The King's Mistress

Chapter 139: Offense Defense

No matter how hard she tried, it was impossible. Sierra’s grip on it was so tight, that she could not get it to budge at all.

Sierra winced in pain as the adrenaline she had slowly whittled away. She could take a beating, but she had her boundaries too. She tugged on the whip in her hand and Agnes stumbled forward.

The high and mighty princess fell forward onto the dirty, wet, ground. Agnes’s annoyance could be heard echoing through the dungeon cell. Her servants helped her to her feet but her entire outfit was ruined, covered in dirty water.

"You’ll pay for this!" unable to take it any longer in the cell, Agnes stormed off with her servants and that was the end of that.

Sierra could not help but chuckle a little. The pain from the injuries she suffered caused her to grit her teeth. She had fallen hard, but luckily, it wasn’t going to last.

"There’s only one way up from here," she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes.

~

On the day of the trial, emotions were running high. To accommodate all the spectators who came to watch, the trial was set to be in the Royal throne hall. It was transformed for the sake of the trial. Sierra was taken from her cell in the early hours of the day. Her stomach growled uncontrollably as she was escorted to the throne room.

Even before she entered, she could already hear the commotion in the hall. Upon entering, she was stunned to see so many people. It felt as if everyone and anyone of importance had turned up for this.

As soon as her entrance was announced, the hall quietened down and all eyes were on her. Sierra wanted to keep her head low. She hated this form of attention and would have avoided it as best she could. freewebnσvel.cѳm

’Not today,’ she thought to herself as she looked straight and held her head high.

She wasn’t a convicted criminal, she was an innocent woman who’d been wronged. Walking into the throne room, she knew everyone could see the state she was in. From the whispers she could hear, she gathered she must have looked very disheveled.

Unfortunately, there was no mirror for her to look at while in the dungeon. But the shocked expressions on the guards’ faces when they came to get her gave her a few ideas too. Sierra glanced around the hall, looking for support. For the first time in days, she wished her father would be amongst them. His presence at the trial would mean the world to her.

But she knew it was best for him to not be there, or anywhere near Drakin for the time being. Not until she cleared their names.

When Sierra got to the stand, she noticed that someone had been assigned to defend her. This was within her expectations, as it was mandatory for her to have someone to represent and fight on her behalf.

One look at the man assigned and Sierra knew she was better off taking her chances. Still, she decided to give him a chance.

"Miss Sierra, my name is Azael, I will be defending you today."

"Azael, based on the information you’ve collected," she said as she glanced over to the thin stack of papers he had on his table, then back at him, "What do you think I should do?"

"I think you should plead guilty, I can get-"

Sierra raised her hand to stop him from speaking.

"I’m going to stop you right there. I don’t need you here, you may leave," She said to him without skipping a beat.

Azael stood there stunned. It took him a while to compose himself. freewebnovel.cσ๓

"But Your Highness, without me to defend..."

"Defend?" Sierra raised an eyebrow as she glared at him.

How dare he have the audacity to claim that he was here to defend her. Though her hands were cuffed in chains, she still raised them at him. She pointed at him.

"You dare tell me that getting me to plead guilty is defending me? I’m better off defending myself."

Azael tried to defend himself once more, but Sierra was not having any of it.

"I suggest you leave now," she said in a cold tone of voice.

Even without her twin swords at her side, barely having slept wink, she was still not someone you would want to mess with. Azael backed down immediately. He could sense the animosity from her.

He sheepishly looked from side to side before picking up his papers and leaving the stand. Sierra turned back to face the judge.

"Princess Sierra, who’s going to defend you?" The judge asked.

"I will defend myself," she replied triumphantly as she continued her way to the stand.

Due to King Alistair’s involvement in the case, he was not allowed to be the presiding judge. For fairness, Queen Roxine had also refused to be the judge. As such, a third person was appointed to take up the position.

Lord Wimbly, one of the ministers who served in the royal court was the appointed judge. Sierra did not know who he was. All she could hope was that he would be fair and just.

Alistair and Roxine sat on their thrones, behind where the judge stood. Sierra glanced over to them for just a flicker of a moment. She knew it was best for them not to have any form of contact until the trial was done.

But she could not help herself.

It quickly became clear that this was not a typical arrangement. Everyone seemed to have something to say about it as the court erupted into chatter. Lord Wimbly was surprised by Sierra’s choice to remove her defense.

Since she was to defend herself, she was allowed to remain at the defendant’s table. Sierra glanced over to look at her prosecution. The look on their faces said it all. They were out to convict her of the crimes she did not commit, likely with falsified evidence.

Looking down at her chained hands, Sierra bit her lip.