The King considered me, sitting high on his throne. “You were brought here for one purpose and one purpose alone, to provide my son with an heir. Not only have you failed to do this, but you have also attempted to bring disgrace to my daughter, by seducing her Fiancé.”
As much as I wanted to argue, I knew that doing so against a King, when not asked a direct question, would only end in more pain for me. For now, I kept my mouth shut, hoping that only defiance in my eyes would speak for me, as it appeared to be my only defense in this moment.
“I should have you executed,” the King said. “What say you, Piers? What kind of punishment would please you, as the offended party here.”
“Her death seems like a waste of our resources, my King,” Piers said. “I ask that you please allow me to handle this personally.”
My stomach twisted, but it was Josephine who spoke out.
“No,” she said.
“Josie,” Piers said, with an air of impatience.
“You’ve done enough,” Josie replied, giving him a sour look.
“I don’t understand why you are angry with me. It is hardly my fault that this woman attempted to seduce me.”
“If that was true, all you had to do was walk away,” Josie said. “Instead, you ripped her dress.”
“It ripped when I tried to push her away from me.”
“She was against the wall. You were the one closing in on her!”
“Josephine,” the King said sharply, and Josie immediately silenced herself. “Now is not the place for these theatrics. Have your personal arguments in privacy, please.”
How was it a personal argument, when she was presenting evidence to support me? Did no one care about my side in this case?
“If I may be allowed to speak,” I said.
“No,” the King snapped. “You have no voice here. You need no voice here. Everyone knows what you did.”
I wanted to scream. Josie was just saying that Piers was the one who tried to attack me! But no one wanted to listen.
“Father -” Josie tried once more.
“I will not hear any more of your theatrics, Josephine,” the King said. “Have your lover’s tiff at a different time. Now is the time for judgement.”
“If I may, your majesty,” said a new voice. Everyone turned to see the Prime Beta walk in. Beside him was a servant, an older woman I had seen cleaning tables and scrubbing floors. I tried to say hi when I could but she ignored me. I had quickly learned that servants were not allowed to interact with anyone of higher station, which somehow included me. But I still noticed her here and there.
And she, I hoped, had seen me.
“What is the meaning of this, Prime Beta?” the King asked. “We are in the middle of a trial.”
“I wish to present evidence, your majesty.”
“What kind of evidence?” the King asked.
“An eye witness,” Prime Beta said.
“No one is going to believe some servant off the street,” Piers said, throwing up his hand. “You are wasting the King’s time.”
But the King looked at the servant. “I recognize you.”
For anyone, this was a great honor. For a servant, this was unheard of. Gasps sounded in the room. “When Josie was a baby. She had a fever. You were the only one who could stop her crying. You held her for days without complaint.”
“Yes, Sire,” the servant said, lowering her head with respect. “It was an honor to do so, and to see Princess Josephine grow into such a strong and beautiful young woman.”
The King looked at her critically. “If you have something to say, I will hear it. Though remember where you are, and who you are speaking against.”
“I can only tell the truth, your majesty. My morals would prevent me otherwise.”
“Speak then,” the King said.
“Your majesty, I must protest -” Piers started.
“Quiet,” the King snapped, and Piers immediately closed his mouth.
“The night of the celebratory dinner, I had slipped away from the servant quarters. I had hoped to see a glimpse of Josephine, as I have come to care for her,” the servant said. “Instead, I saw the surrogate walking toward the bathroom. I saw the Princess’s fiancé stalk the surrogate until she was out of sight of others, then attempt to… take advantage. He tore her dress. I kept the piece of dress.” She pulled the torn dress from her pocket.
The King waved his hand and one of the solders took the torn dress and brought it to the King.
“This was made quite forcefully,” the King said. “The material is thick.”
“I had to tear it, to get her away from me,” Piers said.
The King looked from the servant to Josephine, as if now considering her for the first time. “You said he had the surrogate up against the wall.”
“Yes,” Josie said.
“The surrogate was rejecting he Princess’s fiancé,” the servant said. “The fiancé reacted in anger.”
“What a mess,” the King said and rubbed his forehead. “What about the attack? Piers hardly faked the assault.”
“I was attacked,” Piers said. “Sire, they are spewing nothing but lies.”
The King shot him a look. “Be careful what you say about my daughter, now, or the woman who once saved her life.”
“My King,” the Prime Beta said. “I myself caught sight of the attack and helped chase away the attackers. I can confirm this was a random attack without motive. Piers was in a place he didn’t belong and the people of that place took advantage,”
Piers looked at Prime Beta in anger, but Prime Beta met his gaze with a cool stare. Something unreadable passed between them and Piers paled like he was afraid.
I wondered, seeing the slight twitch to Prime Beta’s fingers, if he had more to do with this than I had previous thought. In the moment, I would have believed anything. But maybe, Prime Beta himself had taken place in the attack.
“I’m going to let this matter drop,” the King said then. “As far as it concerns anyone in this room, this entire matter is forgotten. If I hear anything whispered outside of this room, then entire court will be to blame. Have I made myself clear?”
He went around, receiving confirmation from nearly everyone in the room. Except for me.
I still hadn’t been allowed to speak for myself.
Looking at me, he said, “Get out of my sight.”
Prime Beta led me back to Grayson’s room. He looked up from his desk as I entered. He looked me over once, aking in my new clothes. Prime Beta stepped out of the room, so I moved closer to Grayson.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?” he asked.
“For sending Prime Beta. For having the witness speak for me.”
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply