Hey guys, we are finally onto a part of our trial that I know some of you are very much looking forward to - the cross examination of the accused. And of course we are starting with Queen Elder Leah - I can't wait to see what you think. Much love, RSD xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo.

P.S. As you can see that I have worked really hard to try and make sure that the chapters return back to their long lengths - I hope this doesn't disappoint.


When me and Ben walked back into the room the whole council and accused party bar Queen Leah were waiting for us all; I quickly took my seat next to Evie and looked up at Ben who smiled down at me. I couldn't help but smile back at my Beast; he had made my EI symptoms disappear - yes I knew that they would come back but I valued the time free from them.

"Now that she has had some time to reflect on her previous behaviour-" Ben started as he addressed everyone. "Queen Leah has been asked back into court to give her evidence" he added before he nodded at Darren once more and the side door opened and we then all watched as Darren and another guard then walked Queen Leah into the room. However this time they took her to the stand rather than her original seat. I took a deep breath to steady myself; I didn't know what Queen Leah was about to say but I knew that given my history with her and her family - it wasn't going to be good.

"Queen Leah please put your hand on this bible" one of Ben's clerks stated and I watched as she did this. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" he asked her.

"I swear" she answered and I then saw as the clerk stepped away and walked back to his desk.

"We will now begin the cross examination; starting with the prosecution" Ben advised and I watched as Ben's lawyer, Gareth Cooper stood up and grinned at Ben.

"Can you please state your name and title please?" Gareth started as he directed to Queen Leah.

"Very well" she replied with a bored tone of voice. "I am Queen Elder Leah Beauty of South Riding" he answered.

"Thank you" Gareth said before looking down at some notes in front of him. "First of all I would like to question you about the information that you unlawfully collected-" he started.

"That is a matter of opinion" Queen Leah answered bluntly.

"What do you mean by that?" Gareth asked her in confusion.

"Well I have a right as owner of a castle to be able to keep my safety" she returned quickly and I couldn't help that Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora were shaking their heads at this as Audrey was pursing her lips together.

"How is distributing the information for your safety?" Gareth questioned back.

"No comment" she answered.

"Queen Leah" Ben warned her. "I am going to warn you that you need to answer the questions put forward; as it is going to be detrimental to your case" he reminded her darkly and I felt the Beast part of him purr in annoyance.

"Very well" she repeated in the same bored tone of voice.

"I believe letting others know of information that I saw at the time was a threat" she stated.

"Ok" Gareth nodded. "So if we just look at some of the evidence that you have collected-" he started as he looked at the character references. "How is the fact that Dame Faery suffers from nightmares a threat to yourself and the people of this kingdom?" he questioned as he looked up at her. "Have you never suffered from nightmares Queen Leah?" he pressed and I watched as a dark glint entered her eyes.

"Of course I have" she muttered.

"And was this spread around the council like gossip?" Gareth asked bluntly.

"No" Queen Leah stated. "No it was not" he added.

"Another example I would like to address to you is how is intimate information between his grace and his consort a threat?" Gareth urged and I watched as Queen Leah started to look nervous. I think she knew that she was going to get questioned but not like this - Ben's lawyer had the reputation to get anything out of anyone so I knew that this would probably be unsettling her. "Are you stating that all loving sentiments between the king and his consort; and every couple in this kingdom is a threat?" he added and the room fell into silence.

"I fail to see what that would have anything to do with this case" she replied as she threw her lawyer a pleading look.

"I think it has everything to do with this case" Gareth fired back causing Queen Leah to look back at him. "You're reasoning for distributing this information was that you believed that it was a threat-" he started.

"Your Grace" Queen Leah's lawyer, Ralph Simmons stood up as he cut off Gareth.

"Yes Ralph?" Ben replied.

"I do believe that this line of questioning is not needed" he pressed.

"I believe that it is" Ben answered. "Gareth carry on" he added as he looked over to his lawyer.

"As you wish" Gareth nodded. "Queen Leah?" he prompted.

"I believe that I was justified in my actions" she sighed as Ralph sat back down.

"I see" Gareth noted. "Moving on-" he stated again. "Why did you feel the need to record the royal party of their stay along their tour?" he questioned.

