Samuel Swenson-Reinhold: The Judgement of Orual

 Finding herself shaking both out of joy and fear, Orual stepped forward in front of her judge, a god bathed in blue and green light. Her judge spoke thus:

"I am Colstar, the god of Judgement and Wisdom. For many years, I have observed your actions in the world of mortals, and have withheld action and punishment in hope that you might find your way to righteousness and good deeds. However your failure to understand the error of your ways brings you to the realm of my judgement, for which I will inflict punishment justly upon you. I will lay out your crimes and misdoings, so that you might begin to understand the reality of your situation.

"You have failed to understand truth, acting as a woman of little faith and following the whims of your broken and twisted heart.

"You have dishonored the sanctity of the marriage of Bardia and Ansit, desiring what could never be yours for yourself and tainting the purity of their relationship.

"You have hidden your own face from yourself, thereby hiding the true state of your broken soul from the possibility to grow and mend itself. 

"You have envied your recently deified sister Psyche, hating her for her trust in the gods and the good in her heart.

"You have misconstrued what love truly is - driven by lust and loneliness, you drained the happiness of others with no remorse. 

"You have unjustly turned your back on your sister Redival, ignoring her and shaping her childhood into one of unhappiness and loneliness.

"You are guilty of all of these crimes and misdoings, among many others. For this, I should banish you to a life of exile and misery, but I will offer you a chance for Atonement. Your judgement is as follows:

"Orual, the late Queen of Glome, - for you are no longer Queen as of this day - you are sentenced first to a life of observation and guilt. In an ethereal form you shall remain a passive, but attentive, observer of the next iteration of the narrative of Orual and Psyche (for humans always repeat their mistakes); you will observe, knowing what you know now, the misdoings and greed of your own heart and soul but will find yourself unable to act. This is your punishment.

"However, because I am a Just and Wise god, I will offer you a second chance at life. After having suffered in watching your own misdeeds and evildoings, you will be reborn as a plain peasant girl and presented an opportunity to live life correctly. In this rebirth you will love as you never loved before, you will give as you never gave before, and you will live as you never lived before. You will honor the gods and the blessing of life given to you despite your misdoings. I, Colstar, judge you, as a merciful god, as someone who is now beginning to understand her own narcissism and jealousy and will honor the human capacity for growth. This is my judgement."

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