Chapter 10

 "Queen Mother, with all due respect, your assumption that Rosaline ba Ruslan had a hand in the drowning of Lady Elise is severely misplaced."

Trenton feared the issue would come thus far.

He should have known better than that Augustus lu Pavel would simply drop the case he had indulged on the evening after Lady Elise's accident. He had foolishly hoped the best out of a man who only brought the worst.

He was called upon the Throne Room as he started his morning training, and for the past few hours, he was defending Lady Rosaline's innocence to no avail.

Lady Rosaline, spent on tears and on her knees had her auburn hair down in an uncharacteristically messy way. His Beta stood beside him in support with rows of Royal guardians at his call. The Queen Mother looked down at the future King and the defendant indifferently.

Selznick ba Ruslan and his followers were at the shadows of the court, subdued from the spotlight. Many of the ba Ruslan's Warriors had their fangs bared and claws hidden behind their cloaks and armor.

Lord Augustus stood not far from them, in his ranks between his Pack Warriors and his son, Alexander. It took everything for the Prince to not tear the old man's throat and lay it on the floor of this sacred place.

"The evidence is too clear to overlook, Prince Trenton. Only a fool would deny that it was an attempt of a coup d'etat."

He brushed his onyx hair frustratingly as the Queen Mother didn't budge an inch from her former acclaim.

"I was there the night of the accident when I pulled the Lady out myself, your Majesty. Lady Rosaline wasn't there, and it is impossible for me to have not caught her scent."

"For the entirety of the meeting, your vehemence to defend the probable culprit of your mate's murder is astounding." His jaws clicked. "You are publicly siding with the ba Ruslan Pack, rather than your own mate!" The agitation in the Queen Mother's words was as clear as day. He was walking on a tightrope.

"I am only speaking the logic derived from facts and the truth, your Majesty. This has nothing to do with who I'm siding with. I'm only defending the innocent." His tone turned grayer, his patience running thin. The argument was running him in circles, and any longer of this fight, he might lose Lady Rosaline and his own stance in the political ground.

In his peripheral sight, he could see Lady Rosaline trembling harder, palming the cold marble tiles while Chester's expressions turned to stone.

"Lady Rosaline, speak for yourself," The Queen Mother's tone was more mellow, wariness coloring her tone. "We can only keep this meeting for so long."

"Your Highness," Lady Rosaline's voice was surprisingly stable as she took a deep breath, with no evidence of the constant stream of tears in her past sayings. "It is true that I have accompanied Princess Elise on the night of the accident." She stumbled slightly. "But I swear on the Crown, the letters found in my chambers are complete frauds, framing myself and the ba Ruslan Pack."

"The emblem of your family's crest is enough to prove that it is not a fraud, Lady Rosaline. With all that is shown, I should place the whole ba Ruslan Pack guilty for an act of treason." The Queen Mother's voice dulled as she motioned for the Royal Warrior standing guard of the throne. "But for now I will be sated with you."

And with the last of her words, the Royal Warrior stepped to kneeling Lady and drew out his sword, placing the sharp blade to her neck. The cold edges of the swords glinted glaringly off the dimly lit chandeliers above.

The energy crackled dangerously at the daring act and the ba Ruslan Pack was no longer hiding their aggressiveness in face of the sacred meeting. Before anybody else could take action, the Prince was at his knees gripping the blade in his palms, slowly steering the sword away from the Lady's fragile neck.

Blood as red as the falling sun dripped from his hold, and he grimaced at the pain shooting up his arms. It would have been so much easier to kill, yet he could not break his act with an audience as dangerous as the ones presented.

The stunned crowd along with the taken aback Royal Warrior glanced at the Queen Mother, deliberately waiting for an order. After all, his wolf would not allow himself to danger the future King.

"Prince Trenton...Your Majesty," Tortured at his willingness to spill blood, Rosaline murmured sadly, "I am not worth your pain."

He bowed his head ever so slightly to catch her eyes. "Your life is worth more than you think, Lady Rosaline." He smiled softly to reassure the devastated soul as he pressed harder for the Warrior to take the hint and sheath his weapon. The Warrior, who he now remembered as a senior advisor of the Queen Mother, refused to retreat at his gesture.

