“Sleep, you look tired,” he said, kissing her forehead.
“Stay with me,” she asked, and slipped under the covers.
He nodded and shut out the light.
Chapter 5 - Trial
It’d been a month since they got back from the deserted island, and Emily waited patiently for them to try Kyle. The date was finally set and it was rumored that she would testify, even though she refused at first.
The Council gathered in their seats with a gloom, and the lights were dimmed. It was troubled times when they had to bring one of their highest ranking guards into a trial. The seats down below them were filled with heku from the guard staff and the town. There were three empty chairs sitting out in front of the rest, facing the Council.
“Derrick, bring in the accused,” Leonid said to the door guard.
The door opened and Kyle stepped in, still wearing his Captain’s uniform. His hands were bound in front of him, and he walked over to the chairs and sat down on the left-hand seat.
“The guards present on the island will be represented by Mark, bring him in,” Leonid said, watching Kyle closely.
Mark walked in wearing his official uniform, with his head held high. He sat in the middle chair.
Leonid turned to Elder Chevalier, “Do you wish for Lady Emily to be present for this?”
Chevalier nodded.
“Bring in Lady Emily,” Leonid said, and watched the guard open the door. Emily walked in and looked around. She didn’t realize how many were going to be present for this. She didn’t want this many heku to know what happened. She was wearing the blue slip dress Margaret had made for her, and it suddenly felt cold in the room.
“Please, take a seat,” the guard at the door whispered to her.
Emily looked one more time at the crowd, and then walked in to sit down by Mark. She crossed her ankles and laid her hands in her lap.
“We will proceed if there are no objections,” Maleth said, and looked at Emily when she raised her hand. “Yes, Emily?”
Emily stood up, blushing, and walked to Maleth. He leaned down and she whispered into his ear, softly enough that the rest of the heku couldn’t make out her words.
He stood back up and waited until she sat down again, “This is now a closed trial. If you have no part of this, you will leave immediately.”
Emily watched her hands in her lap as the heku from the audience filed out of the council chambers. When the last of the audience was gone, Maleth stood up again.
“Are there any other requests?” he asked the three of them left.
“I call for a conflict of interest,” Kyle said to Maleth.
“On what grounds?”
“On the grounds that Elder Chevalier’s wife is involved. I ask that he not be present.”
Emily tensed and looked up nervously at Chevalier. He was glaring coldly at Kyle.
The council members nodded in succession and Chevalier got up angrily, slamming his chair against the back wall as he left the room.
Emily watched him go and then looked at the Council fearfully.
Maleth smiled at her reassuringly, “He won’t be far, Dear.”
She nodded.
“Shall we proceed?” Maleth asked again, and this time, no one said anything.
“These proceedings will cover the two charges filed against Kyle. The first is attempted rape.” He hesitated as Emily winced, “The other is feeding without permission of the donor. How do you plead?”
Kyle stood, “Not guilty to the first charge and guilty to the second.”
Mark looked up at him, shocked.
“Very well,” Maleth said. “Let’s take the first offense. Lady Emily, please tell us in her own words what happened.”
Emily shook her head. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at her hands.
Leonid grinned slightly. It wasn’t often that someone told an elder no.
Maleth frowned, “Emily, we need an account so we can decide.”
“Don’t make her testify,” Kyle said angrily.
“You will not speak until spoken to. Lady Emily, please approach the Council,” Maleth said, sitting down.
Emily stood up and walked toward the Council.
“Child, you are safe here,” he said to her, and she nodded.
“Are you afraid with Kyle in the room?” Leonid asked her softly, and she shook her head.
“Are you embarrassed? We are all friends here,” one of the council members asked.
Emily shook her head.
Maleth thought for a moment and then gasped, “Are you ashamed?”
Emily nodded and fought back the tears in her eyes.
“Come up here, Child,” Leonid said, and then watched her as she walked up to the Elder’s seat.
He took her hand as she knelt down beside him, “There is nothing to be ashamed of. We just need to know what happened so we can correctly judge him.”
A tear streamed down Emily’s cheek.
“Tell me, Child, just me,” Leonid smiled at her.
She finally nodded and looked down at Kyle. He looked away from her gaze.
“I was sitting alone.”
“No guards around?”
“No, I needed to be alone,” she said, and looked back at Kyle.
“Go ahead.”
“Kyle came and he… he started to kiss me. He wouldn’t stop.” Leonid could tell by her eyes that she was picturing it all in her mind, “He laid me down. He was so heavy, I couldn’t get up and my hands… he had them trapped above my head.”
Leonid brushed a tear from her cheek with his soft finger. She looked into his eyes and saw that he truly cared. She could see that he wasn’t judging her.
“He tore… my shirt off.” She slowly wrapped her arms around herself, “He was still kissing me… then he… he took off my bikini top, too. He was… just kissing my neck and then, I could feel his teeth.”
“That’s enough, Child. We know the rest,” he said, and touched her shoulder lightly. “Thank you.”
