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The last announcement caused another uproar as questions flew about the family issue, but that was halted when Pippa Salazar-Magoo came in with a device in hand. She looked nervous but straightened her shoulders as she held out the device.
“My father’s Pampei Magoo, as a few of you know, and I thought it was time to let the world know. Also, since my father couldn’t be here, I brought the next best thing so we could prove to you guys that Henry and Pearl’s visit was accidental.”
And that was exactly what played, the magical recording showing the room of the visit, the dinner, and the couple’s exit, complete with timestamps. There was no voice recording, but anyone could tell that the place remained intact, no magic was involved, and both parties never saw each other again. Out of the corner of his eye, Henry watched as Verity grew redder at each revelation, though he knew this one was more personal for her.
When the recording stopped, John leaned forward, clearly tired of the whole thing.
“Thank you, Miss Salazar-Magoo. And thank you, everyone. That’s quite a lot of witnesses showing their support for Mr. Lyra. We will take everything into consideration. Now, if there are no more…”
The door creaked open and in stepped Martin, his butler, looking dapper in a black suit and his head held high. That the man had a lot of stuff with him bore nothing to his straight, elegant stance as he strode to the platform and laid out everything he was carrying.
“I come to this court bearing evidence, most of which stems back to Henry’s parents and their decision to keep his second nature hidden—a nature brought on by a curse, but not because of Miss Sutton. It was a curse made by an outsider even before Henry was born. The evidence also explains the existence of his shadow persona and why we have been missing stuff in our throne room. Henry’s parents specifically instructed me not to reveal this information unless his life was at risk, and I believe this counts.”
And that was how Henry found outeverything, including his shadow persona being a firm believer that nothing should be stolen, hence the shadow persona taking everything that didn’t belong to his family and returning them to where they belonged. That was when Phineas came into play again, exposing that this hadn’t been the first time Gunther had stolen stuff. Gunther, not to be defeated easily, shot up and accused Phineas back, then insisted that Martin had doctored the evidence.
“He’s very loyal to Henry, that’s why he’s doing this. Our witnesses are more credible than theirs, coming from influential standing rather than mere passersby—”
Ryan cleared his throat, using magic to let it boom across the room. Ignoring Gunther, he held up a hand. “One last thing.”
John raised a brow. “What is it now, Mr. Lyra?”
“Give me ten seconds.” They all stared as Ryan blurred out so fast, then was back in the blink of an eye carrying yet another recording device—and a crater of vials. Gunther paled, stumbling back. Somewhere in the crowd, Ruby, Maddox, and Moon blocked the man from leaving. “I found these in my cousin’s home. Gunther, not Henry. You can check them one by one but let me tell you ahead of time that there are some black magic ingredients in them—and I have recorded evidence of when I retrieved them from his home.AndI have witnesses who helped me retrieve them and they have recorded evidence too. It’s also to be noted that they are not magic users and would not have been able to tamper with anything.”
Maddox and Moon held up their recording devices, then handed them to the stand. That was the last straw as Gunther attempted to escape once more, but this time, a majority of the Council members ordered for him to be taken. In the brief minutes they used to review all evidence, a few Lyra family members switched sides, protesting that they knew nothing of Gunther’s activities and weren’t involved in the matter. John took to the stand once more, calling for silence as he announced the verdict.
“Henry Lyra and Pearl Sutton are innocent of the crimes they have been accused of, while Gunther Lyra is guilty of the crimes he has been accused of. We will be taking him to prison for further questioning once we have a more functional truth room, and we will be looking into the Lyra family in case we’ve missed another guilty party. In addition, we will be monitoring Henry’s giant and shadow for safety purposes, though it will be done during scheduled times. For the rest, he remains free on the island. Everyone is dismissed for now”
Noises filled his head as everyone spoke at once, but no one was louder than Gunther as he spat curses and screamed of his innocence, only to be muted with magic. When Henry felt the chains loosening around him, he offered a silent thanks in Ryan’s direction, wanting the man to know that his help bore a heavy weight toward this conclusion. Ryan smiled back, then wandered off, leaving Henry finally free as he tried to erase the figures around him in search of one.
He didn’t have to search for long as Pearl soon stepped into the room, impatiently looking around too. When their gazes met, time stilled for a bit, allowing him to take all of her in and make sure she was unharmed. Then they were walking toward each other, the world disappearing as all he could see was her. They stopped inches from each other, her gray-white eyes absorbing his sight with intensity before she smiled.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” she said, grimacing. “Ruby advised me not to show myself until the trial was over, and I decided not to escape from prison before that—and before you get that look in your eye, it was a nice prison and she snuck in some very good food. I needed to wait and prove to everyone that I wasn’t running away.”
“Smart move. But you were here.”
“What?”
“I felt you. In that potion and in every person who came to defend me…us. It looks like you’re wrong.”
“I am?”
“Or maybe I am,” he granted. “You Suttons have support here and are loved. It’s a wonderful thing to see.”
“You have support, too, even if it’s from the most unlikely people,” she mused.
“Then I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
He sealed the whisper with a kiss, unable to bear looking at her for long without feeling that mouth on his. While it was a gentle meeting of lips, it still felt as consuming as ever, sweetened when she sighed into it and leaned closer. He wanted to do more, to take more, but a surge of energy from behind had him reluctantly breaking the kiss. Then he turned, braced for what was to come.
Verity was composed as ever, but her eyes shone with derision.
“This doesn’t change anything. Do you think proving yourself right absolves you of your crimes against us? You humiliated the Lyra clan and insulted us when you sided with the likes of her. You are a disgrace and we don’t want a leader like you.”
Every word hit the mark, but it didn’t hurt as much as he expected. Perhaps that was freedom. He took it with a nod.
