"Justice is served and the verdict is rejigged."

The entire next day passed with me flipping through the pages of various books. Lost in the words of Shastra, I hardly registered the time passing. The entire game was set and me witnessing the last move was nothing of importance.

The cool zephyr that held the chills of winters now had started to get warmer. Getting influenced by the heat of the summer, perhaps, the mellowness was soon getting lost. The weather was just optimum to make someone sluggish, even the birds of the cage were not untouched by the streak and swung on the perch where comfort was easier to be found.

The silence of my room held chaos, one that was a harbinger of coming peace. I stretched my arms languidly and yawned. Wrapping the dishevelled blanket around myself, I turned yet another page when the doors of my room parted. It was unexpected. I turned around to face the visitor who dared to enter the chamber before today's court; there stood my brother.

His tresses were in a disarray and the bags beneath his eyes relayed the story of the possible overworking inflicted on him. Should be my gaze that was too fixated on his hair that he ran his finger through them.

"You shouldn't be here brother." I informed him before returning my gaze to the folded parchment.

"Neither should be you." He reciprocated.

"I am locked here."

"I know but I may or may not have got the permission to get you to the court." He walked closer to the bed I was lying on.

"What is there for me to see?" I ignored his words but my fingers kept on running at the crease on the paper.

"You deserve to be there. You were involved with it. You cried for it and this case involves tears from your eyes. So-" He justified the requirement but I cut him off in the middle.

"Eyes," I whispered "You know something brother? When Shreeman Aniishwara first saw them he described it as some gem. He praised my eyes but failed to notice despondency within them."

"And this is why-" he started yet again but was stopped by me.

"I should know the verdict and proceedings?" I tilted my head and gave him a side glance. "There are many things I should know brother. Like why does a girl with moon insignia keep on following me?"

"Wh-What do you mean?" He stuttered, standing at his spot, stupefied.

"I tried to ignore it you know." I faced the man ahead of me, a man who was my brother but also a stranger. "Of all my brothers, you have a crescent moon insignia. Am I correct brother? Care to explain that."

I arranged my outfit while waiting for an answer but none came, making me a little disappointed.

"You know, initially I tried to avoid thinking about it but as soon as the incident started and the visits of the girl got frequent, it got tougher to ignore." I fiddled with the necklace that was out of place and muttered. "Sure it was a clever choice to select someone that is most innocuous of all, easily blendable but a little girl? Was it worth it brother?"

Under my sharp words he continued to stand there, anger was yet again surging and my fingers clenched onto the blanket to ward it off. I wanted to scream at him, feeling like a prisoner in my own abode.

"I-" he gulped, "It was for your protection. You looked shattered that day, the other day from the incident. I needed to get a report of your actions, not only for our plannings ahead but for your own protection too."

"Protection from what brother?" I croaked.

"Yourself." He whispered. A single word, a series of letters and the reality strung to it was toughest to be parted.

"We would be late for court." I somehow articulated words, though they were jagged and hardly comprehendible.

"You could stay if-"

"The show is too entertaining to be missed." I allowed the maids to arrange my clothes before walking closer to him, gesturing to go ahead.

This time, he didn't stop and we made our way to the court. It was packed with every minister present, the proceedings perhaps were about to start. I took my place beside my mother who didn't acknowledge me but kept her eyes at the centre of the court. Soon enough, my father, the king, entered. His face was marked with clouds of gloom and his steps were as if he was dragging himself. For a nimesh, I thought he looked at me, aside glance perhaps before stepping towards the throne.

"Start today's case." He commanded and the herald announced the case. Though I was present in the last proceeding, the entire thing made my eyes shift away. My gaze strolled to every corner of the room when I noticed a figure. Sitting beside her mother, Nityasha was withering the entire time, her puffy eyes and chapped lips were enough to arouse one's pity. Her rosy cheek was now washed up into a pale countenance and the grief was reeking from her.

"Is there any new proof?" The booming voice of my father brought everyone's attention back to the case. By now, both Dviti and Satkritah we're standing in the middle.

"Yes, your majesty," The head investigator prompted and gestured to someone to bring something. Everyone present in the room craned their necks to get a glimpse of this supposed proof and a series of whispers erupted on seeing that the proof was a mere earring.

For unsuspecting eyes, the earring was just another trinket but my breath hitched on seeing it. I turned to look at my brother who was witnessing the entire thing with apathy. I clenched my fingers and lowered my head, any moment now and my tears would make their way down my cheeks.

"What is this?" My father questioned, shifting his weight from one arm to the other.

