The King's Mistress

Chapter 146: Air

Sierra knew what she was trying to do. In order to portray the image of the innocent, Sierra did not fight back. Though Agnes was not strong enough to tackle her to the ground, she made it look like she did.

Sierra landed heavily on her back as Agnes placed her hands around her throat. She was trying to strangle her.

"What... what are you trying to do, Agnes?" Sierra asked with fear in her voice.

Everyone else in the throne room gasped in shock and horror. The guards on duty did not know what to do. There was no one to give them an order and they knew better than to arrest a princess without instruction. Ida and Myra were stunned by what was happening.

They wanted to rush to Sierra’s aid but they could not get to her. Myra’s family forbade her from getting involved, afraid that she would get hurt. Ida was at the back of the throne room. There were too many people around her, she could not get close enough.

"Someone do something!" She yelled. It was all she could do.

Cassandra was stunned too, uncertain of how to react to this situation.

Sierra gasped for air. Agnes was using all of her strength to strangle her. She let the situation play out a little.

"Is... is this all you can do... Agnes? Are you sure... you’re ready for the consequences?" She croaked out.

A cold shiver ran down her spine as Agnes realized what she had done. Immediately she released Sierra from her hold and stumbled backward. She looked down at her shaking hands.

Something had snapped within her. She looked over to Sierra, who was coughing while she gasped for air. frёewebηovel.cѳm

A shadow loomed over Sierra. A caring hand wrapped around her shoulder. In an instant, Sierra’s senses were overwhelmed with a familiar scent. She looked up.

"A... Alistair?" She whispered in shock.

"Are you alright, Princess Sierra?" He asked, his voice filled with concern.

Everyone was stunned by the development. They did not know when King Alistair returned to the throne room. It was as if he had teleported in the blink of an eye. Sierra was too stunned to process what had happened.

All she had eyes for at that moment was Alistair.

The red marks on her neck quickly gave him the clues he needed to piece what had happened together. He shot Agnes a glare as he got up to his feet. From behind, the judge, Queen Roxine, and the ministers filed back into the throne room. They looked stunned by what had happened too.

Alistair looked over to Agnes. He was glaring at her with a sense of calmness Sierra had not seen before. The entire throne room had fallen silent. Everyone watched on in silence, uncertain of what was about to happen next.

"What did you do," he asked coldly.

Sierra had never seen him like this before.

Agnes stumbled backward. She was paralyzed with fear.

"I... I..." she could barely speak coherently.

Realizing just how much trouble she was in, Agnes knew what she had to do. She had to beg for mercy. She crawled towards Alistair on her knees.

"Your Majesty, I’m innocent! Please! You have to believe me!" Agnes pleaded.

"Innocent?" Alistair could not believe what he was hearing, "You were trying to strangle her."

With each word spoken, Alistair could feel the anger brewing and threatening to boil over. He did everything he could to maintain his cool.

"I... I...," Agnes was still trembling as she tried to defend herself.

"Your Majesty, I think Princess Agnes has been under tremendous stress from this entire ordeal. Perhaps..." one of the ministers was brave enough to speak and he was defending Princess Agnes.

Alistair turned to look at him.

"Being under a tremendous amount of stress does not give anyone the permission to attempt murder. If what you said was plausible, Princess Sierra should have killed us all by now, don’t you think?" He snapped at the minister while tightening his grip on Sierra.

Alistair could not believe what transpired. He had only stepped out for a few minutes when chaos erupted in the throne room. He assumed it was simply an argument, or perhaps the spectators roaring in discussion.

But something told him to return to the throne room. Something was pulling him back in. He trusted his gut and re-entered the hall. He caught a glimpse of what had transpired, Agnes had her hands around Sierra’s neck.

All logic flew out of the window when he saw what he saw. He did not care about the rules he was forced to abide by any longer. He had to make sure Sierra was alright.

From the moment she left his quarters that night, Alistair wallowed in regret and worry. He didn’t dare to go see her in the dungeons, worried that others would use it as ammunition against her.

Throughout the trial, he was worried for her safety. There were so many times he wanted to step in and help her. But he knew it would only make everything worse. Hearing everything that Agnes had done to Sierra made his blood boil.

"Princess Agnes, you’re under arrest," King Alistair declared.

His voice rang and echoed throughout the throne room.

"You’re under arrest for attempted murder," he continued coldly.

The royal guards filed in immediately and picked Agnes up by her arms. The princess was in tears, begging for mercy and for forgiveness. She still continued to proclaim her innocence.

The spectators all watched on in stunned silence.

Sierra was still looking up at Alistair, uncertain of what to say. He looked back down at her with a softened expression, one that she was familiar with.

"Are you alright, sweetling?" He whispered to her lovingly. His voice was still filled with worry.

"I’m alright," Sierra replied softly.

That conversation belonged to only the two of them.

He nodded with a small smile, holding himself back from giving her a kiss on the forehead. He helped her to her feet before returning to the ministers, his queen, and the judge.

They left the throne room once more to continue their discussion.

After what happened, everyone simmered down. They all waited in silence to see what was going to happen next. Sierra sat down at the defendant’s desk. She clasped her hands together as multiple scenarios played through her mind.

Should things go south, she had to come up with an escape plan.

But would she be willing to leave Alistair’s side again?