"Now-" Chief Justice started. "We will move on to the pleas," he added. "I would like to address this court to advise of the charges that have been put to the accused" he continued. "First of all we have conspiracy to commit kidnap and false imprisonment, conspiracy to cause wounding and grievous bodily harm-" he advised and I felt Ben's hand squeeze mine once more which made me look up at him. As I saw the panicked look in his eyes I then dropped his hand and watched as he looked over to me as I slid closer to him; I then wrapped my arms around him and pulled him to me so we were now in a tight embrace. "Conspiracy to commit rape-" I heard the Chief Justice continue. "Conspiracy to commit blackmail, blackmail and finally-" he stated before he looked over to the accused party. "Attempted murder" he finished and I watched as the court as gasped and started shaking their head at this. In all honesty I couldn't believe how many charges there were; it sickened me to my stomach! I just hoped that they weren't about to fight over this - given the amount of evidence that was against them.
"Mr Bobby Bailey, could you please stand?" he questioned and I watched as Bobby stood up. "You have heard the charges that have been put against you in this trial, how do you intend to plead?" he questioned.
"Not guilty by reason of insanity" he answered and the court gasped and shook their heads at this. Me and Ben on the other hand shook our heads angrily at this; and I couldn't stop an angry sigh left my lips. I really couldn't believe it! Bobby was claiming to be 'insane' which is the reason why he nearly killed my soul mate and rape me. I just thought it was a lot of dragon dung! He knew exactly what he was doing! I knew it; and of course he knew it! I just hoped that the jury was going to know that his plea was so fake!
"Thank you, you may be seated" Chief Justice advised, and I watched as he quickly sat down. "Prince Chad Charming of Charmington and Cinderellasberg, could you please stand?" he advised; and me and Ben watched as Chad slowly stood up with a very nervous look on his face. I couldn't help but notice that he threw a quick glance at his parents before looking up at this judge; and when my eyes landed onto Queen Cinderella I saw that she was crying silently as King Prince Charming was holding her against his left shoulder. "You have heard the charges that have been put against you in this trial, how do you intend to plead?" he repeated.
"Guilty!" Chad called out and the court went silent. The first noise to break the silence was Queen Cinderella's sobbing, which made Chad turn around and look up at his parents. "Mother!" he called out to her. "It's ok" he told her and she nodded at this as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue as Chad looked back at the Chief Justice. "I'm sorry your honour" he offered.
"It's ok," Chief Justice Williams answered. "I understand that this situation isn't just affecting those involved but their families as well" he added sincerely. "And I appreciate the apology Prince Charming" he stated with a meek smile. "Thank you, you may be seated" he advised and I watched as he sat down. I did agree with Chief Justice Williams that this situation was affecting a large number of people but I couldn't hide the happiness in myself at what plea Chad had chosen to take. Of course the evidence was overwhelming against them; but to hear at least one of them admit their guilt was a very profound moment for me - as I felt we were getting somewhere in the trial. Which meant that we were also on our way to find a solution to this situation, which was obviously what everyone involved was yearning for.
"Mr Kendal Kingston" Chief Justice called, which broke me out of my train of thought. "Could you please stand?" he requested and I watched as he stood up with a blank look on his face. "You have heard the charges that have been put against you in this trial-" Chief Justice started. "How do you intend to plead?" he questioned.
"Guilty but insane or mentally ill" Kendal's meek voice echoed quietly around the courtroom. There was a small murmur at this before everyone quickly quietened down; it was at this point when I could understand the defences case. They were going to claim that their clients were mentally unwell to try and get them off; I just hoped given the evidence that we had on all six of them was enough to show the jury that this wasn't the case.
"Thank you, you may sit down" Chief Justice nodded and Kendal copied Bobby and Chad's actions by sitting back down. "Mr Samuel Smith, could you please stand?" he asked and when Sam stood up I could tell that he looked very bored. I would even go as far to say that he didn't even look bothered that he was standing in a courtroom on the charges that were against him. He did know there was a chance that he was getting taken to the Isle, right? "You have heard the charges that have been put against you in this trial, how do you intend to plead?" Chief Justice repeated again.
"Guilty" Sam shrugged and when the gasps echoed around the room I knew that this was due to his very dismissive behaviour.
"Thank you, you may sit down" Chief Justice quickly stated, obviously not happy with his dismissive manner. "Mr Paul Peterson, could you please stand?" he requested and Paul stood up. "You have heard the charges that have been put against you in this trial-" he stated. "How do you intend to plead?" he questioned.
"Guilty" he answered as he looked down in shame.
"Thank you, you may sit down" Chief Justice quickly stated before I could fixate on the situation that I had shared with Paul as he sat back down in his seat. "Finally, Mr Stephen Sadler, could you please stand?" he questioned and I saw Stephen stand up. "You have heard the charges that have been put against you in this trial, how do you intend to plead?" he asked finally.
"Guilty" he simply answered. The court went silent after this and I could tell by the blank look on all of their faces they expected the plea of guilty to come from Stephen. However the longer the silence went on it gave me the time to think about what had just happened; yes I found Bobby and Kendal's pleas laughable. But I started to feel more settled with the trial at the fact that the other four members had plead guilty; then hopefully it was going to swing our way. We needed justice for what happened to the pair of us! And I just hoped that the six of them understood and saw the ramifications of going against me and my Beast.
