Part 2

King Xolarand peered at her for several seconds, and then smiled.

"Well, if it isn't the Ashen Empress, at long last. I, King Xolarand, welcome you to Hell."

Rebecca bowed before speaking. "I greet you as an equal, Demon King. I presume this is my final judgement, where you tell me how evil of a person I was and how I deserve to be tortured for imagined sins?"

Xolarand laughed heartily and Rebecca's impudence, even in the face of the Demon King. Oh, this would be a fun one.

"No. I will ask you about some events, and you will tell me why you did that. Let's begin early in your life. At 15 you poisoned a maid and she died quite quickly, all because she struck you once. Why?"

"She thought because I was not my father's favourite, she could get away with abusing me, so I showed her the consequences of striking nobility, no matter how disliked they are. Next."

"Marvellous. When you became a vampire, after Count Titus expelled you from his castle, once you left his valley, you drained an entire family dry in their farmhouse. You made the mother watch as you murdered her children in cold blood."

"They were nothing more than food at the time. I was hungry, and they were the first mortals I came across. A vampire is an apex predator of mortals, just like a rusalka. They died full of fear, and their blood tasted excellent."

Xolarand was intrigued. She felt no regret for casual murder of innocent life. Undeterred, he continued.

"You arranged for two children to be adopted, and then placed them in the care of a self-admitted predator, Victoria Valorian. You knew what she did, for nearly a year you watched impassively as she took out her deepest most depraved fantasies on them, and you did nothing. Why?"

Rebecca was annoyed at this question. "Victoria was a friend, Xolarand. I had hoped she would overstimulate herself, and get over it. Once she crossed the boundary I set, I put down the monster I made myself."

"I wonder who is the greater monster here, Rebecca."

"I did what I had to do, Demon King."

"Why did you murder Countess Diana?"

"She was a threat to my rule due to her claim to the Whitemire throne, even if she claimed to have renounced it. Nobles would have rallied around her in time." Rebecca said, hands on her hips.

"She was only 25, Rebecca." Xolarand said, staring at her. "She trusted you, and you repaid that trust with murder."

"Nobody should ever have trusted me, Xolarand. Not even my own children trusted me, for good reason. The second you become a liability, I will kill you if it's the correct course of action, personally if need be." Rebecca said, staring daggers back at Xolarand, until he felt so uncomfortable he looked away.

"The harsh laws of your Empire..." Xolarand began, but was immediately interrupted by Rebecca.

"Oh don't give me that bleeding heart bullshit!" Rebecca shouted at him. "Do you know how many people I executed in the last 30 years of my life for all sorts of vile crimes? If anything they weren't harsh enough! Hang them all! I brought order to Southern Karand for the first time in history. So what if I had to break a few thousand lives? There are always more humans, a few dead criminals is worth order."

Rebecca had enough and climbed up onto his desk and looked him right in the face. "This is a farce, this is designed to try to make me feel guilty about my own actions in my long life. I lived nearly 200 years, and then had a century to reflect on my actions while waiting in your extremely slow line outside. Fuck them all! I'll kill them all again! I'll murder an infant if it guarantees order for a thousand years. I'll kill anyone, if I have a good enough reason to. I considered killing my own son to live another 150 years, Xolarand! Southern Karand was chaos for thousands of years, and I was the one who finally brought stability to it! Nobody can judge me except for myself, and I judge myself innocent from all sin!"

The room shook at Rebecca's last words, and Xolarand smiled. It seems a certain someone had been listening in, and was now coming.

"It seems the Royal Void is coming, Rebecca. You've gotten her interest." Xolarand said, with a hearty laugh. "I must congratulate you, for being such an exquisitely evil person."