Chapter 9
"I...I don't" I said and his eyes widen and the congregation gasped..
"I mean I do, No I don't.. Look I can't marry you cause am not who you actually think that I am, I said moving down from the altar facing the now confused crowd...
The king came looking confusedly at me..
"What exactly are you saying, Are you alright Stephanie " he said and at the very hearing of Stephanie I lost my mind and my blood boiled because I was done...I was sick and tired of everybody calling me that pathetic name, I was In all this mess because of that "Goody to shoes "Betrayal princess that fled with her lover man,. leaving me to face the aftermath...
"Am not Stephanie " I yelled back at the king...
"W- what are you...
"Am Alexa not Stephanie, I said tearing up and squeezing my gown with my right hand...
"What going on here, is this some kind of epic wedding prank that you planned for your own wedding? .. No no, I can't believe this, I just can't, He said and I didn't care , Believe it or not that was the truth..
"The truth is that I am Alexa I said looking at the prince and back at the king...
"Am really am, I said and I could see prince James coming down from the altar in disbelief, making my heart sink, I was never going to get married to him now but I guess that it is for the best..
"I don't believe you... The king said..
"N-Neither do I" Prince James said now getting worried and scared at the same time looking at me as if he was telling me that I should just stop this drama and please get married to him, He really did love me and what did I do, I broke his heart , I should have never done all this, I should have never have allowed him to kiss me, I was full of regret and there was nothing I could do about it..
"Please speak up, Tell me that everything you said was a lie.. Prince James said looking at me with disbelief..
"I...I
"How can she say it a lie when it was the truth..." A voice said from the audience that was watching our drama , Coming up to meet us with the faced covered with a hood
"So tell me ,How can she?, The voice said removing up the hood covering the face and my mouth dropped in awe, Standing right in front of us was no other person than the real Princess Stephanie...
"Cause am princess Stephanie.." She said and the congregation gasped with almost everybody standing up to witness the truth...The hall was becoming hot because of the tension that was rising,But I had a little peace and I was indeed glad that she was here at least she would tell everybody the truth and what she had done and how I covered up for her and maybe just MAYBE I wouldn't be killed by the king or anything like that, I looked at the king and the prince and all I could see was a shocked expression written all over their faces...
"Stephanie, Thank goodness you are here, oh am so glad...Tell them the truth, tell them how you eloped with your lover and I had to cover up for you, tell them how we switched places and how you ran away... Tell them everything I said looking at her with assurance that she would, But instead she gave me the biggest shock of my life...
"What the heck are you saying, she said removing my hand from where I placed them on...
"What are you saying, Why are you lying, After all that you have done, You still have the courage to lie,Is it because I have already exposed you in your schemes... She said and running to meet her Dad..
"Dad, I am your daughter and that is Alexa over there in my body, My lookalike and today I wasn't going to spare her at all, I am going to tell you all the whole truth about this maid "Alexa", All that she was saying was a lie, a big lie, Who I really could have ran away with someone else and leave my poor dad and my duty as a princess alone... She said and I couldn't believe it, My heart literally sank , How could have done this to me even after all that I had done for her, she was literally accusing me and I could feel tears in my eyes and I could see that her father, infact everybody were believing her..
"She's lying to everybody, I said coming to where she stood...
I really eloped, she...
"Just shut up, You maid, she said looking at me and then back to her father and in order to get his sympathy and make everyone believe her, she broke down crying...
"All my life, I had been loving and kind towards this maid Alexa, Dad.... I didn't even treated her like a maid that she was but like a faithful friend and she did this in order to repay me ...
S- She brought out a magic wand and changed herself to look like me, because she wanted to be me, She had always envied my life and had always dreamt of living a princess's life and getting married to a crown prince,She had always wanted all this wealth and everything so she... she took me far away in order to steal my life and get married to the prince,Dad she almost killed me, She almost killed your precious daughter but I didn't let that happen, I didn't let this imposter get married to you, Prince James and ruin your life, I had to find my way back here and fortunately I did, She, this maid betrayed me for wealth and riches...She said accusingly pointing her finger to me and bowing her head down to cry...and All I did was to stand there staring at her with tears already flowing down....
"It a lie, she's lyi....
"That's enough, just stop it , The king said angrily, coming over to where I was standing and the next thing that I felt was a slap received by the king..
"How dare you, How dare you do this unspeakable thing to my jewel and you think that you would get away with it...He said angrily,All I did was to stand there with tears falling down from my eyes freely, all my life I never knew that this would what I would get as return from been faithful to the princess, "BETRAYAL" , it was like I was going to have the same fate of my mother, the king believed his daughter lies, Why wouldn't he, Blood was indeed thicker than water", Everybody did and I couldn't prove my innocence...
All my hope now was left on the prince, if he actually believed the lies that Stephanie spoke, I looked at where he stood quiet the whole time, maybe he believes me, Why wouldn't he...