"Again I felt as if it was my place to do so" she replied. "As a Queen Elder" she interjected and I had to bite down on my bottom lip. As a Queen Elder Queen Leah always thought that she was entitled to things or to know things; I just hoped after all of this she would be put in her place and know to not challenge Ben like this ever again.

"I see" Gareth stated. "But surely you can see also that it isn't your place?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"Well yes as a Queen Elder you have a right to certain information; but I think the court will agree that what you have done is an overreach" he stated with a smile.

"Your Grace" Ralph repeated as he stood up once more.

"Gareth get to the point please?" Ben asked and Ralph sat back down.

"As you wish" he nodded at Ben. "Queen Leah again what was your purpose?" he directed to her.

"I believed at the time that I was collecting information that was keeping the safety of the kingdom" she advised.

"Right" Gareth nodded at he looked down at the notes in front of him. "But given the information that has been collected; there is obvious malicious intent-" he started.

"My Lord" Ralph said as he stood up. "That is slander!" he called out.

"Ralph sit down" Ben advised and he sighed as he slowly sat down as Queen Leah started to look worried at the fact that her lawyer couldn't stop Gareth questioning her. "You will get your turn to address your client" Ben reminded him. "Please allow proceeding" he finished sincerely.

"Of course your Majesty" Ralph nodded.

"What is your answer to that Queen Leah?" Gareth pressed.

"No comment" she said and the room filled with gasped.

"Is that all you want to say on that?" he stated.

"No comment" Queen Leah repeated and the room fell into silence once more.

"I would now to ask you about the contents of the characters references" Gareth started as he finally broke the silence.

"Ok" she nodded.

"Do you believe them all to be true?" he asked.

"Why would it matter?" she stated.

"Well did any of them feel false or exaggerated?" Gareth shrugged.

"That's not my place to say" she muttered.

"But it is your place to decide whether it is a threat?" he urged with a large toothy grin.

"What are you getting at?" Queen Leah snapped.

"Nothing" he shrugged again. "I am just trying to make sure that the court is understanding your way of thinking; because it is not just for the prosecution but for your defence to try and get the members of this court to understand that" he explained.

"I am aware of your and my lawyer's job" she returned back sarcastically.

"Ok, well I am going to ask you a question Queen Leah and I hope you are going to be honest" he offered.

"I made an oath; I will try" she offered back.

"Thank you" he smiled. "Given the fact that your opinions have been stated in the evidence already presented to this court-" he began.

"That has been fabricated against me!" she snapped and I watched as the rest of the accused party shook their heads at this.

"Yes" Gareth muttered. "But I want to ask-" he started once more. "What is your real opinion of the Dame Faery?" he asked and the room went eerily quiet. I knew that Gareth was going to ask this; as he needed to to help our case; but that didn't mean that it was going to be easy sitting through it - because it wasn't! Queen Leah was about to rip into my publicly; and I had to do my best to bite my tongue and let her say what she needed to say.

"Your Majesty I must implore-" Ralph interrupted.

"Gareth do you have a point to this line of questioning?" Ben asked.

"Yes my lord" Gareth answered.

"Continue" Ben advised and Ralph sat down again.

"My point for this line of questioning is that I want to look at your motive Queen Leah" Gareth explained.

"I don't have a motive" she dismissed. "This plot is against me" she stated and I fidgeted with my rings under the table. I couldn't believe that Queen Leah had done this in the first place; but to try and get out of it she was not blaming everyone else to try and help her get out of this situation - unfortunately there was enough evidence against her to not take her claims that seriously.

"But that is for my defence to advise so you all can understand" she responded.

"Yes" Gareth said. "But humour this court" he smiled. "Pull no punches; what is your real opinion on Dame Faery?" he questioned once more and my stomach started to bubble in nervousness as the room fell into silence.

"Well-" I heard Ralph say as I looked down at the floor. "I believe that Queen Leah doesn't need to answer this question" he stated.

"I believe that there is only one way to solve this" Ben stated. "Dame Faery" he called out to me and I looked up at him.

"Yes my Lord" I answered.

