The King walks into his chambers to meet Aisha crying on the floor, she falls on his feet the moment she sees him, shedding tears like an infant. The King looks at her with contempt in his eyes, a look of disappointment and disbelief.
"My king, I swear on the life of our unborn child, I am innocent of this crime, I didn't do it," Aisha pleaded.
The king took a step backwards and she fell on the floor. "Why should I believe you? The necklace was found in your chambers, in your tent and in your very personal bag, how do you explain that?" he asked in a stern voice.
"I don't know how any of that happened, my Lord, I swear I am telling the truth, why would I steal from the King?" she replied amidst tears.
"I have been wondering the same thing, if you were so eager to die, why not just commit suicide, why did you have to do this. I have reasons to believe that you had stolen this, you were here in my chamber the other day, you claimed that you had just come to see the King; I knew that was a silly excuse, you had ulterior motives.
The moment I slept off, you stole my necklace and left with it. No one else has been in this room since then so I believe that you are the culprit," the King pointed out.
"No my lord, I am being wrongfully accused," Aisha pleaded in tears, she wanted to tell the King the truth but she was scared that it was too late for that already, he wouldn't believe her at this point.
"Liar!! You betrayed me! You know my lady, I was actually starting to like you, I thought you were different and I was planning to make you my next queen, but you are a wolf in sheep's clothing, it's good I have seen your true colors before it is too late," the King fired. He seemed furious with her, but who wouldn't be?
Aisha couldn't help but cry, she wished she could wound back the hands of time and do what she should have done two days ago. She had made a great mistake by showing compassion, and she was paying the price for it right now.
"Your highness, please believe me, I believe someone had placed the necklace in my bag on purpose, they must have done it to get me out of their way." Aisha cried and tried to crawl closer to the King's feet.
"And who do you think would do such a thing?" the King asked in a sarcastic tone.
Aisha knew that he didn't believe her, but she thought it would be best to open up to him now, she was getting punished anyway, so it was best that she told the truth right away.
"My lord, I know for a fact that one of the women in your harem is responsible for this, she had done this to protect her secret," Aisha replied and rose to her knees.
King Salem Mohammed furrowed his eyebrows, "Who is the traitor?" he barked in a thick voice. He seemed to find some truth in her claims and was eager to know the person she had in mind.
Aisha took a deep breath in and then let it out. "My lord, the culprit is no other person than your first wife, Queen Saudat!!" she confessed.
"Quiet!! How dare you!" the King snapped immediately and raised his palm to strike her, however he paused halfway.
Aisha screamed and turned her face the other way in fright, waiting to get slapped. She didn't expect the king to relent or hesitate, but he did.
"I won't hear you say another word against my wife, you are nothing but jealous of her position, you are just like the other useless women in my Harem. Why cant you all understand that you are just concubines, objects of satisfaction for the king, you can't ever get something more than that.
You have made a big mistake already by stealing from me such a sacrilegious item, don't worsen it by throwing false accusations at my wife. You know that the penalty for theft is death, but for the sake of my unborn child, I will give a second judgment, I won't kill you." The King said and Aisha sighed in relief.
She was surprised that the King had made such a judgment, when a woman steals in Manila, she is brought out in the public and made to satisfy men, they would torture her sexually to their own satisfaction before stoning her to death, that was the fate of every female thief regardless of the value of item stolen.
"I won't sentence you to death, rather you will be banished from this Kingdom," the King concluded.
Aisha's eyes widened in shock, she didn't see that coming, banishment was worse than death for her because she was an orphan and had no friends or relatives in other Kingdoms.
"No my lord, please do not such a wicked thing to me, I beg your pardon… please have mercy on my unborn child and I, we won't be able to survive out there in the wild, Please do not burden us with such punishment your highness," Aisha pleaded in tears.
"You should have thought about the consequences before you decided to steal from the King of Manila, you have till sunset to leave this kingdom, if you are seen anywhere within the boundaries of this Kingdom after sunset, then I won't be responsible for what happens to you," the King threatened.
"Please your highness, I am innocent, don't do this to me," Aisha pleaded while crying on his feet.
"I have passed my verdict, get out of my chambers, I wish to never set my eyes on you ever again," the King passed judgment.
Aisha tried to plead but the King called the guards outside the door and instructed them to throw her out. They didn't hesitate to grab her by the arm and throw her out of his chambers, not minding that she was heavy with a child.
Aisha sprawled on the floor, outside the king's chambers crying. She didn't believe this was all real, how did she move from the witness to the victim so quickly? She had let her compassion get the best of her, and now she had lost everything.
To be continued!!