by Kristie Cook
The anger within me flared hotter. This is not my Tristan! Who is doing this? What have they done to him? They were breaking the ultimate warrior. Shattering his spirit. And for that, I hated every single council member up there except Char and Martin.
Martin stared at Tristan for a long time as the crowd settled and quieted, then he frowned, as if he didn’t want to proceed.
“Tristan Knight,” he said, “you are brought here before us in response to charges of treason against the Amadis. According to council member Julia Acerbi, you attacked her and threatened her. She also claims you attempted to kill what may be the youngest Amadis daughter. Based on your background with the Daemoni and many other actions, it is believed you are working on behalf of the Daemoni to infiltrate and destroy the Amadis. If found guilty, you will be banished from the Amadis or . . . executed.”
I inhaled sharply, the breath catching in my throat. My hand flew to my mouth to muffle the cry.
“Do you have anything to say to these charges?” Martin asked.
“Only that they’re absolutely ridiculous,” Tristan said, the familiar steeliness in his voice. He paused as a wave of gasps and murmurs flowed through the crowd. I let out my breath—he wasn’t just going to bow down after all. “I am loyal and devoted only to the Amadis. I did not attack or threaten Julia. I simply defended my wife, an Amadis daughter, as well as the girl you accuse me of harming. As far as any other actions, I do not know what they are, so I cannot possibly respond to them.”
“Are you denying that you threatened to use your killing power on Julia?” Martin asked.
“Yes.”
“Liar!” Julia said. Always quiet, mostly communicating only with Rina, especially in large groups, Julia shed any pretense of being submissive and became the monster she was. An arrogant, aggressive, and threatening vampire. “You had your hand out, ready. That’s no different than pointing a loaded and cocked gun. You saw it yourself, Martin, when you arrived.”
“While fighting the Daemoni, I saw you holding the girl in a death grip, and the next time I looked, the girl lay on the ground. And, yes, I saw Tristan facing you, his hand lifted toward you the whole time.”
“I was holding Julia in place,” Tristan said. “Before she killed the girl or Alexis.”
“Are you accusing me of threatening an Amadis daughter?” Julia demanded.
Tristan didn’t answer at first. His jaw muscle twitched. “The situation escalated out of control. The girl attacked, and Julia tried to stop her. In the chaos, she knocked Alexis to the ground. Whether Julia intended to hurt her or not, I cannot say.”
Another round of whispers and murmurs ran through the crowd. Martin signaled to them for silence.
“Yet you still threatened to kill Julia?” Adolf said. “Even though you weren’t certain if she’d intentionally hurt Alexis.”
“No. I paralyzed her and the girl to stop the violence. Jax, Owen, and Alexis were already down. I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt . . . or killed.”
“You lie,” Julia seethed. “If you didn’t want anyone else to be hurt, explain what happened to the girl.”
Tristan dropped his head for a moment, then looked up. “I cannot explain it. When Alexis fell from the Daemoni magic, I turned toward my wife. When I turned back, the girl lay still on the ground. How do you explain it, Julia?”
“You hit her with your power, of course.”
“It might have been Daemoni,” Martin said. “They might have hit the girl just as they hit Alexis, but harder. We can’t prove who harmed the girl.”
Or it could have been the traitor, working with Julia. Tristan had to suspect Julia, too, but he pursed his lips tightly closed. He didn’t exactly defend the vamp, but he was very careful about accusing her.
“If Tristan wanted to kill Julia, he would have. Nothing could have stopped him,” said Chandra, the exotically beautiful were-leopard who thought Dorian could lead the Amadis. “We cannot prove he did anything to the girl, and there is much doubt that he did. So what are the other charges against him?”
“After tying yourself to Amadis royalty, gaining your way in, you returned to the Daemoni,” Savio, the Italian shark, said to Tristan. “Is that correct?”
“Not intentionally,” Tristan said. “I was defending the Amadis and protecting Alexis.”
