The palace
Queen Valerie was giving Kierra a tour around the palace.
“This place is really huge. It’s going to take months before I can find my
way around here”, Kierra said to her and she laughed.
“When your father and I started dating, it was quite difficult for me too but
in some few days, I got a hang of it”, Queen Valerie said to her.
“How did you meet my dad?”
“Uhm, the training center. My dad was a duke and he wanted me to take part
in the training to learn how do defend myself so I was sent there. Yourdad
and I were opponents. At first we were always at each other’s throats and
there was no day that we wouldn’t argue but as days went by, we got toknow
each other, things fell in place and we fell in love. After we left the training
center, we started hanging out and eventually started dating. His parents
wanted him to marry the crowned princess of Delware. Those dayswere
difficult for us because we had to fight for our love and God being sogood,
his parents agreed to our union and we got married”, she said and shewas in
tears.
“And now he’s gone”, she said crying and Kierra hugged her.
“I know I never met him but with the stories I’ve heard, I can tell that he
was a good husband, father and King”, Kierra said.
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“He always looked forward to the day when he was finally going to meet
you, he drew imaginary images of you and always celebrated your birthday.
There are some days that he wanted to bring you back and I constantly had
to remind him that it wasn’t safe. I wish I didn’t, at least he would have seen
you before passing away”, she said.
“Mum it’s okay. God knows why everything happened this way. Maybe it
was Dad’s time to go”, she said.
“He was killed Kierra”, she said and Kierra was shocked.
Her mother sat down on the stool which was there and Kierra squat by her.
“Mum, what do you mean by he was killed?”
“I’ve been harboring this inside me for a long time because I’m scared of
what might happen if the truth gets out”, she said.
“Mum tell me everything and I’ll handle it myself”.
“Your brother, Fredrick poisoned him”, she said, crying.
“What? What did Dad do to him?!”
“He wanted to be king so bad and took his dad out and he tried to take you
out too several times. The first attack you had at the training center was his
handwork”.
“Oh my God. He’s a monster and he had the guts to lock you up. Mum, I
get that he’s your son but he has to face the consequences of his crime”,
Kierra said.
“Don’t kill him”, she said, begging him.
“No, I don’t wish death on anyone or seek to kill anyone. I’ll send him away
to the international prison for deadly criminals”.
“No no. He won’t survive there. Just leave him here in the dungeon”.
“Mum! He killed your husband, tried to kill me and locked you up. I’m sorry
but I have to do this”, Kierra said and her mother continued to cry.
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“At least he’ll be alive and you can visit him anytime”, Kierra said.
She comforted her mother for a while and then they went back to her room.
*
Kierra had a general meeting at the conference room and invited all
important delegations.
“You’re all welcome. I’m going to change some things around here but first
and foremost, I’m here to pass judgment on my brother Fredrick. He’s been
found guilty of murder against the late King James and attempted murder
against me”, she said and everyone was surprised. The whole place became
noisy.
“Quiet!!!” Kierra yelled.
“So, I hereby sentence him to life imprisonment at the international prison
for criminals”, she said and Angela fainted. The place became noisy again
and the guards and ladies, they took Angela was away.
“I hereby strip the following Lords off their titles and their lands and
properties will also be stripped off them”, she said and the Lords who were
against her rule became frightened.
She mentioned the names of the Lords and they were brought forward. Their
medals and crest were taken off and they were escorted outside.
“Due to the attacks we’re receiving from the Janricans, I suggest that my
coronation should be held tomorrow. I appoint Prince Warrick as the
Queen’s guard and I appoint Prince Derrick as the overall Lord General of
our army. Other positions will be filled out tomorrow. To the Lords who
stood by Queen Valerie and Prince Derrick, you’ll be greatly rewarded”, she
said.
She made other announcements and finally dismissed everyone.
*
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John was in his room, packing up his stuff when Penelope walked in.
“John what are we going to do? And where are you going to?”
“Don’t ask me that question and get out”.
“Why are you treating me like this?”
“I thought you said you were in love with Fredrick and didn’t want anything
to do with me, so why are you here?”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to ruin our plans”.
“Oh, I see”, he said and continued to pack.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes!”
“Without me?!”
“Yes. Your love is in prison. You can join him there”.
“John don’t do this to me. I’m carrying our child”, she said, pleading with
him.
“Our child? You must be joking”.
“John you know this could be your child”.
“Penelope, I can see you’re going mad”.
“After everything we’ve been through, you want to abandon me at this
crucial time?”
