King Avalore escorted Alpha Tristan and Luna Jane Martin to the vampire wing of the royal courthouse later that afternoon.

He and Queen Alexandra had assured them that they couldn’t be taken into custody after one round of questioning unless there was overwhelming evidence that they had murdered Gabriel outright and on purpose. There was none, and so they felt somewhat reassured.

Additionally, the King commanded the head of his legal team to join with the Martins’ legal team in order to insure the best possible defense.

Jane loaded up on good food until she was full to bursting, packing in as many nutrients as possible so that she could focus her mind for the coming trial. It would be beneficial for both she and Tristan if she could sense who intended to do them harm and who did not. Though, there would likely be more of the former than the latter.

The vampire wing of the courthouse had a gothic and primeval feel to it. There were gargoyles and gruesome images of humans being fed on in a lascivious manner. It felt surreal and inappropriate for a courthouse, but the supernatural world had its own rules and customs, and art wasn’t something they tended to police in any way.

Jane shivered as she approached the doors to their assigned courtroom.

Tristan took her hand in his and whispered, “What’s wrong, Jane?”

She mind-linked him back, “There is a lot of malice behind that door.”

He squeezed her hand and nodded in reply as the doors were opened by guards and the two of them stepped through together.

Their legal team had entered behind them, but now stepped in front, leading the way to the defense table at the front left of the courtroom facing a large, raised desk the length of the room. Five judges sat behind the desk, looming over the court, all of them vampires.

There was no jury in a vampire court. Five judges presided over all of the cases, and they were a panel appointed by the Vampire King whenever a seat became vacant. Judges held their positions for life unless they did something to lose their seat, like murder other vampires or start wars or something of that ilk. They were similar to the US Supreme Court in how they were appointed but their function was quite different.

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They heard legal and criminal cases of the highest order regarding serious crimes and accusations and decided based on law and evidence as to the guilt of the parties accused.

While innocent until proven guilty was the model followed by both the vampire and wolf royal courts, the vampire court tended to take a more aggressive stance against the presumed guilty parties than was necessary.

Tristan and Jane had been warned of all of this by their legal team and were prepared to face the severity of the situation, although they had faith that no proof could be produced that they were guilty. No honest proof, that is.

As they seated themselves behind the rather long defense table, they were surrounded by their lawyers. The two leads sat with them at the defense table and the rest of the legal team sat on the bench behind the table.

Jane glanced over at the opposite table where the accusing parties sat waiting for the center judge’s gavel to pound and call the court to order.

The vampire called Nevil was seated with the two other unknown vampires Tristan had seen outside their quarters. They appeared to have an extensive team of lawyers.

The judge banged her gavel once and cleared her throat, “The Royal Vampire Court is now in session. Plaintiff what are your grievances?”

One of the attorneys stood and began to read from a sheet of paper, “The accused Alpha Tristan Martin and Luna Jane Martin of the First Montana Pack, Wolf County, Montana, USA stand trial for crimes against the Vampire Council. Chief among these crimes is the murder and disposal of an Ancient, one Gabriel Michael Francisco.”

“Additionally, they are accused of conspiracy for financial gain as all of Mr. Francisco’s assets have been willed to the Martins in the event of his demise. It is the council’s belief that Luna Jane Martin deceived Mr. Francisco into believing she was a descendant of his bloodline, thereby conning him out of his estate before disposing of his life.”

Tristan’s head jerked up at the mention of Gabriel’s will and he stared at the attorney reading the statement. Neither he nor Jane knew that they were the beneficiaries of Gabriel’s estate in the event of his death. This made things a little more complex but still not impossible. After all, they knew Gabriel was still alive.

The plaintiff’s attorney sat down again.

The Vampire Judge turned to our table, “Defense how do you plead?”

King Avalore’s attorney, Jackson Wilder, stood and offered his statement without a sheet of paper to reference.

“The defense pleads not guilty on all accounts.”

The judge nodded.

“Very well. We will reconvene for trial tomorrow evening at eight pm. Let’s not have another repeat of the disturbance to everyone’s daytime slumber, eh, Nevil?” she concluded as she peered down her nose at him.

His Grace, Nevil, of the Vampire Council sneered but said nothing.

The judge banged her gavel again and everyone rose as she led the other four judges from the room.