“And before doing so,” Savio continued, ignoring Tristan’s defense, “you impregnated the Amadis daughter with only a son, who you knew would eventually convert to the Daemoni, leaving the Amadis with nothing.”
“What are you saying, Savio?” Charlotte asked. “That he purposefully shot only male sperm?”
A chuckle ran through the audience.
“You must not really know the Daemoni if you can’t believe they’re capable of anything,” Savio countered.
A murmur of agreement came from the crowd. I bit my lip, suppressing the urge to shout at them about how absurd they sounded. How they grasped at straws. At one moment, they talked about Lilith as an Amadis daughter, and in the next, when convenient for them, they spoke as if we didn’t have a daughter at all.
“If you’re asking if I married Alexis and she conceived a son, yes, that is true,” Tristan said. “If you’re asking if I gave myself to the Daemoni, yes, that is true, as well, but not to return to them. Only to protect Alexis and the Amadis. To protect you.”
“That’s what you say,” someone nearby muttered. I leaned forward and twisted toward the source, wishing I could shoot daggers with my eyes. Many faces met my glare, some with pity and empathy, others hard and accusing. I narrowed my eyes, then turned back to Tristan and the council.
“Did you or did you not spend over seven years with the Daemoni and upon your return, attempt to murder your wife, an Amadis daughter, last March?” Armand the vampire asked.
The crowd became louder this time, with both defensive and accusing tones. I jumped to my feet, unable to keep quiet a moment longer. Especially because Tristan would never defend himself against this accusation. “No! That wasn’t him. You know how the Daemoni are. You can’t blame him for that!”
Several council members threw me a dirty look, while a couple looked at me with pride. Martin ignored my outburst, distracted by a piece of paper that appeared in mid-air and fluttered in front of him. He snatched it out of the air, unfolded it, and studied the contents.
“Yes,” Tristan said, also ignoring me. “I am sorry for not maintaining control of myself. That is a regret I have to live with for the rest of my life.”
“Which may not be much longer,” a voice from the crowd said.
Martin’s eyes shot daggers this time. “Silence,” he hissed.
“We all know Ms. Alexis is right,” said Galina, one of Rina’s favorite mages. “Tristan would never purposefully harm her. He was not under his own control.”
“I believe it,” spoke up Minh, her silly green hat now gone. “They are meant for each other, are they not? We agreed years ago they are to produce the next Amadis daughter. Why do we contradict ourselves now?”
I sat down, my arms across my chest, finally understanding why Rina had trusted those two mages so much. They were utterly loyal; you could feel it emanating off their bodies.
“Have you produced a daughter, as you agreed to do twenty-eight years ago?” asked one of the Middle Eastern mages—whether Attair or Shihab, I couldn’t remember.
“You tell me,” Tristan said. “You’ve tested the girl’s qualities. Since you accuse me of attempting to murder the youngest Amadis daughter, you tell me if she’s even been born yet.”
The mage pressed his lips together, having no answer.
“As to how you convinced Alexis to marry you in the first place . . . is it true you deceived her with a faerie stone?” Julia asked, and I froze in place. How did she know about it?
Tristan’s eyes flicked to me, and I shook my head before his glare returned to Julia.
“I didn’t remember the meaning of the stone at the time,” he said.<
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“But you did give her a faerie stone? And it did make her believe she loved you?”
Tristan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Yes. It is true.”
I flew to my feet again. “No, it’s not! You’ve gone too far! He didn’t make me do anything. My love for him is real. More authentic than any of you!”
Mom tugged on my arm, pulling me back to my seat. Rina opened her mouth as if to say something—finally—but then snapped it closed, as if she couldn’t bring herself to voice her own thoughts.
“A faerie stone does not work in that way,” Chandra said dismissively. “We are fully aware that no magic, no powers, not even faerie powers can force or create love.”
Exactly.
“If you’re going to accuse Tristan of treason, your grounds must be better than what you’ve put forth so far,” Galina said.
