day of the trial

The last couple of days went by quickly, and Sam felt he had not rested since Kiera was imprisoned. He was constantly busy sending orders to his people, gathering evidence for the trial, and ensuring Kiera was not left to rot inside her cell.

More than once he had to empty his mind so that his emotions would not get the better of him. It took all he had to keep himself from breaking Kiera out of prison. An escape from the dungeons was easy enough for him to orchestrate, but he knew that was not the way. He needed to prove her innocence.

"I did not think he would do something this stupid." Sam laughed even though his face did not change. His tone was cold. "It is obvious he did this in a fit of blind rage." He put down the paper on top of his desk while he rested his cheek on the palm of his other hand.

"It's an opportunity that has landed on our laps." Kepler was back to his extremely fatigued state, the dark circles under his eyes had returned tenfold. The man looked like a walking corpse.

Sam clicked his tongue, irritated. "This is not how I initially planned to get rid of him." He had much more intricate plans that took him years to devise and in one moment of blind rage, his original plan was dashed.

He dropped his hand, sitting back in his chair.

"But Kiera comes first," his eyes went to Henrie and the man who was standing off to the side approached as Sam called out for him. "How is she?" He skipped the formalities and asked the plain featured man with beige colored hair.

"She's a fighter." The man responded immediately to his query. "She bit one of the knights that wanted to force her to eat. They had to call for the others and they still struggled to get her off of him." He seemed to acknowledge Kiera's fearlessness.

"Was she hurt?"

"She was punched several times, it's most likely that she will bruise." He quickly continued on a more positive note, sensing Sam was not liking what he was hearing. "Despite all that, she is doing remarkably well. Her treatment as a prisoner seems to not distress her in the slightest."

Sam shifted in his seat, he wasn't pleased with Henrie's report. He was on the border of rapidly shifting emotions, seething as he pictured his soon-to-be Queen being treated as a prisoner.

She trusted him. Now was his turn to show her she was right to place her full trust in him. He was going to get her out of there. Then he will make sure the person who caused this whole mess in the first place got what is owed.

"The trial is tomorrow," his attention returning to the present, he turned to Kepler, "has there been any correspondence from the Beast King?"

"None yet sire."

Sam released a frustrated breath. He did not know what was running through the Beast King's head. Sam had sent one of his people to relay his plan to him last night and has yet to receive any communication back. Although he still intended on proceeding with his plan without input from the King, he thought King William would have appreciated that he had taken the time to inform him of his plans.

"Get in contact with Marlon, tell him the time he will be needed at the trial." He gave the order to Henrie who nodded before leaving the prince's study.

"There is news that the Western Crown Prince has safely made his way through the Ger Mountain Pass. He will not be in attendance for the trial tomorrow but one can assume he will want swift justice for his father's murder." Both he and Kepler had the same mind about this. They both knew what the Western Crown Prince's ideal form of justice would be.

There was no turning back after this. Tomorrow's trial would be the first stepping stone into the future he imagined.

Tomorrow would be the first day of what would later be known as the day that started it all.

***

"Open the door." Kiera instantly recognized the Head Knight as he made his way down the dungeon's halls to her cell. Sir Pavel stopped in front of the door as he instructed one of her guards. In the sparsely lit corridors, she could make out his delight in seeing her in this condition.

"It's time for your trial Beast."

Kiera said nothing as the knights streamed into her cell, removing the chains that had her feet tethered to the ground.

Two of the knights harshly grabbed her and pulled her off the floor.

"I say why bother? We should just hang the bitch." The guards snickered as they led her up the stairwell from the dungeons. Kiera did her best to ignore their chatter, as they reached the top of the stairs, and a guard on the other side opened the door of the dungeons. She was immediately blinded by the sudden introduction of natural light as it hit her all at once.

Not letting her regain her bearings, the knights pushed her forward and the first thing she saw once her eyesight properly adjusted to the light was the stark difference between the dire appearance of the dungeons to the extravagance of the palace. As they made their way to where her trial would take place, Kiera noticed how the surrounding temperature had greatly increased from when she was in her prison cell. Something she had never noticed before when she stayed in the lavish guest room before she was taken as a prisoner.

"Move it." She was jerked around by the arm into the grand room. Fortunately, she was able to keep steady and managed not to stumble into the room full of nobles and other notable figures of the court.

She raised her head up, standing tall with her shoulders back. To the humans, she appeared in front of them as the Twelfth Beast General, unbent and unbroken even after days of being locked inside the dungeons.

Before her was the line of royalty. On the throne was the Solomon King and beside him stood the first prince and princess on either side. The line was dazzling, as each of the royal family had hair the color of golden light. Sam stood there too, along with his younger siblings. As their eyes met she felt a sensation as if he was speaking to her directly into her mind.

'Trust me.'

Kiera's eyes then moved on, landing on the man who towered above the rest of the people inside the room. Surrounded by the other two Generals on either side, he stared directly at her face, amber eyes hardened.

This is when she felt embarrassed by her unsightly appearance. Nevertheless, she bowed to the two Kings. The knights that had their hands on her to prevent her from making any movements were moved by her, showing the large differences in their strength.

"I greet the royal suns of the Solomon Royal Family, I also extend my greetings to the Exatran King and to my liege, King William."

"How dare you speak first!" Sir Pavel raised his hand as if intending to strike her.

"Stay your hand, Knight, unless you wish to be the cause of a bigger scene." King Williams's voice resounded in the great room. Speaking with such authority that Sir Pavel returned his hand to his side.

"Your Majesty she is a prisoner. To speak first is an insult to the royal family." He explained to the Beast King.

"She is a Beast General in my army. I allowed your forces to place her in custody until the day of the trial. There is no proof that she has committed the crime you accuse her of committing. As such, I expected the Solomon Knights would have treated her with the respect she deserved as someone of her standing, even if she was a foreigner. Given the state in which I see her, I believe the Solomon Knights did no such thing."

He turned to King Gerrod with a disapproving look. "This is how the honorable Solomon King tells his Knights to treat one of my people?"

Not expecting to be looked upon with an austere gaze, King Gerrod did his best to placate the Lion Lord.

"William, my men treat all prisoners equally. If she is found guilty she would be tried for regicide."

"That is if she has been found guilty. Therefore she is still innocent and your knights have done me a great disrespect." The Beast King spoke calmly, but even if he spoke calmly the Solomon King seemed threatened.

"You are right to feel this way, and I will make sure to properly discipline them for this transgression."

"That is, if the General is found not guilty." It had been a while since she heard the snide voice of the First Prince. At every discussion he had always talked in a gentle, good-natured sort of way, but now he had reverted back to his true self, the one she had first met.

"That is why we are here is it not? To find whether the Beast General is guilty of murdering Westhold's King, and on the day the peace treaty had been signed no less."

Prince Demos's words sent the room full of nobles into a frenzy of hushed whispers. She heard the murmurs.

They all assumed she was guilty.