Chapter 48

Clara

Ronan was there when I woke up from my nap.

“Hey there, pretty one,” Ronan said. “How are you feeling?”

I scrambled around the bed for my notebook, and Ronan put it in my hands.

“Better,” I wrote. Then, “I’m sorry.” I hadn’t meant to be so dramatic.

“No, no don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Ronan said.

“I attacked someone,” I wrote.

“Well, okay, in the future it would be better if you reported an abuser to one of us,” Ronan said, “but you can hardly be blamed. The man battered your best friend. I’d do the same in your place.”

“What will happen to Kyle?” I wrote.

“Right now he’s locked up,” Ronan said, “and under close guard. We’ll hold a trial later. If you like, you may stand in for the victim and have input on his sentence, since your friend is, I presume, still with the werewolves?”

I nodded. I would see to it that Nora got some kind of justice, even if she’d never know about it. It was the least I could do for not seeing what he was doing to her for so long.

“Anyway, we’ve got a slightly more immediate problem,” Ronan said. “We didn’t quite get away clean.”

“What?” I wrote.

“Someone followed us. One of the werewolf princes, Gideon. He came after you.”

I shook my head. No. It was impossible. Why would Gideon chase after me? He should be glad I was gone!

“So we’ve got to decide what to do about him, and quickly before someone else comes looking for him,” Ronan said. “We’re going to hold a trial.”

“Trial?” I wrote. What crime had Gideon committed?

“Yeah. There are quite a few folks who have a grudge against the First Lycan Prince. Myself included, he’s hurt more than a few of my scouts over the years.”

“Spies,” I wrote.

“Well, yes. But also folks who should’ve been protected by prisoner of war status, like Kieran. What could he possibly know that was worth hurting him like that, huh?”

I looked down. I’d seen the bruises and cuts all over Kieran in the healer’s ward. Had Prince Gideon ordered that? Had he done it himself?

“Anyway, you can come if you want to. I don’t know how you and the prince are acquainted, but he came after you so I figured you might want to see him.”

I nodded slowly. I would like to see the prince. I would like to ask why he’d bothered to follow me.

“Now, here’s how the trial will go,” Ronan said. “Everyone who has reason to speak out against the prince will get their say. That can take a while. Then the prince will have his say. He can respond to every allegation individually, or he can make a general defense. Then, when everyone has spoken, we take a vote.”

“Vote?” I wrote. “Your leader doesn’t decide?”

I still wasn’t sure who was in charge in the Warren.

“We don’t exactly have a leader,” Ronan said. “We have more of a committee to run things. After the way kings and nobles treated most of us before we formed the Warren, well,” Ronan shrugged, “It just soured folks on the whole idea.”

I guessed that made sense.

“Anyone may speak against the prince at the trial?” I wrote.

“Yeah, anyone,” Ronan said. “Guests included, if you have something to add.”

“Can I speak for him?” I wrote. “In his defense, I mean?”

“If you want to, sure, when it’s his turn he’s allowed to have folks speak for him. I’ll see to it that you get a chance. You’ll write what you want to say, and I’ll read it out for you.”

“Thank you,” I wrote.

“I’m honestly curious what you have to say for him,” Ronan admitted. “I wouldn’t be so charitable in your place, that’s for sure.”

He stepped back and brushed his hands together. “Well, if you’re ready, we’re convening the trial now.”

“Now?” I wrote.

Ronan nodded. “We don’t know how long it’ll be before someone comes looking for him.” He paused. “I can get you a few minutes with him before the trial, if you want to talk to him in private.”

I shook my head. I didn’t know what to say to Prince Gideon.

“Okay then, let’s go. Tracy, you have a right to speak, too,” Ronan said to my aunt.

Tracy shook her head. “I bear no grudge against the prince. He was following his orders, just like I was.”

“That’s fine,” Ronan said. “Are you staying here, then?”

“No, I’ll come to stand with Clara. She shouldn’t do this alone,” Tracy said.

I smiled at her. Tracy was already starting to feel like family. I hoped she wasn’t mad that I was planning to speak up for Prince Gideon.

The Warren had a lot of people in it, I realized. They were all gathered in the dining hall. The tables and benches had been shoved aside so that everyone could stand. Prince Gideon had been placed in a kind of pen, with a short fence to keep everyone back. His wrists were bound in front of him. He didn’t look like he’d been hurt. Something in my chest relaxed a little when I saw that.

The trial was a simple affair. Ronan stood up and asked if anyone had anything to say against the prince. Several people spoke, both werewolves and vampires.

Vampire soldiers spoke of fighting him on the battlefield, and the brutality of his tactics. They accused him of razing villages and burning fields. Prince Gideon listened to those accusations with an expressionless face.

Kieran spoke up for the other prisoners, listing the brutal conditions in the dungeons and the interrogations they survived.

Rogue wolves spoke of being banished from the castle. They talked about how the nobles, Prince Gideon included, treated everyone else in the royal compound as their servants, as disposable tools.

One Rogue claimed he had been banished because he refused to beat a prisoner under Gideon’s orders. I wondered if that was true, and looked at Ronan. Ronan nodded. His power let him know if someone lied, according to Jules, and the Rogue wasn’t lying.

Then, it was Gideon’s turn.

“Does anyone have anything to say in defense of the prince?” Ronan asked.

I raised my hand. I heard some surprised mutters, but no one objected.

“As you may know, Clara is mute,” Ronan said. “I will read her statements for all to hear. Jules will confirm that what I have read is what was written.”

Jules stood up and gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. “We like to do things fair and proper here,” she explained in a whisper.

I glanced at Gideon, but he was staring fixedly at a point in mid air. He hadn’t glanced at me once this whole time.

I stared at my notebook. What could I possibly say in his defense? I didn’t understand anything about war or being a prince or the kinds of decisions he made. I knew he hurt the people here, and they were right to be angry. But I had to try.

“Please,” I wrote, “Prince Gideon has always acted in the best interests of his people, even when that means he must be cruel. He is not innocent, but he is not a monster, either. There has been enough suffering already. If you do something to hurt the prince, then the king will retaliate. He will send soldiers, he will burn this place. And whoever survives will attack the castle. And on and on. It won’t end unless we decide to end it here.”

Ronan read out my message. The prince was given a chance to speak, but he refused to say anything in his own defense.

“We’ll take the vote now,” Ronan declared.