A Quest To Reclaim

CHAPTER THREE

There was silence in the halls as the magistrate made her way to the seat, her silky grey robe flowing behind her. The streaks of grey on her hair complemented her dark bronze skin.

“May we begin?” the magistrate said. Her voice, though calm, carried an authority no one would dare disobey.

“You may speak, Dylan Egerton,” the magistrate said.

“I wish that the court would let my brother have justice he deserved for all he suffered in the hands of this witch before she killed him.”

“Tell us what happened last night,” said the magistrate. Her eyes were void of emotions as she spoke. “The court shall decide if or not, Miss Gabrielle is guilty.”

“Last night during the hunt,” Dylan paused for a beat and continued. “The moon disappeared from the sky and we suddenly heard a loud howl piercing into the night. That was the cry of my brother as he was being ripped apart by the witch. We all raced down to him, but we were too late to stop her from killing him. I held my brother in my hands as he breathed his last. And I would want to see that she burns for what she did to him.”

“What do you have to say?” The magistrate turned to Gabrielle, whose lips were slightly parted, half in shock at Dylan’s testimony against her even though she had expected no different. “Miss Gabrielle?” The magistrate called again.

“I…I did not kill Declan. I was attacked by a rogue wolf and Declan saved me.”

“Liar! My brother would not sacrifice his life for an outcast like you.”

The magistrate shot a stern look at Dylan, Her middle-aged features creasing in displeasure at his conduct.

“Ever since the Moon Goddess mated I and Declan, I have loved him so dearly and I have absolutely no reason to bring harm to him.”

“How about jealousy?” Dylan confronted.

“For what could I possibly be jealous of my own mate?”

“You were jealous that my brother had killed the bison, which you wanted to do yourself to prove that you are worthy of being the Luna of this pack.”

“Declan did not kill the bison last night. I did,” Gabrielle said and there were mutterings of disapproval from the crowd.

“Do you see how ridiculous that sounds?” Dylan turned to the audience, waved mockingly at Gabrielle and smirked. “A girl with no known noble background winning the grand hunting prize.”

“I shall only have to warn you, son of Egerton,” the magistrate said. “This is a court and not a circus.”

“I’m sorry, your honor.” Dylan bowed to hide his smug smile and stepped back, but his point had been driven and the damage had been done. It was seen in the mood of the crowd and in the countenances of the high council members. It has never been heard of that a female wolf singlehandedly took down the grand prize of a hunting night, the giant male bison.

The hall was thrown once more into silence when Earl Claudius rose and cleared his throat.

“I was a there also last night,” Earl Claudius said matter-of-factly. “And you never came in contact with your brother. In fact, the smudge of blood tarries still on her dress because she was the one who held him as he died.” Earl Claudius pointed and Gabrielle looked down and noticed the stain from Declan’s blood for the first time. A wave of sadness rushed over her, reaching deep within, forming a knot in her chest and squeezing tears out from her eyes.

“She could have gotten that as she killed him,” Dylan defended. “And as a member of this council, you shouldn’t take sides as that might mean a biased judgment.”

“I take the side of no one but the truth. Only in the truth shall we find justice.”

“You want to know the truth about her?” Dylan’s wagging finger pointed at Gabrielle. “Then ask her what happened to her previous mates.”

“The truth is that you accused her without bothering yourself with the facts about how your brother had died.” Earl Claudius’s voice rose, but it was still within the confines of composition. “And you had a woman who was yet to be proven guilty chained and thrown into a cell.”

“I tried to do what this pack should have done a long time ago,” Dylan said.

“If we had taken care of her when two previous members of the pack mated to her had died mysteriously, my son wouldn’t have died.” Alpha Egerton spoke for the first time. His voice carried the quiver of a grieving father. Such grief was lacking in Dylan’s voice.

“You are grieving, brother,” Earl Claudius said.

“And I wonder why you are not,” Alpha Egerton retorted, rather accusingly.

“She has no apparent reason to want your son dead.”

“To enhance her witch powers?” Dylan said to his uncle. “He was the alpha and so it could have been any reason.”

“With Declan out, you would be the next alpha,” Earl Claudius said.

“Is that insinuation I hear in your tone, uncle?” Dylan’s eyes narrowed, and his jaws clenched. His nostrils were beginning to flare.

“What you hear is but an echo of what lies within you.” Earl Claudius turned to the members of the council. “This court has never delivered a judgement based on the feelings of its members or its audience. We shall not begin to do that today.”

