Chapter 174: Stand Accused
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RETH
It was the hardest thing he'd ever done to just sit there and listen to Lucan twist everything about Elia, who she was, what she'd done, and her involvement in coming to Anima.
"…she readily admitted today that she knows she had contact with Anima when she was young—yet claims she didn't know until she came here? How could that possibly be? Clearly she was working with some among our people and we, the wolves, were manipulated in our scouting for a Sacrifice."
Elia had dropped her chin and was shaking her head slowly, glaring at Lucan without pause. But she stayed true to his caution to keep her mouth shut. Despite Brant's obvious wariness of Lucan, he wouldn't accept a breach of the traditions—even from the Queen. But especially when she was charged.
"Add to that, that she brought a weapon to the Rite, declared Lucine incapable and alienated her from the tribe, and has since taunted her more than once, it is clear that the Queen is far more clever than we gave her credit for—but also far more malicious."
Elia turned to stare at Brant, wanting to speak so badly she quivered, but he ignored her.
Reth clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, forcing himself to stillness. He could not breach the protocol. He could not attack Lucan as he wished to. And he definitely could not stand in defense of his wife. She needed to answer these lies herself.
The only small encouragement in this entire shitshow from Reth's perspective, was Lerrin's very obvious discomfort with his father's statements. Whether that was because he knew they could disprove them, or because he disagreed with the action, Reth didn't know. But either way, it meant there was hope for the younger wolf.
"Is that the list of your charges?" Brant asked quietly.
Lucan nodded once.
Brant sighed and sat back in the chair, rubbing his chin, then turned to the council, seated to his right and left. "I believe our wisest way forward would be to bring the Womens Council and offer a combined judgment, so there can be no accusation of bias."
The others all agreed, so guards were dispatched to call the women in.
Elia, meanwhile, looked like she might crawl out of her own skin. Reth kept his eyes on her, tried to catch her gaze, to soothe here. She obviously feared she'd be given no opportunity to answer the charges. She didn't know the protocols—that the charges be assessed and their severity measured before they were challenged.
To her credit, she didn't speak. But he could see her shaking with the restraint it took to keep herself in check. Especially when it took close to an hour for all the women to arrive.
But, finally, two rows of elders and wise-women faced them, and Reth stood next to Elia, Lucan to their right. Brant's head went back and his eyes narrowed as he called the meeting to order. He laid out the charges Lucan had brought.
"Is that all of them, Lucan? Have I covered them correctly?" Brant said, the first hint of warning in his tone.
"Yes, thank you, Elder."
Reth blinked at the softness in Lucan's tone. The man was a master manipulator! He took a deep breath to calm himself as Brant finally turned to Elia.
"Sire, you have heard the charges, twice now. Do you allow that any of them are true?"
"No!" Elia burst out, her hands clenched to fists at her sides. "He is lying and—"
"You will not speak further than to answer the questions I have spoken, or I will remove you from the hearing, no matter your rank," Brant said quietly, firmly, and Elia snapped her mouth closed. "You will have opportunity to answer the accusations. But you will do so in accordance with the traditions," he finished.
Elia's breath was heaving, but she nodded, her lips thin lines.
Then Brant turned to Reth. "Sire, you too are under suspicion in this, though the accusation is not stated directly. Do you claim any truth to these charges?"
"No."
"Did you have knowledge of your Queen prior to the Rite?"
"Yes."
Brant's only reaction was to go very still, but many of the women sucked in, and the men shifted in their chairs. Brant cleared his throat. "Did you have any hand in bringing her to Anima?"
"None."
"Did you know she was a chosen sacrifice?"
"No. Not until the moment I stepped into the circle."
Brant nodded slowly. "The Elders will speak with you regarding this at another time," Brant said, "but since you had no prior knowledge of her—"
"You're just going to believe him?" Lucan threw out and Brant's eyes snapped to his face.
"You speak out of turn, Lucan."
"We speak of treason and he admits knowledge of her—yet he will not even be addressed in this hearing?!"
"Did you bring charges against him?"
"No, but his testimony clearly—"
"And his testimony will be requested by this council as and when we deem it relevant, until then you will keep your mouth shut, or I will bring the full tradition against you, Lucan!" Brant snapped.
The entire room went quiet. Even Elia didn't move as the sheer force of will that emanated from Brant was scented by all present. Reth struggled not to smile.
Lucan didn't know what the hell he was playing with.
Lucan thought Reth was the strongest Anima in the room.
Lucan was utterly, stupidly wrong.
When no one spoke again, Brant shifted to look behind him. "I ask the wise-women to stand and vote with the council—should these charges be heard?"
The women leaned in to the center—all except Aymora, who, as the Queen's second, stood behind her, glaring at Lucan—whispering between themselves. When they straightened, they stood, and the Chair—Huncer, another Leonine—spoke for them.
"It is the opinion of this council that the charges should be heard."
"Do the elders agree?" Brant asked the men, who all nodded, though many glared at Lucan. "Then, what say you on whether the charges be heard publicly, or in private? Do we hold this to our own counsel, or do we share it with the people."
"The women say it be removed from the Throne and held to the Tribe."
Lucan snorted. "What tribe would hold her?" he sneered. "She is human. Do we have a hidden human tribe of which I'm unaware?"
"Her own," Huncer said, eyes flashing. "She is Leonine."
Reth sucked in a huge breath of relief.
Lucan snarled, "What?"
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