Week 12 Storytelling: Trial by Virtue

Alexa shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Her back had begun to itch, but she couldn’t quite reach it with her hands tied together. Besides, the king seemed to take any noticeable action she made as a personal insult. She pressed her back against her chair and tried to squirm subtly. The king shot her a dirty look, and Alexa wondered if he had seen her squirming or if he had just decided furthermore that she was guilty.

“I’m sorry my dear, are you uncomfortable?” the king asked her. Alexa didn’t reply; nothing she said would be what he wanted to hear. “Sir John, I think she’s uncomfortable. Why don’t you tighten her ropes.” The captain of the guard approached her with a forlorn look in his eyes and tightened the rope around her wrists.

            Three days ago, Alexa found her fiancé dead in his bed with six stab wounds in his chest. Although Prince Richard had loved Alexa dearly, his father, the king, had not. Many nobles had offered wealth and allegiance for the prince to take their daughters’ hands, but Richard had no intention of playing politics for his father. He instead fell in love with Alexa. Of course, there wasn’t a single drop of noble blood in Alexa’s entire body, and the king blamed her for ruining Richard’s chances of marrying a proper princess.

The moment the king heard of the death of his son and that Alexa was the first to find the body, he gave the order to throw her in the dungeons. Still, the king loved his son dearly, and as important as it was to him to enact his vengeance on his son’s fiancée, it was equally important to him to find the murderer with no question of doubt. She was allowed to appear before him and plead her case.

            “My lord, pressing as the evidence may be, I would remind your greatness that any intelligent assassin is perfectly capable of placing that evidence in a way so as to lead away from themselves.” Alexa didn’t know the name of her lawyer, for he had been appointed by the king. Despite where his paycheck came from, he seemed incredibly dedicated to proving her innocence. Alexa wondered if he actually believed she was innocent or was merely dedicated to doing his job.

            Nothing that Alexa or her lawyer had said over the last two days seemed to have any visible effect on the king’s pending verdict. The king’s investigators had found mounds of evidence against her. The bloody knife was found in her drawer, hidden in a secret compartment only she was supposed to know about. A blood splattered dress was found shoved into a book drawer in the prince’s room as if to be hidden. Alexa had been the only one who knew the prince would be residing in the castle; the couple had been long in need of some alone time, and Richard had made sure to tell the whole kingdom that he would be on a week-long hunting trip.

            “Your quarry is heard,” the king said. “Lord Warren, have you any additional evidence to submit today?”

            “Yes, my lord.”

            “And what might that be?”

            “This was found in a drawer in her desk.”

            Lord Warren placed a hand-written note in front of the king. He picked it up and read it, a wrathful look appearing on his face as his eyes traced the words. He put the note down and stared straight at Alexa. “It’s time. You’ll get the second half of your payment when we have confirmed the job is done.” The court was silent for a moment before the king stood, his face red with anger, and yelled “Gold?! You killed my son for gold?!”

            Alexa’s lawyer stood up and spoke, the words leaving his mouth rapidly but perfectly clearly. “My lord, it makes no sense, Alexa would inherit more money by marrying-”

            “SILENCE!” The king’s face was twitching. “I will hear no more from your defense. I deem you, Alexa Wilson, guilty of murder, and sentence you to death by execution before nightfall. What have you to say?”

            Silence befell the court as all eyes fell on Alexa. The king continued to stare at her, unblinking. She stood from her chair and met the king’s gaze. She spoke softly, only loud enough that the whole court could hear. “My lord… no, my father, for that is what I planned to call you for the rest of my life. My father, I loved your son more dearly than I’ve loved anything in life, and I would live in eternal torment if it meant that he would be happy.” She looked away from the king and looked to the sky. “If I have done nothing but love Richard, and tried my best to make his life as wonderful as he deserved, if my soul is as pure as his was, then may the goddess of justice herself show it.” The court stood in silence, waiting for something, any kind of sign. But none came.

            “Lord Warren, take her to the guillotine.” The king commanded. Yet the moment Lord Warren took one step forward, a loud crash echoed amongst the walls, and debris rained down from above. The entire court looked upwards and saw a glowing gash in the ceiling of the king’s court. Descending from it slowly was a woman with golden skin. In her four arms, she held a sword of shining brilliance and a perfectly balanced scale. As her feet touched the floor of the court, she stared deeply into Alexa’s eyes. She raised the sword above her head and brought it down with a ferocious blur. As it struck Alexa, a blinding flash blinded the court, and everyone present turned their heads and covered their eyes. Yet when they finally looked again, the goddess was nowhere to be seen. Where she had been, Alexa stood alone, her bindings simmering on the floor.

Image Information

Lady Justice - Wikimedia

Author's Note: This story is based off of a scene in Sita Sings the Blues, which occurs at about 1 hour, 11 minutes, and 30 seconds. After banishing her to live in exile, Rama finds Sita's two sons (his own sons) and asks them to return with him to Ayhodia. However, he is still distrustful of Sita, and asks her to prove her purity once more. Sita openly declares that if she has been perfectly faithful to Rama and completely pure in body and soul, then mother earth should take her back into her womb. The ground splits, and mother earth appears and takes her. I liked the idea of a character who is wholly innocent, like Sita, and is accused falsely of something, being so pure that the gods actually listen to her demand to show her purity. I wanted to adapt the story to have a little more on the line, so that the god appearing would be even more significant; thus, I did my best to adapt it to a murder trial. The goddess is I chose is not wholly in any pantheon; I wanted to combine the standard image of Lady Justice with that of an Indian goddess.