Young Royals Season 3 (Version 3)

Chapter 88

The large double doors creaked open.  Simon, the Crown Prince and Boris were the last to come through, glancing around at the few attendees in the room on either side of the aisle.  They all hurried to slide into a bench at the back.

Wilhelm moved in close to Simon and breathed deeply, reaching over to discreetly take his hand.

Simon looked up into Wilhelm's eyes and tried to smile, hiding his nerves as best he could. 

He looked ahead of them at the Defense's side and settled his gaze on August who hardly moved...

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Sara carefully closed the door then went to her bed and took off her jacket. She began to change out of her riding clothes, still deep in thought since she'd gotten the message from Simon that morning.

"How's Rousseau?" Felice asked her from just inside the bathroom door.

"Fine." Sara raised her voice slightly so that Felice could hear her from across the room.

She stopped unbuttoning her shirt and hesitated for a moment before speaking up again. "You know, Anette isn't here anymore..."

Felice stuck her head out of the bathroom and looked back at Sara.

"Yeah?...So?" She gave Sara a quizzical glance. 

"She said we couldn't put anything online about the pixels after the group chat. But she's not here anymore."

Felice paused, watching her reflection in the mirror. She capped her mascara and set it on the edge of the sink then and turned around, walking into the bedroom.

"So what do you want to do? They already said the pixels don't prove it was August." She paused in front of Sara.

"But no one else knows that. And no one even knows August is on trial, outside of Hillerska I mean." Sara shrugged.

Felice contemplated Sara for a moment, raising an eyebrow. "It's dangerous though..." She warned, but as she studied the expression on Sara's face, she could tell how important it was to her.

Sara hadn't been able to help her brother with her testimony, and now she wanted to do what she could to make up for it.

"We have to ask Simon and Wille first." Felice said quietly, softening her tone.

Sara nodded, smiling at her friend. Felice pulled her phone from her pocket then went and sat down on Sara's bed with her.

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Simon heard the phone buzz and glanced down at Wilhelm's pocket.  Wilhelm took his hand away from Simon's momentarily to pull the phone out of his coat. 

He immediately saw the message from Felice and stopped what he was doing, Simon watching  him curiously.  Wilhelm held it for Simon to read.

Simon leaned in to Wilhelm and whispered,  "Do you want them to post it?" 

Wilhelm looked down at the phone then replied quietly, "I think we should wait. I don't think they can release it like that anyway. It's evidence."

Simon looked down at his lap, disheartened.  Wilhelm lay his hand on Simon's arm, reassuring him quietly, "Even if he's not convicted, I'll still make sure everyone knows what he did."

Simon nodded.  He looked back up at August.  August hardly moved.

Simon suddenly saw him being acquitted, smiling and hugging his stepfather and his mother. He saw them heading out of the courthouse together and going off to celebrate their victory, August ecstatic that he was free and that he would replace Wilhelm as the Crown Prince one day soon, then become King of Sweden.

He saw August back at Hillerska a few days later, gloating because he'd gotten away with it as he'd always said he would.

Simon felt the bitterness overtake him as he realised they'd been right all along: People like August never faced consequences; only people like Simon did. 

Simon wanted August to feel some part of what he'd felt when the video had leaked, some part of everything they'd had to endure because of what he'd done.  They'd been treated like the ones who'd committed a crime when they'd done nothing wrong, and August was still being protected.

Wilhelm rested his hand on Simon's knee and they waited for the proceedings to begin. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing it slowly, preparing for what was to come. 

The judge announced that they would begin their last day of trial and the attendees were silent.

"Detective Larsson, will you please come to the stand?"  The judge requested.  

She made her way up and sat facing the audience.  The Prosecutor approached the bench.

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Excerpt from Detective Larsson's Testimony:

...

Larsson: "Alexander couldn't have filmed the video because he couldn't have been at the Crown Prince's window that morning."

Prosecutor: "And how do you know that without witnesses to his whereabouts that day?"

L: "We know that Alexander was already over an hour away from the school when the video was filmed.  His parents were taking him home because he was suspended."

P: "Can you explain how you know that?"

L: "We've been given access to Alexander's geolocation records for that entire day."

P: "So he couldn't have filmed the video after that time, but would he have been able to do so earlier on?"

L: "No.  The same records tell us that he was never in a position to film the video that morning.  The last time he was anywhere near Forest Ridge was 11:32 pm when he went to sneak the Crown Prince out of his room and take him to the Society members' party.  There wouldn't have been the amount of daylight that's seen in the video at that time obviously.  After that he was never at Forest Ridge again.  He was caught with the backpack almost as soon as he left the party, then taken to the headmistress' office and finally he left Hillerska when his parents came to collect him."

(Prosecutor concludes questioning and Defense begins cross-examination)

Defense: "So you say that Alexander couldn't have recorded the video that morning. However, that doesn't mean August could have either-"

L: "Except he's the only one that had the opportunity to do so."

D: "Sorry? How did he have the opportunity?"

L: "August was at the location next to Forest Ridge when the video had to have been recorded."

D: "And how you can be so sure of that?"

L: "It's true that we haven't been provided with the defendant's geolocation records...yet, but we have other evidence."

D: "Please..."

L: "Alexander received a text message at 6:24 am and we have records of the cell towers the message travelled between to reach Alexander's location."

D: "So that helps you confirm Alexander's location, but I don't think it's pertinent to my question, and it doesn't pertain to my client's whereabouts or alleged opportunity to record the video."

L: "Except that it does, because August is the one who sent Alexander the message."