“Derek…” Cameron slightly stood to try and reason with me.
I turned away from them. “Have it done immediately. The trial starts tomorrow.” I continued playing the piano. It signaled that our conversation was over and that I no longer needed anything from them.
My next stumble down was when I removed everything that could possibly remind me of Sofia.
I paid Ashley a visit inside the room she shared with the girls not long after Cameron and Yuri left. She was still unconscious.
“Why hasn’t she healed? Hasn’t she been fed any blood?” I asked, staring at her limp form. I searched for a sense of guilt, but found none of it. Instead, I found that the urge to suck her dry was overwhelming. It was in my nature to kill and the predator in me craved for more of her.
“I fed her my blood, your majesty,” Kyle began to explain. “It takes time for it to take effect.”
I found this daunting. The several times I had to heal Sofia with my blood, she healed almost instantly. I shrugged it off. Sofia’s different. I knew that from the moment I first saw her. My gut turned at the longing I had for Sofia and the hunger I felt for Ashley.
My eyes began to focus on the area of Ashley’s neck that I sank my teeth into. The pain inside – the hunger – was almost unbearable.
“Get her out of my house.” The command came out deep and threatening.
Kyle’s eyes fell on me. “Sir?”
“You heard me. Get her out of here. Take her to your house. I don’t care. I won’t be able to keep myself from devouring her if she’s kept here.”
Kyle nodded, immediately understanding what I was trying to say. “The other girls?”
“Take them too. Have Sam take one or both under his wing. I just want them out of here.”
I motioned to leave the room, wanting to distance myself from Ashley as soon as possible before I lost all sense of self-control. With all the strength I had left, I stopped and gave Kyle one final instruction.
“Destroy the Sun Room. I want it to be bare and stripped of everything that’s in it. Make it a blank canvass once again. I don’t want anything left in this house to remind me of her.”
Vivienne was right. I’d succumbed to the darkness. As I sat in my place at the Great Dome, in preparation for Claudia’s trial, the one emotion that still connected me to my humanity was the guilt. It never left me. I knew that the moment I let go of the guilt, I’d be a lost cause. The temptation to ease my pain by switching off the emotion was strong, but I couldn’t do that to myself. I couldn’t let myself lose what little was left of my humanity – no matter how painful it was.
Claudia was brought to the stand. To say that she looked unrepentant was an understatement. She looked outright livid, with her eyes glaring golden fire at me.
Eli, who was to head the proceedings, nervously shuffled on his feet as he took his place beside Claudia. He kept stealing glances at her, as if he were afraid that she might suddenly just pounce on him. With Claudia looking like an angry lioness and Eli a nervous, shivering mouse, it seemed highly possible that Claudia would end up devouring the thin, lanky vampire.
“Let’s get this done with, shall we?” I initiated. My eyes fell on the empty seat where Vivienne was supposed to be. Where the hell, is she? I made a mental note to seek her out right after the trial.
Eli began to make the introductory remarks, announcing the purpose for the trial and what Claudia was being charged against. For the most part, it was clear that none of us were sure of what to do. It’d been centuries since a person was last tried at The Shade. This was the first time a member of the Elite had been on trial.
Eli’s jaw was twitching when he finished his introductions and turned toward the defendant. “How do you plead?”
“Not guilty.” Claudia kept her eyes straight on me.
My brow rose. “You deny keeping my brother within your home?”
“No.”
“Were you aware that I, your prince and superior, gave a command that he be surrendered to my custody by any citizen of The Shade whom he came into contact with?”
“Yes, I was aware.”
“Then how are you not guilty? Is it not clear that you defied me?”
“Let’s stop playing this charade, your royal highness,” she hissed. “All of us know that you left The Shade with no laws before you went on your drowsy four-hundred-year retreat. You cannot charge me with a crime when there are no laws to break.”
I leaned an elbow over the armrest of the leather recliner I was rested on. One corner of my lips rose in an amused half-smile. “You see that’s where you’re wrong, Claudia. In this island, there is but one law and you broke it. The word of those who rule over you and in my father’s absence… that word is mine.” I scoped every member of the Elite present in that room. “Mark my words. In The Shade, for as long as I rule, my word is law. Those who defy it will suffer the consequences. Does anyone dare object?”
The silence was electrifying. I was fully expecting Claudia to stand up for herself, but to my surprise, she cowered back. I smirked. Even lionesses fear the king of the pride.
“Is there anyone here who would like to speak on the defendant’s behalf?” I called out.
Claudia didn’t have an abundance of allies at The Shade, so I wasn’t expecting anyone to stand up for her. I was surprised when Yuri stood on her behalf. Of all the people I could’ve expected to say something to save Claudia’s neck, it certainly wasn’t him.
Yuri took the stand, glaring at Claudia before addressing me. “It’s no secret to this kingdom how much this wench and I detest each other. I find it sickening just to stand here alongside her. However, it’s also no secret to this kingdom that if there’s one citizen on this island who was ever able to stand being around her, it was your highness’ older brother, Lucas.” He paused for a breath and gave Claudia a pointed look.
It was a strange thing to see how Claudia’s eyes moistened with tears. I found myself all the more intrigued by the story behind Claudia and Yuri’s strange relationship.
“We cannot excuse her blatant defiance of your majesty, the prince, but I stand here appealing to mercy rather than to justice. We became the Elite, because we bled together in battle. We stood as brothers and sisters, as a family during the worst of times. Lucas was such to Claudia – a friend perhaps, a lover maybe, family at best. Must we really punish her for trying to protect the one person at The Shade she can consider her ally?”