Forced To Marry The Crippled King

She stood in a threadbare linen robe, her long dark hair, mated and hanging limply around her face which was directed down to look down at her shackled feet while the new king, Odo Darius stood in front a table, bristling with barely contained rage, while he addressed the people assembled around the table. "You stand before us, Yvette, not as our queen, but the murderer of the king, your husband. You are the worst kind of traitor, a snake who has tried to poison the very heart of our kingdom!" His voice, a low rumble that echoed through the room, spoke of a pain deeper than mere betrayal. "Remember your crimes, let them echo in your ears as your lifeblood stains the earth!" With a pair of dead looking green eyes Ari remained quiet, her silence a stark contrast to Odo’s seething fury. He stalked closer, his massive form dwarfing hers. "You, who swore allegiance on these very moonlit grounds, who pledged your loyalty to the Kingdom and Kael as your king, have plunged your sword of deceit into our back!" Odo’s voice dropped, laced with a chilling quality. "Do you deny conspiring with our enemies? Or being used by your family as a spy? Sharing our secrets, leading them to our borders and trying to ensure victory for them? Do you deny trying to seduce Ara and when that proved unsuccessful you took a lover who you shared our secrets with? Do you deny poisoning your husband till his death?" A collective murmuring rose through the people seated. The accusation was a dagger aimed at the very core of their existence, and the accused, stood impassive. "And your lies! You spun tales of dissent within the pack, whispers of rebellion against his rule. You sowed discord, turning brother against brother, weakening us from within!" Odo’s voice rose to a roar, the forest itself trembling with his anger. But she, her gaze lifting and looking straight at Odo with unwavering dead eyes, finally broke her silence. "My silence is not an admission but a refusal to dignify your twisted narrative. You speak of loyalty, but where is your loyalty to me? You will not give me a chance to proclaim my innocence, The evidence you speak of is flimsy at best and I am just the convenient scapegoat.” Her voice, though laced with defiance, held a tremor of pain. She could remember that morning when she had been woken unceremoniously and her room ransacked before magically they found vials of wolfsbane and letters supposedly from her lover, where even would she find wolfsbane? Despite her protests of her innocence she had been taken to the dungeons and imprisoned for days. Odo snarled, his features contorting with fury and his eyes glinting. "Do not twist the truth, your greed led you to connive with our enemies to destroy us but you failed woefully." "Greed?" She scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. Yvette had been forced into this marriage without a thought for her permission, sold like a piece of furniture all because of the chance to receive more wealth. Odo stared at her, his eyes burning with rage then his lips widened with a knowing smile and he turned to look at the people before him. "Since you deny your crimes then we will have to listen to the words of your co-conspirator and helper." No sooner had he spoken than the doors opened abruptly and a guard came in dragging the end of a rope which was tied around the hands of a frail looking woman who was hurled to the ground before the seated people. When she rose her face she recognized her and gasped, making Odo turn to look at her cunningly. Her knees felt wobbly and it took all of her willpower not to crumble to the ground at the presence of her maid. “Speak!” Odo said harshly. “Sh… she made me do it, with her lover. I swear I did not want to but they threatened that they would kill me, I received their letters which they sent between each other and he would give her vials with poison which she administered to the king.” A gasp went round the room as she gritted her teeth at the maid’s lies she glanced up at Odo’s steely eyes but saw not a flicker of pity and knew that he was committed to having her punished so there was no point protesting because she knew that his mind was made up. He claimed he was grief stricken over his nephew’s death but he had not wasted any time ascending the throne. She wondered what deal Rose had been offered to give her away, she had never been loyal to her so this did not surprise her in the least. How long had Rose been asked to spy on her activities and plant false evidence against her. “You alone are sentenced to death and you will be killed immediately while your maid will be banished from the city.” He announced and left the room without any ceremony. The guards soon came and dragged her out of the room and tethered her hands by a rope to a carriage which dragged her along the streets which were teeming with people who snarled at her and pelted objects that splattered against her face. The carriage stopped then her hands were untied before she was escorted up on the scaffold where a Head block stood in the middle and she was pushed to her knees. She gingerly placed her head on the cube of wood and breathed deeply, thinking of how her life was going to end in this cruel way. As she waited for the moment when the axe would fall on her and end it all she heard was the executioner grunt as he picked up the heavy axe and she close her eyes shut and waited for it’s impact. She suddenly jolted awake, gasping for breath. Her heart hammering against her ribs as if seeking release. Disjointed memories rolled like a jagged piece of glass and she looked around in confusion. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the remnants of the dream to disappear but the images felt so real that she raised a hand to her face to see that it was bare of the juice from the fruits that were thrown at her then her hands went to her neck to see that it still held her body and head together. “Princess Yvette?” A voice broke through the haze of her confusion and her eyes flashed open and widened in shock at the sight of Rose before her and unhurt. She looked around at her environment, she was in a glided carriage. why? She felt a dizzying sense of deja vu as she vaguely remembered embarking on such a trip before. It seemed that she was reliving her life and escaped being executed or was she dreaming again? She discreetly pinched herself and felt a sliver of fear at the pain. Nope, not asleep. “Give me a mirror.” She demanded and Rose raised an eyebrow at the queer request but produced a small rectangular mirror with gold leaves and handed it to her. She gasped and dropped the mirror to the ground when she saw the face framed by red hair striking green eyes staring looking back at her. She quickly pulled her sleeve back and stared first at her right forearm before doing the same with the left, puzzled by the absence of the result of the henna. This did not make a lot sense, was this kind of sorcery even possible? Rose peered closely at her pale face in concern when she did not answer. “Are you alright princess?” She took a deep breath to calm her shaking hands and glanced outside of the carriage before asking. “How long have we been on the road?” “We have been traveling for three days and we will soon arrive at Kwal to meet your groom.” Rose said nervously to the princess who numbly nodded and turned away to collect her thoughts. The last thing she could remember was Queen Elara peering down at her. All these that was happening to her, felt like a wild dream or actually, a nightmare in this case. Was she going to live in a dizzying cycle of the same thing happening? Or had she just about to relive the life she had lived? Was this a chance for her to correct her mistakes and make sure her life not to end that way? Maybe she was sent back to keep Kael safe as a punishment for her mistakes. “Queen Elara asked me to give you this.” Rose said and pulled out a letter. The presence of the letter surprised her, she had collected a letter from her stepmother in that previous life too even though she had not received it until she had gotten to the palace. Maybe that had been because she had not woken up throughout the trip to Kwal.