here before us in response to charges of treason against the Amadis. According to council member Julia Acerbi, you attacked her and threatened her. She also claims you attempted to kill what may be the youngest Amadis daughter. Based on your background with the Daemoni and many other actions, it is believed you are working on behalf of the Daemoni to infiltrate and destroy the Amadis. If found guilty, you will be banished from the Amadis or . . . executed.”
I inhaled sharply, the breath catching in my throat. My hand flew to my mouth to muffle the cry.
“Do you have anything to say to these charges?” Martin asked.
“Only that they’re absolutely ridiculous,” Tristan said, the familiar steeliness in his voice. He paused as a wave of gasps and murmurs flowed through the crowd. I let out my breath—he wasn’t just going to bow down after all. “I am loyal and devoted only to the Amadis. I did not attack or threaten Julia. I simply defended my wife, an Amadis daughter, as well as the girl you accuse me of harming. As far as any other actions, I do not know what they are, so I cannot possibly respond to them.”
“Are you denying that you threatened to use your killing power on Julia?” Martin asked.
“Yes.”
“Liar!” Julia said. Always quiet, mostly communicating only with Rina, especially in large groups, Julia shed any pretense of being submissive and became the monster she was. An arrogant, aggressive, and threatening vampire. “You had your hand out, ready. That’s no different than pointing a loaded and cocked gun. You saw it yourself, Martin, when you arrived.”
“While fighting the Daemoni, I saw you holding the girl in a death grip, and the next time I looked, the girl lay on the ground. And, yes, I saw Tristan facing you, his hand lifted toward you the whole time.”
“I was holding Julia in place,” Tristan said. “Before she killed the girl or Alexis.”
“Are you accusing me of threatening an Amadis daughter?” Julia demanded.
Tristan didn’t answer at first. His jaw muscle twitched. “The situation escalated out of control. The girl attacked, and Julia tried to stop her. In the chaos, she knocked Alexis to the ground. Whether Julia intended to hurt her or not, I cannot say.”
Another round of whispers and murmurs ran through the crowd. Martin signaled to them for silence.
“Yet you still threatened to kill Julia?” Adolf said. “Even though you weren’t certain if she’d intentionally hurt Alexis.”
“No. I paralyzed her and the girl to stop the violence. Jax, Owen, and Alexis were already down. I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt . . . or killed.”
“You lie,” Julia seethed. “If you didn’t want anyone else to be hurt, explain what happened to the girl.”
Tristan dropped his head for a moment, then looked up. “I cannot explain it. When Alexis fell from the Daemoni magic, I turned toward my wife. When I turned back, the girl lay still on the ground. How do you explain it, Julia?”
“You hit her with your power, of course.”
“It might have been Daemoni,” Martin said. “They might have hit the girl just as they hit Alexis, but harder. We can’t prove who harmed the girl.”
Or it could have been the traitor, working with Julia. Tristan had to suspect Julia, too, but he pursed his lips tightly closed. He didn’t exactly defend the vamp, but he was very careful about accusing her.
“If Tristan wanted to kill Julia, he would have. Nothing could have stopped him,” said Chandra, the exotically beautiful were-leopard who thought Dorian could lead the Amadis. “We cannot prove he did anything to the girl, and there is much doubt that he did. So what are the other charges against him?”
“After tying yourself to Amadis royalty, gaining your way in, you returned to the Daemoni,” Savio, the Italian shark, said to Tristan. “Is that correct?”
“Not intentionally,” Tristan said. “I was defending the Amadis and protecting Alexis.”
“And before doing so,” Savio continued, ignoring Tristan’s defense, “you impregnated the Amadis daughter with only a son, who you knew would eventually convert to the Daemoni, leaving the Amadis with nothing.”
“What are you saying, Savio?” Charlotte asked. “That he purposefully shot only male sperm?”
A chuckle ran through the audience.
“You must not really know the Daemoni if you can’t believe they’re capable of anything,” Savio countered.
A murmur of agreement came from the crowd. I bit my lip, suppressing the urge to shout at them about how absurd they sounded. How they grasped at straws. At one