Friends Who Became Villainesses

  By Henry Cobb

  Chapter Fifteen: Trial of The Saint

  Amy told her brother of her strategy for the trial, and he brought up the analysis I had made of the connections between the Diary and the Companions of The Saint. She seemed startled at this, so he handed her his notes from the class.

  After Amy left, he smiled for a moment then turned to me. "Angelica, please fetch Miss Chiskei."

  "Your Highness?"

  "Just Tenecoeur, please."

  "Why the difference between Benci and myself?"

  "It's because I approve of the decision you have made, and that I am depending on you to see it through."

  After dinner as we returned to the servant's room adjoining that of the prince I said, "Benci, I'm sorry I've dragged you into all of this."

  "Well, it is a bit embarrassing. My dad keeps urging me to write more letters about what it's like to serve the princess so he can wave these around with the palace postmark on them. I can just imagine what he'll say when he finds I'm working for our future king."

  "But don't you mind being treated as a maid?"

  "My life in the palace is much better than before. I'm only a part time maid, and grooming Yinshou in the stables is much easier than dealing with a pair of horses stuck in the mud by the side of the road."

  "You're looking after Yinshou?"

  "He doesn't come when the others call him. The only thing I worry about is my family, and I give them my wages when they visit."

  "You get paid?"

  "Miss Pureheart, don’t you receive a salary?"

  "It's the deal I made when I first met the princess. I have done as she has instructed, taken whatever she has provided, and I have never wanted for anything."

  "I think maid is a promotion for you. You even get your own bed."

  On Wednesday morning we bathed with Amy and Synthia then as we returned to help the prince prepare for the day, he sat us down and said, "The princess has convinced me that the threat to her life is real. If either one of you will not gladly sacrifice your own life to save my sister, then I will dismiss you from the royal service right here and now. Do you wish to continue?"

  Benci nodded, but perhaps not as vigorously as I did.

  "Good. Now we will continue to play a game in the hope that we will draw some of the daggers directed at her towards myself."

  Benci looked up at him, "Your Highness, how can you risk your own life?"

  "I would vastly prefer that my sister be queen rather than a corpse. If you can't help with this then leave."

  "I will support Your Highness."

  "Good. Now, when we are in public, I want you two to act a little fearful towards myself. Flinch a bit whenever I turn or reach towards you. Walk four steps behind me with your eyes on my feet. Scan the crowds around me not with your eyes, but with your powers. Yell out when you sense an attack."

  "I lack such an ability, Your Highness."

  "Miss Pureheart, what will it take to train Miss Chiskei?"

  "I do not know, Your Highness. It's something I developed after training my White Magic and many years around Princess Amesombra and Yinshou."

  "Make the training of your understudy the second highest priority, please."

  "Yes, Your Highness."

  At the start of lunch Benci and I were about to leave with the lunch orders of the student council when the only other girl in the room volunteered to go with us.

  "How will we conduct the student council business without our vice president, Lady Juliana?"

  "Your Highness can surely read out my reports as well as I can, and this will give you four boys a chance to talk about me behind my back."

  We followed Her Ladyship for a few corridors, but my puzzlement at the path she took was soon resolved when she backed me against a wall, leaned forwards, and whispered in my ear, "Miss Pureheart, what is your relationship with the prince?"

  I looked to the side and down and said, "Your Ladyship, Miss Chiskei and I have been assigned as maids for the prince."

  "Look at me and tell me what the prince means to you." The seventeen-year-old girl moved her right hand from the wall to grab my chin and force me to look her in the eyes.

  "The prince is a boy, just like all the rest. He is the heir to the throne and the brother of the princess."

  "Oh! That's interesting, and a relief. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." She turned to Benci and said, "That's enough of a rest. Let's go fetch lunch."

  We started the Fire Magic class with Lady Malheurfla's demonstration that different powdered minerals would make different colors when sprinkled into a fire. Then the prince had me pair off against Benci in a game where we used our hands to swat a wisp light back and forth across a table. When we proved able to do so he tied blindfolds around our heads and soon had the other boys in the class (other than Vuber) follow his lead in calling out instructions to us two.

  On the short carriage ride back to the palace the prince placed his arms on the top of the seat rests above the shoulders of Benci and me. I looked out of the curtains and resisted peeking at Amy's reaction.

