Bennath 1st - (Brazen Bull) 15th entry

Bennath 1st

-Execution day.
Palkeera made me attend. It was horrifying and I know it shall haunt me forever.

It happened in the Arena. All the seats were full. People were shouting. There was an empty stage set up on the middle of the dry dirt field. I had to sit up close, with Palkeera and the Pontifices. The Legatus were in attendance as well. For a long time people just screamed at the empty stage.

Then Sliske stepped out of the shadows with the rest of his Praetorian following. He laughed, told us all to settle down, and promised us a show. I felt sick from the very beginning of that statement. Black shadows erupted from the stage like a volcano. They turned into tendrils that writhed in the sunlight. As Sliske read off the offenses, the traitor rose up from the shadows on the stage, his hands bound and his eyes blindfolded. People began screaming again. Sliske had promised a show, and he did not fall short.

Even though this man, this traitor, had single-handedly weakened our Empire, I could not help but feel pity for him when Sliske ripped off his blindfold and the man blinked against the blinding light, looking upon all the furious faces of the Zarosian people.  The other Praetorians stepped back into the Shadow Realm, Trindine staying to guard the man. Someone threw a tomato, which she blocked.

Sliske stressed that a crime so heinous deserved a punishment to match, one that would stick in the collective minds of the people and act as a warning against those who would seek to follow in the footsteps of this treachery for ages to come.
The Shadow Realm opened and the Praetorians marched out pulling on ropes. Everyone leaned forward in their seats to see what they had in store, but I had sunk down in my knowing that it was something terrible.

A brazen bull, shining defiantly and proud in the sun. Sliske actually patted the device and cheerfully spoke to it as if it were alive. The traitor started screaming as soon as he saw it, unable to run from Trindine’s grip on him. An awed hush smothered the crowd. Then one person started screaming their approval and the rest of the Arena joined in.
The Praetorians moved the bull into position over the fire pit. The man was screaming and kicking as Sliske pushed him into the bull through the side. When the fire was lit, the screaming began in even greater earnest. Smoke began pouring from the bull’s nose and animalistic bellowing emerged from its mouth.
I looked up at Palkeera, but she looked on unflinchingly. Her face was impossible to read. When I looked over at Zamorak, I saw his eyes shining. Azzanadra looked a little disgusted, but Sliske was almost dancing with delight of the spectacle he had created.

I hadn’t been able to handle it anymore. The bellowing screams and the horrible smoke made me feel worse than I have words to describe. I started crying, right there in front of the Mahjarrat ranks, burying my face in Palkeera’s hip. She pushed me off her immediately, sending me back to her office. I embarrassed her terribly in front of the others.

While I was crying myself out on my bed, I heard someone come in. Expecting Palkeera, come to chastise me, I was horrified when the curtain blocking off my room was drawn back to reveal Zamorak. I cried in front of Zamorak.
He demanded to know what was wrong with me. I managed to tell him between my sobs. He was not amused at all. In fact, he verbally cursed Palkeera for raising me to be ‘so soft’. He carefully went over the execution, even though I didn’t want to hear it, explaining all the details, both benign and gruesome. I broke down crying again.
That must have been about all that he could take, because he told me that he would be seeing me at dawn. He got up and left, slamming the office door behind him on his way out.

Between the execution and my encounter with Zamorak, I may not ever be able to sleep again.