"Are you happy with this line of questioning?" he questioned. In all honesty I wasn't that happy about this line of questioning; I didn't want to know what was going on in that head of hers. But for mine, Ben's and this case to be able to go through this we needed to learn more about her feelings towards me so I decided to let them continue with the point that they were trying to prove.

"Yes" I confirmed.

"Well that decides it" Ben stated. "Queen Leah please answer the question" he demanded.

"Very well" she stated. "As your lawyer has stated I am not going to pull any punches" she warned me and I felt my mouth suddenly go dry.

"I believe that she is just going to be like her mother!" she called out and I heard people start to gasp. I pursed my lips together; this was old news to me. I knew that she thought that I was going to be like my mother - and by the looks of it nothing I was ever going to do was ever going to make her change her mind. "She has hoodwinked our king-" she continued as I looked back down to the floor. "Made him believe that he loves her; but he doesn't. She shouldn't be in a position of power; she can't be trusted" she stated as she looked around the room. I looked up at Ben and I could tell that he was fighting to correct her; but we both had been advised by Gareth to let Queen Leah say what she wants as she was no doubt going to slip up somewhere. "She is not worthy or good enough to be by the side of our king" she continued. "King marries princesses not villains" she shrugged. "We deserve so much better" she added. "I know that I am going to get a lot of hate for saying this but I believe that it is only a matter of time when she will show her real and true colours" she finished and when I looked up I noted that she was looked at me.

"When I look at her I see her mother; I see the danger that she imposes" she advised as she looked me up and down. "I believe them statements collected about her and her mother. She has been just as bad on the Isle; she is her mother" she continued. "And it shocks me that you can't see that" she stated as she threw another look around the room before she sighed. "Yes she might want to be different; I do get that" she said and I had to resist the urge to laugh at what she was saying. "However-" she started again. "She was brought up evil and that doesn't just change easily" she finished and the room fell into silence once more and I looked away from Queen Leah. At least I really knew what she thought of me; but if I was being honest with myself - I knew it all anyway!

"Thank you for being honest on that matter Queen Leah" I heard Gareth say as Evie slid her right hand into my left under the table.

"Yes" I heard Queen Leah say as I dared look up at her.

"Now I would like to address this marriage contract" Gareth said as he shuffled his notes until he got to the notes that he needed.

"Yes" she repeated.

"Do you still deny hiding it and trying to enforce it upon his Majesty?" he fired at her.

"Yes" she said for a third time. "Given what I had just said; I am an easy target to be put under suspicion like this" she interjected.

"That maybe the case Queen Leah; but given what you just said even if this is a plot against you and not his Majesty surely you agree with it? A marriage contract that places your granddaughter on the throne of Auradon" Gareth said incredulously.

"Yes, I do agree with that" she confirmed. "We have brought Audrey up for such a life" she added as she smiled at Audrey who quickly looked away from her grandmother.

"And she can still have that; there is still other prince's in this kingdom is there not?" Gareth questioned innocently.

"Yes there is" Queen Leah nodded. "That is true" she smiled meekly.

"Did you draft this up yourself?" he fired at her as he pointed to the marriage contract in front of him.

"No!" she exclaimed.

"Just out of curiosity Queen Leah; have you ever had the thought, even if you never mentioned it to anyone-" he began. "That if you could you would get a marriage contract arranged for his Majesty and your granddaughter?" he pressed.

"I have thought that yes; but I have never acted on it" she replied.

"Lies!" Ceto shouted.

"Ceto please" Ben sighed.

"Sorry" she apologised and Ben nodded at her.

"So if you were able to how would you arrange this?" Gareth said gaining all of our attention once more.

"I would talk to his Majesty-" Queen Leah began.

"And you have had conversations like this in the past haven't you?" he urged.

"Yes" she confirmed. "He disagrees with me" she sighed.

"I see" Gareth nodded. "How did this make you feel?" he enquired.

"Annoyed" she stated. "Betrayed" she added. "I felt as if my family didn't matter" she finished.