  At the palace I was escorted by a courtier to the great hall. I noticed that Lady Depecia was sitting by herself in one of the balconies but tried not to betray this.

  The prince took a seat at the head table and ordered a goblet of wine.

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  I took the seat indicated seat on a side table and addressed the man who sat across from me, "Are you mister Simon Curata?"

  "Angelica! How nice to meet my daughter at last."

  "Mr. Curata, are you certain that I'm your daughter?" I looked at his outstretched hand.

  "I was intimate with your mother."

  "When and where, exactly?"

  "It was before you were born."

  "Excuse me, for a moment." I stood, walked around the table and whispered in his ear, "My mother told me that she shared a secret phrase with my father. Can you tell me what that is, please?"

  I then turned away and let him whisper in my ear, "Saint, I'm trying to rescue you from this."

  I stood, turned and bowed to him, "I see. I won't waste any more of your time then."

  "Please come with me!" He reached out and grabbed my left wrist.

  The prince walked over, took a sip of his wine then pointed his goblet at Mr. Curata and said, "She doesn't belong to you!"

  Mr. Curata released me, stood and bowed to the prince, "Your Highness, I demand a trial to assert my rights as the parent of this child."

  "You would assert this claim against the responsibilities to manage the affairs of Miss Angelica Pureheart, assigned by my father the king to my sister, Princess Amesombra Pludom?"

  "Yes, Your Highness, I would."

  "Very well then. Register your case with the court justiciars and tell them that the king will hear your case on this or any Saturday of your choice." The prince downed the rest of his wine, grabbed my left forearm, and directed me to walk in front of him. "Come, Angelica, let's wash that lout's stink off of you."

  I made a show of wincing, even though the prince's grip was quite gentle. Once in the royal quarters he released me and I followed him to his room, where Amy, her three lady friends, and Synthia were waiting. Benci was sent to fetch tea and snacks.

  I nodded when Lady Depecia finished her recital of all that had been said and whispered.

  Amy then said, "It's a pity we haven't developed DNA tests yet. Well Angie, what do you want to do?"

  "The man was lying, and I would rather remain in the palace, Your Highness."

  "That leaves the issue that my brother claims to have solved the riddle of your true love. Has he told you who that is?"

  "No, Your Highness."

  "How can this be a puzzle to any of you?" The prince wrapped his left arm around me and pulled me against his side. "I will make good use of this Miss Pureheart, and when she follows her choice, she will bring me great joy for the rest of my life."

  Synthia briefly glanced at us, then forced an even blanker neutrality on her face.

  Lady Malheurfla nodded, in the way she did when the four friends resolved some issue.

  Lady Depecia frowned slightly, but not nearly so much as Lady Yeuxpera did.

  Amy twitched slightly as if in some fright, then half forced a smile on her face. "Well, I'm glad that is resolved. Now we can focus on fighting the cult."

  The prince turned to me and smiled, "Is there any other man who stirs your heart more than I do, Angelica?"

  I thought about it for a moment, concluded that all men were about the same to me, and replied, "No, Your Highness."

  "Then we are resolved." He released me.

  After the other girls left and Benci had been sent to return the snack tray, I lingered a moment in his room and asked him, "Prince Tenecoeur, why do you tease your sister like that?"

  "How exactly am I teasing her? By pretending to agree with her plan to have us wed, even though I have no such intention?"

  "What is your intention, Your Highness?"

  "Angelica, imagine someone born in a cell that they can never escape and called a monster all their life. The only illumination in the cell is a single ray of sunlight, but they shy away from this in order not to be seen."

  "Are you this prisoner, Your Highness?"

  "No, I am standing helplessly outside the cage, waiting for the day when I can see that prisoner shine. In my impatience I may tease you a bit."

  "Am I the prisoner?"

  "Only of chains of your own making."

  On Friday the prince challenged me to a duel. Amy and her friends again took the front seats, with their dark lenses, but thankfully without the popped corn.

  The prince retained his unbeaten record and won the match by scorching my left arm with his sword of flame before I could close to judo range.

  I winched as I sat and applied my self-healing, which as always heightened my own senses.

