BANISHED?!?! or I'm a Monster!!!!! (A Redwall Log) EDITED
Lily faces more consequences from attacking Cynthia ( http://rwmuck.limitless.org/rwmuck/content/poor-rascal-gets-every-living... ).
RW Abbey: Abbot's Chambers
These are the rooms of Abbot Benar, They consist of a couple of rooms.
The largest room by far is the private sitting room. Tall windows look
out over the Gardens's of the abbey and beyond the Open Ground between
the cloister and the walls. It is a comfortable well lived in room with
chairs and tables, work desks, ornaments and books. A set of three
large armchairs are set up before the fire-place and there are
several large bookcases filled with tomes about the abbey and its
craft works.
Through a small door is Benar's bedroom, it is filled with antique
furniture and fittings and wood panels attached to the walls hide
the stone of the abbey. The single window is flanked by drapes of
thick velvet and though it appears like a rich room at first glance
it is quite simple otherwise. The bed is a single, functional frame
of wood with blankets and pillows and there is a small portrait of
Benar's mother Amarro as the only personal decoration in the room.
Exits: [Hall]way
Lilymoore and Angela the female mice. Benar the male squirrel. Emyuil Half-Rat the male mouse.
Benar is in his study, sat behind his desk and waiting quietly for Lilymoore to arrive, his hands resting on a piece of paper, just looking off out the window as he waits for her to arrive.
From the hallway, Angela's voice can be faintly heard. She sounds distinctly unhappy. A knock is soon heard upon the door. LilyMoore is standing outside it, looking towards the floor, looking about half as ashamed as she actually is.
Benar doesn't get up, he sighs and turns his head to look at the doorway, "Come in Lilymoore please, and close the door behind you."
LilyMoore enters, softly closing the door behind her. She looks like she's been crying recently, but she's silent now as she shuffles across the room, head bowed, paws clasped in front of her. She stops on front of the Abbot's desk, staring shamefully at the floor. This is not an act.
The squirrel doesn't say anything for a long while, just looks at the young mouse then sighs, "Hello Lilymoore, I think we need to talk," he doesn't stand up, he doesn't greet her, the usual friendly, inviting Abbot is gone. He just looks over at her, "do you know, I had to dig a long way back into the records of Redwall to see what had been done in the past when a youngster assaulted an Abbey member in such a terrible way." he tapped the paper on the desk, "I found it you know, there is precedent, laid down in Abbey Lore, sanctioned by Council... by rights I should enact this law at once. But I am giving you a chance to defend yourself Lilymoore."
LilyMoore stares at the floor for a few more minutes after he's finished talking, then murmurs, "I deserve anything that anybeast could do to punish me. I have nothing more to say." A tear trickles down her cheek, but she angrily brushes it way, leaving a slight red mark on her cheek because she pressed so hard. She continues to stare at the floor.
Bnear says, "I am afraid that is not a good enough answer LilyMoore, just what where you thinking? Why would you attack Cynthia like that? I will have your reasoning and your explanation or I will have little choice but to enact this lore. It's quite clear what is expected."
LilyMoore glances up at the Abbot in surprise. She thought for sure she would get her just punishment with no option to explain, like what happened with her great-grandmother. "Um..." she obviously was not expecting to be /forced/ to defend herself. "Uh.....I thought....I..." she looks back at the floor, unable to keep up eye contact. "I thought it was her fault that Caleb left the Abbey and almost, like....died or something. I mean, Caleb's always been so /good/. I've always been the naughty one. He couldn't've possibly thought of leaving the Abbey without somebeast influencing him. I....." another tear trickles down her cheek, but it's ignored. "....I was trying to keep her away from him....I just got so mad. I'm sorry......" she looks utterly miserable.
The abbot currently has no sympathy for miserable, "Then you should have perhaps talked to your brother, or maybe myself or your Grandmother or Uncle and you would know Caleb left on his own accord. Cynthia did everything in her power to make him turn back and return to the Abbey when she found him following her." he stands up and touches the piece of paper then walks to the window and stares out at the Abbey grounds, then he pulls the window shut with a click, "Cynthia has made amends for what happened, as has Caleb, his promotion to Novice 2nd class was even delayed because of his actions but you..." he turns around, hands tucked into his habit, "You attacked a resident of the abbey, and not in a children rough housing manner. But violently, with intent to kill or wound... Cynthia's injures are grave, severe, you almost broke bones, you certainly have hurt her in ways that will take months for her to recover from and you did it days after her new parents wedding."
