ASTRA KHALEESI KNEELS DOWN beside the whimpering prisoner, her breath a single bare wisp in the frosty air.
"They're coming in five minutes," she says in Polish, the words slithering quickly off of her tongue and begging to escape in all directions, but the prisoner drinks them in with his ears almost possessively.
He gazes at Astra with disgust; disgust for her gender, disgust for the kingdom she is loyal to, and disgust for all that she represents. The prisoner is a bitter man, presumably in his mid-thirties from the looks of him, although the one month that he has spent in prison has aged him a few years ahead already. His beard has grown out and is an unruly tangle of hair. His breath reeks and his clothing has worn thin, resulting in a tattered mess.
But Astra does not stare. She's seen too many sights like these to have them be strangers to her.
The prisoner sneers in response to Astra, but she isn't finished yet.
"You have five minutes to cooperate before they take you," Astra continues. Her accent is sharp and precise and quick, but that only emphasizes the importance of her message. Astra has been telling the prisoner the same words for four weeks now - this being the fourth and hopefully the last - and her patience is running thin. Still, if Astra's higher-ups find the prisoner dead on the prison floor the next time they check, Astra will very certainly be done for.
Moments pass and they eventually stretch into minutes and then the minutes tick down to sixty seconds. And then again until there is only thirty seconds until the guards come rushing into the walls of the dank prison, their torches illuminating a path to lead their way.
Panic begins to rise in the prisoner's chest and Astra watches as it writes itself across his angular features. He attempts to stifle the pressure, but his eyebrows scrunch and his eyes dart around nervously. His mouth parts before closing again, no words coming out despite him trying desperately to think of something to say; to think of something that will save himself.
Astra holds back an amused laugh as she mentally counts down the seconds until the prisoner surrenders because all signs point to the small victory. Not long now, she thinks.
Finally, the guards yank open a door somewhere nearby, their boots hitting the ground with force methodically as they walk.
The prisoner locks his dull eyes with Astra's pale blue ones which seems to be carved from ice, and for once there is a small spark in them waiting to become something more. A fire, perhaps.
Astra taunts him with a small smile. It is a greedy and selfish act, but she thinks that she deserves it for coming down each week before dinner to see this man barely holding on to his indignant words that surely await to leave his mouth. Oh, if only he would yell the profanities at her. Then she would have the right to punish him.
"Fine, fine. Bring me to him," the prisoner speaks quickly. His words stumble over each other in the rush to leave his lips, and the rasp of his voice makes it hard to distinguish his message.
But Astra has been waiting for this moment for a while now, and she knows - she knows - that it is finally time.
She leans down to look upon him in a purposefully condescending way, but not enough to be eye-level with the hunched man. "Say please."
And when he utters the single syllable with reluctance, the guards arrive. The prisoner eyes Astra with an equal amount of disdain and urgency. Hurry.
Astra smiles devilishly and acknowledges the guard standing in front of her, waiting diligently for an order. She nods, and he understands in a split moment, his eyes widening a smidgen as he passes on the piece of information to the others standing behind him.
Astra watches as they proceed to haul the prisoner away by his shackles, the man protesting with vigor at his discomfort. Astra follows close behind, triumphant pride running through her veins and fueling her body as energy.
Wygrałem. I win.
*
such trash from a trash can wow! + this is another short story kind of thing. i guess it is a novella of sorts (maybe idk i don't have a set plot line like most of my stories but let's just ignore that). since i love love love incorporating cool foreign things and badass and/or angry characters, i couldn't resist. here's a very brief explanation / introduction:
calamity (a.k.a this little short) takes place in a virtual setting where it's winter almost all year around, although the people there speak polish which refers to the cool foreign thing. astra and her partner (whose name i cannot reveal yet) check off the badass and/or angry characters (both in this case)
i'm also attempting to write in present tense and this whole thing is really just an experiment of sorts. i hope you guys can bear with me haha (i am also aware that the playlist is mostly compiled of rlly dramatic instrumental music and that it doesn't flow well together just let me shed a tear) (buT i am also too lazy to fix it ok bye)
