Annabelle stood in front of the court. The rows of benches were long. No concession was made to softness. They were made from hard wood, a clear sign that the original builders wanted to make a society that lasted, and that the word of justice was final.

The Lowly Lady Leda sat in the front of the courthouse. Scribes on both sides of her. She lifted her hand every time she said something that she wanted to be recorded. And if she didn't want a record of it - she would place her hand down palm open. If she really didn't it to be recorded she would clench her fist.

At this point if the scribes didn't immediately drop their pens in a dramatic fashion, the guards would come and make an example of them. Three scribes were employed so that in the event that their versions differed, it was possible to work out which was the wrong one. The versions never differed.

Annabelle stood before the court. She had never looked thinner. There were dark patches underneath her eyes. Her usually curly hair was straight and oily. There was nothing vibrant about her.

"Annabelle" said the Lowly Lady Leda holding her hand up "Let's start at the very beginning, who are you and where do you come from?"

"My name is Annabelle le Roux" the lowly lady's hand was still up "I was born twenty-three years ago on this island. I have never been anywhere else"

"How did you get drawn into a life of crime?" asked the Lowly Lady. The Lowly Lady immediately clenched her fist before Annabelle had the chance to answer.

"I am not involved in a life of crime" Annabelle said calmly. "Nor have I ever been"

The Lowly Lady Leda peered through her glasses at the sheet of paper in front of her. She started to speak with her hand in the air. "Surely I am not mistaken. I thought that it was you that lead the attack on shell beach. That is what the charge sheet says"

"It was me" said Annabelle and the only sound that could be heard was that of the sound of the scribes pens against the paper.

"Annabelle Le Roux admitted to attacking government forces unprovoked" said the Lowly Lady clearly.

"It was not a crime" Annabelle said to the sight of the Lowly Lady clenching her fist.

"You will only speak when spoken to" responded the Lowly Lady. "We will only be able to get to the bottom of things if we investigate them in an orderly fashion"

The Lowly Lady picked her hand up.

"When did you become involved in a life of crime? Annabelle Le Roux? Were either of your parents involved in criminal activities?"

"My parents were both born on this island and neither of them were involved in criminal activities - at least to the best of my knowledge." Annabelle added.

"Did they encourage you in anti-Mamlish sentiment" asked the Lowly Lady.

"No, but the Mamlish encouraged me in anti-Mamlish sentiment" said Annabelle, but the Lowly Ladies hand was already clenched.

"We have a record here that says that your mother was sent to debtor's camp. How did your father feel about that?"

"He hated it" spat Annabelle.

"And he always said that your mother should have been more thrifty" said the Lowly Lady almost with an edge of understanding in her voice.

"No, he never said that, he would complain that we were not allowed to get rid of her shoes because we had nowhere to put them. Mother always hated those shoes too, but the quota would come in and we were required to buy them, no matter how we felt about it."

"Write this" said the Lowly Lady "Annabelle le Roux was raised in a hot bed of xenophobic anti-Mamlish sentiment and was taught to lie at an early age"

"I was not taught to lie" cried out Annabelle.

"Order" said the Lowly Lady. "We have procedures for a reason, otherwise chaos will reign."

"Write this" said the Lowly Lady "Annabelle le Roux was disorderly and failed to show respect to the court or its judge"

Annabelle opened her mouth, but the Lowly Lady put her finger in front of her mouth and then said "If you have something to say, you will be given the opportunity to say it – Now we didn't notice you before eighteen months ago. What happened eighteen months ago? In your own words?"

"Can we go back to the accusation of lying" said Annabelle.

"It was not an accusation of lying" said the Lowly Lady "It is a recorded fact, that, you were brought up to lie."

"I did not lie earlier, nor was I brought up to lie" retorted Annabelle.

"You said that your father complained about the amount of space your mother's shoes took up. Every person knows that if you pack up with neatness and due diligence there was more than enough space for your mother's shoes."

"My mother was sent to the debtor's prison because she could not afford the topical treatment that she needed to save her life. This made us very bitter."

"As I said earlier, a hotbed of xenophobic anti-Mamlish sentiment. But as you have been bought up to lie, you thought nothing of lying to the court about your upbringing."

"You are not recording what I am saying, rather you are recording your rewording of what I am saying." Annabelle was red in the face.

"Please write this down" said the Lowly Lady and then she lifted up her hand "Annabelle has openly questioned the wisdom of the ancients and doesn't respect the customs and laws of the land." The scribes could write incredibly fast.

"As I asked earlier, what happened eighteen months ago that caused the Mamlish government to take notice of you?"

"I started a romantic relationship with the late Phoenix"

"A classic tale!" cried out the Lowly Lady "A young girl, well in this case a fully grown woman, meets a dangerous criminal and rather than contemplating whether or not the relationship makes sense and will ultimately bring her happiness. Instead she gets drawn in and believes his lies!"

"I did nothing while dating Phoenix. I never challenged the status quo or attacked anyone" said Annabelle.

"We have record of you being illegally on top of a tower. It is dated 17 October of last year" said the Lowly Lady matter of factly.

