A Strong Evidence...

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Queen Ariadne's POV.

"Queen Ariadne is not saying the truth. I have strong evidence which shows that She went against the Emperor's command, punishment should be dispensed to her to save as an example to all" she said.

Queen Valeria had evidence against me? That was serious. I got scared because of the secret I carried. My real identity was supposed to be hidden just like Queen Celesta had said. Have I perhaps leaked out the secret without knowing? No! It wasn't possible.

"What evidence do you have?" The Emperor asked.

"On the day you permitted Queen Ariadne to visit the temple in the village. One of the villagers told me, she saw her talk to an unknown man in a hidden place.

"What are you saying, Valeria?"

"The woman is present here in this courtroom. With your permission, she will come forward" She was so confident, I could see it. Quickly Queen Valeria looked behind her where the women sat and she motioned one of them to come forward.

The woman who came to testify against me was an old woman, who was in her late fifties. I remembered her face because she was among the women, I first met that day. At her Age why, will she stoop so low to lie? This was strange, something told me that this was all a conspiracy.

"What is your name?" the Emperor did the questioning himself.

"Evelyn your Highness" she answered.

"What happened at the village temple?"

"After Queen Ariadne gave me a gift, she went behind the building. When I peeped to see what was going on, I saw the man's hands wrapped around her and..."

"Stop!" The king thundered. His face turned red as he showed how displeased he was with such an act. The atmosphere became silent, nobody dared to utter a single word.

"Apollo, you didn't tell me about this, why?" He shouted.

"Your highness, I wasn't with her at that moment Queen Ariadne told me it was a woman. Though I did see anyone with her."

"It doesn't matter Apollo! I gave you an instruction, you didn't carry nor report it back properly"

"Am sorry, your highness" Apollo apologized.

He was going to be punished because of me, I have to look for a way to free him from this. The case here was between the Emperor and me, not Apollo.

"Your highness, Apollo is innocent here. I chose to leave him behind that day. And also I didn't meet with a man but a woman, she said she was..."

"Stop lying to us" Queen Valeria interrupted.

"Why didn't you meet her in public if it was a woman? You are hiding your lover from us. If he is man enough let him come out and face the Emperor" she added. A lover? In Akkad? This was the whole plan, to make me think that I was seeing another man outside the palace. No wonder he was very angry at the beginning.

"Do you know this man, Evelyn? The Emperor asked.

"Not really, I have seen him thrice in the neighborhood. But I can describe this young man"

"I will draw myself after the court. I want to know the face of the bastard that dared to touch what was mine."

"Okay, your highness" Evelyn took a bow and left.

"As for Queen Ariadne take her to the dungeon. She is going to stay there until I find the man she is seeing. After then, I will kill the two of them together and end their love story. The court is hereby dismissed" the king passed his verdict.

Did I just hear Death! So this was how my end was going to be. For something, I knew very well, that I didn't do. My heart raced faster than I thought, with each beat making my head spin the more.

The guards came behind me. There was no need to struggle, I told them to lead and I will follow. I looked around to see if Mother was still in the room, but I didn't see her not even Anne was present. Maybe the Emperor stopped them from coming.

The way to the palace's prison was a bit strange to me. For the past five months, I have spent here I never used these stairs. Anne told me it was prohibited for women to come here, so I stayed away.

The darkness was much. One of the guards had to light the wood to show us the way. We walked for about ten minutes before I begin to hear people's cries. When we got closer, I saw their faces begging and screaming for help. Some were old and they looked like they had stayed there for a long time.

Nothing scared me like the people I saw down there. We entered the section where I saw people who were still looking healthy and better than the latter. I was later told that these people were of royal blood, that's why they kept separate. They were imprisoned here, because of their disobedience to the Throne.

The second to the last cell, was where the guards dumped me. They told me that the Emperor will get back to me if he finds anything, that proved my innocence.

Wow, innocence? There was no escape here, I laughed aloud. People thought I was mad, even me, I thought I was losing it already. This was my fate.