Starr

Guilty.

Several things happened at once.

My father sat a little straighter and held his head a little higher. Sarah Lexington stared at the ground in defeat. And her daughter, thirteen year old Victoria, leapt up and started screaming. Words just flew out of her mouth as if she had no way to control them. The things she said stunned the precious few allowed to sit in on this trial. Had she been of age, she likely could have been fined or maybe even jailed for the things she was saying about the judge and the jury and my father.

The judge finally shouted for someone to please take the child out of the room, and why had she been allowed to watch in the first place? He didn't say anything about me, just a little over a year older. When the guards tried to take her out, she fought like a hellcat, scratching and kicking and doing all she could to stop them. In the end, with several bleeding wounds, the guards succeeded in carrying her out of the room. Just before she left, she met my eyes, only for a second. Then she was gone and the room was silent again.

The sentence was announced. In the space of those few minutes, between Victoria Lexington dragged away from her mother, and the guards returning to take Sarah Lexington to prison, several thoughts played through my mind.

My father did this. I had no doubt he had had a hand in the result of the morning. He knew as well as I did that the little evidence that had been presented was hardly concrete proof it was that woman. I often helped him with this case among others. I was familiar of the workings of our government. This had his fingerprints all over it. But why had he done it? The Lexingtons were ruling before us and were the favorite to rule after. The family dispute over Tristan Lexington marrying outside royal blood had finally blown over. Why rip it open again, and in the worst way?

I knew what would be said if I voiced any of these thoughts. I would be told I was too young to understand, that the inner workings of government and murder and motive was too complex for me, however sure I was that I was right.

I met my father's eyes across the room. He read my thoughts the way he always did, and understood perfectly. He shook his head slightly before turning his attention back to the royal talking beside him. I understood that shake. It meant not here, not now. But for a father to say that to his son, he likely meant never.