The Duke's Masked Wife



Katrina entered the room, which was larger than all the others she had been in before here at the court. Her eyes first went to the king, who was seated on the sidelines, then to the three men seated in the middle of the room. Katrina didn't want these three men to decide her fate. Why not Mark, who had been dealing with her cases?

"You are a tricky woman," Howard Norman, the court man in charge of assigning punishments, said as he flipped through the records of information gathered on Katrina. "With the position you are in, I shall refer to you as Ida. It is your birth name. What is your family's name? The man Randall said he wasn't given that information when you were sold to him."

Katrina kept her mouth shut, not wanting to speak about that person she had forgotten about so long ago. She was Katrina now. 

Howard looked up from his papers at Katrina, who was choosing to be stubborn. "You're already in a bad position. Not speaking won't make it good for you," he advised her. 

"I will speak if you will not have me killed," Katrina said.

Howard looked to his left and right at the men beside him. "Unfortunately, the others do not agree with your request. You are in no position to make any demands. Quite frankly, a bit of remorse for your actions would place you in a better position. To be so bold as to stand before us and even King Tobias himself, and refuse to answer us shows that you are deserving of your punishment."

"The king is good friends with Edgar Collins. Whatever punishment he has thought of for me is to get revenge for his friend," Katrina argued. Everyone knew that aside from his family name, Edgar was untouchable because of his long relationship with the king. Edgar would use that to have her killed.

"I always get a good laugh when someone speaks about the duke and the king. The same duke that helped save your court. When you mention Edgar Collins name in the court, some sigh and some get excited because, like his father, he has done good for the kingdom. A little trip back to the books would have informed you that the court was created to avoid kings making judgments on personal issues. There is a vote that comes with deciding punishments, and the king only gets one vote," Howard explained. 

There was no denying that if Edgar were to ever have to face a punishment, the court would be faced with a problem. First of all, Edgar wouldn't be willing to walk into the court and to get him, they would need the king's army to go up against Edgar's own. It didn't help that Edgar had a friendship with the man who led the knights. He would be a difficult person to capture.

Over the years, Howard noted how smart Edgar was at covering his tracks if he were to kill someone. They were still trying to figure out what he had done with William Lancaster. Howard knew that he would never have Edgar standing before him where Katrina now stood.

"There was a majority vote on what your punishment would be. Your punishment could change if you were a bit remorseful, as I said, but I don't see that happening. The king is here to sign off on your punishment. Nothing more. Now that we should all understand how the court works, let's get back to the task at hand. Randall was helpful to list out the things you have done for him," Howard said, looking back down at what he received from the men who dealt with Randall.

There was also information gathered by Edgar.

"We were told you approached Randall with the idea to sleep with men and rob them-"

"Why do all of you continue to point fingers at me, but the men who made my life hell get to be free? I am a victim of being sold to the red light district when I was young. Taken advantage of and had to use all that I had to survive. Those men I stole from were not innocent," Katrina said, taking a step forward, but the men beside her yanked her back.

"It is unfortunate what happened to you, but those men are not standing before me. You are here because of your actions. You killed men. From what Randall said, there were more than we know of. You set a home on fire where the children lay so they could be left with nothing like you were. You even saw to it that one of those children who ended up in the red-light district was abused. Just as someone hurt you as a child, you have hurt others!" Howard yelled, hitting the palm of his right hand down on the table.

The brother of one of the men she killed was left to take care of the children. He had to spend years trying to rid his niece of the sight of Katrina waking her up to tell her about her father's deeds and then stumbling upon her dead father.

"I have not even gotten started on what happened to your stepdaughter while she was in your care. The answer is never to turn into the monster you always feared. I will not waste the court's or the king's time on you. We shall read your punishment," Howard said, standing up with the two men beside him. "Katrina, for all of your crimes, the court and the throne sentence you to death. You shall be hung at the palace walls for the town-"

"I am all that my daughter has left. You must not kill me. Imprisoned me. I shall look over my actions and ask for forgiveness," Katrina said, pleading with the court to take back their decision. 

"You did not care for the children you hurt," Howard replied, having no sympathy for Katrina. If he had met her when she was younger and she had told him her story, he would have looked to help her. Get justice for her against those men.  "Your daughter is old enough to take care of herself. Take her away to be hung with the man she worked with."

Howard could not have much sympathy for Katrina because of the fact that she and Randall created a business where they would take women in the red light district and have them go after wealthy men. To either try marrying, being a mistress, or just stealing from them. The same dirty business that had Katrina poisoning the men she slept with.

"Wait!" Katrina's voice broke as she yelled. Once again, she tried to walk forward to talk with them. To plead her case. They needed to hear that Kate only had her. That there was something wrong with Kate and she could not be left alone. 

"Now you wish to speak," Howard said, shaking his head. He looked at Tobias, who also stood and straightened out his clothes. Howard ignored Katrina's pleas and walked over to Tobias to have him sign and put the mark of the royal seal on the paper. "Your Highness. I am sorry you had to witness two cases leading to deaths today. We are meant to be celebrating the queen's blessing."

"I like to call it my blessing too," said Tobias. He would rather get this case over with so the news about his unborn child and his festival could bring a bit of peace to the kingdom. Now that Katrina was dealt with, there was no big case the court was working on aside from getting children out of the red light district. "Has the butler been sent off to the dungeon?"

Tobias witnessed James admitting to his part in killing a man who worked for Katrina. The body was not yet found, as they were only told where it was placed by James right before Katrina's trial started. James earned himself plenty of years in the palace dungeon. Just like Katrina, he tried telling the court there was someone he needed to take care of. His mother, who had no one else.

"He will be taken there after Randall and Katrina have been hung. We will start addressing her as Ida now since that is who she truly is," Howard answered. All the information they had about Katrina would be replaced with the name Ida. 

The name that Katrina tried her hardest to forget would not be spread around the town or perhaps the kingdom, as word of a former baroness being hung would travel around quickly.

"Good. When the town guards send you a report about the cook's body, send it to me right away. Simon's body is also being burned before the town today. It is about time I got that rotting corpse out of the palace. The church claims it is the best way to get rid of the evil inside him. This should satisfy the town," Tobias said, hoping those who were angry about Simon's death would now stop pointing fingers. 

Tobias heard some were gathering wood to keep the fire going much longer and torture Simon's soul. 

"I have to be on my way now, Howard. I have my own battles in the palace I must deal with," said Tobias. 

Howard wondered what it could be since Grant was dead and many of his followers were imprisoned. "Are there still enemies going after you and the queen?" He asked.

"Oh no. I was speaking about the queen and her temper these days."

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