Jane and I sat in the great room of the royal family’s apartment along with King Avalore, Queen Alexandra and the head of their royal legal team, Jackson.

Alexandra focused her attention on Jane, “Were you able to sense anything in the courtroom?”

Jane nodded and thought carefully for a moment, “Our accusers are primarily malicious in intent except for one of the Vampire Council. I’m not sure what his name is but he’s more curious about us than anything and hasn’t made up his mind yet.”

Jackson hummed and said, “That would be Viscount Milo Manor. He is one of the few Royal Vampire Council members who does not hold hatred towards other races. He is the Vampire King’s nephew. He asked to be included in representing the council at trial in order to make sure it would proceed justly. His Grace was not pleased that the King granted his request.”

“Nevil is an ass,” Avalore stated plainly.

“That’s an understatement,” Alexandra said.

“He’s probably the one that wants Gabriel dead the most,” she revealed.

“Why?” Jane inquired.

Avalore was the one that answered her, “The woman that turned Gabriel was Nevil’s mate. She did it out of kindness and sympathy for his daughters that would outlive him significantly if she hadn’t done it.”

“Nevil was enraged by the act of compassion, thinking that she loved Gabriel, since turning someone is an act of intimacy most vampires choose never to implement. It creates a lifelong bond between the two when a new vampire is born much like a parent and child. Or in the case of a romantic turning, it can be as strong as a mate bond.”

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“I didn’t know that Vampires had mates,” Jane thought aloud.

Alexandra explained, “Most of them don’t unless they’re mated to a wolf or turn someone with love. The literary concept of a Beloved in vampire fiction is not entirely correct. However, a love turning can resemble this dynamic.”

I nodded, “This explains why Gabriel feels so strongly for Emma, apart from the fact that she’s a beautiful person.”

“Yes, in their case, he turned her romantically as he already loved her and she became a chosen mate with a mate bond as soon as she was born a vampire,” the Queen confirmed.

Jane shook her head, “Then why did it take so long for them to get together?”

“Dad always did take chivalry to a ridiculous level. Emma was the first woman he loved since my mother, who died hundreds of years before Emma was born. He didn’t want to force her into anything and though he was reasonably sure she felt the bond, he didn’t want to take advantage of it where her feelings were concerned,” she explained.

Jane sighed, “Stupid grandfather.”

I grinned at them both calling Gabriel by his familial titles. I knew he would be happy if he could hear them do that. I hoped that soon he would.

Jackson refocused the conversation to the trial, and we went over some possibilities and strategical responses available to us. There was a lot to remember about court etiquette since the vampire court stood on much more ceremony than the wolf courts, but I was confident that both Jane and I would present ourselves well.

After an hour of going over the information, Jackson left us to continue strategizing with our legal team.

We stayed and had dinner with the royal family again, socializing until the wee hours of the morning when Jane could barely keep her eyes open anymore.

I carried her down the marble hallways back towards our guest quarters and tucked her into bed safe and sound. I wanted nothing more than to take her home with me and I was annoyed by this entire situation.

After the vampire trial we still had to hold the wolf trial against the American wolf council.

I took a quick shower then climbed into bed next to Jane to grab what rest I could while I had the chance. It was going to be a very long few weeks.