Framed

The unsettling feeling Dahlia felt earlier had finally manifested. She finished her work and was heading back to her room when she noticed a crowd gathered outside her door.

"What's going on?" She asked the people next to her but they all just looked at her with disgust and avoided her like she was carrying some sort of disease on her person.

Trying to figure out the cause of the commotion, Dahlia walked ahead to the front of the line only to find some guards inside her room and the duke she caught Jacinda with earlier standing with them.

"Here she is, the thief." The duke declared the moment he locked eyes with Dahlia.

"What are-"

"Silence!" The duke planted a terrifyingly hot slap on her face, "You still have the guts to open your filthy mouth even at this moment?"

Dahlia held her burning cheek in her hands and tried to wrap her head around what was going on but then a stinging sensation on her other cheek made her halt. She was slapped once more.

At that moment one of the guards pulled out a box that Dahlia had never seen before from under her bed and brought out gold coins and pieces of jewelry from it.

The crowd behind her gasped the moment they saw what was pulled from under her bed and a wide gap was formed between them and her. Like she was repelling them.

"How long have you been stealing these?" The guard who was holding up the box asked.

"I didn't steal it- I've never seen that box before-"

"You dare to lie even with the evidence before us." The duke slapped her once more.

"I swear I didn't steal anything, someone must have planted it there." She tried defending herself despite the pool of tears threatening to escape her eyes.

"And what would anyone gain from framing you?" The duke mockingly asked.

Just then Dahlia took notice of a lone shadow in the corner- Jacinda. It all made sense now, they planted that box in her room and decided to frame her as punishment for catching them earlier.

"Look at me when I talk to you." The duke slapped Dahlia once more, this time making her stumble to the ground with the force of his hands.

As she struggled to pick herself up, Dahlia found a familiar face in the crowd and tried to reach out to her. "Lydia- Lydia please, you know me, you know I wouldn't do this… Tell them, tell them I'm innocent."

The hand Dahlia was stretching out, trying to reach out to Lydia dropped in defeat the moment she saw Lydia look at her like she was a stranger and coldly turn her back on her. She didn't believe her- no, she did believe her, she just didn't want anyone else to.

The last nail to her coffin was seeing Jacinda wrap her arm around Lydia's shoulder as the two shared a high-five.

'They were working together.' Dahlia thought to herself as the sting of betrayal made her tears drop to the ground.

She was unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up getting punished because of it, but most of all, she chose the wrong person to befriend.

It's true what they say, "Who needs enemies when you have friends like that."

In one final attempt to prove her innocence, Dahlia looked around the room, trying to find even one person who would stand up for her but they all avoided meeting her gaze. The ones that did look at her did so with nothing but hatred on their face.

Dahlia's laugh of frustration echoed in the silent hall as everyone looked at her like she was running mad. Some even stepped back in fear of what she might do to them.

Fate played a cruel joke on her by making her meet her face such hardships when both Analice and Azriel were away. Who wouldn't laugh at such a sick joke?

No one was on her side.

There was no saving her now.

"You think this is funny?" The duke kicked Dahlia on her stomach with the soul of his rough boots, causing her to cough up some blood. "Take her to the dungeons." He ordered the guards.

The two guards roughly dragged her up with each of them holding up her arms as they took her to the dungeons. 

For someone who did nothing wrong, the dungeons were such a cruel place to take her to. Even if she did steal what they accused her of stealing, only the worst of the worst were ever taken to the dungeons; Murderers, those who committed treason, and spies were examples of them.

'Does Jacinda hate me so much that she thinks of me in the same category as the likes of murderers?' She wondered, 'And Lydia…'

Not wanting to focus on the fact that Lydia played her, Dahlia closed her eyes shut. This wouldn't be the first time that she was betrayed and by her terrible luck with people, it was clear that it wouldn't be the last either.

"I always knew she was a thief…"

"The witch has finally met her end…"

"Burn her on a stake…"

"At least she's no longer a problem to us…"

Dahlia silently chuckled as she heard the whispers circulating. Not a single soul in the crowd believed her innocence or cared for her safety, they were all glad to be rid of her.

'Burn me on a stake, huh.' She laughed at the thought knowing fully well that if given a chance none of them would think twice before burning her on a stake or ripping her to shreds.

She wasn't the evil witch, they were the true evil but were just too self-righteous to realize it.

How pathetic. 

As she was dragged past the crowd, Dahlia caught Lydia and Jacinda smirking devilishly at her from the corner of her eye. They were satisfied with the turn of events and felt proud of themselves.

Before she was past them, Dahlia gave them a look that said, "Laugh all you want, you may have won the battle but you'll lose the war."

And with that she let herself get rocked around by the waves of life.