Melinda walked briskly into the premises, she was at the King's palace. She breathed heavily because the quarters where he enjoyed spending time was quite far from the main palace.
But it wasn't the only reason that made her heart race, it was the thought of what would happen if she was uncovered as Qaya's murderer.
"Stupid, stupid.... you're just so stupid, Melinda" she scolded herself.
A guard stopped her from entering the chamber were the king was.
"The king will not see anyone today" he mumbled, not even bothering to look her in the eye. He had delivered the message, he didn't care how it met the recipient.
"Tell the king that it is I and that it's very urgent. I require his audience"
The guard sighed. What was so urgent? He stood still for a while, contemplating if he should take her serious. Before he could make up his mind, the king called from within the room.
"Let her in"
Melinda, upon hearing his words, quickly rushed into the chambers. She was so frantic that she was embarrassed by her own disposition.
She gaped at the king as soon as she entered the room, he was laying lazily on his bed with his top half bare, she looked away bashfully.
"What's the matter?" Awin asked, his eyes closed; this made Melinda frown, did this man take her serious?
"I'm here because of Sir Milton's appeal, Ms. Heris is the one pushing for it, so I'm forced to believe that there's cause to worry"
"Have you no faith in me" from his voice, all she heard was drowsiness
"Should I come back another time?"
"You mean after I've given my verdict" he mocked
"Your highness, forgive me for being 'unnecessarily worried' but I have to be sure you will be by my side because as it is you have a fondness for Ms. Heris"
The king snickered and opened his eyes "fondness? You've been nothing but bizarre today, lovely Melinda. I just wonder why you are so perplexed someone could hear and actually think you're the real culprit" he 'tsked' and got up from the bed.
She froze for a while and after she managed to compose herself, she nodded "I must just be overly emotional concerning this case, seeing that the victim was my friend."
Awin nodded in approval of her response "exactly! minister Melinda, I will make sure the perpetrator pays and no harm will come to you"
He stretched and put on a shirt "it's a pity that dear Qaya died really"
Melinda flinched "it really is"
"Your highness what do you plan on doing"
Awin couldn't help but scowl "why do you ask? Of course I will deliver justice"
"The hearing is tomorrow"
He rolled his eyes and dismissively waved "Melinda, be at ease and go home, I want to rest"
She stood for awhile and looked at the king, just why was she tolerating this man, even he didn't ask for it...so why in earth was she doing this. She resigned to her fate and retreated back to her home.
after all there was a lot of preparing to do.
The hearing
The King's court was full to the brim and many commoners were waiting outside the building hoping to get a glimpse of what was being said.
Sir Milton's family didn't even make an effort to come, Qaya and her family sat in their place instead. Qaya was deep in thought, she knew that the king wouldn't possibly throw Melinda out to the dogs, at least not like this. Among all of his minions, she was the only one that was genuinely loyal to him, without eyeing his riches or authority. "So what will he do? He'll want to appear like a just king but this situation might prove troublesome for him and myself" she thought
Marie's light tap broke her out of her reverie.
"Arise, the king is here"
She was about to oblige but the king was already seated and motioned for them to seat, his eyes locked on her.
"Guilty" Dylan Mariale joked as he nudged his daughter.
"We are here to reconsider the conviction of Milton Carlson, the fifth knight of the imperial order and former minister of information for the murder of Qaya Wright, he was convicted on the grounds that the victim's corpse was found in the premises of which he is lord of."
"I request that the convicted's representative give a defense"
Rachel stood up and bowed before the king
"The evidence against my client is strongly suggestive and not sufficient enough to declare his conviction. There is lack of motive and he has an alibi at that"
The king looked offended but shrugged it off with a smile, she had subtly questioned his capability to dispense justice, he wanted to punish her but she was within her means to say it and she was a foreign woman who was the widow of the Galaruan family, the most powerful family, even her late husband's father was his mentor, so he would overlook everything.
"Go on, don't tell me why he shouldn't be convicted, tell my why he's innocent"
Rachel flashed him a wry smile and turned to look at Qaya, who gave a nod of approval in return. Awin caught this and became pensive and excited at the same time.
"I will like to first of all quash his conviction and redirect the court to finding the real culprit and I will do so by firstly summoning a witness"
The king smiled, he knew where this was going, he waved his hand and Rachel understood immediately
"I summon Ms. Charmale"
Melinda Stood up, went to the front and bowed to the king. She looked utterly expressionless, but she was nervous inside.
"I summon you because you play a pivotal role in this case"
The other woman nodded in understanding
"What is your relationship with the convicted"
Melinda swallowed, she slowly looked at Sir Milton but he didn't even look her way, she deserved it.
"He was my mentor, before I became a minister myself, I admired his uprightness in business and government affairs and approached him to be my mentor"
"You say you admired his uprightness and yet you published an article on YOUR newspaper, announcing a sacrilegious relationship between the two of you"
The king couldn't help but cover his face in annoyance, he was regretting his past decision. Qaya chuckled "stupid people"
Melinda did not flinch "I didn't"
Everyone gasped; did this woman think them fools?
"You see, I used to have a partner, this person was the one who made this claim, this person was infact Qaya Wright, the victim. That was why I was certain that Sir Milton had killed her in a fit of rage for her actions"
"So you lied initially about you being the sole operator of the news agency?"
Rachel turned to the audience ignoring the king "it's almost as if, Miss here is a compulsive liar, she has a track record of making false claims." She then turned back to Melinda" I could also say that you yourself had killed the young lady in a fit of rage, you after all benefitted the most, you had Harbinger all to yourself and with Sir Milton's conviction you became the minister of information"
"Wrong, I became minister of information before that, he had already resigned from his post" Melinda corrected
"I see" Rachel replied and smiled at the woman
"This woman all the same lacks credibility..."
Melinda cut in "I am very much aware that perjury is a grave crime, so I do not lie when I say that I believe that Sir Milton killed Qaya"
"Okay then tell me, how did you find this out and what made you come to this conclusion"
"I saw her body and a few hours before that Sir Milton had gotten rid of a bloodied shirt and when I queried him, he said he visited his son-in-law's abbatoir"
Rachel laughed heartily, it startled the crowd. "forgive my behavior, sacred court but according to the account of Harbinger and by proxy Ms. Charmale, the body was discovered in the wee hours, Ms. Charmale claims she discovered the body herself and alerted the authorities and that she had seen the convicted getting rid of bloodied clothes few hours ago, am I right?"
Melinda nodded
"So my question is what was Melinda doing in The Carlson residence at such unholy hours, because as it is, the only plausible reason I can think of is if there was a overly high level of inappropriate intimacy between the two that would cause her to be in his house at that time or she was there disposing of the body"
The people gasped, either way did not speak well of Ms. Charmale, what was she to do.
Melinda was about to speak when Rachel cut in "remember Ms. Charmale that if you do perjure and are caught you'll not just be stripped of your title but imprisoned for no less than five years, if you were legitimately in his home, servants will be able to attest to it"
Melinda's face fell and she could no longer speak.
The king cut in "I have other pressing matters to attend to, the hearing is adjourned to two days from now, seeing as Ms. Charmale is brought to light as a reasonable suspect, she shall be placed under total house arrest with no form of communication."
Melinda did not flinch. This time she would totally trust the king no matter what. She had no other choice.