LilyMoore just stays quiet, but she's starting to look confused. Caleb left of his own accord? Since when was her Perfect (in her eyes) Brother the one who did naughty things? Her intertwined fingers tighten and her knuckles turn white as she tries to process this information. But she does it all silently, awaiting the verdict.
Benar sighs and moves back to his desk, he touches the paper then turns it over, "In the Season of the Outcast, Veil Sixclaw, son of the warlord ferret Swartt performed a crime on the same level as you. His punishment, as agreed by Abbess Meriam, Bella of Brockhall and the Elders of Redwall abbey was Exile, for life, from the confines of Redwall Abbey."
LilyMoore starts and looks up at the Abbot, fear written on her face. Then as tears trickle down her cheeks, she nods and turns, head bowed once again. "I'll go pack my things. That is only what I deserve. I'm sorry...." she starts to walk towards the door to the hall. Her world has (almost) been ripped out from under her feet, and she knows that she deserves it. Forget the fact that the Abbot has not yet passed the sentence upon her. She's just accepting it as a fact of her life now. She can say nothing to defend herself, because she knows that she did a very big wrong. So she doesn't even try.
Benar sits back down "Did I dismiss you Lilymoore? No stand back were you where please, I will thank you not to prejudge my decision in this matter."
LilyMoore's paw was resting on the door handle. She half-turns and stares at the Abbot with hollow eyes, tears still trickling down her cheeks. "Why? It is only what I deserve. The Abbey will truly be better off without my anger....without me...." she manages to whisper, her paw tightening on the door handle, her knuckles turning white from the force of her grip.
The abbot snorts and points, "Back where you were, or I'll hand you over to your Grandmother."
LilyMoore releases the door handle and whirls around, anger rising up in her eyes. But this time it is directed towards herself. She opens her mouth, then closes it and stalks over to where she had been. She keeps her mouth shut so she doesn't say something stupid, but she's obviously getting mad now.
Benar looks down at Lilymoore, "What you did is unforgiveable Lilymoore, your anger is no excuse, we have had countless beasts live within these walls who suffer from the Bloodwrath and in all our history, all of it, the number of beasts who have assaulted another innocent resident of this abbey I can count on one hand." he sits back down at the desk, "I can't even say your youth is a factor, Veil was actually younger then you," he takes a deep breath, "I am ready to pass judgment here now on this matter, the sentence that history, the law and precedence says I should hand out to you is suspended, do something like this again however and I will enforce it." he picked up the piece of paper and fed it into a candle on his desk, and then let it burn, "This remains between you and I, I will inform your parents of it when they return. Publicly you are removed, effective immediately, from the Bellringers, your lessons with myself in the art of bellringing are suspended. I will review the matter after the Autumn feast and should I find your behaviour and this incident have helped you learn a valuable lesson we shall let it fade. You are also to take additional classes with me, every week with regards to the controlling of your anger."
Just then, the sound of one VERY angry Half-Rat comes from the stairs as he descends to the middle floor. The door is shut, and Emyuil batters against it, his growling breaths audible from the other side.
LilyMoore stares at the Abbot, her anger fading. "Wait, what?" She is shocked that she's being allowed to stay. ".....I'm not exiled?" Outside, in the hall, Angela goes to jab at her grandson with her staff. "Stay outta there, Emyuil, please!" Inside the room, Lily has collapsed into a chair in utter surprise. "...I...I....Bloodwrath?" She has obviously not been told that she has it by either her mother or her great-grandmother.
Benar Mutters something under his breath that sounds a little bit like "Kick Angela and Dora's keisters, teach them to not tell her.. grumble grumble grumble." as he looks at Lilymoore and inclines his head, "Indeed you are not, but that sentence stays between yourself and I understood? I want you to learn from this." He then walks past and yanks open the door, "Stop that both of you, you may enter now LilyMoore and I have had a talk and the matter is all dealt with, Angela she is in your care now except every Thursday morning when she is mine."
