Sorrows of Adoration (38 page)

“Begin your
presentation of evidence, Lord Cael,” the King commanded.

Cael called forth first
the scribe who had recorded my story and bade him to read it to the
court. As he did so, the parts that were particularly awful caused
those gathered to cover their mouths in shock, whisper fervently,
and even gasp a few times. Many a head turned in my direction,
almost always with great sympathy. Sashken remained resolute
throughout the tale, though her face was a sickly colour.

At the story’s
conclusion, a murmuring broke out in the crowd, and I could see
several ladies weeping from the ghastliness of it. I had avoided
looking at Jarik while it was read, certain he would be upset and I
would weep as a result, but now that it was over I glanced to him.
His eyes were closed, a combination of anger and sorrow clear upon
his face, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles were
white. I put my hand over one of them, and he looked at me.

“I am so sorry, Aenna,”
he whispered. Then he turned his gaze upon Sashken, and a
frightening look of hatred took over his features. I have no doubt
that, had I asked him to, he would have broken her in half in that
moment.

Cael then called a
guard to testify, who confirmed that he had witnessed Sashken
exiting the front doors to the palace and then returning over an
hour later. He also testified that he recalled my exit from the
palace because I had asked him if he knew if Prince Kurit was in
the courtyard, which he had not.

“I answered that I had
not seen him leave but that my duty shift had begun only about an
hour before. It was just before the Lady Sashken went outside. Her
Highness was very concerned that His Highness must have thus been
out in the cold for some time, and she rushed outside. Some time
later, I saw the maidservant Leiset run screaming down the stairs
and through the Great Hall, and I realized I had not seen Princess
Aenna re-enter the palace, and I felt a great dread.” The guard
looked at me and humbly said, “Forgive me, Your Highness, I should
have realized you would not stay out in the cold so long.”

I gave him a polite
smile and nod. Cael told him to be seated.

One of the gate guards
was then called to read records that showed the Lady Sashken had
not left the palace grounds by the front gate, indicating that her
time outside was spent either in the courtyard or the stables. The
records did show, however, a delivery of six kegs of wine just
after dark and that the empty cart did not leave for well over two
hours. The times as recalled by the guard who saw Sashken and the
written records from the gate put Sashken’s apparent time in the
courtyard or stables as within the time that the cart was also
there.

Cael summoned a
trembling stable boy to the floor and asked him if he recalled the
Lady Sashken entering the stables on the night in question. He did
not and said further that no lady had been seen as he worked that
night.

Then Cael asked Leiset
to come forward. She looked quite uncomfortable, and I felt badly
that she would have to stand and speak when I did not. He had her
explain the prelude to my being left alone whereby she was summoned
to assist Eyill.

“And what did Eyill
need from you when you found her in the library?” Cael asked.

“I did not find her in
the library. I searched between all of the shelves and called to
her, but she was not there. Only as I was about to leave did I
notice the door to the tower was slightly ajar. I opened it, and
there was Eyill. I believe she had been watching me look for her
and most certainly would have heard me calling her name. I asked
her why she had summoned me, and she would say nothing other than
she no longer required my assistance and thank you. I was rather
perturbed at the waste of my time, so I left her there and went to
return to the Princess.”

“Did you see anything
on your way back to the south wing that made you suspicious
something was afoot?”

Leiset nodded. “As I
approached the south stairs, I saw above me that Sashken was
hurrying out of the south wing. That made me wonder if she had been
at Her Highness’s room, possibly to disturb her.” She looked a bit
guilty at having said that, and added, “It is my understanding that
they do not always get along well.” Cael nodded, so she continued,
“I ran up the stairs and saw there were no hall guards present,
when there had been one at each station when I had left. I returned
quickly to Princess Aenna’s rooms and saw that she was
missing.”

“What did you do then?”
asked Cael.

