Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 215: Circling Your Prey

7 June, 1361. Magdaline Castle, Islia

In the hot, sunny days of a late Islian spring, the trial for the disgraced man who’d once called himself the Marquis of Niarnol, finally began.

Camilla’s presence in the courtroom wasn’t needed, fortunately for her. William had told her, while looking extremely pained, that her testimony as a woman wasn’t likely to have much sway over the royal judges. This was despite the fact that without her speaking to Ned Michal, no one would’ve likely discovered the former marquis’s deeds.

Despite William feeling insulted on her behalf, she wasn’t too bothered by her lack of legal standing in this case. She was actually glad to keep herself removed from a process that was quickly devolving from a treason trial into a bloodletting. The entire nobility had not only turned from Lord Michal overnight, but was also gleefully offering to be part of his downfall.

Turned out, almost every duke and earl in Islia was claiming they had a longstanding grievance against the former marquis that they were only willing to reveal now. Turned out, Lord Michal had no friends amongst his peers, when he’d thought he had plenty. Anyone he might have ever approached for help, had turned their backs to him quite firmly.

Camilla wondered how many of these alleged grievances against the former marquis had genuinely existed and how many were just excuses for opportunistic men to pounce on a fallen man, like vultures circling around carrion.

The whole process left Camilla feeling sickened. She ignored the excited gossip that was constantly rippling through the court, preferring to focus on her child and the company of her ladies. The only blessing she could think of is that by not having to present herself before the judges, her role in discovering Lord Michal’s behaviour remained unknown to most.

"Otherwise the bloodsucking courtiers would never give me any peace." she muttered.

Malcolm turned his head to look at her, following her voice with wide eyes. The little boy had not only learned to crawl with surprising speed, he’d also recently discovered how to pull himself to a standing position by using anything he could get his hands on. Walls, furniture, even the legs of whoever happened to be standing nearby - if Malcolm could use it as leverage to stand up, he did.

With a sigh, Camilla placed Malcolm on the bed next to her and gave him two of his favourite soldier figurines to play with. She sat next to him, quietly listening to his babble and waiting for William to return from the trial.

Not long after, William strode into into their bedchamber, his expression both weary and irritated. Shrugging off his tunic, he heaved himself onto the bed.

Malcolm immediately forgot his toy soldiers and clambered onto his father’s chest, laughing.

"How was the trial today?" Camilla asked. She knew William wasn’t enjoying sitting for hours, listening to evidence being presented and the accused being questioned. But it was unavoidable.

"Today was even more tedious than yesterday." His face was screwed up in frustration as he pushed his hair out of his eyes. "I have no issue with a judgement made against Lord Michal based on the evidence provided. We have the maps he gave your uncle, don’t we? But you can’t imagine the number of nobles now taking the stand and saying they’ve long had grave concerns about the former marquis. Apparently, what stopped them coming forward previously was...oh, how did most of those bastards phrase it? Ah, yes. They kept quiet for fear of grieving their beloved king."

"That was the excuse they gave? People’s shamelessness knows no bounds." Camilla frowned.

"It truly doesn’t. Bald faced fucking liars! So many of them. They wouldn’t have told their king anything because they didn’t know anything. They just want to get in his good graces now because they’re all scrambling for a portion of the Marquessate’s lands. Everyone wants a piece of that pie."

"Do you think the king will be swayed by those nobles?" Camilla asked.

William smiled grimly at that. "No. At first I think he was amused by all the sycophants showering him with praise over how the fall of Lord Michal was proof of his infinite wisdom...or some other equally stupid language. But today, he must’ve lost his patience because he announced he has no intention of pulling the Marquessate apart and distributing the land. The title will be declared extinct and all the land goes only to the Crown."

Camilla smirked back, trying to imagine how that news would’ve been received. "Oh, pity. Several greedy lords in the courtroom would’ve lost their smiles after that."

"That was probably the only pleasant thing I saw today." William huffed a tired groan. "If those arrogant bastards only knew that the reason Lord Michal’s treason was even brought to trial was because of a woman and a young man they all mocked as an imbecile. I’m glad my uncle knows the truth and saw fit to reward you."

"You know that’s not why I revealed what Ned told me. A simple spoken thank you from His Majesty would’ve been enough."

"I know that and so does my uncle. And that’s precisely why he would’ve wanted to reward you - hey! Why does my shirt feel wet?" William raised himself on his elbows and realised Malcolm was sprawled on his chest and sucking on one of his shirt buttons, leaving a patch of drool in his wake.

"Marie says cutting another tooth is what’s making him drool so much these days." Camilla said apologetically. The moment she lifted Malcolm off William, the baby began howling.

"It’s alright, truly. Leave him as he was. I don’t like seeing him cry." William placed the baby on his chest again and tried to distract him with a toy soldier. "Even with his unstoppable drool, the boy’s better company than the sons of bitches I’ve been around over the last two days."

"It’s an ugly thing, seeing men’s greed. Isn’t it?" she murmured.