Fury filled the eyes of the witch and he bucked against his chains before one of the minotaurs placed a hand on his head to keep him from moving. A subtle threat that the man heeded.
Once the sections were full, an eerie hush settled over the collection.
A goblin entered the floor. Dressed in black velvet robes, his scaly green scalp held strands of black and gray hair, and on his large hooked nose, a pair of spectacles sat as he shuffled papers. He cleared his throat and, with a voice amplification spell, said to the thousands of spectators. “Today, we are gathered to decide the fate of a man accused of using the gifts of a god-level cursed object to manipulate the public’s opinion of shifters. The actions of this individual have cost three hundred and seventy-two livesto be lost. We will hear testimony from Stone the Dragon Prince of the Draconian Thunder, Queen Consort Rowan Dahl of the Draconian Thunder, King Kyron of the Eastern Elven Kingdom, Alpha Abanoub of The Egyptian Sphinx Lair, Alpha Harris Knox of the Mediterranean Wolf Pack, Alpha Meadow of the Canadian Sleuth, Alpha Juliana of the Amazon Knot, Elder Cherry Young of the Coven, Dae Kang of the Coven and Hye Kang of the Coven.”
Shock roiled through her. She snapped her head around the front tables trying to spot the copper red hair of the witch who had seemed so indisposed at her visit to take the position of Elder. She found her, dressed in the white robes of the Elder, with Dae Kang and Hye Kang on either side of her. Rowan couldn’t recall ever seeing the woman more vibrant. Was this Elder magic settled? Available to her because she had the Elder’s Grimoire back?
They made eye contact. Cherry’s face softened just a fraction, and Rowan beamed at her. Cherry rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the goblin.
“Antoni Barros could not find witnesses to come to his defense, and as such, will give his defense testimony himself. As always, the podium has a spell of truth cast on it. Everything you hear will be the truth to the best knowledge of the witnesses. At the end, the Scales of Justitia will appear and each of the representatives will cast a pebble to determine if Antoni Barros’ life will be forfeit or if he shall go free. We call now the first witness to the stand, Prince Stone.”
Chapter 38
Alessandro had never felt the fact that Stone was still so young hit him until he was on that stand. Though in command of the situation, well-spoken and charming as always, the man lit upin a way that spoke of his youth. It took a long search through Alessandro’s memory to recall when his heir had lit up like that.
In his early days, he’d been eager to follow Alessandro around like a second shadow. Had sought constant approval from the man who had seen potential in the kid even before he’d shown his double affinity for air and water magic.
Did Stone even want to be king? When Alessandro had informed him of his decision to retire, Stone had accepted it without a fight. But now that Alessandro thought of it, the young dragon had seemed more resigned than enthused.
Before he knew it, Rowan was called forward to give her testimony and while Stone waited by the podium to give her his hand to help her up, Alessandro was finding it hard to fathom that he’d been so blind to Stone’s reluctance.
“Well done.” Alessandro said as his heir retook his seat.
Stone looked abashed, as he always did when Alessandro paid him a compliment.
“One day you’re going to have to teach me to talk like that.” Naseem grinned at the young dragon, raising a hand to ruffle his hair.
Stone grinned and fluffed his hair back into shape as Rowan began her recounting of interfering with the dragons and the attack of Elaine after the fact.
She skirted around the fact that she was Blessed and able to purify Pan’s Flute by implying the Dragon King’s appearance had caused the water-dragon to return to her original form. Technically not a lie, but a definite mislead.
He hadn’t given details to any of his dragons and he could feel the shift in Naseem and Stone as Rowan’s story went into detailover the attack. Particularly how malformed and bloodthirsty Elaine had been.
“She regretted her actions.” Alessandro assured them.
Stone’s shoulders dropped, and Naseem shook his head.
He hadn’t heard the details of what had happened with the wolves. Her description of the civilians jumping into the water to get away from them and the little girl she’d barely saved dug in the horror of the loss of the innocent.
Rowan’s time with Abanoub was also new information and Alessandro wondered if, when the mark finally settled, he would see those moments in her exchange of memories.
Her eyes, which had been floating around the hall, just as much of a natural charmer as Stone was, landed on him and as she delved into the attack on the Eastern Elven Kingdom followed by her kidnapping, a vision filled his head.
The room was lit by wall sconces. He was behind the rods of a golden cage. The sounds of flesh against flesh reverberated in the room and his hands were burning, pain lashing through the rest of his body. He blinked, and the vision disappeared as Rowan went into the night Black Cove became Barros’ target.
He tried to regain control of his dragon, but he wanted the witch dead.
It was suddenly an offense that the man was breathing the same air as his mate, that he was looking at her. The fury Barros had shown when he first saw her had grown each second she spoke.
“Alessandro, you’re icing the Hall,” Stone hissed from beside him.
He didn’t care. Couldn’t care. His woman was in the line of fire from that piece of scum and taking care of her was the only reason he existed.
Rowan snapped her gaze back to him, and he faltered.
“I’m okay.”
It was what he needed to ground himself.