"So you drafted this marriage contract?" Gareth pressed and we all watched as she went to answer but quickly faltered and stopped herself.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I didn't draft that up; this is a plot against me" she repeated again and I watched as a glint had entered Gareth's eyes. "To put me into his Majesty's bad graces and to damage my reputation" she suggested. "And I will see that a full investigation will be looked into this after this trial" she demanded.

"That is your decision" Ben shrugged.

"I then would like to question you about this plan" Gareth stated.

"Yes?" she asked sweetly and I could tell that she was starting to get really nervous of Gareth's questioning.

"When did you come up with it?" he asked.

"I didn't" she fired back.

"Well who did?" Gareth snapped.

"I don't know" Queen Leah shrugged. "I assume someone else in the accused party" she dismissed and I noted that again they were all scowling and shaking their heads at her.

"Queen Leah please?" Gareth sighed. "We know that you are involved; the sooner you start co-operating with us it will help your cause" he reminded.

"I am not involved!" she snapped as she balled her fists up. "And you will come to see that you shouldn't-" she started.

"Shouldn't what Queen Leah?" Gareth glared at her. "Cross you? Would you attempt to ruin me?" he sang innocently and I watched the dark glint return back into her eyes. "I believe that you already have threatened to ruin the King's consort haven't you?" he enquired sweetly.

"Yes" she grimaced. "Because I know that she is really behind all of this; she has put people up to this to target and ruin me" she added as she threw me a dark look.

"Well Dame Faery has already given her statement on that; she has stated that she didn't do this" he answered.

"And she is believed so easily! I don't see her stood on trial!" she snapped.

"No; because she doesn't need to be. There is no evidence suggesting anything" Gareth dismissed. "Unlike the amount that is against you" he reminded her and I watched as she threw another look at Ralph, who looked nervously down to the floor.

"There is one part of the plan I do want to ask you about; because your actions today conflicts what you have said" Gareth said. "You said that you have no involvement in this case?" he questioned.

"Yes" she answered.

"Then why did you shout out that the villain race deserved to die when his Majesty showed the court the false proclamation?" he asked and Queen Leah's face dropped in panic.

"Erm" she muttered. "I said that-" she stuttered. "Because-" she said as she scrambled on what to say to defend herself.

"Your Majesty if I can interrupt-" Ralph stated as he stood up. "I don't believe that this line of questioning is needed" he advised.

"It's ok your Majesty I will move to another line of questioning" Gareth stated as he put both hands up in front of himself to defend his questioning.

"It would appear that actions do speak louder than words" he said smugly and Queen Leah threw him another dark look.

"In fact your Majesty-" he started.

"Yes Gareth?" Ben replied.

"This is the only questioning that I have for Queen Leah" he stated.

"I see" Ben answered as Gareth took to his seat.

"Ralph you may now question your client" Ben offered and we watched as Ralph stood up and smiled at Queen Leah.

"Queen Leah" Ralph said.

"Yes Ralph" she answered politely.

"How many years have you held the crown of South Riding?" he asked.

"For nearly twenty four years" she replied.

"I see" he nodded. "And in this time have you ever acted maliciously and with discontent?" he questioned and I had to fight the urge to show anything on my face. I knew that Ralph was going to try and defend her actions; but to hear it was so idiotic. How could Ralph defend her after there was so much evidence against her? But then he must be used to this; as he had been her lawyer for over twenty years now.

"No" she answered. "As an elder of this council; I don't believe that is the right way to conduct one's self" she said sweetly and I watched as a few other council members rolled their eyes at her. It was obvious that they saw through her lies; and I think that everyone was going to be cautious when dealing with her from now on.

"I see" Ralph nodded. "I would like to address the statement that you have just made about Dame Faery-" he added.

"Yes?" she promoted.

"Would you say that Maleficent scares you?" he asked and I had to resist the urge to laugh and shake my head. This was her defence? Her history with my family; I really can't believe that she would try to drag me into this. However as an afterthought I could believe that she would do this - me and Queen Leah were never going to get on and this trial proved this.

"Yes" she confirmed. "And what she can do" she added.

"So would you say that given that her mother scares you that it would be right to say that you feel the same way about Dame Faery?" Ralph asked sincerely.