“Get out of my way!” He said, taking his bag and heading towards the door.
“John please take me along”, she said, pulling his hands and he pushed her
off.
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“You pushed me?!” She said in pain and he ignored her and as he was about
to leave, she started screaming.
“Are you crazy?” He asked her.
“Help help!!” She screamed.
“Penny stop”, he said and she continued.
“Fine, you’ll come with me”, he said but before he could end the statement,
the guards walked in.
“He tried to rape me and get away with it”, she said, bursting out in tears.
“Don’t listen to her. She’s delusional and is not even important to anyone at
this moment. She’s trying to get attention. Just go and we’ll sort it out”, John
said and the guards ignored him and took him and Penelope away.
Kierra was at the throne room with her family discussing her coronation
when the guards brought in John and Penelope.
“Who are these people?” She asked the guards and they told her what
happened.
“Isn’t this Fredrick’s advisor and his lover?” Derrick said.
“Lover? I thought they were siblings”, Warrick said.
“No. I caught them doing what lovers do some time back”, Derrick said.
“And wait a minute, John was the one who accused mum of dad’s death
first”, Derrick yelled.
“Yeah. He’s the one”, Queen Valerie exclaimed.
“He killed the king!! Fredrick knew nothing about it and found out later!!”
Penelope yelled and everyone stared at her.
“You can ask Fredrick and investigate everything. He killed King James,
kidnapped Fredrick, tried to kill Princess Hope and now he tried to rape me
and get away with it”, Penelope said and John was in shock.
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“Penny”, he said and she looked away.
“Isn’t she the woman who’s carrying Fredrick’s child?” Warrick asked the
guard and he nodded.
“Lock them up and we’ll get to the bottom of this”, Kierra said.
“Kierra, she’s pregnant”, Queen Valerie said to her.
“Lock her up in one of the inner rooms and lock him up in the dungeon”?
She said to the guards and they took them away.
*
Night before the coronation
Kierra was supervising all the preparations towards her coronation.
She sent out invitations to her friends and family back at the small city. She
also sent invitations to Gabriella and her family, Joshua and his family and
Miss Rose from the training center.
She was at the throne room looking through the list of the invites when
Angela walked in with her daughters.
Ever since she returned, she’d not had the time to see Angela and her
daughters.
“Are those my nieces?” She asked and Angela nodded.
“Oh wow”, she said, getting up from her seat and she hugged them.
“They’re so pretty”, she said to Angela and she nodded.
“What are your names?” She asked them and they told her their names.
“What’s yours?” The little one asked her.
“You can both call me Kierra”, she said, smiling at them.
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“I’m sorry that I’ve not had the time to see you but as soon as I’m done with
my coronation, I’ll have time for you”, she said to them and they smiled.
“Girls go and play over there and let me talk to the Queen”, Angela said to
her daughters and they ran off.
“Kierra, I mean my Queen, I know Fredrick has done a lot but that’s not
who he is. I’ve known him for years and he’s not a murderer. I don’t know
how all this happened but if Penelope says it’s John, I believe her. Please
look into this and don’t send my husband to that cruel place. Please for the
sake of his kids please”.
“I’ve heard you Angela. We’re currently investigating everything and the
truth will come out”, Kierra said to her.
“Okay but can I see him?” Angela asked and Kierra nodded.
She asked one of the guards to escort Angela to the dungeon.
“Fredrick”, Angela called out.
“Angela what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see you. I don’t have much time. So listen to me. John has also
been arrested. Penelope accused him for being the culprit in all this. Is it
true?”
“Yes! you have to try and exonerate me”, he said.
“How?” She asked and he whispered something to her and her eyes
widened.
“I can’t do that”.
“Please Angela, for our kids’ sake”, he said to her and she nodded and left.
*
The night before Kierra’s coronation, Angela was in her room, when all of
a sudden, she screamed out loud.
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A man was on her bed and was trying to sleep with her. She screamed out
loud till one of the guards rushed in.
“He tried to kill me”, she said and the young man was surprised.
“I didn’t… ”, he tried to say but he was taken away.
He was quickly locked up to face judgment the following morning.
The following morning, he was found dead in his cell. When the guards
were taking him away to be buried, they found a note in his pocket.
They took it out and read it.
‘John has given his orders. She dies tonight’.
They quickly dug up a pit and threw him inside and then they buried him.
When they left with the letter, another man quickly dug him up and ran off
with his body.
*
Kierra’s coronation
Kierra’s coronation ceremony was a huge one. Kings and Queens from
different countries were in attendance. Her parents and friends from the little
city were present. All the people she invited were also present.