“I called to her, and
there was no answer. The bedchamber door was still open, as it had
been when I left. I looked inside, and she was not there. I went
back out to the receiving room to go and knock on Prince Kurit’s
door, suspecting that he had returned from the Council meeting and
perhaps Aenna was there with him. But as I passed through the room
I saw a note on the table by the door. I picked it up and looked at
it, since it was not addressed to anyone in particular.”

Cael asked Leiset to
hold her tale there as he produced the note she had found. He read
it aloud to the court. “‘I am sorry, but I can no longer bear to
remain in this palace any longer. I must go very far away and begin
a new life for myself even though it makes me cry. I am but a lowly
peasant, and the child I carry is not worthy of the throne. I shall
raise him or her in good health and to know that their father would
have loved them. I am sorry to do this, but it is the way I think
things must be.’ The note is signed simply, Aenna. What did you do
when you read the note, Leiset?”

“I could not believe
it. I knew immediately the Princess had not written that note.
Though the handwriting was clearly meant to look like hers, I could
tell it was not. Furthermore, it is awkwardly phrased, very unlike
Her Highness’s elegant prose. And she would never leave her beloved
husband in such a manner! Even if she would, she would not have
chosen to go on the coldest night there had been in weeks. I
realized something terrible was happening, and I was filled with
fear. I screamed and ran to tell the Prince what I had found. I ran
right into the Council room without any thought of decorum and
screamed to him that the Princess was gone, that someone had done
something to her.”

Cael thanked Leiset and
bade her to return to her seat. He then called the hall guard whom
had been stationed near my door that night. The guard confirmed the
part of my story where I said I was going to find the Prince. Not
long after, he said a loud noise in the guardroom behind him caused
him to leave his post and investigate, as did the hall guard from
the other end of the corridor. They found that a box of tools had
been tipped off the table, though no one was there. They searched
around the corridors but saw no one.

Cael then summarized
his belief that Sashken had Leiset distracted away for a suitable
length of time, planted a letter for Melly to find and rush to
deliver, and waited with the assassins in the dark for the
Princess. Then, once she had paid them to take Princess Aenna away,
she went back in the palace, hurried upstairs, entered the north
door of the guardroom, tipped over the tool box to cause a
distraction, then quickly crept into the south wing, delivered the
false note, and ran away, not knowing she had been seen by Leiset
downstairs.

“Is that all you have
as evidence?” the Queen asked, rising from her throne to stand
between Cael and Sashken. “Do you seriously accuse this Lady of the
Court, a fine, well-bred, and good-mannered girl who has never
before harmed anyone, of conspiring to murder? And based only on
the word of a peasant and some circumstantial evidence that may or
may not place her near an event that could well be a concoction of
lies? Plus, I must remind this court, that I, Queen of Keshaerlan,
have stated on several occasions that the good Lady Sashken was
with me for most of the evening. To believe this ridiculous story
is to either fly in the face of logic or to disbelieve my
testimony.” Her countenance became very dark as she added, “Which
would, of course, be foolish.”

Kurit bristled in anger
beside me. “Don’t make a scene,” I whispered very softly. “She does
have a duty to try to refute Cael.”

Kurit turned to me and
muttered under his breath, “You are far too forgiving of her.”

The Queen went on to
point out that, despite current appearances and the arguments of
those who supported me, the fact remained that I was a peasant.
“What do we know of her background?” she asked. “She’s an orphan,
and we all well know that orphans tragically are not often raised
with the best of morals. She is ambitious, we know that by her
marriage so far above her station. However, she is not a stupid
girl, and it is my belief that one evening she came to the correct
conclusion that she was unworthy of the Prince and sought to leave.
Perhaps the timing was ill-chosen out of a moment of the madness
that comes from being with child. I assert that she did write the
note—and the idea that she writes with more ‘elegant prose’ than
heard in the note is preposterous, given that she has been literate
for less than a year. She left of her own accord, only to find
herself unable to survive without the luxury to which she had so
quickly become accustomed. She then returned, but knowing that the
Prince would be angry with her for having left, she concocted this
wild story, fraught with unbelievable heroic tales, and sought to
incriminate the poor innocent Lady Sashken.”