“Is it true you can flash while holding another living being?” Armand asked, and everyone looked at him with confusion, the question seeming to have no grounds for treason. He ignored them, staring at Tristan expectantly.
“Yes. I’ve flashed with Alexis a few times.”
“You do realize no one has ever heard of that being done?” Armand pressed.
“Of course I’m aware. There are many things I can do that no one else can.”
“So if a baby—a baby girl, in this case—were taken at birth, the kidnapper would have to flash in and out . . . leaving with the baby. And no one but you can accomplish such a feat.”
The crowd broke out in a quiet roar. Mom, Rina, and I exchanged glances. So many holes peppered that insinuation . . .
“Let me get this straight,” Tristan said, rocking back on his heels. “You’re accusing me of pretending to become Amadis; somehow convincing the council and the matriarch and the youngest daughter that I should have a child with the next daughter who hadn’t been born yet at the time; purposefully giving her only a son and no daughter . . . except, no, now you’re saying something different. I did actually give her a daughter, but right after conception, I went back to the Daemoni for nearly eight years; and at the birth, I somehow flashed into the room, delivered a baby, cut the cord, and flashed away without Rina, Sophia, or one of your most powerful warlocks noticing and took the girl with me, leaving the boy. Years later, I returned to kill my wife, but since that didn’t work, I took her on a wild goose chase around the globe, although I would know exactly where to find our daughter, only to try to kill her and attack a council member. Is that what you’re accusing me of?”
Everyone stared at Tristan for a long moment, probably still weaving through the tangled web he’d thrown.
“Something like that,” Adolf finally said.
“Except you’re not even sure the girl is an Amadis daughter, in which case your stories and allegations change. Again.”
The crowd sat silently as the accusing council members averted their eyes and squirmed uncomfortably. Martin, who’d been studying the piece of paper he’d been delivered a few minutes ago, lifted the page and waved it in the air.
“We do have an answer to that now,” he said. He looked at Tristan, then glanced at me, his expression wary. “I believe, however, we should discuss this in private. It’s very personal in nature.”
“Nonsense!” Julia said. “The results are pertinent to the case. They will be disclosed publicly.”
“I agree,” Armand said.
Martin sighed and gave a shake of his head as he glanced down at the results. I sat on the edge of my seat, my knuckles white from the tight fists I held in my lap, and waited to hear if Lilith really belonged to me. My heart pounded louder with each passing moment as Martin took his time to form his thoughts. Unable to read his mind, I wanted to physically reach in and grab the words out of his throat. Finally, he spoke. “The results show a trace of Amadis blood, but not enough to be an Amadis daughter. She is not Alexis’s child, not the youngest daughter.”
I sat frozen for several beats as the news set in, then finally blew out the air I’d been holding. My mind spun, swirling the crowd’s loud reaction into a background cacophony. I wasn’t sure what I felt. Relief, disappointment, and several other emotions roiled together, fighting for dominance. She’s not my daughter. I don’t have a daughter. What did this mean for us? For Tristan and me? For the Amadis?
Was there still a chance I could have a girl? Although Rina had never received a message from the Angels, Mom had felt the truth that I would. So perhaps all was not lost. If we could move beyond this stupid trial, if they would only give us a chance, Tristan and I might possibly still be able to give them a daughter. They had to see that now. They had to see that the girl we found, whoever she was, didn’t change anything. They had to give us another chance.
Lost in thought, I almost missed what Martin had to add. He banged his fist on the table, silencing the crowd and catching my attention.
“However,” he said, “there is a very close match to Tristan, leaving no trace of doubt of relation.”
Chapter 22
A deafening silence filled the room. No one seemed to understand the meaning behind Martin’s words, including me. My brain slowly processed them, and it eventually understood. The girl was not mine . . . but she was his.
“Tristan?” I whispered, unable to speak clearly around my heart lodged in my throat. He turned toward me, and our eyes locked.
“No,” he mouthed, shaking his head, truly acknowledging me for the first time since entering the room. He turned back to the council table and bellowed, “Impossible!”
