Unleashed by the Defender (Brides of the Kindred #25) - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,9
a bored-sounding voice. “The honorable Judge Thoughtgood presiding.”
“Thank you, Bailiff.” The judge nodded, her mountain of bright blue hair quivering with the gesture. “Now, I understand we have a Defender from the Kindred people here to represent the murderer—is that right?”
“Here, your honor.” Imani raised her hand. “But I must object to your honor’s calling my client a murderer when the case has yet to be decided. It is our position that J’are Tanlor never murdered anyone.”
“He most certainly did murder her!” the woman with the lemon-yellow hair exclaimed. “My good friend, Tanta Zangelo, would still be alive if it weren’t for that horrible Kindred!” She began to sob noisily while the green-haired lawyer tried to comfort her.
“Well, that has yet to be adjudged, as the Kindred Defender has pointed out,” Judge Thoughtgood said dryly, apparently not impressed with the other woman’s waterworks. “Who would like to speak first—the Defense or the Prosecution?”
“The Prosecution can speak first, your honor,” Imani said quickly. She still hadn’t had a chance to go over the details of the case—hopefully the Prosecution would at least give her the highlights and let her know what she was working with.
“Very well.” The judge nodded, her hair-tower quivering again. Looking at the green-haired lawyer she said, “Prosecutor, please proceed.”
“Very well, your honor.” The lawyer rose. “First a bit of background—it is our belief that J’are, the Nightwalker Kindred bodyslave, was not always the stone-cold killer he is today. He was raised from childhood by the kind but eccentric Lady Hownow, who told all her friends that she had always wanted male progeny—that is, a ‘son.’”
This drew a frown from the judge and Imani was reminded that the Yonnie elite took care that they would only have daughters. Apparently they went to conception centers to get pregnant where the sperm was sorted so that only female embryos resulted. But Judge Thoughtgood only made a gesture with one hand and said,
“Go on.”
“After Lady Hownow’s death—of natural causes—it was a condition of her will that the Kindred be set free and that he inherit her assets. Essentially, she wanted him to be her heir.”
“A male heir? That’s unheard of!” the judge said, frowning.
“Exactly, your honor. My aunt was senile at the time she wrote that will,” the lemon-haired woman said quickly, before the Prosecutor could speak. “Why, no one in their right mind would simply set such a valuable slave free and leave all her possessions to him!”
Judge Thoughtgood raised one bright blue eyebrow.
“So you contested her will?”
“I did.” The woman nodded. “As her niece and closest living relative, all of her other possessions went to me—I felt that the Kindred bodyslave should also be mine.”
“I see.” The judge nodded impassively. “But you apparently did not keep him?”
“He was completely unmanageable!” The lemon-haired woman fluttered her hands expressively. “He wouldn’t walk on a leash, he snapped and snarled at me anytime I came near him. And then I found out that my aunt, Lady Hownow, had never even put a pain collar on him before!”
Both the judge’s eyebrows rose this time.
“Never?”
“Never.” Lady Hownow’s niece shook her head. “It turned out that she had raised him as her child and treated him the way any of us would treat a natural-born daughter.”
“Eccentric indeed,” the judge murmured.
Why, because she didn’t treat him like a slave? Like an inferior or an animal just because he wasn’t one of you? Imani wanted to shout.
Her temper had been rising as she listened to the testimony but she knew that she had to hold her tongue. Sounding off in the middle of court wouldn’t do her client any good. And speaking of that, where was her client anyway? The case had started and he still wasn’t here!
“Anyway,” the lemon-haired woman continued. “I was going to have him put down but then I decided to auction him off instead—at a troubled bodyslave auction. He was a prime specimen and I hated to waste him. I thought maybe someone else might have better luck training him than I had.”
Just like he was a valuable but vicious animal, Imani thought angrily. That’s how they see males here, I guess.
“So you auctioned him off and I take it the victim, Lady Zangelo, bought him?” Judge Thoughtgood asked.
“That is exactly what happened, your honor,” the green-haired attorney said. “Even though Lady Bittlebum, here, specifically posted a warning about the Kindred bodyslave.”
“Yes—I tried to warn her!” the lemon-haired woman who was apparently Lady Bittlebum exclaimed. “But Tanta just wouldn’t listen. She always