Chapter 9 - Unmasking the Snakes
Before Malakor could even reach the altar steps, Captain Vance moved like a streak of lightning.
Vance stepped into Malakor’s path, parrying the hidden dagger with his gauntlet, and with a swift, devastating kick, knocked the weapon from the villain's hand. Vance swept Malakor’s legs out from under him, slamming the treacherous lord face-first onto the cold marble floor.
Within seconds, four royal guards pinned Malakor to the ground, binding his hands in heavy iron chains.
“Get your hands off me!” Malakor spat, squirming uselessly against the steel grips. “I am a prince of the realm!”
“You are a traitor to the crown,” King Alistair declared, walking down the altar steps with cold, unyielding dignity. “You tried to murder my infant daughter, stole seventeen years of her life, and attempted to usurp the throne through murder and dark alchemy.”
Celeste crawled toward her father, sobbing frantically, her tiara slipping sideways off her head. “Uncle! Please! It was my father’s idea! I knew nothing of the fire! I was just a child!”
Mara stepped down from the stone altar, wrapping a white cloth around her bleeding palm. She looked down at Celeste with pity rather than anger.
“You threw a pitcher of ice water on me to humiliate a servant girl,” Mara said softly, her voice carrying across the silent hall. “You knew who I was, Celeste. You saw the ointment washing away, and instead of showing mercy, you tried to have me poisoned in my sleep.”
Celeste froze, unable to utter another lie.
King Alistair raised his hand, issuing his royal decree. “Lord Malakor, for the crimes of high treason, attempted royal assassination, and arson, you are sentenced to life in the dark dungeons of the northern fortress. Lady Celeste, for complicity in treason and attempted murder, you are stripped of all noble titles, wealth, and lands, and banished from this realm forever!”
The guards dragged the screaming, cursing Malakor and the weeping Celeste out of the grand hall, their cries fading into the dark corridors outside.
The court broke into loud applause and cheers. For the first time in seventeen years, the heavy cloud of gloom over the kingdom had completely lifted.
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King Alistair turned to Mara, taking her uninjured hand into his. Tears of joy flowed down the old King’s face. “Welcome home, my sweet Aurelia.”
Mara looked at her father, then at Captain Vance, who offered her a warm, proud smile. The cold, terrified kitchen girl who had been drenched in ice water was gone forever. The true Princess had finally stepped into the light.
