Royale (Book #1 Royale Series) {Under Revision}

Chapter 44: The Trial

Juliana's POV

"Stop pacing. You're going to ruin your makeup." Aspen told me as he attempted-and failed-to calm me down.

I spent the entire week that I was locked in a cell like an animal, trying to figure out how my secret could have come out, when it should have been obvious to me all along. Of course it was the rebels. If they couldn't kill me, or take my eggs, what better way to knock me out of the running for Princess?

I stopped pacing long enough to gape at Aspen as if he were stupid.

"I'm about to be put on trial for crimes against the country, which by the way, is treason and you're worried about my makeup?"

He walked over to where I was and laid his hands on my shoulders, not allowing me to continue to psyche myself out.

"Look, I know my Council. They're all about appearances. Make a good first impression and it will go a long way, I promise you."

"You really think my lips being perfectly puckered is going to influence their decision in any kind of way?" I looked up into his eyes. They were so confident and he seemed so sure of himself, and he was right. He did know his Council better than I did. So why didn't I feel any better?

My entire life has been based on this secret. Everything I did was to protect it. And now it was out. I felt so vulnerable without it. So...naked.

"I'm afraid, Aspen. What if they find me guilty? If I get exiled, there is no way around it. I will never see you again. Everything, all the tears, the lies, the fights...it all would have been for nothing. I mean, can you live with that? Because I can't. That secret was my very identity."

His eyes softened at that and he pulled me to him. He enclosed his arms around me and I buried my face into his shoulder.

"You are so much more than that secret, Jules. There's a fighter in you, I know it. And you are not going to crumble, right now, do you hear me? You are going to walk into that Throne Room and you are going to give them hell. Complete hell. You are strong. You are a warrior. And most importantly, you are a Princess. You were born to rule. You can make them ignore the DNA, Jules, it isn't everything. Just remember who you are, okay?"

But that was just it. I didn't know who I was. I've always been a princess and now that my secret was out, I felt less than that, somehow. But I couldn't tell Aspen as much because he wouldn't understand. He's never had to prove that he could be prince, it was his birthright. And mine was handed to me on a silver platter. Even if I did escape exile, would my people even accept me anymore?

I was not a commoner. But I wasn't so sure that I was a princess anymore. So how in the hell was I supposed to convince an entire Council of who I was?

"Are you ready?" Aspen asked as he pulled away from me.

I plastered on a fake smile and took a deep breath. "I'm ready," I lied.

~*~

"Okay, this is going to be set up just like a courtroom, okay? There will be an examiner, which is just a sugar-coated word for prosecutor. And let me tell you, she's brutal. Her name is Kimberly Adams and she's tough. But don't get intimidated." My advisor, which was a sugar-coated word for attorney, said. He was assigned to my case the same day I was arrested. "You're on the harder side because they have all the facts. You can't argue with those."

"So what the hell am I supposed to say then, Mr. Peterson?"

"Just answer their questions honestly. They'll be looking for a breach in your character. You can't give them that. Make it clear that your DNA is of no import. You were raised to be a princess. You are, in fact, a princess. Show them that nothing has changed. The Council is smart. They will see reason." He assured me.