1 Burn That Witch!
A woman was being dragged towards a pulpit in a marble platform. The deacons were preparing for the 'Purification Ceremony' as the holy knights tied her up. Wooden logs were placed on makeshift furnace around a thick wooden pole; The execution of the rumored 'Witch of the Yerstien' began.
Surrounding the woman were people carrying pitchforks and lighted torch, it was the very definition of persecuting someone within the town. Mockery and travesty could be seen in these people's eyes as they act disgusted towards the woman. The light from the torch illuminated the woman's face as her bright image was revealed.
Her appearance was the total opposite of what the word 'witch' resounded within the imagination of these people. Her jade-like beauty would leave any man in awe and admiration, yet the invisibly painted label of her being a 'witch' and the enemy of the Church had made these people seemingly become ravage towards her.
For her, this was all too familiar… all the noise, all this false accusation… All this is just bringing up troublesome memories. Her looks were full of coldness, yet dismay and pity could be seen in her eyes… It seems that most people are just too… naive.
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14 years ago…
Loud ranting could be heard inside a room. Lashing of whips followed by echoing slaps resounded within this wooden house in the town of Yerstien. Crying loudly was the girl who was crouching in pain from all of the abuse she was suffering from her stepfather.
Her intoxicated father was on with his daily routine of him asking "where the money was" although it was obviously spent on liquor. It was a torturous cycle for this poor little girl as her mother would just be passively letting all this to happen. She could not bear to do anything as this man would threaten to leave her if she would go against anything that he was doing.
This was definitely not the environment any child should grow up with. It was horrendous, yet it seems that Ryia was stronger inside as she did not let all this faze her kind heart.
Although they were poor, Ryia would always spare a part of her food to the children on the alleyway beside their house. She was helpful towards others and is made her someone beloved by the neighbors and other people alike;
They have shown more concern against all the abuses the little girl was suffering more that her mother ever will.
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Ryia grew to be the strong woman she always was. Although she was suffering at a young age, the heavens had seemingly smiled upon her ever since that one fateful day; A tragic occurrence happened back when their town was plagued with an unknown disease, hundreds of the townspeople suffered before the epidemic was taken care of.
Among the casualties of the plague, both Ryia's parents were included.
It may have seemed to be another bad and tragic fate that befell upon Ryia, but it seemed that it was something that was disguised as a blessing.
The town's growth recovered as the presence of the Holy Church arrived, it was the reason why the plague was stopped back then and a church was then established near the village.
Ryia, at the young age of 11, had been adopted by the old neighbors that she had back then that survived the plague. With her being dedicated and hardworking, the business that the old couple handled grew and expanded. Education at these times were crude and fallible, things such as proper learning did not exist and as such, one would be left with their own devices in learning new things. Ryia had learned the ways of being able to survive within this patriarchal ages.
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Now at the age of 25, a fully grown woman, Ryia have progressed a lot in terms of her being able to handle things within the food business that she single-handedly managed, at these olden times, it was indeed something incredible to have a woman run something without it hiccupping at any given moment.
This patriarchal mindset was of course set by the existence of the Holy Church.
"It seems like witches really do exist huh?" A man within the pub that Ryia owns questioned a fellow drunkard who was enjoying a drink with him.
"Witches? Those beings that the Holy Church were spreading rumors about" the other man replied.
"Oi, it seems that it is not a rumor anymore! It's actually real! One of my comrades saw someone that was executed in a nearby kingdom due to her being a witch!"
"Eh? Her? A woman you say?" the man exclaimed at the term "her". It seems that it had caught his attention as all these shenanigans about "witches" would seemingly not affect them in any way.
"It seems that these witches are exclusively women according to the Holy Church."
'Hmmm… It makes sense eh?" The other man nodded in agreement to the statement that only "women" were being persecuted with the reason of them being witches, which would be highly convenient for these drunkard men that obviously does not want to cross the line of sight of the Holy Church.
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Her success would have obviously attracted many adversaries, and as such, competitors within this times of scarcity would easily arise, and one false rumors and vaguely made plots could change it all…
Pinning down the blame of the plague that happened a decade ago, as something that she had plotted to murder her parents, Ryia was then blamed by all the tragedy that has happened, including the death of her foster parents as "to acquire all the businesses" that the old couples owned.
Everything was crude within this world... a simple rumor, some crude "evidence"... and one could be blamed for about... almost anything. And the ruling of Holy Church made it even worse, any blackmail pinned to a person, especially to a woman, would then be manufactured as the truth...
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It does not seem that reasoning at this point would be any useful...
Her eyes stayed calm and collective as the fires slowly burned her... From the feet to the entirety of her body. The seething pain was nothing as she closed her eyes, smiling gently towards everyone that was chanting for her execution. Although some might have been against this, evident to those that mourned during the persecution, the Holy Church was too domineering to stand against.
The searing heat burned the entirety of her body as her entire corpse stayed intact, charcoaled.
"It seems that it would be true that she is a witch, if the records were correct, then she should have turned into ashes if she was a normal person." A deacon interjected as he inserted "facts" that were made up by the higher order. The boorish nature of the people within these times could be easily manipulated and played to the desires of those that have power and recognition...
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The body of the woman was thrown into an open pit behind the Church...
Through the kind donations... the Holy Church could easily turn a blind eye into another one that was falsely accused...