"I was kidnapped and placed there by your own burly guards" said Annabelle "I did not choose to be there"

"We do not have record of that" said the Lowly Lady before continuing on "It says in article 459b 3ii part c revision four that spending time with an enemy of the government is an act of violence against the state. Did you think that Phoenix was on the side of the Mamlish?"

"No Phoenix hated the Mamlish and then you murdered him for it"

"Write this" said that Lowly Lady "Annabelle le Roux made unsubstituted false charges against the highest official in the court."

Annabelle tried to open her mouth, but the Lowly Lady gave her such a look to silence her.

"I do not want to hear anymore wild conspiracy theories. We have only a limited time to record the happenings so that future generations and faraway places can learn from them."

There was silence in the court then the Lowly Lady said "We have video recordings of how you used to deception to access a weapon that you used to kill the Lesser Lord George. A man who humbly administered the island of Zilby for seventeen years, do you have anything to add to the recordings."

"He had put poison in the cup, he was planning to kill me too" said Annabelle.

"As nobody drank any of the cup's contents, we cannot present evidence to confirm or deny those allegations. Please refrain from repeating wild conspiracy theories." Said the Lowly Lady.

"He had already killed Phoenix with that same poison" said Annabelle.

"Incorrect, it is recorded that Phoenix died from the flu, please do not contradict recorded facts." The Lowly Lady waited for the scribes. "The allocated time is drawing to an end. I will review the records made today and decide on an appropriate course of action.

She stood up and walked out of the room. The burly guards came and roughly grabbed Annabelle to lead her out of the courtyard. The lights were switched off.

James, the directors want to see you" said Vanessa after finishing filming the scene. Her hair was flowing like a heroine in a shampoo add. She held her helmet in one hand and all the crew members were cheering and hi-fiving each other after shooting the scene.

In walked into the boardroom and the whole atmosphere became cold.

"James, we have been watching the show with disappointed" said the one who sat at the head of the table. "We wouldn't have minded the falling numbers, if the advertisers didn't mind the falling numbers, but the thing is that they do"

"Not only that" said the one sitting to the main's right. They were always the faceless evil in James's mind "But they have come to us, saying that the show sends confusing messages and they don' t want to be associated with chaos and mayhem"

"Yes, in summary, the series goes thusly – there was a strong male lead, but he dies from the 'flu of all things, real men die in battle not from snotty noses"

"Uhm, actually " James tried to interrupt

"Then his girlfriend gets to take over, she's fine, some even say that she is great, but you go and make her so sickly that nobody believes she would be able to knit a row in pearly snitch let alone win in a fist-ti-cuffs. So you replace her with the most nerdiest of heroes, somebody who would be better suited to analysing dialogue to find hidden metaphors in the safety of his armchair than shooting baddies. Some girls come and complain so you bring back sickly girl, who now you make a nervous Nelly. Incapable of making the simplest of decisions without bursting into tears."

"Have you seen Michael du Plessis latest work, I was so gripped and it feela good. People like it when everything works out in the end. The badies die and the goodies get married and live happily ever after"

'Yes, all the love stories in your script are a mess, James."

"Sometimes love stories end in death, some would argue that all successful love stories in end" said James.

"Yes, but there was nothing bittersweet about the deaths in Zilby and that's where they failed" said the second executive. He was the one wearing the playful tie.

"Michael du Plessis takes the sensible approach to script writing and ends all the love stories at "And they all lived happily after"

"We are telling you about Michael's work James because we have just signed a deal with him"

"Good for him" said James "But this has nothing to do with Zilby, if people want to see people kissing each other they can wait for his time slot"

"No, it has everything to do with Zilby" said the first more serious executive.

"You see James, the slot we have signed him in is half past seven on a Tuesday night."

"Half past seven on a Tuesday night, but that is my slot" said James the colour draining out of his face.

"We are cancelling the show. Wrap it up. Two more episodes, that's it" said the more playful executive suddenly no longer seeming playful.

James thought of his father after leaving the meeting with executives and he remembered his father's words "It's not how you start the race that counts, but rather how you finish the race that matters" He had never really listened, but now he whispered, but what if you have fallen over and now know that you are going you are not going to win"

He was pretty sure that he had never heard his father say this but still he imagined it in the voice of his father saying, "It's not whether you win or lose that matters, but the fact that you took part and that you competed with dignity to the best of your ability."

He knew what needed to be done, he made his choice, Annabelle would win, the obstacles will be insurmountable and she will doubt her own ability but ultimately Annabelle will win and then she will return to her old life. She will put on her old tennis skirts and play tennis and leave political infighting to the likes of Ferne and Madame Green. The pollution will clear up and all debt will be forgiven.

It didn't matter what people said anymore because he was going to do what he wanted to do – of course it matter – because he would have to convince Paul and Vanessa to do what he wanted, but other than the actors he was free to stick to his vision.

James sat down and stated writing, he started smiling and singing as he went along, and he forgotten how good the process could feel. He read what he had written and crossed out half of it using red ink. He wrote again and he enjoyed writing it the second time even more than he had enjoyed writing it the first time he thought with a laugh. This is great.