The crowd finally reacted, just now figuring it out. They gasped and clicked their tongues, and at least one man chuckled. Hatred boiled within me. I hated the council, particularly Julia, for insisting this shame be exposed to everyone. Especially because it couldn’t possibly be true. It’s a set-up. It has to be. My brain, my heart, my soul couldn’t accept anything else.
Julia’s eyes narrowed as they scanned the paper Martin held in front of her, then she looked up at Tristan, the corners of her mouth twitching as if she fought a triumphant grin. She kept the smile to herself and maintained a ruthless glare. “The results are right here. Further proof of your betrayal. Not only did you fail—or refuse—to produce a girl for the Amadis, but you did produce a daughter with someone else and tried to make it appear as if she were ours.”
“And what would be my reasoning?” Tristan demanded.
“It’s obvious,” Armand said. “Look at the disruption you’ve caused in the Amadis. Look how close we are to collapse. All at your doing.”
“You’re setting me up.”
“It explains your defense of the girl,” Julia pointed out.
“You contradict yourself. You said I attacked the girl. Are you admitting it was you?”
Julia stood and leaned over the table, baring her teeth, fangs and all. “You’ve betrayed us. You are the traitor. The proof is right here.”
“Bullshit!” I shouted, jumping to my feet again and ignoring the reaction to my language. I looked Julia directly in the eye. “You’re making it up to frame him. You’ve been trying to set us up for months, for some reason trying to get rid of us. It won’t work!”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, girl,” Julia said through clenched teeth.
“I agree we’ve found the traitor,” Adolf said, and he sneered at me as he continued, as if to prove Julia’s plan would work. “I move for a conviction of Tristan Knight for treason against the Amadis. I also move we annul his marriage to Alexis Ames and she marry Owen Allbright.”
“What?” I shrieked. “You can’t do this! You can’t force me to marry anyone!”
Mom grabbed me by the waist, but I struggled against her.
“You are an Amadis daughter. If you are loyal to us, you will do what’s best for the Amadis,” Armand warned. “I second the motion.”
“No! You can’t do this!” I yelled louder, fighting against Mom’s tight grip.
“All in favor?�
� Martin asked unenthusiastically, his voice loaded with defeat. I thrashed against Mom as I watched seven hands rise . . . against six that didn’t.
Mass confusion broke out in the crowd, drowning out my cries of refusal.
“Martin didn’t vote,” someone called out above all the other voices, and the crowd quieted.
“What’s your vote, Martin?” someone else asked.
“What does it matter?” a vaguely familiar, gravelly voice said. I thought it belonged to Ferrer, the blacksmith, but I couldn’t see his stooped frame in the crowd. “This is not a democracy. It’s up to the matriarch. She must make the final decision.”
“What say you, Ms. Katerina?” an old, small witch at the front of the crowd asked.
Rina didn’t answer, but only stared at the dais. Martin pressed his lips together.
“I did not vote because I will make the final decision,” he finally said. “I have been asked to take the rule for the time being. Katerina Camilla Ames has removed herself as matriarch.”
And all hell broke loose.
People yelled at the council, at Martin, at Rina, and at each other. The rise of emotions literally heated the room. The crowd began pushing their way toward the dais, demanding answers.
“Silence!” Solomon’s voice boomed over the chaos, and everyone obeyed, more out of being startled than anything. He looked every bit vampire at this moment. “We are taking a recess. Everyone out!”
When nobody moved and the protests broke out again, the council left the room themselves. The two warlock-guards led Tristan out the back, too, and Rina, Mom, and I headed for the same door we came through, Mom half-carrying me.
“Rina, you have to do something!” I said as soon as the three of us were alone in the holding room. “They’re obviously framing him. You can stop this.”
When she looked at me, her mahogany eyes wide and moist, I could tell the fight had completely left her. “There is nothing I can do, Alexis dear. They will not listen to me. Let Martin handle this. He will do the right thing.”