Chapter 144: Keep Your Enemies Closer
The princess got up from her seat in the spectator’s stand at once. Her parents were with her and they were still trying to talk her out of it. Sierra watched on as her heart pounded in her chest. She knew she was putting her friend in a tight spot.
Regardless of what happened next, she did not blame Myra, even if she chose not to stand up for her. But it was clear the princess had made up her mind. Myra made her way to the witness stand and took her seat.
She gave Sierra a warm smile, which helped light a fire in her heart.
"Princess Myra, can you please recount our first encounter for the court?"
"Certainly. We had only just arrived at the Celestial Lodge..."
Myra recounted the time Sierra had helped her when Princess Agnes attempted to bully her into giving up the room in Celestial Lodge. That was the beginning of their friendship. As Sierra listened, she realized how much Myra had grown too.
Back then, Myra lacked self-confidence and Sierra always felt the need to protect her. Especially against people like Agnes. But now, she was much more courageous, bold even. Once prompted, Myra continued to share all the things Sierra had done for her.
"I can firmly say without a doubt," Myra looked over to Sierra with a wide smile, "I would not be where I am today without Princess Sierra’s help. She’s the role model I look up to."
Sierra could not help but smile as she thanked Myra for her vote of confidence.
Myra turned back to the spectators and the judge as she declared, "I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I vouch for Princess Sierra’s character. I firmly believe she was being framed for this."
The spectators erupted into conversation once more. Opinions were shifting amongst them, as Princess Myra’s statements had caused them to question everything they’ve heard so far. Agnes gritted her teeth in anger, knowing how she was depicted by Myra.
Seeing that her plan was working gave Sierra a much-needed boost of confidence. She continued to call for her next witness, Ida. Ida jolted in surprise when she heard her name being called.
All eyes were on her as the spectators parted ways for her to walk to the front. Ida trembled in fear as she walked towards Sierra who was standing up front. Sierra did not plan for any of this, hoping to rely on the Book of Truth to win the trial. She whispered an apology to Ida, knowing she had put her on the spot.
But Ida gave her a reassuring nod as she took the stand. Now, she was under the scrutiny of everyone.
"Don’t worry," Sierra whispered to her, "You’ll do fine."
Sierra turned to address the spectators once more, before asking Ida her first question. Ida recounted how she first met Sierra, followed by their first encounter with Princess Agnes and Princess Myra.
Her account matched what Myra had said, making the story even more credible than before. With Sierra’s prompt, she also mentioned the assassination attempt Sierra survived. It happened a while ago and most had already forgotten about it.
After Ida finished her accounts, Sierra addressed the spectators once more, "I hope that through these accounts, a few things are made clearer to all. It is clear that Princess Agnes has good reason to have a biased view of me, due to the grievances we have.
Furthermore, the accounts of these witnesses only further prove my innocence. If I were truly behind the assassination attempt on King Alistair’s life, do I need to show such kindness to others?"
Princess Agnes was livid. She could hear the shifting opinions of the spectators around her. She glanced over to the prosecutor, who was wiping the sweat off his brow as he flipped through the papers before him.
She gritted her teeth as her hands curled into fists. Her plan was unraveling. Recalling how smug Sierra had been the day before, and in their previous encounters only made the impatient princess’ blood boil even more.
Princess Cassandra, who was just sitting diagonally behind her, could see that she was spiraling.
’I’ve overestimated you from the beginning,’ she thought to herself as she looked over at Agnes.
Glancing up at Sierra, Cassandra decided to assist. A push in the right direction. As soon as their eyes met, Cassandra signaled to Sierra to call her to the witness stand. Sierra was surprised. She knew trusting her was a gamble.
Now that the tides have turned in her favor, she was a little more confident. She decided to hedge her bets on Cassandra.
"Your honor," Sierra spun round to speak directly to the judge, "I would like to call for one more witness."
"Process, Your Highness."
"I would like to call Princess Cassandra to the stand," Sierra declared.
Cassandra got up to her feet at once. Agnes, upon hearing Cassandra being called, turned around with her mouth agape. She watched in stunned silence, as the princess who was once her ally glared down at her.
"Cassandra..." she grabbed onto her hand with wide eyes.
Cassandra shrugged off Agnes’ hand. She didn’t say a word to her as she made her way toward the witness stand. Agnes’ heart was pounding in her ears as a million different possibilities flowed through her mind.
She tried to remind herself that she was on her side. But then, she remembered how Cassandra had not spoken to her since the Archery test. Agnes had left Cassandra to fend for herself, thinking they were going to all meet their end under the feet of the deerphant.
But miraculously, Cassandra survived. There were rumors of what happened. Rumors that Agnes found hard to believe. But as soon as Cassandra took to the witness stand, Agnes realized there was likely some truth in the rumors after all.
Now, she had two enemies instead of one.
"Princess Cassandra, can you recount our relationship?" Sierra asked as cordially as she could.
"Certainly, I never liked Princess Sierra," she said without skipping a beat, as if she had said it a thousand times before, "I still don’t care for you."
"Thank you for your honesty," she didn’t know what else to say apart from it, "Are you aware of what happened on the night of the assassination attempt made on my life?"
"Yes, I was curious as to who would have had the courage to pull off something like this. I have to say, I’m not surprised by what I found."
Agnes felt her heart drop. She knew where this was going.