When the ceremony began. The kings and Queens were introduced and
other important delegations were also introduced including Mary and
Maxwell.
There were a lot of performances by dancers, musical groups, artistes and
there was a little drama performance too.
After all these performances, Kierra was then called forward.
The bishops and priests, who were present, formed a circle around her and
they prayed for her and the country.
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Then she knelt down in front of the officiating bishop and he took the olive
oil and anointed her. He took the crown, blessed it and placed it on her head
and then he gave her a staff.
Kierra said some prayers, thanking God for everything and then she rose to
her feet.
“I present to you Queen Kierra James!” The bishop said, lifting her arms
and everyone bowed.
“Long live the Queen”, he yelled and everyone joined in.
“Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen!”
Kierra took her seat at her throne and everyone applauded.
“I’m grateful to God for making this happen and I promise to let him guide
and direct me in everything I do to rule this great nation and to take us to
greater heights. I’m grateful to everyone who is here and everyone who
stood by me till I got here. May God bless you all. Amen”, she said.
“Amen”! Everyone yelled.
“We now call on Prince Joshua of Belcalis to lead our Queen to the dance
floor to have her first dance”, the Master of ceremonies said and everyone
applauded as Joshua walked towards Kierra.
He went down on one knee and stretched his hands out to her. She took it
and they both went to the dance floor and the music started.
“I don’t know how to dance”, she said to him.
“Follow me and you’ll be fine”, he said to her and she nodded.
She felt really shy dancing with Joshua and in front of everyone but she had
to do it for the people.
As she and Joshua were dancing, the crowd cheered them on.
After some few minutes, other people joined in to dance too.
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Warrick was happy to see Louisa. He took her to the dance floor and they
danced.
Derrick and Gabriella didn’t bother to dance, they were in their own world
enjoying their conversation.
Kierra got tired and stopped dancing.
“If you’re tired, we can leave the dance floor”, Joshua said to her.
“I would love that”.
“Where do you want to go? To your seat?”
“No, that’ll be unfair to you”, she said to him. “Let’s take a walk and I’ll
show you around the palace”, she said to him and he smiled.
“I would love that and you can also tell me how you defeated the mighty
Fredrick”, he said and she laughed.
“He’s not mighty at all. When we arrived at the palace, I could see that he
was deeply terrified. We actually didn’t need the Atlantic troops we came
with. God just showed me that when he wants to get something done, he
gets it done. It was so easy. The guards were all in front of the gate. They
were quite a lot and I was a bit skeptical about attacking because although
they were a lot, it would have been a blood bath but God being so good,
Warrick was with Fredrick. If he wasn’t there, Fredrick would have made
the guards attack us and he actually took out his bow to shoot at me but
Warrick knocked him out”, Kierra said as they were walking.
“That’s wonderful. Then the plan went really well”.
“Yeah, it did”.
“You’re going to be an amazing Queen Kierra. I can’t wait to see all the
things you’re going to accomplish”, he said to her.
“Aww, Thank you. You would be an amazing king too. I mean when your
dad finally hands over to you”, she said.
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“Thank you but you know what they say. Every great king has a great
woman at his side”, he said, winking and she looked away.
“Well, we hope you get a great woman”, she said.
“Yeah but I have one already and I’m crazy about her”, he said, holding
Kierra’s hands and she became shy.
“Kierra, I’m deeply in love with you and I hope that one day you would
have the same feelings for me”, he said and she was surprised that he knew
how she felt but she didn’t say anything.
“No pressure. Just know that I’m always here for you”, he said pecking her
hands.
They continued their walk and she showed him around.
Before the ceremony ended, Kierra reassigned the current Lords who stood
by her and added them to her new council and she also assigned new Lords
and advisors. She made Maxwell her chief advisor and made Mary and
Miriam her advisors too. She gave them those positions because she trusted
them and she also knew how wise and knowledgeable they were.
She knew that Warrick had plans for Louisa and so she didn’t want to disrupt
it by assigning her a role but she was given a place in the palace to stay as
well as her advisors.
Kierra also fulfilled her promise to Gwen by letting Warrick search for
suitors for her.
When the ceremony finally came to an end, everyone said their goodbyes
and left.
*
The following morning Kierra decided to attend to the incident which
happened to Angela a night before her coronation.
The guards gave her the letter which they found in the pocket of the man
who attacked Angela.
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Angela was summoned and questioned.
“Why do you think John would send someone to attack you?” Kierra asked
her.
