The Greek Interpreter: The Sister's Story

[vaysh]

Canon Story: The Greek Interpreter
Title: The Sister's Story
Author: vaysh
Rating: R for violence


She'd found the knife in the room they'd rented for the night. Kemp's eerie giggle haunted her dreams; killing him was easy. Harold was harder. Sofia had loved him, once. But he had starved her little brother, killed him with poisonous fumes. Pavlos. When they crossed the Morava she slipped the blood-stained knife between Harold's ribs, right into his heart.

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

And no-one had any pity on them. Well done Sophy!

Nice epilogue to the story.

[vaysh]

I cannot imagine what utter lack of basic human empathy it would take to be able to starve a man to death, knowingly and right before one's eyes. So, no, no pity for them from me, either.

Thank you. :)

[spacefall.livejournal.com]

Sad and good. Can't say I shed a tear for those two.

[vaysh]

Thank you. :) Sophy certainly had my fullest sympathies in the story.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this lok at Sophy. The little brother is well thought.

[vaysh]

You are most welcome. Her story deserved to be told, if only in 60 words.
It is very odd, but I always saw Paul as a younger brother.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

It does indeed work; especially for the ending.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I echo laurose8's comment about "little brother". That hadn't occurred to me - I'd been assuming he was older. But there is nothing to say one way or the other - he was responsible for his sister because he was male, not because of his age. It adds in an extra poignancy: Sophy had watched him grow up from the very beginning, and helped to look after him.

I love that last phrase: "she slipped the blood-stained knife between Harold's ribs, right into his heart." She's literally doing to him what he metaphorically did to her. "Slipped" rather than "stabbed" or "stuck" - there's a slight suggestion of tenderness there, isn't there? As though love and hate have become confused together.

I also like the fact you've used the characters' full Greek names - giving them dignity in this final act of the tragedy. And I like that Sophy doesn't exactly plan the murders - finding the knife just suggests to her in her desperation a way out of this horrific situation. I think that fits in with her personality, rather than calmly planning to kill the men.

[vaysh]

Thank you so much for your wonderful comment, it is a joy and a thrill to read your detailed thoughts.

I somehow always imagined Paul to be younger than Sophy, and actually never thought about the possibility that he could be older. Something about the way they hug, I think, when Sophy comes into the room. I am glad it resonated with you.

You are right, there is a suggestion of tenderness in the "slipped" - not that I thought of it when writing. :) But your interpretation reflects pretty much how I see Sophy. And yes, I did use the Greek names to emphasise Sophy's agency in this final ending of her story.

[mundungus42.livejournal.com]

Plunging the knife into her former lover's heart is fitting revenge for someone who starved and poisoned Sophy's (little! *heart breaks*) brother. I'm grimly pleased that these two criminally greedy, horrid men got their just desserts-- thank you for this satisfying coda!

[vaysh]

Thank you for this wonderful comment. It was a pleasure to write this coda and spell out what is hinted at in the last lines of the original ACD story. Sophy did deserve her revenge.