“So you’re saying the prince somehow excommunicated an advanced demon, in private, without the public somehow discovering his possession?” Magdalina rebuked. “We all know that once demons possess fae, they rarely escape with their lives. And as you all can see, Ethan Nowak looks perfectly healthy today. Well, not perfectly, as the king’s guards have obviously had their fun with him.”
Elijah flushed again. He went to speak, but Magdalina cut him off.
“However,” Magdalina continued. “Icanexplain the ill health of the prince during last semester. Prince Ethan’s poor appearance was a result of a breaking ceremony performed by Emmaline Sosna to end their bond— a ceremony that remained unfinished and incomplete, but still performed nonetheless.”
The court gasped. Everyone’s eyes in the courtroom looked at me. I wanted to sink into the floor. A Marked performing a breaking ceremony was a scandal in Malovian culture. I swear several sorceresses wished for me to go up in flames at that very moment.
Ethan glanced behind. His gentle eyes told me he didn’t blame me for what had happened between us. I didn’t blame myself, either— it’d been the right decision at the time. But I wished we could’ve kept it between us, instead of making it everyone’s business.
Lady Magdalina spun back toward the stand. “As you can see, this was more than a simplebreakup,my queen,” she replied to Gabby. “As we all know, when Marked break the bonds with their shifters, consequences arise. Some fall ill. Others even experience a state near death. If Emmaline Sosna went through the breaking ceremony, even a part of it, it would severe and damage the bond between them. Whether she finished it or not would still have an effect on the state of the shifter. That explains Ethan’s poor health over the course of last semester, and his recovery after Emmaline Sosna decided to re-seal their bond. Shall we move on?”
Elijah and Gabby seethed. They couldn’t continue to argue that Ethan had been possessed. A shifter had never survived a case of possession that severe, and to prove that Ethan had been the first would be near impossible. They’d have to try and convict him another way.
“How about we evaluate the prince’s intentions when he became the Phantom?” Lucien suggested. “I think that’s a good place to start.”
“Why in the gods’ name does it matter what heintended? Several crimes were committed!” Elijah complained. He was getting agitated.
“Your highness, if I may, I must remind you of faerie law. As fae, we are required to follow the law to the letter, but we don’t have to honor thespiritof that law,” Magdalina replied.
“What are you talking about? We have footage— proof— that my cousin is the Phantom!” Elijah argued.
“Quite right,” Magdalina replied. “But putting on a mask, donning a cloak and running around Dolinska at night is notagainstthe law. Strange, perhaps, but not illegal.”
“Interference with multiple police investigations is!” Elijah roared.
“But is it vigilantism, a crime worthy of the death penalty?” Magdalina questioned. “You see, the wordvigilanteis defined as a self-appointed doer of justice, according to the Malovian Code of Law. Ethan, did you evercallyourself a vigilante publicly when you were performing work as the Phantom? That is, did you ever declare yourself the city’s hero?”
Ethan blinked. “I… don’t believe I did.”
“And there you have it!” Magdalina threw up her hands. “How can my dependent be guilty of vigilantism when he is, by definition, not what is considered a vigilante? After all, the term is aself-appointeddoer of justice. My client never proclaimed himself to be anything. The press and the police can call him what they may, but their words don’t make what they say the truth.”
“And whatisthe truth, Lady Magdalina?” The alicorn lady spoke up, and her nasally voice made me wrinkle my nose.
“Lady Germaine, if you please,” Lady Magdalina said, irritation crossing her tone. “You’re missing the point.”
“But it’s a rather good question,” Lady Germaine argued. “Truth is the statement of facts.”
“My lady, by that standpoint, you would have to make a case that such a thing as truth itself exists, which is a long conversation I doubt you want to get into here.”
“Answer the question, Lady Magdalina,” Lady Germaine purred. “Can the truth of what Ethan Nowakisoris notbe proven in this court?”
Lord Radcliffe gave Lady Germaine a fond look, and I felt my insides convulse. Lord Radcliffe had killed his own mate, Lady Iris, on trumped up charges because she refused to be a pawn for Elijah. The eyes of adoration he had for Lady Germaine now were anything but new. I bet he’d been screwing Lady Germaine behind Lady Iris’ back for months, if not years. No wonder he hadn’t hesitated to execute his wife.
Magdalina’s eye twitched before she said, “If youreallywant to get into this, then there is no such thing as irrefutable truth in a fae court. Each side has their own opinion and experience, which are all equally valid.”
“So why can’t we, as the Circle, make up our own truths about what’s real or not?” Lady Germaine questioned. “If we say Ethan Nowak is a vigilante, regardless of what he does or does not call himself, doesn’t that make him one?”
“Then you could say Ethan Nowak was a warlock instead of a shifter, and it would be true, just because you said so,” Magdalina replied bluntly. “The Seven Gods are determined to be the highest determiners of truth amongst the fae. Ethan Nowak, you have summoned your god before, correct?”
Ethan sat backward. “Um, yes. I have summoned Luka, and spoken with him.”
“And at any point during that conversation, did Luka ever bring up the wordsvigilante, vigilantism,ortraitor?”
“Uh… no.”
“That proves nothing,” Elijah snapped. “The conversation could’ve been about anything.”
“But why wouldn’t athief godcongratulate his follower on the act of vigilantism, if in fact Ethan Nowak was a vigilante?” Magdalina rebuked. “It seems very odd to me.”