“I don’t really know but I think it’s because i knew that he was responsible
for the King’s death”, she said.
“So you were aware and didn’t say a thing”?
“My husband was in charge then, who would I have gone to?” She asked.
“Angela when I locked up your husband months ago, you made comments
which meant that he wanted to kill my daughter”, Queen Valerie said.
“Yes Queen mother. Fredrick was in a bad place those times and he wanted
to hurt me, so he admitted to a crime he didn’t commit but later he told me
the truth that it was John who killed King James and tried to murder Queen
Kierra”.
They asked her further questions and dismissed her.
*
Flashback
“I’m here to see you. I don’t have much time. So listen to me. John has also
been arrested. Penelope accused him for being the culprit in all this. Is it
true?” Angela asked her husband.
“Yes, you have to try and exonerate me”, he said.
“How?” She asked.
“I need you to try and frame John. See Penelope, she has a twisted mind,
she can help you out”, he said whispering and she widened her eyes.
“I can’t do that”.
“Please Angela, for our kids’ sake”, he said to her and she nodded and left.
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*
Angela tipped the guard who was in front of the room where Penelope was
and she walked in.
“If you’re here to gloat, kindly get it over with”, Penelope said.
“You’re the last person I ever want to see or speak to but Fredrick needs our
help”, she said to her.
“With what exactly?”
“To frame John. Fredrick said you’ve got a twisted mind. So kindly come
up with something” she said and Penelope glared at her.
“Fine, for Fredrick’s sake. Uhmmm”, she said, thinking.
“You have to seduce one of those boys you brought to my room”.
“What? What for?!”
“You have to seduce one and ask him to come to your room at midnight”.
“You’re crazy”.
“Let me finish. There is a bag where I keep potions, take the green bottle
and when he comes to your room at night, put it in a drink and give it to
him. Then Uhmm write a letter incriminating John and put in his pocket. As
soon as he drinks it and climbs the bed, shout for help and accuse him of
murder. When he’s locked away, he’ll probably die and they’ll think he
killed himself or he died a natural death and hopefully, they’ll find the
incriminating letter”, Penelope said.
“God. You’re twisted and evil, how could you even come up with that?”
“I’ve done this before and it worked”, Penelope said, smiling.
“Great plan but I’m not killing anyone”, Angela said.
“That’s the only way”.
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“No. There should be another way and why one of the boys who raped you?”
“It’s obvious. Revenge and I want that one with the birth mark on his face”.
“Fine but look for another option because I’m not killing him”.
“Hmmm okay. I have this potion which can put him in coma and make it
seem like he’s dead. I once used it to get away from a crime I committed
some time ago”.
“You’re just sick and that’s a no. They’ll bury him alive!”
“Yeah and you can pay someone to dig him up and flee with him. In that
way he might probably survive”.
“Probably?”
“Okay, he will survive”.
“You sure?”
“Yeah”.
“I hope your plan works. What’s the colour of the bottle of potion?”
“Red”.
“Alright. Fredrick will be grateful for this”, Angela said and ran off.
*
The whole incident was investigated and they had no choice but to believe
Angela and Penelope’s claims.
Few days later, the jury reached its verdict and Kierra assembled everyone.
“John is hereby found guilty of murder and attempted murder. He’s hereby
sentenced to life imprisonment at the international prison for criminals”, she
said and John was devastated.
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“Fredrick is hereby found guilty for wrongfully accusing the Queen mother
and the Bishop for a crime and also found guilty for covering up a huge
crime. He’s hereby sentenced to life imprisonment in the palace dungeon”,
she said and Angela was shocked. She didn’t expect her husband to still be
locked up.
“Guards please bring Penelope and Angela forward”, Kierra said.
“You’re both found guilty for covering up a crime but due to the situations
you were both in. I’ve decided to be lenient with you. You’re both banished
to the staff quarters and should never be seen inside the palace. Angela your
kids will be allowed to visit you whenever they wish and you Penelope,
when you give birth to that child of yours, we’ll check the paternity of that
baby and if it belongs to Fredrick, the baby would be allowed in the palace.
Guards, take them away!” Kierra yelled and they were all sent away.
“You’ll pay for this Penelope!!” John yelled as he was being sent away.
“You did well Kierra but we have more pressing issues. The Janricans have
taken our lands and now have their troops surrounding the southern border.
It won’t be long before they grow bigger and wage war against us”, Derrick
said to her and she was worried.
“We’ll assemble tomorrow and see to that”, she said and she left.