  "Angie!" Amy leaped into the arena and ran to kneel by my side, "Are you okay?"

  "It stings a bit."

  "I'll help you with that." She applied Shadow Soothe to my arm.

  On Saturday Amy cut short our participation in the academy's free clinic so that we could attend our trial. Even though Professor Hirudine and her other students remained, most of the would-be patients also left at this point.

  The king sat at the high table and had to his right a half dozen members of the clergy and to his left a half dozen high nobles. These included Lady Depecia's parents, the duke and duchess Quillna.

  Mr. Curata presented his admittedly weak case to the King, and then Prince Tenecoeur decided to question me.

  "Miss Pureheart, have you read The Companions of The Saint?"

  "Yes, Your Highness. Several times."

  "How many times does it state that The Saint can use her powers to determine if someone is lying?"

  "Four times clearly, Your Highness. And this is also strongly implied in the chapter with the village orphan."

  "And what was the issue with the village orphan?"

  "Your Highness, The Saint determined that the man had falsely claimed to be the father of the orphan and so she avoided the trap that man had set for herself. But it is unclear from the text if she used her powers or just logical deduction."

  "That's very entertaining, Miss Pureheart. But to return to the matters at hand, does Mr. Curata truly believe that he is your father?"

  "No, Your Highness, I do not think he does."

  "And what logical deduction leads you to this conclusion?"

  "It is just my own feeling, Your Highness."

  "Your Majesty," the prince turned to his father, "On the one side we have the testimony of this man and on the other the feelings of this girl. What is the judgement of the court?"

  "Your Highness, this must be the weakest case on both sides that has ever been brought before me. Do any of the high witnesses see grounds to rule on this case that have escaped me?" The king looked to both sides, but clergy and nobles said nothing. He then looked at me. "Miss Pureheart, what is your preference? Would you rather remain the ward of Princess Amesombra, or leave with Mr. Curata?"

  "I would rather remain with the princess, Your Majesty."

  "On this matter the court withholds judgment and leaves in place the guardianship assigned to Princess Amesombra, pending more solid evidence to rule on."

  Sunday morning, after breakfast and a bath, Amy, Benci and two maids helped me put on the fanciest dress I had ever worn, in shimmering white with a blue trim that exactly matched my eye color. This included a silver unicorn broach and a tall, pointed hat.

  Prince Tenecoeur helped me out of the carriage at the capital cathedral and then intertwined his left arm with my right with our fingers interlaced as he led me inside to sit beside him in the royal box to the side of the altar.

  Bishop Jules gave a sermon about the dark omens repeating and then ended with a call to look to the light of hope as he turned to me.

  The crowd started to applaud, but this stopped suddenly when Prince Tenecoeur rose and bowed. He then insisted on walking hand in hand back to the carriage.

  We returned to my room where Amy, Synthia, and Benci helped me change back into my maid outfit.

  "Amy," I turned to her.

  "Wait, stop there. I've seen that look enough times at the office. Synthia, go fetch ladies Depecia, Yeuxpera, and Malheurfla for an emergency tea session in my room. Miss Chiskei, please fetch tea and snacks."

  Amy had me sit and think whatever it was over, then when her friends had gathered, she asked me to present the issue.

  "Amy, if the Cult will only summon the demon lord because I exist then wouldn't it be better for everyone if I had never been born?"

  "Ah, this one. Pity we're too young to drink wine. I mean we could get away with it by pulling rank, but it wouldn't be healthy for our young bodies. First, though the demon lord doesn't understand our concept of time it does operate on certain cycles. If the Cult didn't dredge it up early like this then it would appear in a century or two anyway."

  "So, if I didn't exist, we'd have all those years of peace?"

  "If you didn't exist and the demon lord appeared at a time of its own choosing then things would be much worse. Second, we were both born as a response by the world to the impending return of the demon lord."

  "Amy, I can see my role in dealing with the demon lord, but what is yours?"

  "Princess Amesombra is the designated host of the demon lord. Hence it is your task in the game to kill or neutralize her in order to force the cult to find a less suitable host."

  "No! I would never kill you, Amy! Please believe me!"

  "Relax, we will ensure that you don't have to. We're all onboard in this and you must always remember that I am not just Amesombra."