Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 93 The Testimony
Both Ada and Leopold exchanged a frantic look as they began to realize that this trial was not proceeding how they had intended at all.
“Treason? Are you insane?! It is you who is treasonous!!! You should be asking your King’s permission before you enact or move to do anything! No one is above the royal family!” Ada shrieked suddenly as she banged her fists on the balcony in front of her.
“Do you not respect his authority?” Ada snapped as she continued, her innocent demeanor evaporating almost instantly, “You want his throne for yourselves don’t you?” She snorted maliciously as she looked across at Leopold, with fire in her eyes.
Ann was watching this all with a mixture of disbelief and horror. This was madness! The audacity that Ada had to insinuate such a thing, and so fearlessly in front of them, just proved that she thought she was untouchable in her father’s presence.
Her arrogance was sickening and to the Elders a*s*sembled, incredibly offensive.
“Leopold, either reign your daughter in or I will have you both held indefinitely until we get to the bottom of this and all other charges that we may, or may not bring before the court.” A female voice rose imperiously above the noise in the chamber.
“In all my years I have never witnessed anything so embarra*s*sing within this chamber! The lack of respect for the proceedings themselves as well as the shrouded truth… Leopold… what you have become disappoints me …it disappoints us all.” The cold female voice continued as silence fell on the chamber.
“I think for now I have heard enough from Ada…” the voice sighed heavily before continuing, “I think now … we should hear Ann’s testimony and move to render judgment as soon as we can.” the voice continued wearily. “Summon the guards, please. We’ll have them maintain order here to stop any further interruptions.”
Almost instantly, Ada was frozen on the spot, her face still contorted in a mask of fury, and her arms raised at an odd angle as she had been gesturing furiously as she screamed.
Leopold bl*stered angrily on the spot as four of the largest figures that Ann had ever seen in her life entered the chambers and marched purposely forward toward the center of the room.
Two of them turned and headed directly to where Leopold stood as he shook furiously with anger, and the other two proceed onwards to where Ada was frozen. Without even breaking their stride, they moved as one, hooking their enormous arms under her shoulders as they lifted her feet off the ground, and continued forward, moving her back against the outer wall and holding her there expressionlessly.
Ann exchanged a look with Adam who was watching it all with a curious expression.
“Golems,” Ann whispered quietly, “I’ve only read about them, but this is the first time I’ve seen them in action.”
Adam nodded faintly without saying a word.
He had a thousand questions about a lot of things here and was a little annoyed that he had very little idea of the inner workings of the royal chambers.
He prided himself on his knowledge about obscure subjects usually, but then, this wasn’t something that most wolves ever had the privilege of witnessing…or horror, depending on how you looked at it.
“You’ll regret this…” Leopold growled warningly from where he had been f0rced to sit.
Although the golems had not touched him, they stood incredibly close and their very presence only served to infuriate him further.
“Now, Princess Ann. I hope that you will retain your composure during our questioning. As it stands, our opinion of the royal line is rapidly diminishing based on the farce of this trial today. I sincerely hope that you will conduct yourself with dignity.” A brisk voice stated loudly, clearly ignoring Leopold’s warning, which infuriated him further.
Ann watched his hands grip the armrests tightly as he clenched his jaw, his face a bright shade of crimson easily visible despite the dull light and the vein on his forehead bulging ominously.
“Princess Ann, please tell us in your own words, the events leading up to and including the alleged a*s*sault in your own words.” A bored sounding, male voice intoned.
She sighed internally. There was no stopping this now, not that she wanted to.
“Actually, if you all don’t mind, I can do better than tell you. I can show you the events that occurred.” Ann answered unfalteringly.
She might not have started this whole ordeal, but she would do her very best to finish it, and whatever the fallout was for her father…that was his own problem to deal with.
It was no longer any of Ann’s concern.
A ripple of interest ran around the chamber as Ann dug her hand into her pocket and retrieved the USB stick, holding it up for them to see.
“I hadn’t realized at the time, but after the incident, my personal a*s*sistant approached me and reminded me of a camera that I installed in my office when I first took over. There had been a little sabotage going on as a result of internal discontent with my appointment to the position, so it had been installed to root out the culprit and hold them to account for their actions.” Ann explained, successfully keeping the nerves from her voice.