[ That makes her laugh. Picking at it a moment, the little dig of nails against the skin, on an old scab. ] It does, still, for us. England crows mightly that it does not condone such practices. But Officers like to buy and sell local girls for their men and for themselves. It has been abolished in England for years - but they say it is not England, so the laws do not apply to them.
[ It's no matter, or rather, it doesn't matter overall. They are here, now. They have other concerns now. ]
I suppose that is a good place to begin where it... changed, for us. The rebellion had already started far away to the west. Sepoys - that is, Hindustani soldiers who formed separate ranks in the Companies army, had been deceived. The reasons were complicated, but it came down to faith, and the extent of it, being belittled, all told. I'll spare you those details. [ It's hardly something to laugh about, but Kitty had made it very clear that matters of faith were not things she understood as deeply as another might. ] Eventually, they reached me, and even then, I still was loyal. Shunned and desperate as I was, I did not... think to rise against them. When the rebels came to my lands, I only gave them coin to go on their way. But they sieged the fortress, even after the British families were promised safe passage. Everyone, everyone was slaughtered inside the walls. Then the rebels left, leaving all that blood behind them.
[ Her fingers stop their picking. Her hands settle, smoothing over her knees. Bracing, bracing, bracing. Rani, Rani the British will not forgive this.
And she would not forgive them. ] With no one else left in charge, it was up to me to clean it up. So I did, I took the bodies out of the palace, and I began sweeping the rooms, I organised to have personal effects sent back to their families. That was when we - I - found out the truth. As we went from room to room, we eventually ended up in the cells of the lower Fortress. That's when we found it. [ Maybe there is a flair for dramatic, but she swallows, dry and sore. ] It was a cursed butcher's shop, Kitty, but we found them - all - all the men, women, and children, who had gone missing over the last three years.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2019-01-22 03:47 pm (UTC)[ It's no matter, or rather, it doesn't matter overall. They are here, now. They have other concerns now. ]
I suppose that is a good place to begin where it... changed, for us. The rebellion had already started far away to the west. Sepoys - that is, Hindustani soldiers who formed separate ranks in the Companies army, had been deceived. The reasons were complicated, but it came down to faith, and the extent of it, being belittled, all told. I'll spare you those details. [ It's hardly something to laugh about, but Kitty had made it very clear that matters of faith were not things she understood as deeply as another might. ] Eventually, they reached me, and even then, I still was loyal. Shunned and desperate as I was, I did not... think to rise against them. When the rebels came to my lands, I only gave them coin to go on their way. But they sieged the fortress, even after the British families were promised safe passage. Everyone, everyone was slaughtered inside the walls. Then the rebels left, leaving all that blood behind them.
[ Her fingers stop their picking. Her hands settle, smoothing over her knees. Bracing, bracing, bracing. Rani, Rani the British will not forgive this.
And she would not forgive them. ] With no one else left in charge, it was up to me to clean it up. So I did, I took the bodies out of the palace, and I began sweeping the rooms, I organised to have personal effects sent back to their families. That was when we - I - found out the truth. As we went from room to room, we eventually ended up in the cells of the lower Fortress. That's when we found it. [ Maybe there is a flair for dramatic, but she swallows, dry and sore. ] It was a cursed butcher's shop, Kitty, but we found them - all - all the men, women, and children, who had gone missing over the last three years.