"P- Prince James, Don't you believe me,I said crying pleadingly...
"You are my only...
"Don't you dare outer another word...The king said, threatening to give me another slap..
"She should be punished severely" Stephanie said still shedding fake tears, making my heart sink...
"And she would be, She would be beheaded, The king said...
"No she wouldn't, The prince said after a long moment of been silent and look at him hopefully as if he was actually going to defend me...
"She wouldn't be beheaded..He said
"What are you saying prince" the king ask angrily...
"Am not done yet, At least she had said part of the truth by confessing that she was not Stephanie before making it a sin to have married me or else I would have personally killed this imposter with my very hands he said with a mixture of pain and anger,....So she shouldn't be killed but banished from the kingdom...he said coldly looking at me with tears and disgust
"Immediately" he said cause I can't stand the sight of a cheap maiden he said and with that he left...
I watched as he left as tears flows down freely from my eyes, it was all over, I was dead..., Slowly I walked as I looked at the betrayer Stephanie secretly giving me a wicked grin and the angry face of the king..., So this was the fate of a maid, I packed my little shredded cloth that I had with tears flowing from my eyes...
"Poor poor Alexa, All alone been banished, How sad" Stephanie said standing right in front of me grinning and i was shattered in a million pieces but at the same time I was angry and I felt used, I needed to know why she ruined my life..Why she found joy in seeing me crying and falling apart..I needed to find out the truth...
"Why did you do this, I said holding her hand angrily with my voice shaking and tears still flowing..."Tell me what did you gain by doing this, Huh, tell me...
"Oh please don't touch me with that filthy hands of yours, if I hadn't said what I had said there, Do you think my dad was going to forgive me if I had said that I had eloped, Was he, No he wasn't and I would have been probably killed by now, You have seen his wrath, So I had to make a dramatic entry in order to save myself...She said feeling not bothered why what she just said ..
"I needed to come back cause I had no where to go, My lover abandoned me and ran away with all that I had and I realized that I could always come back to the palace,My home just in time to accuse you, marry the prince and have all the wealth in this world, Wouldn't that be amazing.... She said smiling mischievously and now moving around the room...
"So I had to get rid of the obstacle on the way to my everlasting riches and that annoying obstacle was you, I knew that even if I tried to be the good guy and approached you, you would never agree cause I can see the pathetic love in your eyes for the so called Prince..so I deciding on doing this, So I played my move and it turn out better than I expected, You were banished, Wow isn't that great news, I must say I am a wonderful actress... Besides you were living a life that was not yours, You completely lost your identity, That was good...
So I relieved you of burden, I did you a FAVOR, so you should be indebted to me for the rest of your miserable life...She said grinning with hated displayed all over her face
"How could I be such a fool to have trusted you, How could I be so foolish to not have trusted you blindly, I forgotten the fact that you are all the same, You and your dad...I said amidst tears... feeling cheated , I tried giving myself courage and becoming hopeful when I remembered that she was still pregnant
"But I guess you have to think twice about your little acting, You won't be a able to succeed with your heartless schemes because you are pregnant and very soon when that belly of yours becomes enlarged then your whole scheme would be over and your end would be near... I said trying to threaten her and become hopeful, but all I could see was her laughing as if I had said something funny, I was confused and didn't understand what was happening...
"Oh you little naive creature, Don't you get the act already? I really didn't know that it would take you this long to realize that I am not pregnant, I never was...She said and my eyes widen..
"I only used the"Pregnancy" as a bait for you to have accepted living my life for me as the princess, I emotionally blackmailed you and you took the bait and started acting like the princess and I must admit you played my role so well that no one suspect, You even got the prince to fall in love with you,My my my , I must say you deserve a reward for this....
"How dare you play me for a fool, I said raising my hand to slap her , Princess or not princess she deserved it, but she held my hand halfway...
"Don't you dare or else I would shout and call everybody saying that you want to hurt me because I exposed you and by then you would no longer be on exile but rather you would lose your life,So it better you become wise... She said still holding my hand tightly, Causing me pain...
"Wow, you really can get on someone nerves, Now kindly receive your reward, she said placing her hand on my hoodie pocket and bringing out a few gold coins and placing it on my hand...
"I don't want it, I said setting my hand free from her grip, which caused the coins to scatter on the floor, Am not cheap and I certainly don't need anything that you have to offer me..
"Really? Just get out of here already and from our lives for good and oh stop trying to prove your innocence cause you can already see that nobody would believe you or you might certainly receive another slap and this time it may be coming from the prince..She said that and was about leaving when she turned back...
"And oh!, one more thing she said bringing out the wand that I had search endlessly for and she transformed me back into my old self, The real me , my self that I had once lost...
"And also before you leave, I want you to get out that wedding gown cause it is for a princess not a maid so you don't deserve to wear it ...She said and with that she left and I broke down crying, Is this how my life was going to end,Was this going to be the end of my story...I wasn't sure nor could I understand anything that was happening....