Emily stood up on shaky legs and walked back down to her chair and sat down. Leonid took a moment to regain his composure and stood up.
“I have heard the testimony of the victim. Now you will have time to appeal your case,” he said, looking down at Kyle.
Kyle stood up, glanced at Emily, and then at the Council, “It’s not how it sounds. I love her.”
Damon spoke up, “You love the Elder’s wife?”
“Yes,” Kyle said, standing tall.
“For how long?”
“Since I met her on the ranch in Montana.”
Leonid held a hand up to stop Damon, “So love was it? Did she ask you to stop?”
He nodded, “Yes, but it was because she is afraid of Chevalier, not because the feelings aren’t mutual.”
Emily gasped and looked at Leonid, who smiled at her, “The reasons don’t matter. Did she say to stop?”
“Yes,” Kyle said to Emily.
“Did you forcibly remove her clothing?” Leonid asked him.
Kyle simply nodded.
“That was out of love also?”
“No, by that time things had gotten out of control,” Kyle said, softly.
“Do you still plead not-guilty?”
“I do.”
“How so? It seems to me like you were moments from committing ra…” He hesitated when he saw Emily flinch, “committing an assault.”
“I was trying to free her,” Kyle explained.
“Free her from what?”
“From the Elder, he uses her. She’s so afraid of him that she can’t feel anything for anyone else. He also abuses her. I’ve seen bruises on her numerous times, and it’s all to control her,” Kyle said, ignoring how the council members whispered to one another.
“We still don’t see how that gives you the right to force yourself on her,” Maleth said, angrily.
“I agree, that was wrong of me, but it wasn’t rape… it wouldn’t have gotten that far,
” he said, trying to defend himself.
“But you had already undressed her.”
Emily felt her blush rising. She just wanted to get out of this room. Hoping she could make a clean break, she stood quickly and lifted the edge of her dress slightly as she ran to the trial area door. The door guard blocked her way, even when she tried to push him aside.
Emily spun when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s ok,” Leonid said, softly. “Come…”
Emily glanced at the Council, and then let Leonid lead her back to her seat. He returned to the Council area and smiled at her reassuringly.
“But you already undressed her,” Maleth repeated.
“Mostly, yes.”
“With her hands restrained.”
“Yes, but you have to understand. I love her, and it’s killing me to see the way he treats her, like a piece of property. He is incapable of love and I thought… I thought if she had the chance to break the bond… with me… I could set her free,” Kyle said, and looked back at Emily.
“Did she, at any time, return your feelings that day?” Maleth asked.
“She hadn’t yet.”
“Yet?”
“Yet… if she wasn’t so afraid… of Chevalier, she would have.”
“We will consider the accusations against the Elder later… for now we, as a Council, don’t see how you can justify what you did. Lady Emily clearly stated she wanted you to stop,” Damon growled.
Leonid stood back up, “You do not deny the charges of feeding off of her without permission?”
“No, I do not.” He dropped his eyes.
“Was this during the r… erm… first act?”
He nodded.
“We understand it had been a long time since any of you fed, but that still doesn’t excuse feeding without asking permission.”
“I had my reasons,” he said to the Council.
“They better be good,” Leonid said.
“Em isn’t… well, she can’t be controlled like other mortals… unless… well unless she’s been weakened by blood loss or if she’s ill.”
“Do not call her Em, she’s Lady Emily,” Damon hissed at Kyle.
“You hoped to weaken her through blood loss, so you could control her into going along with your plans?” Maleth asked, shocked.
“No… if I could control her, I could make her understand how much better I am for her.”
“You wanted her to admit that the Elder... abuses her, as you say?” Leonid tried to understand his reasoning.
“Yes,” Kyle answered.
“Why did you stop then?” Maleth asked.
“She… used her powers on me,” Kyle said, again looking at the floor.
“Then who revived you from ash?”
“No one, she just did it until I fell unconscious.”
“You can control it that well, Lady Emily?” Maleth asked, impressed.
Emily nodded.
“Very well… we call on our witness,” Leonid interjected after some silence.
Mark stood up.
“You are representing the thirteen heku from the island, are you not?” he asked.
“Yes, I am.”
“Did you observe signs that Lady Emily had been attacked?”
“Yes”
“How so?”
“When she came into the cave, she was afraid, and we saw bite marks on her neck that were bleeding. Then there was… well she didn’t have a shirt on, she had a torn shirt held up against her,” Mark said, watching the Council.
“Did she tell you what had happened?”
“No, she did not. She put on a new shirt and then took Allen and ran.”
“Did you follow her?”
“No, Sir. She threatened to turn us to ash if we followed her,” Mark said, giving Emily a crooked smile.
“When did Kyle return?” Leonid continued.
“Twenty minutes later, he came in, obviously in pain.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted us to go find her,” Mark replied.
“Did you?”
“No, we told him we wouldn’t go find her so he could…” Mark sighed, “Do whatever he wanted with her.”
“Is there anything else?”
“No, Sir, that is all,” Mark said, and sat back down.
