CHAPTER 16
Lady Duxelle threw Geoffrey before the king and the Cabinet. King Carrodias sat on the throne, pensive, and the Cabinet lined up behind him.
A guard announced, “Here before His Majesty is the Gourman, Geoffrey Foster, accused of mass murder!”
“Mass murder?” Geoffrey asked. He looked broken and withdrawn. “I had nothing to do with it!”
Lady Duxelle laughed. “An entire neighborhood is burning, all its residents are dead by Gourman hands, and you’re saying you had nothing to do with it? You are the only survivor.”
“I don’t have any weapons. It wasn’t me.”
“Then who was it?” Lady Duxelle asked.
“Monte Cristo,” Geoffrey said. “He killed them all.”
“I don’t believe you. How could the Gourmans have gotten past our checkpoints? You helped them.”
“He wanted me. I offered to sacr
