Here we sat in the court room listening to our accusers’ council drone on and on in his opening statement. He talked about the animosity between vampires and wolves and how much Tristan, and I had gained by associating with Gabriel.
They cast shadows on our characters by selectively sharing information that Tristan was the son of an unlawful Alpha and had killed his own father for power.
They spoke of how Tristan then stole Alpha MacKenzie’s pack and built wealth by acquiring some of Gabriel’s assets.
They said I was nothing more than a spiteful servant girl who had manipulated Tristan and then Gabriel in order to elevate myself to a woman of status and power.
It was all ridiculous half-truths and assumptions surrounded by flowery language and spiteful commentary. I was sure almost no one in the courtroom believed it was all true, not even the man who was speaking the accusations.
I had learned from Jackson Wilder that if the Royal Vampire Council could “prove” what they were saying about Tristan and me, that Gabriel’s assets could be confiscated and revert to the council. That is, if he were dead, which the plaintiff’s attorneys were consistently stating as a fact.
Gabriel’s assets were virtually limitless, and he owned so much that it would give the Vampire Council a powerful financial reach beyond any other council on earth. This would be quite dangerous to other species as some of the old vampire ways still lingered within the council. Ways of hatred and prejudice; the belief that vampires were superior to every other species that existed.
I couldn’t fathom how anyone could agree with this. Not that I felt wolves or lycans were superior, but I now knew that beings such as the fae, gods and goddesses, and the titans were all real and existed. How could a vampire possibly believe he was superior to the titans who birthed the gods? It was a ridiculous notion to say the least.
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Now the plaintiff’s council was completing his opening statement and strongly suggested that the Royal Vampire Court should take custody of Tristan and I to be sure we couldn’t escape punishment should we be found guilty.
I could have sworn I saw the head judge roll her eyes at this suggestion. So far, she had been very hard for me to read, but there was no malice in her intentions that I could find. It was more like probing against a brick wall. She was completely neutral to my senses.
In fact, I found her quite humorous. When she peered down at any of us, I got the impression she was glaring at us over the rim of schoolmarm spectacles, except vampires had perfect vision and didn’t need glasses.
Anytime I felt myself amused by her reactions and responses she would glance my way, and after a while I realized that she likely had the same gift as Gabriel to read thoughts. This probably came in handy for a Royal Court judge.
It was Jackson Wilder’s turn to give our opening statements and I focused my attention back to him.
“My clients deny all charges. Gabriel Michael Francisco lives but currently is unable to waken. We will present evidence including eyewitness testimony and sworn statements confirming that Mr. Francisco is alive. We will also submit DNA evidence provided by the royal medical staff confirming that Luna Jane Martin is a direct descendent of Gabriel Michael Francisco.”
“Because Luna Jane is a blood relative of Mr. Francisco, she is unwilling to bring his defenseless body to the capitol and risk the possibility of harm befalling him. He is simply too precious to her to risk it.”
“We request all charges and accusations regarding Alpha Tristan Martin’s dealings in the wolf community be stricken from the record as that is a separate matter that will be addressed in the Royal Wolf Court upon the conclusion of this trial. It is not for the Vampire Court to interfere in dealings between wolves and therefore such accusations have no place in this court. Thank you, Your Honor.”
Several of the vampires present bristled with offense at Jackson’s statement essentially telling them to mind their own business on wolf matters, but the judges remained stoic and impassive.
The head judge announced, “We will break for a half hour while we five discuss the proposed limitations of the council and the defense.”
She banged her gavel in dismissal, and all stood as she led the other judges from the room.