over to her left. It floated like a hovercraft, with Jaxor still standing on it. She was intensely aware of his gaze on her like a touch, her body always knowing when he was near. She could see him on her periphery.
Erin clenched her hands into fists when she felt them tremble.
One of the elder council members spoke, the one directly in the middle of the row. “We summoned you here after the Prime Leader requested your testimony be included within Jaxor’an’s trial. Did you ask this of him?”
“I…” Erin’s mouth felt dry, but she took in a deep breath, knowing that this was it. They were out of time. “Yes. I did.”
“Tell us why so it can be recorded.”
Recorded?
That was when she saw Coms systems placed on the outer walls of the domed room. They were filming the trial? For their records? Or so that it could be broadcast later?
Erin’s swallow seemed to echo in that massive space. She glanced over at Jaxor before looking back up at the elders.
“Because it’s my understanding that a large reason why he’s on trial is for taking Crystal and me from the Golden City. And I wanted you to understand that he didn’t hurt us.”
“Arguably because Ambassador Cruxan of Otala reached you before he could trade you to the Mevirax,” the elder said.
Erin kept her breathing steady. “No, I believe that he wouldn’t have, even if Ambassador Cruxan hadn’t found us.”
“What makes you so certain?”
“Knowing what I know now,” she started, “knowing that he’d always been conflicted about it, I believe that he would have broken his agreement with the Mevirax that night.”
The elder’s nostrils flared but he went on with his next question regardless. “Would the other human female say the same if we questioned her?”
Erin’s gaze flitted over to Cruxan, his blue eyes flashing at the mention of his mate.
“She offered to testify on his behalf, yes. In fact, she told me that had it not been for Jaxor’an’s actions, she would not have found her fated mate,” Erin said. One of the elders at the end of the dais cleared his throat. “And I would not have found mine. She holds no ill will towards him because like I said, he didn’t hurt us.”
The silence that followed allowed the chants and cries to permeate the courtroom once again. Jaxor’s chain jingled lightly when he shifted. The elder in charge of the trial asked, “You are confirming that Jaxor’an is your fated mate? That his Instinct awakened for you?”
“Yes,” Erin said, keeping her voice firm and clear. Even as a part of her ached, remembering that she’d questioned that very thing in the Mevirax dungeons. She’d let Tavar get into her head. Remembering the agony on Jaxor’s face when she’d confronted him about it made her stomach hurt, made her think her morning sickness would rear its head right there in the courtroom on the shining white floors.
“Was it you,” the elder asked, tilting a long gaze down at her, “who leaked the information about the unknown vaccine currently being tested in the command center’s labs?”
Jaxor jerked his head towards the elder, sharp and quick.
Erin’s chin tilted up, leveling the elder with a knowing look. This was what they really wanted to know, wasn’t it? Not about how Jaxor had treated her, or about their relationship. For a moment, Erin felt like she was the one on trial.
The pressure of the protests might’ve expedited Jaxor’s trial, but would it sway the council’s decision, like Vaxa’an believed?
“I didn’t know the vaccine’s existence was supposed to be keep a secret,” she lied.
“You have created a dangerous and unprecedented situation within our city, female,” the elder said.
“Why?” Erin asked softly. “All they want are answers. All they want to know is whether there is a treatment being tested. All they want to know is why a Luxirian male is on trial for charges that are beyond ridiculous, especially when that same male helped obtain that vaccine from your enemies and killed the Jetutian male responsible for horrific crimes among your people. None of what I ‘leaked’ was a lie.”
The silence was deafening.
When Erin looked over at Jaxor, his careful expression had morphed into something else. Its intensity made her skin prickle with longing.
She was still looking at Jaxor when the elder asked, “Even your pregnancy?”
Erin inhaled a sharp breath as Jaxor’s head snapped towards the dais, the chains jingling together. His brows drew down low. For a moment, he was confused. Then realization