your sins,” the inquisitor says again.
“You’ve broken both my arms and legs, yet never will I speak.
Though you torture me forever, you’ll not hear the words you seek.”
The inquisitor waves his hand, and his apprentice comes into sight.
“Oh, you’ll confess, they always do; I can do this night after night.”
Then, before my eyes, I see a bar, its tip is glowing fire red.
They press its tip into my breasts and then cross my head.
“Oh, sweet Lady, help me; this pain is more than I can bear.
Take me into the Summerland where all is sweet and fair.”
This time, there is no darkness. I am filled with Her light instead.
The pain is gone, and the Lady speaks, her voice inside my head.
“Be brave, my child. I am at your side. Your trial is almost through.
You will feel no pain by my decree. It does not matter what they do.”
As if in a dream, I see her face as she places her hand gently upon my head.
Then, the pain is gone, and my heart, my heart is no longer filled with dread.
Again, before me stands the inquisitor in his robes of midnight black.
He smiles and tells the guards, “Unchain her and take her to the rack.”
Slowly, they stretched my body until my bones began to crack and pop.
Then, the inquisitor removed his robe as I screamed for them to stop.
His manhood is stiff, and my legs are spread, so he climbs atop of me.
I try to resist, but I cannot move, and yet this defilement cannot be.
So, before his member enters my sacred place, I whisper very low.
He bends his ear near my bloody lips to hear, as I feel my anger grow.
Swiftly like a viper, I strike, and his tender ear is in my mouth.
Panicked now, he cares no more for the regions that are south.
With all the strength that is left to me, I bite hard and hear him scream.
I feel a terrible pain in my head, then comes the darkness with no dream.
They take me to my cell and throw me roughly to the floor.
But this only gives me hope, for I’m alone again once more.
Though my arms and legs are broken, I slither across my cell.
The tiny package is still lying there; for this, I’ve hidden well.
I read the words with one good eye as my teeth untwist the wire.
“Take heart, those of us who are innocent shall never know the fire.”
I fear all is lost for me, for these twisted hands cannot lift the vial.
Then, with an anxious heart, I use my mouth and slam it into the tile.
The liquid, black as night, starts flowing swiftly toward the dung.
Then, with a desperate lunge forward, I lick it with my tongue.
The courage I’ve now found to drink the noxious-smelling brew.
One swallow and my body dies, this wretched life is through.
From another land, I can see them come and carry me away.
They throw my body upon the fire with flames as bright as day.
The blessed Lady stands beside me, and there is compassion in her eyes.
“Come with me, my child,” she says. “It’s time to let your spirit rise.”
As the flames consume the mortal flesh, my spirit rises high.
To live once more among the stars that fill the midnight sky.
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