The judges returned thirty minutes later and granted our attorneys’ request to drop any charges relating to wolf matters. While they didn’t grant the council’s request to imprison us in vampire custody, they did request that we be placed under restriction within the royal palace.

This meant that we were to be confined to our royal guest quarters (outside of the trial in the courtroom) and the only visitors we were allowed were attorneys, witnesses and others related to our defense.

The judges added that if this restriction was not adhered to then they would remove us from the palace and remand us into the vampire council’s custody.

The next few days, or nights in this case, were spent with the Vampire Council and their attorneys presenting their case before the court. They had very little evidence other than no one could locate Gabriel, but the crux of their case was a demand to produce him or admit guilt.

We knew this would happen and there was absolutely no way we would bring him here, but we were prepared to present other evidence when the time came. Many witnesses would testify that Gabriel was alive and simply recovering his ordeal in hiding.

While we were in the palace, we weren’t even allowed to see the King and Queen. At least Tristan and I were together.

Attorneys and witnesses came and went. We did see some of our friends and family. It was an arduous journey to come all the way to Russia for them to present testimony, but I was grateful to each and every one of them for being willing to stand with us.

At long last, the day of our defense arrived. The first day would be made up of the court clerk reading notarized affidavits of testimony aloud by those who could not attend, and this included Emma’s statement. Emma had thought to include a video of her reading her statement next to a sleeping Gabriel who was in view of the camera. The video was dated the day before it was played in court. This was the strongest piece of evidence we had but we knew it still wouldn’t be enough for the council because they wanted access to Gabriel himself.

We knew this was for political reasons, and his enemies were hoping for this to be the forced outcome. However, we were not going to ever give in to this demand no matter what happened. It was the least we could do after everything he had done for us.

The second day of the defense was interviewing witnesses on the stand. It was a long list of people from our pack who were asked to give their version of events on the date of the war as well as the last time they had seen Gabriel, where they had seen him, and what condition he had been in.

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Alpha Clovis’s pack witch, Amelia, shared her valuable testimony. Since she had been a part of inducing the state that Gabriel was currently in, her recount of events was important.

It got a little dangerous when Wolfgang was on the stand because they kept asking him if he knew where Gabriel was now and he answered, “Yes.”

Then they asked him where he was and he would answer, “He is with his fiancé, Emma.”

“Where is that exactly?” they inquired.

“I cannot say,” he answered.

“Cannot say or won’t say?”

“Both, to be honest,” he replied.

“Why can’t you say?”

Wolfgang answered, “My Alpha has commanded me to protect Gabriel from everyone.”

“Even himself? Even Luna Jane?” The attorney thought he was being clever.

Wolfgang answered, “Yes,” without hesitation.

“Is there anyone else who knows where Gabriel is?” The attorney asked.

“Only Emma, Gabriel, and myself know where he is, and I am unable to say by my Alpha’s orders,” Wolfgang answered.

“If your Alpha released you from that order, would you tell us where he is?”

“No,” answered Wolfgang.

“Are you aware you would be in contempt of court if you did not reveal this information?”

“Objection,” called Jackson.

“Sustained,” replied the judge.

She looked down her nose at the council’s attorney and said, “You do not have a say in who is in contempt of this court. We decide that. Your questioning of this witness is complete. Wolfgang, you may step down.”

All of the other witnesses were much the same. Asking them if they knew where Gabriel was, and when the last time they had personally seen him was.

At the end of the day the head judge made a statement, “The court will concede that only Wolfgang, Emma Jones and Gabriel Francisco are aware of Gabriel’s location. The court also concedes that as recently as yesterday, Gabriel was alive. There will be no more questioning along these lines. His location will not be revealed by this court or any witnesses here. Therefore, we will not waste the court’s time with such questions.”

“Your honor!” Exclaimed Nevil.

“Sit down, Nevil. You will not get your claws into a defenseless Gabriel, and I urge you to abandon such ambitions,” declared the judge.

“Court will reconvene at eight pm tomorrow night and will begin with the defense’s questioning of Luna Jane Martin. Court adjourned,” she concluded as she banged her gavel and left the room before everyone even had a chance to stand.

Nevil curled his lip in an angry sneer as he glared over at me. I was getting distinct vibes of hatred from him, and I successfully suppressed a shiver at its potency.

Tristan took my hand and led me out of the courtroom with our attorneys and pack warriors surrounding us.