⚜️ You Can Call Me Sir Alexander ⚜️ (Alex Turner)

࿇ Part 10 ࿇

The judge asked the room for silence.
"Lady Harrington of Yorkshire, proceed with your testimony, I pray."
"Your honor, ever since this woman took service at the palace, odd things began to happen. As you all know, my poor husband, Lord Turner, was wounded in battle and lost a leg. He was bedridden. She started giving him "medicines" to make him feel better. But what medicine makes a crippled man walk again?"

The crowd buzzed and gasped in surprise.
"I recently saw him riding his horse, like nothing happened."
"This sounds like a miracle, My Lady, shouldn't a wife be grateful for such a blessing?"
"Your Honor, I see why one would think so. But I know. I have seen it. Her "medicines" are more than that. I myself had a potion she made, for I did not know what she was then, and I thought it was only a tea. She made my menses disappear, while she knew how much I desired a child!"
"Ohhh!" droned among the crowd.

"This is a lie! Your menses did not disappear. In fact, every month you ordered that I made those teas to help with your cramps!" She looked at the judge, seriously "These are lies and conjectures, Your Honor! James, the cook who I worked for, would surely be able to confute this." 
"Mhh. Why is he not here as your witness?" The judge asked.
"I...I had no idea–"

"I am afraid he would not be a reliable witness, Your Honor," the Lady interrupted her, "I suspect she enchanted my husband –he's always with her now, to the point that he made her his personal handmaid. It is like he is under a spell. And I fear she did the same to the cook. Can we call my witness up?"
"The witness may come to the stand."

Hazel, enraged by the Lady's manipulations, saw Reverend Ludlow walking to the front and her heart broke. He was one of the few people she trusted the most at the palace.  She couldn't believe he was there to testify against her.
He crossed eyes with her and his look was apologetic, but resigned. He couldn't do anything about it. She saw it in his eyes.

He talked about the Lady's suspicions, how she confided to him, and Charlotte's testimony.
"These are only calumnies!" Hazel exclaimed to the judge with tears in her eyes, but he did not flinch.
"What do you have to say in your defense, Hazel Hurst?"

"My remedies are nothing more than that! Herbs, plants, seeds...they have natural curative properties. There is no magic! If Lord Turner is walking again is only because he needed help with his pains. His leg did not heal properly. And he did not magically sprout a new leg! It is made out of wood. I have not done anything against the law and against God!"

"Reverend, is there anything else you want to add?"
Under the Lady's sever stare, Reverend Ludlow continued his witness and told what he saw and heard in Hazel's private room.
"Are you saying she confessed about her preparation of strange potions?"
"Well, she has not exactly confessed, Your Honor, but I saw her...inventory, and a lot of these remedies and substances seemed a little out of the ordinary and the cures almost miraculous, if I can say so."

Tears started streaming down Hazel's face. "Reverend..." the look she gave him was disappointed and sad. She felt betrayed.
The priest looked down. "I am sorry Hazel. There's a protocol I have to follow," is all he could say.

"Ow! My head!" The Lady screamed, at sudden, taking a hand to her forehead in a dramatic gesture. "My head, the pain! It must be her!" She pointed at Hazel.
The spectators gasped.
Hazel turned to the judge, perplexed,  showing the palms of her hands. "I am not doing anything!"
"It' is her, I am sure it's her!" The Lady moaned with her head between her hands, "make it stop!"

"Well," The judge chimed in. "this will help me decide the verdict. I was thinking the boiling water, or the hot irons, but this will be easier and faster. If the accused casted the spell, she can revert it. So we will do the Touch test."
"Touch...?"
"If Lady Harrington's ailment goes away at your touch, it means you cast the spell and caused it."