Learn To Cook

1

The King's court stood in silent resentment, their eyes fixed on the woman standing in the center of the large, baroque room.  She was dressed in black, as where they, and her eyes met each of theirs' as she scanned the room, not blinking, eyebrows furrowed, which did nothing to convince them of her innocence.   An old man at the far end of the long , dimly lit room, rose and began to speak.

"Lady Delilah, Daughter of the late King Simon, you are stand before the King's Court today to be tried for murder of your father, the King."

They had come from her father's funeral.  

The entire kingdom had been required to come, and they all wore what black clothing they had.  Delilah stood solemnly in a gown she had never had to wear before, a mourning dress.  

Delilah's father and mother had conceived her after all her grandparents had died.  This was very concerning to the subjects, but promising for some of the noblemen, who, if the king died with no male heirs, would be in line themselves.  It was greatly celebrated when the queen got pregnant, but their excitement was short-lived, because shortly after, Delilah arrived, and after her, another girl, her sister, Allison.  But the third was a boy, as was the fourth.  A weight lifted from the King and Queen's shoulders. Still, by that time, the people's faith had wavered, and it took many years for the public to feel comfortable with their rulers again, but it had returned.  

Now it was gone, perhaps this time for good.

The king had been murdered, and it was rumored that it had been someone inside the palace, although no announcement had been made by the queen or Prince Percy, who would soon be crowned king at just 19.  

Delilah stood a comfortable distance from the rest of the family, who, she was sure, were all convinced it had been her, as she half listened to the bishop speak.  

The noblemen filed into the castle afterward, followed by the King's guard who ushered in the Queen, the princes, and the princesses.  But instead of branching off to their separate responsibilities, they shuffled silently into the large room they resided in now, where Delilah was to be tried for her father's murder.

Delilah tried to regain her focus, and stared intently as the man rambled on for many minutes about the long line of royals that she must think of when she acts, and finally prompted her to speak.

"Princess.  I ask you now.  Did you kill your father?"

The sternness and confidence she had managed just moments before was lost to her now, but she stood straight and tried to look up into the judging eyes of the many indistinguishable court members.  

"No."

"Is that all you have to say on the subject," he did not wait for a reply, " I ask you then, what did happen on the night of the King's death?"

She prepared herself and tried to think clearly.

"I heard a commotion, and I was curious so I went towards it."

She paused to allow for any questions.  None came.

"I saw the unconscious guards and I knew my father should have been in his bedroom chamber at that hour, so I went inside and found him on the floor, and..." she spoke slowly and unevenly, "he was dead."

"Murdered" 

She didn't know if the man was asking her or correcting her.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you call for help, then, instead of investigating yourself?"

"I don't know, instinct I think."

"Ah, the instinct, from the trials of royal life I suppose."

This elicited a small murmur of laughter from the room, but the man's face remained stony.

"Natural instinct, my lord." 

"Hm. And how long after you found your father did the guards arrive."

"Only seconds."

"And what alerted them"

"I don't know"

A look of increasing scepticism hardened on the faces of her accusers.  

"I mean, I assume they must have heard me trying to wake him up, but I can't be sure."

The man looked down at her stoically and stood a little taller, clasping his hands and clearing his throat.  

"So Princess, answer me one more question.  If you heard the commotion of your father's murder down the hall, but no guards had heard it and been alerted of trouble, how would they have heard your cries from their posts, unless what they heard was not you calling to your dying father, but as you said the sound of his killing."  He spoke these words with no energy, no feeling of accusation, but like he was stating simple fact.  "And if you were there when they arrived, as they've said, it means you did not come across your father's dead body, but were there when he was killed.  Why would you lie about that, your Majesty, if your hands were clean?"

Before Delilah could offer a rebuttal, the guards moved towards her as a collective feeling seemed to sweep across the room that they had heard all they needed to hear.  

The Queen quiet until now, stood and stepped forward, away from her other children, who sat together, quaking, wide eyed, in miserable loss and betrayal.   She waited silently in mournful composure.    The room grew silent.  She had their attention. 

"We cannot know for sure, that Princess Delilah is guilty, and every part of me wants to believe that my own daughter is not capable of this evil."

Delilah waited, with no expectations, for what might come.

"I cannot bring myself to condemn her to death.  But as long as there is doubt, the kingdom cannot know peace, and we will be vulnerable.  As a monarch, I cannot allow that.  This Kingdom is my priority, and I have a duty to its people."

She stepped forward slightly, which caused unease in the room, and spoke directly to Delilah.

"Delilah, it pains me to do this, but as of today, you are stripped of your title of Princess and banished from this kingdom."

Delilah's jaw clenched.  She knew this was a mercy, but a knot of anger, sadness and confusion grew tight in her stomach and she grasped her dress,  failing to keep tears from falling down her face.  Two guards grabbed her painfully by the arms as she turned from her mother and siblings.  

She looked back at the pained face of her youngest brother, nearly a man.  His eyes were welled with tears and he clutched his sisters hand, now the only sister he had.  She did not move to comfort him, but stared deeply at the ground, mouth twisted into something that made her simple but beautiful face unrecognisable.  Last her brother Percy, his face heavy with the weight of responsibility, and with confusion.  Delilah's sorrow at losing them built up and she began to weep audibly, which was something royals were never permitted to do, but she wouldn't have to worry about that now.

As the door closed, Delilah heard her mother shout.  She sounded angry and afraid, mostly guilty.

"Anyone else would be hanged."

And they were gone from view.