10
During the ride back to the palace, it really hit her then that her life was going to take a huge turn for worse, there was no other way, and there was no one on her side either, the only person that she could say was on her side, she brought problems to her, she felt sorry for the good old woman and wished she didn’t have to go through troubles for helping her.
“I am sorry,”
She whispered to herself, hoping that the good old lady will be okay, she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer even though she highly doubted it will be effective.
“Time to face the wrath of the king, you thief,”
The big man who is the leader said before the car stopped in front of the palace, Sophie looked up at the great walls of the palace and tears gathered in her eyes again, two years ago when she had first seen this wall, it had been like the best place to be, a safe place, but now, she knew that this will be her prison or her death place.
She watched as the big gate opened as her heartbeat increased, she was so scared but there was nothing she could do to stop this moment, there was nothing she could do to stop her misfortune.
She closed her eyes as the car drove in, didn’t resist or do anything as the guard dragged her out of the car, and didn’t look up when she heard the voices of people muttering words, she knew who those people were even without looking at them, her coworkers in the palace, they never really liked her so they won’t care and won’t try to help her, but that they could do anything either way.
Her heartbeat increased, even more, when they opened the big door to the king’s courtroom where he deals with issues like this, she was pushed to her knees, and pain shot through her as she kneels collided harshly with the floor, she looked up for the first time and her eyes locked with the king’s eyes, his handsome face was flushed in anger, he was mad and this was the first time this expression would be directed at her.
She has seen him angry a lot of times but it was never at her, even when he scolded her before, he was never this pissed.
“Where are the diamonds?”
That was the first word spoken to her, or maybe not her because the huge man was the one to answer.
“My king, we searched the whole house but there was nothing there, I left some of my boys to keep checking,”
The man said. Sophie heard the king’s intact of breath and braced herself, he walked closer to her, each powerful step making her heart beat even faster, fear of the unknown gripped her and crippled her, she couldn’t even move from where she knelt, she brought her head down, tears gathering in her eyes, even more, she couldn’t hold it back.
“You thief, you thought you could run away with what’s mine? You little devilish thief,”
The king yelled at her, Sophie kept her head down, the tears in her eyes increasing with each of the words he said, she didn’t want to cry no matter what, she held it in, even though the floods of tears were so close to breaking out.
“Speak! Where are the diamonds?”
He yelled at her again, Sophie closed her eyes fighting back tears, what was the use of trying to hold the tears when they just won’t stop? But what would crying do for her right now? Nothing! It was pointless, she couldn’t even say a word, she didn’t know where the diamonds were and no one was going to believe her.
“Your highest, you don’t have to bother with asking her that, I am sure they can handle that in the prison,”
The king’s right-hand man said and Sophie lifted up her head, she didn’t want to go to prison, the harsh life in prison would kill her, it was bad for indigenes it would be worse for her.
“Please, please don’t send me to jail, I am innocent,”
She cried out, speaking up for the first time, both the king and his right-hand man turned to her, she looked up at them and saw it clear, what she had known from the beginning, they didn’t believe her, how would they? When the diamond was handed to her and she lost it and ran away.
“Do I look like a fool and push over to you? Well, as Patrick said, I should not even be wasting my time with you, by the time they are done with you there, you will start talking,”
The king said and the tears Sophie has been trying to keep away just came out on their own, there was not a single look of pity her way, she was been judged without no one giving her the benefit of doubt and asking her own side of the story, how would they? She was a nobody, just a servant and a one-time mistress of the king and he doesn’t even remember.
“I am sorry,”
She said more to herself but the king heard her.
“Sorry? Sorry doesn’t fix anything, I thought you were trustable, and you would have gotten a nice reward from me but you choose to steal from me, be ready for everything and if the diamond is not found, be ready to pay with your life, take her away and torture her until she speaks up,”
The king roared and the guards came in to drag her away, no one listened to her pleads and cries of being innocent and the guards were not gentle on her either, they hallowed insulting words at her while they dragged her away to the palace prison, a harsh place to be, even tears couldn’t do justice to the pain she felt, in all that was happening, all she could think about was her baby, she felt sorry for her poor child.