Chapter 52: Chapter 52

The night prior to the investigative tribunal, Shia tossed in bed uneasily, unable to sleep as a thousand and one thoughts raced in her head. Did she really hear the king say it correctly? He is proposing marriage to her, but why?

She couldn’t think of a single, sane answer to her question. She knew that the king might have had disgusting thoughts about her inside his head, but she didn’t think he would be doing such an elaborate plan if his only end goal was to sleep with her. There was also the matter about the oracle and the letters that Langrion’s mother made to her grandma. From the looks of it, King Caldwell had every motive to hurt her grandmother, and he knew that Shia was aware of this. But to propose marriage just so she wouldn’t talk about this secret – this was utterly insane!

She buried her head into a pillow. She missed Langrion so much. Her thoughts were all over the place, and she missed having him to discuss these confusing ideas with. She missed his voice, soothing her, calming her wild insides. She missed hearing his promises of never leaving her.

But, those were just words. Had he not already leave her just now? It is up to her to come up with a way to free him and Khailis. The first thing she needed to do would be seeing that they would be granted a fair hearing at the tribunal tomorrow. With this in mind, Shia forced herself to go back to sleep.

The next day, she went early to court, trying to seek an audience with the presiding judge, but she was flat out denied. She tried to ask for his permission to visit Langrion and Khailis, but they also did not allow her to do so. They informed her that the session for the tribunal was about to start. She should just wait and talk to the defendants later if she wishes, but she doubted that.

Shia just proceeded to sit at the empty court room then, brooding over what to do next. Baroness Alessa suggested that she should expose the former queen’s letters and the oracle at the tribunal so that the king’s crimes could just be exposed, but that would be too risky. King Caldwell knew that she and Prince Langrey are cursed ones, and she wouldn’t be able to stop that fact if she exposes the letters. It seemed like a very tight predicament.

After learning that the prince was the subject of today’s tribunal, the once empty court room became packed with people in a matter of minutes. Shia had a bad feeling about all of these things.

Finally, the king himself arrived at the court. He sat at an elevated podium at the left side of the court house, surrounded by guards on his left and right, one of them being Lord Fincher. This signalled the start of the investigation.

“Today’s hearing will deal with accusations of arson, staging of a rebellion, and abetting cursed ones against Imperial Prince Langrion Zephiry Romualdi, and Lady Khailista Humphrey. The court will now be in session. Everyone is requested to remain silent. Anyone who refuses to obey this law will be sent out immediately or severely punished,” the royal proclamator finally announced.

Shia held her breath as she came face to face with Langrion and Khailis. They both looked like they hardly slept a wink like she did. She wanted to call their names and come closer towards them, but she was blocked by a thick line of soldiers. This was definitely a bad sign.

“Your Imperial Highness, what do you say against these charges?” the royal proclamator asked Langrion in front of the court.

“I deny all the charges,” he said calmly.

“And you, Lady Khailista, what do you say against these charges?”

“I deny them as well. We are guilty of nothing.”

“Very well. Today’s tribunal will discuss the validity of your claims. We have received a report of your participation on the attack done at the debutant ball and on the burning and attack at Leer, which took place simultaneously two days ago. We have a key witness. Please bring him out,” the proclamator announced.

Shia’s heart throbbed in fear. For sure, the witness would be someone whom the king had paid handsomely. But who, in their right minds, would accuse the prince so openly like this?

Her curiosity was satisfied in a moment as a familiar-looking rogue stepped out from the side door and took his place at the witness stand.

The witness – a man in his late twenties – smiled toothlessly at Shia’s awestruck face. He was able to recognize her amongst the thick throngs of crowd, and despite his recent lack of teeth, she recognized him immediately too. He was none other than her former guard and pursuer at Ylann, the rogue she had stabbed at the back with her dagger when the prince and she had been running away from the cave.

“Witness, state your name and swear that you will tell nothing but the truth within these sacred halls of justice.”

“I, Hadrian Veer, swear to tell nothing but the truth within these sacred halls of justice,” the man said, mimicking the words spoken to him, his high-pitched, guttural voice resonating inside the Judicial Court.

Shia gazed back at Langrion whose face looked like it had been completely drained out of blood. She could only imagine how her own, pallid face looked like to the rogue at the witness stand, who kept eyeing her in the crowd.

“Hadrian Veer, what is your occupation, and what information do you bring here as a witness?” the royal proclamator asked.

The scoundrel named Hadrian licked his lips before he spoke. “Ah, well, I was a mercenary before. Now I was forced to work as a rogue assistant.”

“A rogue assistant, what is that?” the judge inquired.

“I transport cursed ones out of the border.”

Everybody murmured at his revelation. Some people gasped. Shia gulped down the lump at her throat as he continued to speak. ‘What is this imp going to say?’ she thought feverishly.

“Why did you work as a rogue assistant?” the judge asked.

“I-I was forced to do it. He told me he will kill me if I don’t.”

“And who is this ‘he’?”

