No.Emma couldn’t be implicated in all this! She’d get herself killed!
Screams of surprise rose throughout the courtroom at Emma’s exposure. My heart was pounding wildly. My mate was in danger. She’d thrown away her secret identity for a chance to save my life. Gods, if there was anything more I feared than losing my head, it was watching Emma lose hers. She couldn’t walk away from this!
But Magdalina and Emma shared a secret glance, and I knew this had to be part of the plan. Gods, I hoped Magdalina knew what she was doing.
“I am the White Rose,” Emma said boldly. “I am Emmaline Sosna, Ethan’s mate. And I am here to testify.”
“Did you really have to make that dramatic of an entrance?” Gabby stated blankly. Her lack of shock was suspicious to the court, but Gabby despised Emma so harshly, even she couldn’t be forced to put on a show.
Emma turned her back on Gabby and ignored her. “I will take the truth-telling enchantment. I plan to tell nothing other than the facts.”
My stomach rolled in nervousness. Emma sensed my panic, and I heard her voice resonate inside my head.Stay calm, she insisted.Magdalina and I know what we’re doing. We’re getting you out of this.
I sank a little into my chair. I had to trust my mate. She was my only way out of here.
Elijah went to object, but Magdalina cut him off. “Then let’s have at it! Lord Tremaine, you are excellent at casting these enchantments. Will you cast one on my witness in front of the court, so there is no doubt as to the validity of what she says?”
Lord Tremaine made a face. Elijah glared at him, but under the pressure of the court, he had no choice. He waved his hand, and a glittering glow settled over Emma, nestling into her hair as she took the witness stand.
Magdalina prowled before the stand. “Miss Sosna, can you tell me exactly how you became the White Rose?”
Emma sat up. “I was hired by none other than Queen Gabriella.”
Gasps ricocheted across the courtroom. Gazes flickered to Gabby. She barely managed to retain her composure.
“I see,” Magdalina replied. “And what was the meaning of this… position?”
“She hired me to work for the crown,” Emma replied. “My instructions were to hunt down those who she deemed a threat to Malovia. Mainly, the Phantom.”
“Of course,” Magdalina replied. “Can you elaborate?”
“I wasn’t sure of who the Phantom was, at first,” Emma said. “In time, I discovered it was Ethan. I did what I could to stop him, though he was determined to keep up his work. I didn’t reveal myself to him— not at first. Eventually, he found out who I was, and that I was working for the queen.”
“And we all know your work was approved of by the king and queen,” Magdalina replied. “After all, King Elijah himself presented you as a friend to his audience at the masquerade ball last year.”
“Yes.” Emma nodded. “Afterward, Ethan and I had a disagreement. I wanted him to put his work as the Phantom aside, so we could live a normal life. He refused, because he was certain his work as the Phantom benefited Malovia. So I broke it off. We spent the summer apart. After we returned to Arcanea University, Ethan showed me he was willing to change. He stopped his Phantom work, almost completely. We both decided to work together to protect Malovia during the Slaughter of the Innocents.”
“You had help,” Elijah growled. “You two weren’t the only vigilantes running around Dolinska in the previous months. Six other people were noted to be with you.”
“But you don’t have proof ofwhothose people are, do you, my king?” Magdalina asked.
Elijah gritted his teeth. He couldn’t implicate any of my friends, because they’d been careful enough not to leave any evidence behind. Certainly, it was obvious the companions of the Phantom were definitely those who surrounded themselves beside me. But if the obvious couldn’t be proved in court, it was all but useless.
“No,” he said finally. “But they’re not on trial here.”
“Yet Ethan is. And I must point out that vigilantism isn’t sanctified by the law,” Magdalina said. “The White Rose works for the King and Queen of Malovia, and therefore, is a government entity. She is well within the right of the law to perform acts on behalf of the crown, and therefore, any involvement the Phantom has with her means that his actions are legally verified as well. As we can see that the White Rose and the Phantom were working together since the night of the masquerade before your highnesses’ coronation, we can safely assume that everything the Phantom was found guilty of thereafter was a part of his work for the crown. That cannot be used against him in court.”
That tossed out a significant number of charges. Elijah sneered.
Emma continued. “The Phantom and the White Rose worked together, to save lives. Whatever the Phantom did before then was to protect the city. Ethan was willing to put Malovia first— even before our bond.”
“Precisely my point,” Magdalina said. “How can that be considered treason? After all, my queen, you have personally approved of at least half of these so-called infractions merely by hiring the White Rose to work for you. How can the public be sure that the Phantom wasn’t working on behalf of the monarchy from the start, without the knowledge of the police force? After all, before his recent disownment, he was a part of the royal family.”
Magdalina was making it look like I was a tool of the crown. She was posing me as a convenient scapegoat, disposed of by the monarchy once my usefulness had run out. That didn’t fare well for Gabby and Eli.
Gabby stilled, but Elijah grasped her hand and squeezed it. “Enough of this. We’ve done nothing wrong. I’m more concerned with the defendant’s strange behavior— and odd appearance— in the previous few months, before a miraculous recovery.”
“We’ve already covered this,” Magdalina said shortly. “Ethan’s illness was due to a division between him and his mate.”