"Yes" she repeated. "That is correct" she confirmed once more.

"How does Dame Faery's presence affect you?" Ralph questioned.

"I suffer panic attacks" she admitted and everyone pulled confused faces at each other. "I worry about the influence that she has over the king; and that also causes panic attacks" she added and I pursed my lips together. As long as I have been in Auradon I have never sensed or had any suspicion that I made her feel this way. I didn't want to discount this; she may actually feel this way and she might be very good at hiding it.

"Is this the first time that you have said this publicly?" Ralph enquired.

"Yes" she answered sadly. "I didn't want to highlight it in anyway" she explained.

"Ok" Ralph nodded again. "Has Dame Faery ever given you cause for concern in which she would act against you?" he questioned.

"Ralph!" Ben snapped causing Ralph's face to drop.

"Yes my Lord" he replied.

"Watch your words" Ben warned him. "Queen Leah is on trial not my consort" he reminded him.

"It's ok my Lord" I interjected and I watched as everyone looked over to me. "I don't mind him asking that" I advised.

"Ok" Ben nodded. "Carry on" he advised as he nodded at Ralph.

"The fact that she is so close to the crown; with so much influence. I believe that she could get other council members to do her work for her and it wouldn't lead back to her" Queen Leah explained and my stomach started to burn once more.

"I see" Ralph replied. "Is this what you believe?" he enquired.

"Yes" Queen Leah said. "I believe that she would do this" she confirmed and the room fell into silence once more.

"I would now like to move onto the plan that was put before the court" Ralph advised. "Has anyone else ever mentioned this to you in the past?" he stated.

"Yes" Queen Leah repeated.

"Who said that?" Ralph returned.

"Everyone else who has been accused" she confirmed and the rest of the accused party all gasped.

"You-" Ava started angrily.

"ORDER!" Ben roared. "You will all get your time to speak; so please allow Queen Leah her time" he shouted as he threw a stern look at the rest of the accused party.

"Of course" Dame Aphrodite stated. "Sorry your Majesty" she added as the others nodded in agreement.

"Can you give me a time when this was suggested to you?" Ralph said.

"Dame Aphrodite said absentmindedly at the summer ball last year that she wished that she could rid the kingdom of its consort. She even asked me if I believed that there was enough support for it" Queen Leah explained and I noted that Dame Aphrodite froze at this.

"And what did you answer?" Ralph urged.

"At the time I didn't really want to think about it; so I said I didn't know" Queen Leah shrugged and I watched as Dame Aphrodite started to throw venomous looks at Queen Leah.

"Can you think of another time?" Ralph pressed on.

"Yes I can think of many times when each other member of the accused party questioned me on this. Now that I come to think of it; I can now see that they were testing the water" Queen Leah replied. "To see if they could drag me into this plot of theirs. They know how I feel against Dame Mal; so they must have thought I would be the easiest way to disgrace her" she added and I watched as Princess Tabatha grimaced as Ava and Ceto shook their heads at this.

"I see" Ralph nodded again. "Did any of them suggest that this is what they wanted to do?" he added.

"They told me of their annoyance of the consort; and they hinted that they wanted to bring her down or to quote Princess Tabatha-" Queen Leah started before she threw a look in her direction. "Knock her down a peg of two" she added as she looked back at Ralph.

"You foul mouthed-" Princess Tabatha started.

"Princess Tabatha!" Ben snapped at her. "I have already warned you all" he reminded her once more.

"Sorry your Majesty" she replied as she looked back down to the floor.

"So Queen Leah-" Ralph began. "Are you telling the court that you believe that they were getting the opinion built up so they could blame you for such a heinous plot?" he questioned.

"Yes" Queen Leah nodded. "They have even signed my signature on that document" she pressed and again the accused party all shook their heads at this.

"I see" Ralph repeated. "Your Majesty" he said as he looked up at Ben.

"Yes Ralph" Ben replied.

"I do believe that this is the ending of my questioning" he advised.

"Thank you" Ben smiled. "Queen Leah can you please go back to your seat?" he questioned.

"Of course" she replied and Darren showed her back to her seat; with the rest of the accused party shuffling away from her.