His desperation to solve the problem led to a short-circuit, pushing him to act upon the disobedience but was stopped with a loud thud from the side.

The sound of double doors opening alerted everyone of a new presence. Heads swiveled to catch sight of the new participant, and the Prince reigned in his surprise as the doors revealed Lady Elise with the lu Pavel Beta on her side.

He was aghast at her sudden entrance, his face falling at the realization of how quickly the tables could be turned at Lady Elise's swaying words. The throne room once again buzzed with commotion as they soaked in the form of the lu Pavel Princess at the entrance. The Lady herself had locked gaze with him, her calculating browns scrutinizing the scene in front of her.

His superficial senses were in an override, while simultaneously gaining a state of inner peace as his eyes unwillingly roamed the brown-haired goddess. Her light gown dipped elegantly at the neck, draping her form like orchid petals enclosing the essence of their nectar.

The sudden invasion of her fruity fragrance led him to willingly block his olfactory senses. Not that it worked, but it was a nice try against her pungent scent of blueberries. He resorted to forcing himself to look away, but neither was his body nor his wolf currently in his favor.

"Order." A chill spread as the Queen Mother demanded silence. Many bared their neck in submission. He simply looked away as there was a certain limit to his act. His wolf did not tolerate direct domination well.

Frankly, he was surprised at his own restraint so far, kneeling on the floor, not lashing out at questions of his dominance, submitting to a former Queen. Though, it had simply been that the biggest challenge had yet to come as he controlled himself to stay still as he openly stared at his confused beauty walking slowly to his place, the blade in his hand long forgotten.

"Lady Elise," The Queen Mother's voice was much softer, coaxing her to stand before her, "I have called you to testify on behalf of yourself on the night of your drowning."

Lady Elise stepped gracefully towards the center of the Throne Room, coming in front of the kneeling pair. Through the entirety of her walk, she was fixed at his position, assessing the situation she stepped into. Her eyes flitted to the disheveled Lady Rosaline, and his heart tightened at the small frown tugging her lips.

Her memories of the ba Ruslan's past hostilities might have been lost, but the chill in her eyes told him it was not their first encounter since the accident.

With the intensity of her stare still burning him, she turned her back on him, facing the Queen Mother. He dreaded she would pick this time as her revenge.

"The Royal physician has given me notice that your memory will come in pieces in days and that it will be fully recovered in weeks." The Queen Mother plunged straight to the point. "Your memories from the night are crucial for this testimony, Lady Elise. I believe your abilities as a future Queen, that you will not fail us. The Royal Family needs your strength and support through these dark times."

He inwardly sighed at the nonsense she was spouting. No one in this room believed, nor expected the Princess' memories to come back so early. They would make up anything for their advantage, and Elise's memories were just the spinning thread.

His heart pounded hard inside his chest, anticipating the worst of her answers.

But as his insides clenched and sweat trickled down his back, he realized that, no, he wasn't afraid of her.

He was afraid for her.

To put her in a spot she was nowhere near ready for and where there could be possible bloodshed, he was not worried about his place nor Lady Rosaline's safety, but only Elise's own.

The realization struck hard, and he was about to reclaim the attention of his grandmother's when the most bewildering words came out from his mate's mouth.

"I- I did it."

The whole court froze at her words. The blade no longer pressured his palm, and the once trembling Lady Rosaline stilled at her seat. His Beta, who was tense as he anticipated a rioting ba Ruslan Pack in his hands turned away from the now still Warriors. Augustus lu Pavel reeled back but remained poised at the revelation while Alexander lu Pavel's eyes blew impossibly wider, stunned with her words.

"Lady Elise," The Queen Mother hissed in warning.

"I- uh- I did it myself. I'd tried to take my own life." She stated uneasily.

A denial of retrieving her memories would have been bad enough. But this? This was downright and literal suicide.

Trenton was the first to break from his stupor and started to cover Lady Elise from any retaliation from the lu Pavel Pack, but his attempts were thwarted by Lady Rosaline.

A soft thud echoed behind him, and his eyes widened as Lady Rosaline no loner knelt by her own, but sprawled on the ground with the support of his Beta clutching her unconscious body.

It was a start to a very long day. 

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