Do As You Are Told

Inquisitors confront a woman. 300-word flash

Do As You Are Told

“They told me to do it,” Saran told the inquisitors.
“Who?” Boris the head of Inquisition barked.
“They did not say their names. I couldn’t clearly see their faces.”
Boris drew his dagger, stepped toward Saran and held the point to her throat.
“You will tell me everything or die at my hand!”
“There were three of them. They approached me in my darkened bedchamber. I wasn’t terrified until they spoke in unison.”
“In unison, you say?”
She nodded mutely.
“Then what happened?”
“They handed me a chased goblet and told me to drink from it. They emphasized that I must finish it.”
“What did it taste like?”
“What I imagine nectar and ambrosia tastes like,” Saran replied.
Boris began to pace the chamber.
“Has anything unusual happened to you since you drank from the goblet?”
“You have arrested me and dragged me to this fetid place. I’m being questioned relentlessly like I am a common criminal,” she said, her temper rising with each word.
Boris watched her closely. His eyes began to widen. He pulled his sword and stood ready.
“Put that toothpick away, for it will barely make a scratch on me,” Saran said with a prolonged hiss. Boris advanced on her menacingly.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” she said as she blasted him with fire from inside her now dragon body. His sword melted and he got painfully singed.
“This new creature I am has more power than you have ever dreamed of. You best beware and leave me in peace,” Saran said hoarsely.
The inquisitor and his assistants backed slowly away toward the walls.
With a mighty roar, Saran leaped up through the ceiling, crashed through a stained-glass window and flew away to distant mountains.
“It must die,” shouted Boris.