From Princess To Queen

Trials: Day 2

As the people were entering the courtroom, they were hoping that all this would end today, but Clara and the counsel knew this would last a few days unless there were enough evidence to stop after today and return the verdict tomorrow. There was a slew of witnesses who needed to testify against Libby. Most people who wanted to testify against her and Felix had provided detailed witness statements with dates, times, and places where their actions took place. There were even audio and videos with audio of Libby talking and making her plans to take over the crown and other packs.

“All rise for all the councilmen and women, including the future King.”

“Please be seated. Yesterday we started our trial against Libby Forest, and we will continue to do so today with witnesses taking the stand as we see fit. Some may be called back to the stand for a second or third time.” Doya stated to the courtroom.

“Mr. Ahab, you may call your next witness.”

“I call Libby Forest to the witness stand.”

Some people were surprised that he put her on the stand, as it usually would not happen this early in the trial. But Mr. Ahab and the others wanted to be done with her and wanted to see if she would hang herself quickly. They also wanted to put Felix on the stand so they could gauge how he would sway in his testimony. Either way, they wanted both of these to end today as soon as possible.

“State your full name for the court.”

“Lizabeth Ruby Forest, Libby for short.”

“Thank you, Libby; please tell us why you are here today.”

“I do not understand. Please clarify, sir.”

“Why are you here in court, and warning...do not play games; it will not end well?”

“Lord, you all think I will tell you why I was here?”

“We ask the questions, Ms. Forest, not you!” Xavior exclaimed.

She rolled her eyes before answering the question or statement she was asked.

“If I must, then, apparently, I am here to testify on my behalf of the misgivings I have done in my life.”

“What were those misgivings exactly?”

“Well, now let us see, hmm. I poisoned the king, had Meira thrown out of the castle, had my son attack and kill off all those packs, and forced him to fight his father so that he could take over as Alpha. Oh, and let us not forget that I was forcing my son to take the royal crown a forced him to mate with Clara. I believe I have succeeded in all that.”

“Tell the court exactly what you did to our king?”

“Oh, now I made poisons to put in his water and foods so that he would come into heat, and I would be right there to take care of him. But of course, I kept up the magic spell and poisoned him continuously every time I came to the castle. More like we forced our way in. I even did that to Felix so that he could take over the crown and become king himself.”

“For how many years did this happen?”

“Since Clara was six months old, of course. I had to ensure she would not get the crown, so I ordered her to be killed. I guess the buffoons got caught, and that ended their lives. Too bad my darlings croaked.”

“Tell the court how you did this, please.”

“I have friends who are witches and had them help me cast spells and potions against the king.”

“I may have misunderstood; did you say poisons or potions? Please clarify for the court which is it.”

“Both, of course.”

“Did you do this to Felix’s father’?”

“Of course I did, but Louka and I were destined mates, at least I thought we were, but his father could not stand me and kicked me out of the pack. We were very young and very much in love.”

“Please tell the courts more.”

“You see, I wanted to be in charge of a pack, but reality set in that it would not happen. Louka’s father saw right threw that and had me abolished from the pack. But I was already pregnant with Felix, but he never knew, and I never told him. When I came across another pack, I used magic and stuff against another alpha that had just taken over his father’s pack. So I tricked him into believing we were mates but never marked each other.”

“Why did you not mark each other?”

“I had my eyes set on the king, of course.”

“Please answer the questions. Why did you not mark each other?”

“He did not want to mark me. He did not think we were destined mates; we weren’t, but I still poisoned him and used magic to get what I wanted. I wanted a pack, but he would not let me have it. He just had to listen to his father, and there is the whole entrapment of making him think Felix was his child. Six children later....”

“What about those other five children? Were they his or someone else?”

“Two were his, biologically, but he took them away and tried to take Felix with him.”

“What happened to the other children?”

“They went with him too. I do not declare them as mine, only Felix.”

“Why only Felix?”

“So he could do my bidding.”

“Why could you not do your own thing and make your son do your bidding?”

“I wanted him to go down while I ruled.”

“No further questions.”

“Ms. Forest, where are your parents?”

“Dead, of course; what does that have to with me?”

“When and how did they die?”

“They were killed, well I killed them, of course.” she laughs.

“Ms. Forest, you did not completely answer the question.”

“Ugh...They were hateful parents, so I killed them with my bare hands. I waited till they went out for a picnic one day. I followed them and then killed them. Mother was pregnant with my twin sister and brother; I did not see why they needed to bring more life into our dysfunctional family.”

“No further questions.”

“Please step down until we call you back up.”

“The council calls Louka Floch to the stand.”

“Mr. Floch, is Felix your son?”

“No, he is not my biological son, but I did give him my last name.”

“Why did you give him your last name if he is not your son?”

“He needs a father; that is the least I could do for him. We split up when he was four, but I would never abandon him. I would make him the Alpha of my pack, but Libby did not want that for him. We always fought like a hurricane because I saw her right through. I knew she wanted power, but there was no way in hell I would allow her to have that. She made all our lives a living hell until I kicked her out of the pack one day.”

“She had children, but you still kicked her out. Why?”