“If I can’t make you see her for what she truly is, then others will.” Dylan relaxed and turned away.

“Who else was a witness to last night’s event?” The magistrate asked.

There was silence. And then someone stood up. All eyes turned in the direction of a young lady who had a black mourning veil over her head. She took carefully placed steps to the front of the hall and stood before the council.

“Reveal yourself, woman,” said Alpha Egerton. “And tell me why you grieve more than the bereaved.”

The veil came off and under it was Gabrielle’s arch nemesis. Anna had, in moments, managed to go from gleeful boasting about being marked to mourning the one whose death paved the way for her to become Luna.

“I’m sorry, my Lord,” Anna started, “but the death of Declan has struck me with a grief so personal it has to be pronounced. My father had been a member of this council and as a result, I spent so much time in the Lair,” she started sorrowfully. “I grew up with Declan in the Lair, and I know that the Moon Goddess would never had let Declan be mated to someone with such questionable past. But it is known that she used her powers to make him her mate. He lived like he was under her spell since then.”

Gabrielle knew a different version of this account; the version in which Anna had always wanted to be mated to the next alpha in order to have herself aligned as the next Luna of the pack. She lost it when Declan was announced as the next alpha, instead of Dylan. And ever since, she had wished and willed evil on Gabrielle for having the spot she so desired.

“We are all aggrieved by the death of our future Alpha,” said the magistrate. Her face looked straight, unamused and uninfluenced by Anna’s gloomy demeanor. “Now, would you go ahead and give your account.”

“What I have to say greatly precedes last night,” Anna said. “He was supposed to be mated to me, but she had influenced him with her witch powers and on the night of my eighteenth birthday, I lost my fated mate to her. I had hoped the Moon Goddess would smile upon me and their restore my connection to Declan. But last night, he was taken from me forever.”

“What proof do you have that Miss Gabrielle is a witch?” The magistrate sounded softer, like she appealed to Anna’s story.

“Before our dearest Alpha was killed during the hunt last night, I felt a strange dark power gathering and shrouding us from the moon. And that was when I knew something was wrong. Then I heard a wild call from Declan summoning every member of the pack. I got there before anyone else. And she,”—Anna pointed at Gabrielle—“she was over him, enchanting and drawing life from his bleeding body. The image still haunts me when I shut my eyes.”

Gabrielle’s eyes fell on Earl Egerton. His face was unchanged, but tears rolled freely down his eyes. Anna’s story had made him weep for his son.

“No, that is not true,” Gabrielle said. “I felt the dark power, too. In fact, it paralyzed me, making me unable to call on my wolf, Nina or to fight alongside Declan against the rogue who attacked him. I felt my connection to the moon severed, too.”

“You speak of a rogue wolf which you have no proof of,” Dylan yelled at her. “Was it the same rogue that killed your parents and your two previous mates?”

“I was too young when my parents had died. But I know that what I felt last night was no different than what I felt the night they died. So I believe the same rogue had attacked them.”

“I am led to understand that you have been mated to Dylan, who is the next in line to be the Alpha upon the death of his dear brother,” Earl Claudius said to Anna.

“Yes, noble one,” Anna said, “and I share in the loss of his brother.”

“Uncle, I shall stand your accusatory tone no longer.” Dylan yelled.

“Sit down, boy,” The magistrate said. “You have thrown greater accusations than anybody else in this place. And if you had succeeded, Gabrielle would be hanging right now instead of standing trial.”

“This has not the semblance nor the characters of a fair trial,” Earl Claudius said.

“We are trying to get the facts here, Earl Claudius,” said the Magistrate.

“And I was a witness last night. And my nephew has done nothing but act brashly and bring alterations as facts.”

“Alterations, you say?” Dylan challenged. “Wait until you hear from the rest of the pack.”

“This tragedy would not have happened if we had done what was necessary when we started losing members of our pack mated to you, Gabrielle,” said the magistrate. “To determine your fate, we have to listen to the members of the pack as this loss affects everyone.”

Suddenly, the doors swung open and Gabrielle saw, through the tears blurring her vision, the frame of young man approaching.

“Your honor,” the young man said, “this trial cannot be concluded without considering all the facts surrounding the tragic events of last night.” His voice was familiar.

“And who are you?”

“I am Ray. And I am a witness.”

"I come under the authority of the king".

"The king?" The court chorused.