“The Council will now deliberate. Lady Emily, please approach the Council again.” Emily looked up, then stood, and walked to them.
Maleth leaned over to her, “Dear, do you wish Elder Chevalier to return or would you rather him stay away? We still have the accusations that he may be mistreating you.”
“Please, bring him back,” she said, adamantly. “I’m not abused.”
“Are you speaking out of fear, Child?”
She shook her head, “No, I’m not afraid of him.”
Maleth nodded and stood as the Council filed out of the council chambers through the back door. The side door opened and Chevalier stepped in. Emily ran into his arms and he wrapped them around her and kissed the top of her head. He watched as a guard escorted Kyle from the room. Kyle was glaring icily at the Elder.
“It’s ok, it’s over,” he said to Emily.
She nodded and pulled closer to him.
“Elder?” Mark said from behind Emily.
Chevalier looked up at him.
“I think you should know, Sir. Kyle has accused you of some things the Council will need to follow up on,” Mark said.
“What things?” he asked, surprised.
“He accused you of abusing Lady Emily, and using fear to control her,” Mark said, softly.
“He what?” Chevalier asked, shocked.
Emily nodded against his chest.
“He said he’s seen bruises on her, left by you,” Mark continued.
Chevalier sighed, “Thank you for telling me. I can put that to rest soon enough.”
Mark bowed and left the council chambers.
Emily followed Chevalier up to their room and he excused Allen’s guards. They quickly left and took up their positions outside of the door. Emily sat at the table with Allen as their dinner was delivered. He began to eat, but Emily just pushed the food around.
“Not hungry?” Chevalier asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.
“He’s my friend,” she whispered.
“I know, but he overstepped.”
She nodded and stood up, “I’m just going to go to bed.”
Chevalier sat with Allen as he ate, and then watched Emily crawl into bed and pull the covers up over herself.
***
Emily felt a hand on her shoulder, “Em, wake up.”
She sat up in bed and looked at Chevalier, “What’s wrong?”
“The Council made a decision. They need us down there,” he said, handing her jeans and a t-shirt.
“I don’t want to go,” she told him, and put the clothes down on the bed.
“You have to. They specifically requested that you return,” he said, pulling the covers off of her.
Emily sighed and dressed quickly. She didn’t want to face Kyle again. She didn’t want to know he was sentenced to death or banishment. She could just picture his withered body lying in a coffin deep beneath the earth, thinking about her for hundreds of years. She caught sight of a clock on the way, it was 3:30am.
Chevalier opened the doors to the council chambers and Emily hesitated before entering. Kyle was already facing the Council as they sat in their chairs high above him. Chevalier kissed her forehead and took his spot with the Council. Emily wasn’t sure where she was supposed to go, so she moved back against the wall and watched.
“We do apologize for this late hour, Lady Emily. It wasn’t until we’d already called to reconvene that we were reminded that you were probably asleep,” Maleth said, smiling.
“It’s ok,” Emily said softly from the shadows in the back of the room. She stifled a yawn and saw Leonid wink at her.
“The Council has decided, and have all agreed, that you
are guilty on all charges,” Maleth said to Kyle.
Kyle hissed, “Then I demand he be charged also.” He stared at Chevalier.
“We will address those accusations as soon as we are done with you,” Maleth said, angrily.
“Then do it… what’s the punishment?”
Maleth grabbed a piece of paper, “For crimes against the Elder’s wife, we have sentenced you to life in prison.”
Emily gasped.
“Life in prison? Why not kill me?” he asked, mockingly.
“We talked about it, but feel your time is best served thinking about what you have done, and we are going to set an example of you,” he said, proudly.
A guard came and hauled Kyle away as he struggled against the binds. Two more guards appeared and helped them take Kyle to prison.
“Lady Emily, please step forward,” Leonid motioned for her.
Emily stepped out of the shadows and walked up to toward where Kyle had previously been standing.
“Any time an accusation is brought against a member of the Equites, it must be followed up with an inquisition. You heard the accusations brought against the Elder by Kyle, did you not?”
“I did,” she admitted.
“Has the Elder ever purposely hit you?” Maleth asked, glancing quickly at Chevalier.
“No”
“Has he, as accused, ever left a bruise on you?”
Emily looked at Chevalier and he nodded, “Go ahead, it’s ok.”
She nodded and sunk her hands into her pockets.
“When was the first time?” Maleth asked her.
“In Colorado, we’d gotten into a fight over… well… the coven,” she said, watching the dirt floor.
“Where was the bruise?”
“My neck.”
“He choked you?” Maleth asked, surprised.
Emily didn’t answer.
“Yes, I did,” Chevalier said, watching her.
Maleth nodded, “And the next time?”
“I… I was mad, we’d been fighting again and…” she shrugged, “I burned him.”
Maleth gasped, “You burned him?”
Emily nodded, “So he choked me.”
“Again leaving bruises?”
Emily nodded again.
“Then the next time?”
She looked up at Maleth, “That was it.”
“Elder, do you wish to speak in your defense?”
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