Bars of Blood

Chapter 7: False Accusations

Sometimes, all it takes for your heart to be crushed is for it to soar into the sky, light as it can be, before falling to the ground and landing with a loud thump.

The last person to speak was Prince Nestor. I hummed a bit, holding a sobbing Ariadne in my arms. It felt good to be trusted for once.

"I'll spare the niceties. My wife was a beautiful, kind, fair woman. We all acknowledge that. To be frank, we never truly loved each other. We were simply fair rulers who knew how to lead a nation."

The crowd burst into murmurs. "He didn't love her?!?!" one noble lady behind me whispered.

"And I thought they were some fairytale romance!"

"Yes, yes, I know it is a bombshell, but that is not why I am up on this stage. I want to tell our dear Eastlandian citizens the truth, the cold, hard truth about our Queen." Nestor slammed his hand against the microphone, making us all jump in surprise.

"There have been speculations that my daughter had killed Emily. At first, I thought they were ridiculous, but only last night did I realize that my own daughter is a monster."

"What is he talking about?" Adonis asked. I felt a pit in my stomach. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Unless he was talking about how I put milk before the cereal this morning, he was accusing me of murder.

"I ask you all, where is my son, Ivan? When was the last time you saw him?"

I looked at my feet. More murmurs emerged, and Ariadne stirred. Cecilia made a big show of looking around, while Adonis didn't make a move, still trained on Nestor's speech.

"After killing my wife, the monster was caught and put back to prison... But she knew she was to be queen. Furthermore, she knew that Ivan was the citizen's favorite, and therefore a threat to her throne. What if he overthrew her? Unable to bear the thought of losing her crown, Her Royal Majesty Queen Helen murdered her own brother the night she came to the palace."

Ariadne sat straight up, looking at me with a shocked expression. I didn't meet her beautifully blue eyes, though. I stared at my feet, but that wasn't enough to douse the gasps of the entire kingdom.

Ah, yes. Of course. Of course, he would do this to me just when I thought things were getting better.

"No..." My lip trembled. I couldn't seem to be able to speak. "I object! I am not guilty!"

Nestor ignored me. "Do you not believe me?" he spat. Suddenly, the television screens beside the stage flickered on, revealing a picture of me dragging Ivan's body in the dark night, blood trailing behind me. "Behold! Your queen!"

There were screams all around me. I could feel thousands of eyes glaring at me, men and women livid, cursing me out. I could feel the glare of the cameras, their drones making circles all around me. I could feel the flashing lights of the press.

click.

"Helen?" Ariadne's voice was full of hurt. I didn't dare meet her eyes, for fear I would burst into tears.

click.

"I-I swear this is fake... I didn't kill him!"

"Sorry to break it to you, but I think a picture of you dragging his body around is quite some evidence," Cecilia said sarcastically, examining her nails.

"He... He's lying, I swear, Ariadne, you have to believe me-"

"Why would he lie about this?" Ariadne croaked. I rose my head to meet her eyes and immediately regretted it. Tears filled her face, mascara running down her pretty face. "I trusted you!"