Deftly, Emyuil catches the staff and holds it away from himself, releasing it only after he's sure that he won't be jabbed anymore. "Neither you, nor my sister, nor the GODS THEMSELVES can stay my paw now. I have been charged with protecting my kin; I will do so, no matter the cost." Hearing LilyMoore's confused question, he growls to himself, "Benar, you old fool," barely audible. "You tell her now, in one of the most uncertain moments of her life so far. NOW you tell her." His rage begins to build, and with an effort he forces it down. Swallowing, not out of nervousness, but out of sheer effort of staying calm, he stalks into the room. "Benar." The words fall from his lips, dead before they left his mouth. "I would speak to you."
Benar regards Emyuil, "Yes I told her now because this mollycoddling has gone on quite enough Emyuil. What happened to Cynthia is because we have let Lily continue on without any clue that she suffers from it. That ends now."
Emyuil growls quietly. "We never coddled her. Ever. And it never crossed your mind that we didn't know either? I for one had no clue that she suffered from the 'wrath. Do you really not think that I would have held the information from her? And do you really not think that Cynthia plays a role in this as well?"
Angela yells at her grandson's face, "An' I don't want to see ye get banished for disobeyin' the Abbot--OH FOR THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!" The old mouse had not been expecting the door to open like that, and in her emotional state, she whacks the doorframe with her staff. "DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!!" Lily starts hyperventilating, then she starts trying to get out of the room, her eyes filled with panic. "No, no, no, I can't, I CAN'T HAVE THAT!!" Angela now looks to the ceiling. "Great."
The abbot takes a deep breath, "Angela calm down and stop shouting, please take care of Lilymoore" he moves over to reach for Lily "That goes for you as well Emyuil, if you wish to talk to me you can do so without shouting, please Lily calm down."
Emyuil inserts himself between the Abbot and his niece, offering Lily a quick, reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before doing so. "Don't touch her," he says to Benar. His words hold bitterness and anger, barely suppressed--for Lily's sake. Not for Benar's or his own. "Do not touch her until we have resolved the damage you just caused."
"Emyuil, please stop jumping to conclusions," Angela says desperately. Lily goes to bat her uncle's paw away, then, after managing to escape the confines of the room, RUNS. She runs as fast as her legs will carry her, up the stairs, out the door of the Abbey building, taking her to she-has-no-idea-where (the belltower) as she bursts into tears. They 3 adults can barely hear her call herself a Monster. Angela sighs and rubs her eyes. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if she 'ad the Bloodwrath until last week when she attacked Cynthia. If I 'ad known for certain before now, I would've told 'er. Excuse me..." and she hobbles off to go talk to her great-granddaughter....
Benar stalks back to his desk and sits down behind it, "'I cause', do not pin this blame on me Emyuil, It has been obvious for months that Lilymoore has the Bloodwrath in her just like her mother. Dora knows, she didn't want to talk about it, Angela and yourself would know if you could be bothered to look past the surface and where not all in denial over it. Angry incident after incident, it couldn't be any more obvious? What do you think I have been doing for the past six months with all the books and the tutoring, private tutoring? Trying to teach Lilymore control and temperance and give her role models to look up to and aspire to be?" he shakes his head, "Well enough is enough, she almost killed Cynthia because she lost control." he takes a deep breath calming himself down and tucks his hands back into his sleeves, "Now why don't you calm down and talk to me in a civilized manner if you want me to take anything you say seriously."
"In denial? IN DENIAL? I never saw the slightest shred of evidence of her having the curse inside her--Well, scratch that, I saw it," he corrects himself, "But I couldn't be certain. And she had valid reason to fight. Her brother was in danger--or had been--and she wanted to remove the source of that danger. While I disagree, of course, with her methods and actions, her cause was a valid one. I know better than anybeast here." Emyuil clenches and unclenches one fist, trying to keep his paws from shaking in fury. "Cynthia provoked her. She struck the first blow. She had no idea how to stop herself from falling to the Bloodwrath. And I, too, know the curse. It took me many seasons to learn how to even BEGIN to fight it. And I still am not master of it. And you expect her, even if she did know of it, to be perfectly calm despite the fact that she was fearing for her brother's safety? That she was struck first? Your logic is flawed." His eyes are sparking fury but still his voice is barely shaking.
Benar leans forward over his desk, "I have about had about half the orchard crew tell me why Cynthia 'pushed' Lilymoore, would you like to know before you start shouting at me again Emyuil? Your niece had her by the lapels and was screaming into her face. So of course Cynthia pushed her backwards, that isn't provoking that is attempting to disengage, then Lilymore jumped her." he shakes his head, "As for her brother, what happened was Caleb's doing, Caleb left the abbey, Caleb followed Cynthia, Cynthia did everything in her power to make him return before they were both jumped by that rat. If Lilymoore had bothered to maybe speak to her brother or to me or to her grandmother she would have known this. No instead she stalked off, already in a rage to confront Cynthia. God damn it Emyuil I want to help the girl! Not sit in here shouting about it! Do you know what the flaming Abbey law says I should be doing? If you don't go look it up and see how horrified I am, I'm ignoring it because I care for Lily as much as you do."
Emyuil closes his eyes, then opens them. They're calmer now, and not so misted from his end of things. "Very well. But Cynthia did nothing to help calm Lily. Did nothing to /verbally/ disengage. She merely continued the argument, causing it to escalate. Lily's fear was that she could've lost her brother. While Caleb acted foolishly, if Cynthia had remained here, to begin with, nothing like this would've happened. And," he adds, his eyes flashing briefly. "I cannot possibly believe that you care for her as much as I do. I do not deny that you care for her at all--but understand that she is my kin. My charge. And she is mine to protect. If you wanted to help her...if you care for her so much...WHY did you just tell her about the Bloodwrath? She needed your support, or mine, or Angela's--not to be given the most terrifying news a beast can receive about themselves, short of being told they're dying. It could've waited, and if you loved her as I do, you would see that."
Benar leans back in his chair, "I told her because she needs to know, she needs to work through this, DoraRose is not here, neither is Leon and we need to start working with Lilymoore now before next time she kills someone." he shook his head, "Perhaps you should consider why Lily stormed out of here? Could it possibly be because the safe, quiet environment she was in was suddenly filled with screaming enraged uncle? I had the matter in hand, I had just told her and before I could even move onto helping her accept and understand this you burst in here screaming and hammering on the door."
"Don't mock me. It was not /safe./ I heard her voice. She was afraid. She was already going to run, it was too much for her. And I'll admit that I didn't help the situation. But I lost control, much as she did. So I'll apologize to her--but not to you." Emyuil breathes slowly, his gaze lowered sullenly, his scars shifting as he begins to speak again. "/I/ will be the one to work with her, if at all. She'll listen to me."
Benar eyes the 'rat', "No what you heard was her losing control when you started hammering on the door. Until that moment she was calm, she was relieved that she was not to be thrown out of the Abbey on her ear and I was working with her to use that emotion to help her. Then you lumbered in here like a ham fisted vermin and sent her running."
Emyuil inhales sharply at the word 'vermin'. The very thing he's sworn to hunt and kill in retribution for their crimes. "I will not answer to you for my own actions. Remember--I am not one of your Order, you have no authority over me." Recognizing his rage building again, he turns to leave. Just before he departs, he turns, saying over his shoulder, "And I will protect her, whatever the cost." Then, he's gone.
Benar shakes his head and sits back in his chair, "I do have authority to throw you out of the Abbey," he mutters to himself then stalks out of his study to go send a messenger bird.
And then, in a week or two, DoraRose gets a message saying thus:
"Dearest DoraRose, Lilymoore has the Bloodwrath. I am afraid this is now confirmed after an incident a couple of weeks ago. I was attempting to inform her of the situation when your brother stormed in and made the situation impossible. I fear this is something only her mother can deal with. Please return to the Abbey with Zinnia and Leon post-haste for I fear Lily needs your aid urgently. Abbot Benar."
He sent it via messenger bird.
Oh, shnap. :O
(And I put it on here so I wouldn't lose it.)
Thanks for reading!
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