ALEJANDRA ANA HERRERA .

DOSSIER.

BIOGRAPHY.

Trigger Warnings: Rape, Death, Murder, Internalized (and otherwise) Homophobia 

You might have heard of my story. Lady Alina. The favorite of the Emperor who took part in a plot to kill him for no apparent reason. Who helped the Empress put her son on the Throne, who ruled along with the Empress. You know that version. But it couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

Emperor Zarek was anything but good. Anything but kind. Anything but what a ruler should be. He was evil, to tell you the truth. I never wanted to be in his harem, anyway. But once I saw the Empress crying, I knew I had to help. She ignored me at first, but I kept going. I kept trying to help. And one day, she opened up to me. We fell in love. And I was overjoyed. 

To finally have love in my life was a blessing, in my opinion. But then Zarek wanted to send me away. And so, with some prompting from my love, Alanna Rose/Caia, I became his favorite. That meant I had to sleep with him. It was horrible. I hated the entire experience. The things I’ll do for love. 

Afterward, things were going well between Alanna Rose & I. Until Zarek threatened to kill us, and Roderick, who was about 10 years old at the time. Alanna and I were in our twenties, and there was no way we were letting Zarek do any of that. And so, Alanna Rose/Caia, his Empress, poisoned him. With some help from me. 

Thanks to some political maneuvering from both of us, and our faithful servants, Roderick became the next Emperor. But a ten-year-old can hardly rule. And so, that was left to us. 

We tried our best to rule justly and fairly. Far from what Zarek would have done. But rumors of our evil kept spreading. We ignored them, to our peril. After all, what harm could rumors do? We knew the truth. That was enough. 

Until one day, a faction still loyal to Zarek rose up and overthrew Roderick. My love and I were set to be executed. Luckily, our faithful servants came to our rescue again and got us out of the kingdom. To a more open-minded place. A place where we could be our old selves. Where we could just be. 

That’s where we are now. But the time has come to set the record straight. To let everyone know the truth. Because history is written by the winners. And in the end, tragically, that wasn’t us. 

They say we’re evil temptresses who made Zarek fall in love and then slaughtered him for no good reason. They say we drink the blood of virgins. They say we’re slaves to the Darkness, the mental plague taking over the kingdom. But they know nothing about us. Sure, we struggle with the Darkness. But there are cures, medicines, spells, enchantments, one can do to keep the Darkness at bay. And anyone struggling with the Darkness knows that it is much more likely to make you harm yourself than others. 

We are not slaves to it. We actually manage it rather well most days. And we killed Zarek in self-defense, and in the defense of that innocent child. The kingdom of Thundara, the Empire of the Magnificent Throne should be thanking us for getting rid of that tyrant. Instead, we are vilified. Mistreated. The time has come to make things clear. To get justice for ourselves and for others. 

History is written by the winners. But now you will hear the losers’ tale. And I hope it opens your mind. 

STORIES.