The Dark Side Of Fate by Karima Sa'ad Usman

160 The Hearing

~Sylvester~

The day of Larry's hearing was finally upon us. It was not supposed to be long, but we had to brace ourselves for surprises. I watched Tamia stand in front of the mirror in the closet, admiring her brooch. It was one of the many decorative accessories she was given to use in her official capacity as Queen.

Today she would not be a guest in the King's Hall, but the Queen and I looked at her proudly. We had come a long way and still had a long way to go. Ending Larry's madness was just a phase, but we had the right to breathe and celebrate.

I went to her and wrapped my arms around her from behind. I touched her bump gently in the process. The free-flowing short gown she was wearing covered it up. She closed her eyes and smiled. I could tell that she was genuinely happy. That was all I ever wanted. She turned to face me, and we kissed passionately.

Breaking the kiss, she smiled at me.

"So today is the day we put all of this behind us," She said, and I smiled, nodding.

We left our room and headed out. We would be leaving for the city in a convoy. Unlike before, when we all shared a limo, it would be just Tamia and me in our Limo while the others shared another Limo. It was the only downside of being a king. The invisible line that separated us during official occasions was a bother, but we could bear it.

We arrived at the King's Hall with a crowd cheering for us.

The people were still grateful for what happened at the Lucland general hospital. They saw us as heroes, and I was glad that Larry's last move made us more popular with our people.

Thinking of everything, I wondered how Larry believed he would be King. Lucas was right to question Larry's resolve.

He should not have had that many resources to pull off the stunt that he did, but an angry, determined man could do anything, and to think all that he was fighting for was built on a lie was highly annoying and disappointing.

Emily had misled him and put him into a situation where he would commit unnecessary blunders.

Although Larry had a wife now, he ruined and broke another woman's heart to seek revenge for his first love, who did not care for him. She was trying to climb the social ladder by all means.

It was a sad and disappointing story I was not willing to tell in the future.

Tamia and I alighted from our ride and stood side by side to wave and greet the people at the entrance. They were overjoyed to see us, and Tamia had a perfect smile.

We walked into the hall and went to our box. It had only two chairs strictly reserved for the King and Queen.

Leonardo and Devin were around. They were council members, so it was compulsory for them to attend the hearing. Everyone needed to be there. Vino sat in Dominic's old box. I was sure everyone had learned about Vino's heritage, and all that Jenny and my father had tried to cover up were now open. Everyone was there.

My mother sat in the same box with Vino, and Jake Brighton was with her. We hid Lucas in the building so no one would guess what we were planning.

Knowing Larry would try to take as many down with him was a given, and we were prepared.

His top players were present too. Amanda, Ramsey, Jacob Makhailov, Gatson Wayat and Neil Peakman were lined up too.

The rest were already judged by default.

While some will be locked up for many years, others will have to die. We could not occupy our cells, and we could not allow traitors to roam about freely for the sake of peace.

Something had to give.

I knew Marcel, Theodore, Dominic and David, with the help of Vino, who knew what role they all played in the uprising, would know who to keep and who to execute.

Tamia and I would judge the people present because they were the leaders. They were the pioneers of the uprising; the rest of the people were just tools, and they would suffer for allowing themselves to be used in such a way.

Since Vino was no longer in charge of the council and the Lawrence seat was vacant, we needed someone else to take control. All the top families were no longer on the council, making the council Leadership open to anyone.

They had informed me a day before that they would take a vote on who will lead them, and I hoped they had sorted that part out because I did not plan to linger in the King's Hall. NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.

Leonardo Albert stood up, and I figured he had been made the council leader.

He gracefully addressed all those present, including some of the citizens allowed to enter the King's Hall and witness the hearing. Then he stated what we were all present for and implored everyone to be on their best behaviour.

Devin stood and greeted everyone quickly before informing everyone of the day's itinerary.

"Today, we will be discussing the crimes of the following people. Larry McMillian, Amanda Richford, Ramsey Richford, Jacob Makhailov, Gaston Wayat and Neil Peakman. They have conspired and committed treason and must be tried and punished for their crimes." Devin said, and I could hear the tinge of anger in his voice.

The truth was everyone had lost something in the process, and some of those things could never be recovered. There was no way they would go free or receive a slap on the wrist. They had committed heinous crimes and had to pay for them.

The hall was silent, and Devin sat down.

Pamela read Amanda's crimes, and she pleaded guilty. The same was done for Gaston Wayat, and he pleaded guilty.

Neil Peakman was difficult; he pleaded not guilty.

"I have the right to an investigation. These are baseless allegations laid against me. It is my right to request an investigation," he said, looking at his former colleagues on the council.

None of them dared to look at him. I could see that they were afraid too. It was clear Neil needed to understand the situation he was in.

"Are you trying to say that we are lying?" Leo asked him sternly.

"I am not saying anything; I am just saying that evidence needs to be provided before there is a conviction," Neil argued, and Devin laughed.

"Why do you always like to do things the hard way, Peakman? You tried to run away when the King went to arrest you himself. If your hands were clean, and you were truly innocent, you wouldn't have been caught loading your suitcase into the trunk of your car, ready to run away on the night of the massive arrest," Devin said. The people who were in the hall murmured.

"Mr Peakman, I hope you know this is not the old system where council members abused the laws and liberties for their benefit. Only one man makes the law now, and thus you have no right to request an investigation. You are at the mercy of the King," Leo told him, and Neil looked up at the box where I was sitting with my wife.

I looked into his eyes, and he could not speak. I was the one that arrested him. I was the one who locked him up in prison.

"If you deny your crimes one more time, the penalty will be severe," Devin warned him. Even though they were all going to die, there were worse ways to go. Death can be quick and easy or slow and painful. The decision was his.

He conceded after that and pleaded guilty. Likewise, Jacob Mikhailov pleaded guilty and exonerated his family members that were in the cell.

"My brothers were not a part of this, your Majesty. They have no hand in this. They were just helping me out. They did not know the severity of the crime. Please, your Majesty, do not punish them for my crimes," He pleaded, but I was going to be the one to decide that. I remained silent and left my face expressionless.

Ramsey pleased guilty, and the enforcers moved them to a holding cell, leaving Larry behind. That was when I decided to speak.

"Larry McMillian, you have committed treason against my father in the past and against me. You tried to usurp power and name yourself King. You created chaos in our world, and many people lost their lives. I was disappointed to find out your reasons. You claim you did it based on what your fiancee told you, but she never told you to try to install yourself as King and ruin lives in the process. You recruited minors into your scheme and ruined them. You manipulated and killed the people on your team to cover your tracks. You misled them and destroyed everything from the shadows, all in the name of vengeance. Today I sentence you to life imprisonment in a silver cage where you will

be forgotten and die a slow and painful death. You will be starved and allowed a meal every four days to repent for the lives you took and the people you displaced because of your greed and wickedness. I promise you will beg for death during this period, but it will never come. I hope your remorse is enough for the goddess to forgive you." I said, and the entire hall was silent. Larry began to laugh.