The Crown of Wilted Gold.

26

****
The door opened, and Samuel was led into the hall. Irisa watched as he knelt and greeted her.

"Samuel pays respect to the Empress," he greeted, his voice groggy.

"Arise," the official commanded.

"You have been called upon, to be a witness in a trial against the Empress, about adultery you and her have committed, what do you have to say about this?"

Samuel was quiet for a while, he stared at Irisa who was watching him with discomfort. He glanced at Beatrice who was smirking and shook his head. They were all the same, two sides of the same coin. He had chosen the losing side once, he was not going to do it again.

"I have no idea, of what you speak of."

The court went quiet, and Irisa's eyes narrowed. The smile fell from Beatrice's face, what was he doing?

"Then why are you here? You are supposed to give testimony aiding this trial, so what are you saying?" the official asked with a quiet frown.

"I am giving testimony, aiding this trial," he answered back unfazed by the rising anger in the man's eyes. He was not going according to their plans, angering the official.

"Seven months ago, on the fifth of that month, Irisa was in Novetown, with her maid, I returned to the Palace to inform the Prince, I have a letter in the left corner of my bedside table, proving my words, she was looking for her husband and had been taking a drug that was more of poison than a cure.

The border guards knew about her departure with the maids, sir Viron informed me that they will arrive soon, to testify on the matter."

The official blinked, the main witness had turned his testimony around, what was Samuel doing?

"She fell sick and stayed in Novetown for months, I had followed her and I had found her in Novetown, the royal family of Novetown is here, they can attest to my words," Samuel turned to the king.

He stood to his feet and bowed, Irisa did not think about all of this, she did not even remember that the King of Novetown would be there for the trial.

"Novetown King pays respect to the Empress."

"What is this? What is happening here?" the Official asked, angrily.

"These are documents of official visitation dated back to the inspection of the Empress pregnant, I held a special marriage ceremony, for her and the Emperor, this is their certificate and the thumbprint, showing she was there."

The king handed it to the official making him frown, this was not part of the plan, they had thought that she was surely not going to get out of this but the people around her were craving ways out of her.

"Days after she arrived in Novetown, Irisa was sick from the cure, she was given after she was imprisoned by Consort Beatrice. I also want to say that Consort Beatrice is not a credible witness, seeing as she has been initiated after marrying the former crown prince."

A gasp erupted from the crowd, and the atmosphere suddenly shifted. Beatrice stood her feet, her eyes widened. How did it turn into an accusation against her?

"I have no idea what this man is saying! I would never do that to my husband!" she yelled. Samuel scoffed and stood to his feet, his eyes narrowed.

"Months ago, before leaving for Novetown I got a report of a man in your bedchamber, I reported it to the Prince but he did not care, he never even read the report, he cared more about the Empress's health than your adultery."

"I... I would never do such a thing! I am innocent!" Beatrice shook her head.

"Well if you are truly innocent, why are there records of you stealing money from the Crown Prince's account to find a man that visited from Hastens? You funded secret trips into the market and inexpensive villas outside the capital city, gambling houses, brothels, and entertainment houses."