Cael looked at her as
though she were insane. “Pray tell, Your Majesty, aside from your
good word that the accused spent at least part of a long evening
with you, what evidence do you have to support your theory?”

“The girl left him
before and did so at that time by a note of sorrow and regret. She
has a history of the very same.”

“Your Majesty,” Cael
refuted, “that was before she was wed to His Highness. Surely you
cannot expect this court to believe that she would leave her
husband and run into the night whilst great with child?”

“And you cannot expect
the court to believe that the Lady Sashken plotted to have her
murdered, based on the testimony of servants and peasants! Where is
this cart with the secret compartment? Where are the men involved?
You have produced none of the direct evidence that would
corroborate the girl’s fantastic story. For all we know she
wandered down back to Mikilrun or some such place, had her baby
there, then regretted her choice and returned,” said Kasha.

Cael pondered for a
moment and then asked, “If she left of her own accord so late at
night, why is there no record of her passing through one of the
gates? She certainly could not have scaled the walls in her
condition at the time, and the only other people that left did so
on horseback, with no way to have hidden her with them. The records
show this. Furthermore, it is quite clear to anyone who looks upon
the Princess that she did not spend her time away comfortably
giving birth in some town. She returned emaciated and
weakened.”

“She could easily have
put herself in that condition on purpose to lend credence to her
lies,” spat Kasha. “She is threatened by the Lady Sashken because
she knows Kurit would have wed this fine lady in her place. This
field mouse is falsely accusing a noblewoman to prevent Kurit from
admitting to himself that he chose the wrong bride.”

“Are you mad?” cried
Kurit, surging to his feet. “Never in my worst nightmares did I
even consider the thought of loving her!” he shouted, pointing to
Sashken.

“Sit down!” the King
ordered, but he was drowned out by Sashken, who lost all control
and began to screech wildly.

“That’s not true! You
loved me! You loved me before she came!” she screamed to Kurit. “I
was to be your wife until this little harlot came and bewitched you
against me!” The Queen turned a dangerous eye to Sashken, but
before she could counsel the hysterical young woman to be silent,
Kurit spoke over the cacophony.

“In what fantastical
dream did you concoct such a notion?” Kurit asked, his arms spread
wide in incredulity. “At no time did I even like you! I pretended
to be interested in other women just to make you stop following me
around! I tried being subtle, I tried being direct, I even cast you
naked out of my chambers when you tried to seduce me before my
wedding!” This last declaration sent the gathering into a flurry of
excited babble and prompted King Tarken to rise and call loudly for
order.

When the noise had
stopped and Kurit had once again taken his seat, the King asked
Cael and Kasha if either of them had anything further to add. When
they did not, he sat back down.

“I am ready now to give
my judgment in this matter. In light of the overwhelming evidence
supporting Princess Aenna’s tale and the lack of substantial
evidence against it, I find the Lady Sashken guilty of the charges
against her.”

“You cannot do this!”
cried Kasha.

“Enough! I can and I
do. She has stood here before us and madly accused the Prince of
loving her, though he quite clearly denies it. I have no doubt that
her madness in this almost cost the life of Princess Aenna and her
unborn child. So, Lady Sashken of Kydren, daughter of Lord Sibek
and Lady Kayel, for the crime of conspiring to murder Princess
Aenna and the unborn Prince Raelik, for the crime of payment to
assassins, for the crime of withholding of information sought by
the King’s Guard when you knew what had happened to the Princess
and did not speak to it, and for high treason against this kingdom
in the attempt to kill the wife and child of the heir to the
throne, I sentence you to be hanged this very afternoon.”

As a buzz of noise
swept the gathering, Sashken fell to her knees and cried out for
mercy. Kasha echoed the plea as well.