"Thief! Daddy!".
Zoe stood there frozen, she didn't know someone was watching her. And she didn't know who the hell the little girl was.
"Hey shut up, ok?", Zoe tried to quiet her but it was too late. The little girl's screams already attracted the palace guards. Zoe was so shocked that they were referring to that little girl as, 'your highness'. Who was she? Before Zoe could stylishly remove the jewelries from her gown, the guards caught her and held her in place so she couldn't run.
Word soon reached the king about his guest who went to his daughter's palace to steal and he was so angry. What were the guards even doing outside that a guest entered Stella's room.
Thomas quickly arrived at the court room were Tyler was having a meeting with Carl.
"I just confirmed and Lady Zoe indeed stole from Princess Stella's room", Thomas said with his head bowed.
"Demote all the guards who were on duty there at that time and lock the thief in the dungeon till I have her time", Tyler ordered.
Thomas bowed again, "the men you sent to bring Lady Janielle have arrived too but she came along with her mother".
Tyler's angered look disappeared, "bring them here", he ordered and Thomas left immediately.
Then he turned to Carl, "you are dismissed for now. We'll talk later".
Carl stood up and bowed, "your highness", he saluted before leaving.
Tyler smiled, he wanted to see if all the stories he heard about this Janielle was true, he was quite fascinated by the way people spoke highly about her like she was so perfect. And he also wanted to know why Duke Denvers and his wife left her back.
In no time, he saw the servant open the door for her and her mother to come in. She was indeed pretty and her mom looked older than what he heard. As soon as they entered, they both bowed deeply. Both of them scared of looking at the king's face.
"Rise", he ordered with his authoritative voice.
Janielle looked up slowly and saw the king's face for the first time. And she had to admit, he was handsome and talk and well built and all she wanted her future husband to be but she was already lowering her expectations because it was hard to see such perfectness in men especially men from her village.
"We are honored to be in the king's presence", Pauline said.
"That's ok, I brought your daughter here because Jonathan Denvers told me she was sick and that he had to let her stay because of that", the king stated with a look of surprise on his face, "but she looks ok to me".
Pauline and Janielle have each other a look. Not only did they leave her behind, they also lied to the king to cover it up!
"I don't know about that...I", Pauline was saying when Tyler interrupted her.
"Remember you're speaking to king and you very know the consequences of lying to the king", Tyler reminded her, "now speak!"
"I...I actually didn't know she was sick. Even if she is, she hardly tells me, always worried that I'll be worried", Pauline said careful not wanting to implicate her sister's family.
Then he turned to Janielle, before Janielle could talk, the captain of the guards that went to fetch her immediately came in and bowed before the king.
"Your highness, I learned from the servants and butler of the Denvers mansion that Lady Janielle was not sick", the captain said.
Janielle and Pauline looked at the king with horror on their faces but the king smiled instead to their dismay.
"Get Jonathan and his wife", the king ordered the captain who immediately bowed and left.
"Sit", he ordered them and they Walked over to where the sits were to sit quietly.
"Why are you guys worried for them?", Tyler asked them, "I know what happened, that's why I'm the king", he said and smirked, "they are not people to trust and love. Their daughter, Zoe's enjoying her time at my dungeon. God only knows what she was thinking", he said calmly.
Pauline and Janielle's eyes widened and their faces turned pale when they heard Zoe was in prison.
"Your highness", Janielle started but her mother immediately signalled her to sit down and shut up.
Tyler smiled, "please speak".
Janielle stood up and bowed, "your highness, please what did my cousin do?".
Pauline immediately stood up, "I'm sorry your highness, she didn't mean to question you".
But Janielle was still bent on finding out what Zoe did and also beg on her behalf.
'such confidence', Tyler said in his mind.
"She stole from my daughter's palace", he said.
*. *. *
Kathryn and her husband heard Zoe was at the dungeon and Kathryn was busy wailing, "I know my Zoe didn't steal that thing, what do they take us for!!".
"When you went to her room and didn't see her, why didn't you look for her immediately?", Duke Denvers asked angrily. He was so stressed and angry. He was already regretting coming to the castle in the first place. He would have just made up an excuse.
Just as he was thinking, some guards came for them, to take them to the king's court.
On the way to the court, the guards half dragged them, "why are you treating us as prisoners? We are the king's guests", Duke Denvers said angrily but the guards acted deaf.
"We are not criminals, so leave us right this instant", Kathryn ordered.
As soon as she entered the court and saw Janielle and Pauline, she kept quiet and looked down with guilt. She knew the king already found out.