Pin it on Asha: She must go down

All Asha could hear was the clanging of the prison gate as the guards shoved her into the dark prison room. They didn't even care that she was the daughter of a chief. They treated her like she was nobody. Perhaps they were glad that they finally got a chance to treat a royal as poorly as they have been treated all their lives.

"Please, you can't leave me here! I am not guilty of what I have been accused. Let me out please!"she screamed from the gate of the dark room, but no one responded. She continued her screaming and was suddenly shocked when she heard Prince Denna's voice and saw his terrifying handsome face.

"Enough! You little brat! You are finally where you belong! Maybe now I can finish what I started!" He bared his teeth at her like he was about to devour her, pressing her hand unto the prison door.

"This is not the time for that. She may be a prisoner, but she's still the daughter of a chief. When we are done learning the truth from her, father will decide her fate."

"Please, Prince Mayo, you must tell your father that I had nothing to do with what I've been accused of, please…" Asha pleaded.

"Hmmmm… okay. I believe you. So what were you doing in the palace so late at night?" He asked nonchalantly, staring at his robe like Asha didn't matter to him.

Asha stared at him with teary eyes, knowing she couldn't reveal what she had seen that night. His attitude annoyed her so much, making her heart boil in anger. She despised the royal family, she told herself and she wishes Elim had succeeded in killing the king.

"I see, you have no words to describe what you were doing in the palace garden so late at night! How dare you step your little legs into a sacred place meant for only royals? You deserve worse than being imprisoned for such audacity" Mayo stressed the last words, shaking with anger, causing Asha to back away abruptly from the gate.

"Look at how the cowardly girl is running from you. There's no way she could have plotted to kill father. She's too weak!"

"Shut up, Denna! She did! Remember that whenever you ask!"

"But I didn't!"

"You did! As far as I'm concerned, you did! What other reason would you have to be at the palace so late at night? None! Right?" Prince Mayo inhaled and exhaled, still angry that Asha had cut short his time with Soma.

"Well, my dearest daughter of Dramidi, my father sent us as messengers to remind you that you are to be flogged in public tomorrow evening after the guards must have been killed. Since the killer has not been found, they will be scapegoats. And so will you!" Asha gasped, her body shaking with so much emotion. Maybe she should tell them about Elim,even though she had promised him she would tell nobody about him. Maybe, they might let her and the guards go then. 

Before she could speak again, Mayo continued with his message of doom.

"Don't worry! You won't be killed on the same day as them. But you will rot in prison for years until the king decides what to do with you!"

"No! That's not fair! You can't condemn me or them for something they didn't do! You are wicked and heartless. You treat your own people like they mean absolutely nothing. Why else will the king be a target for murder if he hasn't been a terrible king? Why should the king's guards be killed because of a mere slip-up? Evil! All of you!"

"Oh, I see. Now, I understand how you feel about the royal house, and now I know that you are more than guilty of what you've been accused of," Mayo stated, turning his back on her while Denna lingered, casting a lecherous gaze over her body.

"Denna! Don't even think about it! Let's get out of this hole!" Mayo's call echoed, and the brothers departed, leaving Asha to lament her dreadful fate.

"My king, surely you do not plan on having my little girl locked up for the hefty accusations leveled against her. She could never be capable of such plotting. How could she? She's just a child," Japthan pleaded with the king the next morning after Asha's arrest

"A child?"

"Yes, my king… she is just a little child!"

"A little child who called my son names and has continued to spread fals rumors about my family."

"Those are lies, my king!"

"You know, now that I think of it, she's just a child and couldn't have planned it all alone. Maybe you had a hand in it. Maybe it was your plan all along, Japthan! You've gotten tired of serving me and doing my dirty jobs, and you wish to dispose of me!" The king mused lazily as he savored a special fruit reserved for royals, while Japthan fell to his knees, begging for mercy.

"Get up! You are not a common servant to be lying flat on the floor!" The king's tone dripped with anger at Japthan's display of humility.

"My king, I have always been by your side, and I have never once thought of harming even a hair on your head. I have taught my children to serve only the king."

"I want to believe you, Japthan, but I just can't! Until I have questioned your daughter about her reasons for being in the palace and why she harbors hatred towards the royal house, then I can decide if she's guilty or not. Even if she's not guilty, she will be punished for being at my humble abode at such an odd hour. Or wasn't she?"

Japthan swallowed hard, knowing the king was right. If only Asha had been in her bed… he bit his tongue. He glanced around, wishing the queen were there to help plead with the king. But would she, when she probably still harbored hatred in her heart for him for being part of the plot to kill her husband? This was his payment for being part of the king's evil plot and doing nothing, wasn't it? 

"Father, I hope you are not listening to his lies! I have spoken to his daughter again, and she has strongly expressed her disdain for the royal home!"

"Is that so?" The king asked, fixing a deadly stare on Japthan. "If that killer isn't found, it wouldn't just be your daughter who suffers for her crime, but your entire family, and who knows, I may even declare the upcoming marriage dissolved!"

"So do not continue to beg me, or you will anger me even more. I will question Asha again, and she will be flogged in public on the same day the guard will be executed. And if there's no one to come forward with the identity of the killer, I will leave her to rot in prison!"

Japthan's heart sank, while Mayo's face glowed with delight. Perhaps he would finally get to have the right wife, not the cold Zeep, or he could have both.

Japthan left the king's palace with his face down in shame and pain because his fortune was gone just as quickly as it came. His family, which was elevated during the royalty celebration, would become the most ridiculed in Maribah. And his poor daughter Asha would suffer the most for it. He wished then that there was a savior to rescue his family and all of Maribah from the clutches of the royal family.

—

It was the best day of her life. She couldn't believe her ears and she tried her best to conceal her smile so the few people at the river wouldn't know why she was so happy Everyone already knew Zeep would be the prince's wife, and if they were seen chatting casually along the river pathway, rumors would surely abound.

"My prince, are you certain my fortune is about to change? I hope you're not deceiving me," she almost squealed in delight, feigning normalcy as people approached.

"I have no reason to deceive you! Asha has changed our relationship with the Dramidis, and you may end up becoming my wife, with Zeep as the second," the prince replied.

"You can't be serious! We can't possibly live under the same roof!" Soma frowned.

"Forget about that! Focus on becoming my queen, that is, if Asha is found guilty by the king!"

"But we both know she's innocent!"

"Don't say that in anyone else's presence," Mayo warned. 

"I Know, it was my plan after all," Soma continued, her gaze darting back to where her servant stood with the Prince's guards, waiting for them to finish their private conversation. "It was my plan after all. We both know what she was doing there that night, and that's why you must ensure the king believes she's guilty. They won't believe she did it because she's a little girl, but when witnesses come forward and claim they saw her plotting to kill the king, everyone will believe she is."

Mayo smiled at Soma's cunning plan, promising himself to make it his mission to ensure Asha was found guilty. She had called them evil; she would see just how evil they could be.

"I have to go now. If I stand here with you for too long, people will begin to talk. The only time this will be okay is if we ensure Zeep will no longer be your wife. And you know it means her younger sister must go down!"

"Yes, but I want to spend another night with you."

"We can't take that risk, my prince! Please, I must go!"

After saying that, she rushed to meet her maid, and they walked together to the river, while Mayo watched her swaying hips, his mind drifting back to the night of pleasure they had shared. Asha! He thought angrily, remembering how she had spoiled that great night by spying on them. Now, her family was about to lose everything because of her singular act.