Hadrian pointed an accusing finger towards the prince. “That A-grade. He said he will turn me into stone if I don’t follow his commands.”

The crowd gasped further, and the whispers became louder than before. The crowd repeated the word A-grade – the term used for cursed ones within the lines of nobility - amongst themselves with fear.

The judge thumbed heavily at the table as he commanded the crowd. “Silence!”

He turned to Hadrian and continued his questions. “What did he command you to do?”

“He said he needed help to transport cursed ones out of Gascone. He did not like his grace’s law about killing cursed ones. He said he will overthrow the government and make a new law that will permit cursed ones to live in peace. We started to stage a coup at the upcoming ball, and we planned to burn down Leer to stop the king in case he escapes from there...”

“Mr. Veer, are you absolutely sure of what you are saying? You are accusing the Imperial Prince of a heinous crime that does not seem to make any sense! Why would he overthrow the current government when he is in line for the throne himself?” the judge said, questioning his statement.

“I have letters bearing his seal,” the toothless rogue said. He produced some parchment from his vest and showed it to the crowd. There was a crimson wax seal at the lower left side of the paper, which the royal proclamator took and handed back to the judge. The judge examined it, as Hadrian continued to speak. “This letter contains his instructions to me on how I should transport cursed ones from Sensala bay to Jazamel. You can see that he sealed it with his insignia.”

“I see what you mean, but we’ll have to verify the insignia in this letter further. Still, why would the prince do all of these? Would he not be king himself in the future? Surely, he could reverse the law once he becomes king,” the judge uttered in amazement.

“It’s because he is a cursed one himself, and time is running out for him. He is also protecting another cursed one who was very close to him,” Hadrian declared. He glanced straight at Shia’s face when he said his final sentence. Her heart immediately began to beat wildly against her chest.

The crowd went wild with what he said. Many of the people listening there had become enraged, and the soldiers had to control the ones who had threatened to exercise violence.

“Silence!” the judge thumbed back. Shia could see the sweat forming at the head of the judge and even the uneasiness of the soldiers with what Hadrian just exposed.

“Pray, and who is this other cursed one that the prince is allegedly protecting?”

Hadrian’s eyes met Shia’s own, brown eyes. She knew what he was going to say as he grinned back at her toothlessly. He began to raise his pointing finger, but someone cut him off.

“Your honor, I accept his accusations! I am cursed!” Langrion suddenly said as he stood up from his seat. The crowd went wild with fear, but the guards subdued them with force.

“Do you really mean it, Prince Langrion?! By the god of heavens, but who is this accomplice that you are protecting?!” the judge said, recoiling at his seat in horror.

“That would be me, your honor,” Lady Khailis said as she also sprung up from her seat.

“No, Khailis!” the prince said, “No, your honor, Lady Khailis is lying! I am protecting no one! I hired rogues so that no one will discover my secret. I did not keep any cursed ones close to me, none at all!”

“No, Langrey! Khailis!” Shia said, trying to reach out her hands to them, but the guards pushed her with their shields away. Langrey and Khailis looked back at her, and Langrey began to shake his head against her.

“No, please!” Shia said. At the sound of Shia’s franctic voice, Langrion said once more, “We accept the accusations, your honor! Take us away from here! Put this court in halt, and let this finish!”

The commanding sound of the prince’s voice frightened everybody, including the judge. Who would dare go against a man who had just declared himself as a cursed one?

“T-the court will let this rest! Further investigations will commence at a later time at the Capitol! The session is halted,” the royal proclamator said as the judge thumbed back twice at the table.

Almost immediately, guards armed with guiding stones came in to whisk Prince Langrion and Lady Khailis away. Shia tried to reach her arms towards him, and thankfully, she was able to successfully yank him towards her.

It was only for a brief, brief moment that they came nearer to each other, but she heard Langrion loud and clear before they started to drag him away from her grasp.

“I love you! Be well!”

“No!” Shia said, trying to reach for him again, but she failed. They had already dragged him and Khailis beyond reach at this point, and the guards kept her at bay effectively at the spectator’s seat.

Shia looked over at the witness’ stand and saw the sneering figure of Hadrian Veer - the man who accused his majesty of all these nonsense.

She tried to channel vines to come forth and strangle him, but guiding stones had frequented the vicinity, making Shia feel lightheaded as she tried to wield her power – an after effect caused by guiding stones when used against cursed ones.

Her whole world seemed to spin. It was a good thing that she fell against someone else’s strong arms. She looked up to see who that person was, and she was immediately greeted by the worried face of Mage Silas.

He propped her up and whispered towards her, “you cannot lose consciousness here. Otherwise, the guards will know that their guiding stones are affecting you. Let’s get out of here first!”

Shia took one last look at the room, and her eyes fell at the elevated podium located at the left side of the Judicial Court. She saw the standing figure of his majesty, the detestable King Caldwell the First. He blew her a kiss before he turned away from her towards the exit.

Shia swore that she would positively strangle the life out of him and that toothless rogue as soon as she could get the opportunity to do so.