"Alert! Everyone Alert! The Ruler of the Skies, The Saviour of the Multi-verse, The Immortal, The Invincible, The Most Benevolent, The most Generous, The Slayer of Foes, The Protector of Allies and Realms, His Divine Highness, Emperor Manoj!!! All Rise!!"
The audience rose and cheered for the emperor who had entered the hall through a door in the hall. A light bridge kept unfolding with every step he took to reach the throne. He was royalty personified and commanded respect from one and all.
He was a tall man, 70 feet in height. He had a complexion like the blue sky, had red eyes, a protruding nose, thick lips and a broad square-jawed face. He had the arrogance of someone used to power; someone who had been controlling others since childhood. The proud face had a severity that prevented free, liberal talk that one would indulge with their close ones.The eyes observed everyone with the clarity of a hawkish vision. Their gaze made stone hearts shake with terror. Their intensity shook even the most immovable person in the creation. Such was the aura emanated by those red, cold eyes that looked out at everyone from those eye sockets that were shielded by thick eyebrows and a skull that was hard as a rock.The man sat on the throne surveying the audience like a bird of prey. Nothing escaped his eyes. He appeared to be bored which was his way of throwing his enemies off guard. He was always alert like a lion about to make its kill.
"Alert! Everyone Alert! The Mother of the Universe, The Most Generous Lady, The Feeding Hand of the Cosmos, The Punisher of Evil, The Patron Goddess of Art, War and Knowledge, Her Most Divine Highness, Empress Kavitha!! All Rise!! All Hail!!"
The crowd burst into applause yet again as a beautiful lady emerged from another part of the hall. A red carpet full of flowers unfolded as she walked to the throne. She too greeted everyone folding her palms together.She greeted the emperor as she sat beside him on his left side. She was dressed in a beautiful royal green saree that accentuated her curves giving her a divine grace and beauty. Her poise demanded respect in everyone. She was wheatish-brown in colour, stood 60 feet tall and had an aura of kindness that belied the lioness beneath. She had an oval face. Her eyebrows had been darkened with kajal captivating the audience with their charming beauty. Her blue-green eyes cast a bewitching spell on the audience with their depth that could neither be resisted nor fathomed by a normal man. Her cheeks were as smooth as a baby's skin.The mouth was curved in a smile that was benevolent, graceful, reassuring, yet prohibitive. The lips were sensuous and full. Anyone who lusted for those lips would be burnt to ashes from the hot breath coming out of her nostrils. She had the aura of a mother who would protect but would not hesitate to punish if you did something wrong.
The gate leading to the arena opened and the audience turned as one to look at the accused princess. A young woman of 20 years was brought into the arena, her hands and feet in chains. An elite royal guard dressed in maroon shirts and golden brown armour escorted her into the arena. As if on cue the security forces stationed in the galleries became alert pointing their weapons at the prisoner. The young woman was 6 feet tall. She was fair with blue eyes that had a twinkle in them that spoke of a mischievous nature. Her face had the beauty of innocence and purity of heart. Her nose looked fragile yet gave off an aura of grace. Her cheeks were a bit on the chubby side and had a rosy look. Her lips were pink and were inviting. She walked with confidence of someone who was innocent but had been a victim of fate. She never faltered as she walked in the arena. The gasp of the audience that could be heard on the other side of the universe didn't seem to faze her. She kept gazing at the Emperor and the Empress, her parents. She knew they were impartial once they sat on that throne and would treat her like an accused and not as their darling daughter. A magnified image proprotionate to the normal size of the Royal Couple was displayed so that the princess could be seen clearly.
"My Liege, we have the accused, the allies, the nobles and the audience for this trial. I humbly request permission to start this trial."
"Permission granted. We have chosen Ambassador Jaideep of Swarnakanti System to be the judge for this trial. As you all know, Ambassador Jaideep is man of integrity, has deep knowledge of the justice system and laws of this empire and has the experience of having examined and pronounced judgements in the most difficult cases this empire has ever seen. My empress and I feel that we may be biased in our judgement since the accused is our daughter. So, we request that Ambassador Jaideep judge this case."
There was a stunned silence at this announcement. The princess was in deeper trouble than they had anticipated if they were using a neutral judge. This did not bode well for the princess who was already a crowd favourite.
"Thank you, your majesty, for placing this heavy weight on my humble shoulders. I shall try my best not to let you down." The Ambassador said. He turned towards the accused. "What are the accusations?"
"The Princess Varsha is accused of aiding enemy spies allowing them to enter not only the capital city but also of attempting to kill his highness, the emperor. She is accused of using her status as the heir apparent in providing everything the enemy needed to make this assassination attempt successful. If not for the alertness of Prince Mahesh, his majesty would have been in grave danger. Hence the princess is charged with treason."
"Does the accused have anything to say?"
"My lord, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have always loved my parents and would never even think of killing them. It is a cruel, vile, baseless accusation. I am too young to rule. I have no justifiable cause to try and assassinate my parents. Just because I am the heir apparent to the throne doesn't mean I am hungry of power. I would rather lay down my life than allow any harm to my parents. I am innocent."
"Let the witnesses be presented before the court."
A man in the uniform of The Royal Palace Guards came into the witness box and saluted the judge, the emperor and the empress in succession.
"What are you called?"
"My Lord, they call me Karthik."
"What do you do?"
"Sir, I am the Captain of the Royal Guards, Beta Division, tasked with the defence of the western towers."
"Explain what happened that night."
"My lord, I was on my rounds patrolling the corridors in the western towers making sure everything was alright. All of a sudden, I heard some noises in the royal chamber. By the time I reached there, the royal chamber of his majesty was on fire. The door was open. Fearing for the lives of their Majesties, I immediately raised the alarm and rushed in to try and rescue the royal couple. There I was shocked to see an enemy soldier putting the curtains on fire. I immediately shot the soldier in the hand and legs as per the standard operating procedure and set about waking their majesties while my men tried to put the fire out. I saw Princess Varsha shooting the enemy soldier before I could interrogate him."
"Why did you not kill the soldier yourself?"
"I wanted to know who had sent him and who had helped him enter the palace. No one without proper identification and authorisation can enter the palace. I was sure that someone in the palace had helped the enemy soldier in gaining entry to the most securely guarded part of the palace."
"Who has the Authority to give such a permission?"
"His Majesty, The Emperor, Her Majesty, The Empress and Her Highness, Princess Varsha the Heir Apparent to the Royal Throne. No one else has the power."
"What did you do next?"
"I sent one of my men to check on the other royal chambers to make sure that none of the other members of the royal family were in danger. All those chambers were barricaded and locked down indicating they were safe. Only the chamber of the princess was open and she was nowhere to be seen."
The trial became grim as witness after witness spoke against the princess piling up evidence against her. The princess stood there with disbelief on her face at the amount of evidence against her. She knew she was innocent but somehow all the evidence pointed to her as the culprit. Finally, the judge took a short gap to make his judgement. Everyone started whispering about the turn of events. They had never expected that their favourite princess would be accused of trying to assassinate her own parents. They did not want to believe the evidence. It broke their hearts to see the princess in this situation. There was a pin drop silence as the judge gave his decision. He had found the princess guilty of treason and had banished her to the human planet Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. She was to spend the rest of her life among the lowly humans and never to return to this kingdom ever or she would be shot at sight. She was also to be stripped of all her powers and Royal Codes, thus preventing her from entering this empire ever again. The crowd had tears in their eyes as the princess left with only the clothes on her body. She walked fearlessly into the fire portal that would take her to the planet Earth.