“I fought for the two children that are mine and fought for Felix as well. He had to stay till he was of age to make his own decisions.”

“Did that happen?”

“Of course not; he lived between the forest and his pack. I never let him go rogue, and the reason why is because he would become Alpha. I did my best to keep him.”

“What happened when you could not have him all the time? How did he act when he came back to you?”

“Broken down, he was very messed up in the head because Libby used magic to stay with him.”

“Did he fight you for the alpha title?”

“Yes, and no, you see, he did not want to fight me, but because Libby was a constant in his life and had her ropes tied to him, he was forced to fight me. I would hand it over to him after he went to college, but that is not what Libby wanted.”

“Was everything that she wanted not up to you?”

“According to her, she wants power no matter the cost or who she uses to obtain it. That includes killing off the packs she had her rogues, and Felix does.”

“Let me and the court understand, Ms. Forest is the one who used her magic and poisons on the rogues and Felix to kill off the thirty-plus packs they killed?”

“Yes, sir, that is correct.”

“Do you think Felix ever felt he did not need to do this?”

“Yes, he recently came to me and was different. We started bonding as a father and son should have done all these years.”

“Does he know who his biological father is?”

“Yes, he does now, and they are to bonding. It is slow, but it is good for him.”

“Thank you. No further questions.”

“This has been an eventful morning, and we are moving right along; we are going to adjourn for a one-hour lunch and be back in session at noon to wrap up the trial.”

The councilmen and women went to their chambers, where they had lunch, and Clara joined them. They talked amongst themselves, glad that this was going better than they could have imagined. They all hoped that Libby would incriminate herself, if not Purger, while on the stand.

They were all hoping that they could end the trial today and provide the verdict at the end of the day. They were going to push today till at least six or seven pm this evening, depending on what else is said and how long the testimonies take. They were getting antsy about how much more Libby would say about her past crimes.

“Wonder what else she will say. We need to put Mom back on the stand because she has seen Libby come into dads room and do more magic and give him more poisons in his room.”

“How do you know this?”

“I sensed Mom’s presence but also Libby’s presence. Mom was only trying to protect him as he was doing good and getting cleansed from the magic and poisons Libby was giving him. I may leave early from the trial to go and see him or wait till after it is over tonight to see how he is doing.”

“No, we will bring Queen Meira back on the stand and ask her those questions, see Libby’s reactions, and see if she blurts anything. I do not want you on the stand to testify, baby.” Xavior explained.

“Okay, let us do that after we live here tonight.”

They continued their lunch for another twenty minutes, cleaned the food, and put away plates. They used the facilities even though they would take a little break in a few hours. They assembled themselves to go back out, and Clara left to sit back in her seat and waited for the council to enter. Libby was brought back in, and the guards were not so easy on her when they pushed her to the table to have a seat.

“All Rise court is now in session.”

“Counsel calls Queen Meira back to the stands.”

“Your Majesty, have you visited your husband in the hospital recently?”

“Yes, I do visit him nearly every day. I will hide in the shadows to ensure he is safe from Libby. I have not had to hide the last couple weeks or so as she had been imprisoned and stripped of everything she has.”

“What did she do while she was in his room?”

“She used her magic spells and poisoned his food and drinks, keeping him under her control.”

“When she left the room, then what did you do?”

“I took his food and drinks away and provided him with new foods and drinks. I also undid the magic spells that she used.”

“Are you telling the courts that you are a witch?”

“Yes, I am a part witch and Lycan.”

“Why could you not use magic to reverse the spells when you saw King Matthew’s demeanor change?”

“I did not know what was happening; otherwise, I would have reversed it then.”

“No further questions. Do you have any further questions, Mr. Ahab and Mrs. Le Foll?”

Both said ‘no’ in unison; they continued the trials and had several more testimonies from those who witnessed Libby’s criminal intentions. The attorneys were preparing for their closing arguments when they finished the testimonies. By now, it was seven in the evening, and the council decided to reconvene at ten am the following day for the closing arguments, then the verdicts could be released. Felix was not brought in for the trial, but he will start very soon though they were hoping he could be reined in with this trial along with Libby.

“It is late in the evening, and we have heard all the possible testimonies for Libby Forest. We will listen to the closing arguments tomorrow morning at ten am sharp. Thank you for your time, and please remember that nobody can discuss what was said in this courtroom these past two days. Court adjourned.”

With that, everyone was dismissed, and Clara met Xavior outside the chambers and then walked outside to where Dunken was. They headed to a local restaurant to eat a late dinner and returned home. They went their separate ways to get ready for bed and a good night’s sleep. Even though Clara was exhausted, she got up early and went to train with her siblings, then back with the pack warriors to finish her training. They started to train her in her Lycan form so that she could subdue her father with the final blows. She did not want to kill her father but wanted him to submit to her so that she could take the thrown away from him.

To say she was excited about this fight was nothing compared to how she genuinely felt about how bad her father was. She knew no matter what, she still loved her father and wished that he was not so pig-headed about handing her the crown, but there was no way he would do so without a fight. The fight is another week and a half away, and it would be all over.