"This trinket is identified as the possession of the victim. Anyone who met her on the supposed night could identify as the same." The investigator raised the earring that glistened under the light. "During our investigation, this was found in the room of our convict."

The entire court went disarrayed and some even pointed at the finance minister's family on noticing that the earring was indeed Nurvi's. My gaze shifted to Nityasha who by now was a crying mess and few women were trying to coax her out of her sorrow.

"Presumptuous!" The finance minister stood up and glared at the investigator. "What proof do you have that this was extracted from my son's possession? It could be my daughter-in-law's earring too!"

"Silence!" My father commanded before turning to the investigator. "Do you have anything to counter the statement?"

"There are several testimonies for that and if this was indeed Devi Poornima's jewellery, I would request her to bring the other one." The investigator countered and kept the earring aside.

"The other one could be lost-" The minister siding with Satkritah started but was interrupted by a crisp voice.

"These are not mine."

The entire court went into a state of turmoil due to this one statement. Scarcely had someone witnessed a wife giving testimony against her husband. While the entire crowd stared at Poornima, I started at Satkritah. The already pale visage of the man lost its entire glow in just one statement. His eyes were closed but the despondency was trickling down his face.

"I would be spat upon for saying this but I can not let the justice delay any longer." The voice wavered a bit and the owner of it started moving to the centre of the court.

"My husband did indeed violate-" before she could move further a quavery voice resonated throughout the place. "I am guilty of all my charges."

A lone tear trickled down Satkritah's face before he turned to his father, wordlessly seeking an apology. The chatter of the court reached a new height and the prime minister's side rejoiced while the finance minister fell on the floor thinking about the possible future that was decided for his beloved son. The father wailed for his son while the son struggled to be a support for him. In all this, Poornima stood at the centre, her tears; no longer distinguished between the game and real, trickled down her cheeks.

After a long discussion, the council of the minister and the king decided the punishment for our supposed culprit, the punishment of death. Except for a few factions, everyone praised the verdict. I was still contemplating my faction. Since the court already took quite some time in the decision, the rest of the issues were shifted to the next day. Everyone started to leave the place, congratulating the prime minister's family. I too walked closer to them, more likely walked to Nityasha who was mostly left alone.

"She was your sister." I confided in getting closer to her. The anger I held was seeping out the closed I got to her.

"She was illegitimate." She said without skipping a beat.

"I know." I shook my head. Even glaring at her felt like dirtying my eyes. "I am royalty, Nityasha. Things are not forever concealed from me, especially the scars."

"She was getting out of her station. If she hadn't sneaked out, if only she didn't get discovered by you; I would have been the sole prime minister's daughter." A streak of lunacy laced her voice. Her reasoning, her grudges were of years ago, grudges from our childhood that shouldn't be marked in any child's mind but she noticed those, felt those. Surely luck was by her side because by now, the court was empty.

"So you killed her?" I sneered and took a few steps away from her in disgust.

"Though at times I did seem enticing but no." She trailed and room deep breaths, "It was an accident, she was squirming too much and-and" with this she broke into sobs.

Regardless of the innocent image, she tried to paint, I felt no pity for her, what stayed was sheer disgust. Noticing my apathy, she wiped her tears and almost glared at me.

"How did you know?" She questioned.

"The bijou," I replied to her one last time. "Only the person that day sat next to me was you and I heard your little argument with her that night. I would be a fool to not recognise those voices."

This was enough chat I was able to force myself into and traced my steps back to the door when she called out.

"Rajkumari. I hope you understand" Her words came out muffled yet she proceeded, "There was no if I should? Rather it was, how I should?"

I didn't bother to answer her twisted morality and musings, they were better to be left unattended though they did made me smile a little; I just hope the poison existing in her conscience doesn't eat her up someday. Stepping out from the room, the hoax of a place for justice, I took a deep breath. Sugdha rushed to be by my side and held my one arm tight. Perhaps, subconsciously, my feet that were stumbling stopped as soon as I held her warm hand; getting support from my only surviving companion from childhood.

"Rajkumari, there is a report." She mumbled and I nodded, asking her to continue.

"Several of the Prime Minister's properties were looted in the last two days and the most suspicious one is today's event." She looked out for any probing presence before continuing, "Today, the prime minister's residence mysteriously caught fire. None of the properties except theirs was harmed. What lies there are merely shambles of what was left unburned."

"The public is~" She resumed but I stopped listening further, soaking myself with the outcomes before bursting into fits of laughter. Enough to stop her and look around with dread in her eyes.

"Justice is served and the verdict is rejigged." I shook my head and without paying heed any further, proceeded to play with the birds that looked satisfied, though they were caged.