Hunting Royalty

48. Entrances and Evidence

"I'm not missing this show and tell either," I spin around and smile at Kayden he towers over the short middle aged man in the teleportation throne, "Move, you're in my seat."

"Excuse me, this is my seat," the short man says outrages.

"This is my formal challenge," he grabs the man by his lapels and he disappears onto nothing. Kayden turns and takes his seat. "He'll find his way back in a few hours, maybe a day," hshrugs like it's nothing.

"Why is that?" the man next to Kayden asks.

"Because I sent him to Gertunzburg. Hey little sis, what did I tell you about making friends with the wrong people?" he quirks an eyebrow at me like he is amused by the idea of me being on trial for my life. I can see his ease is unnerving some of the others.

"I can't help that I'm popular."

"But the prince seriously? I thought you kicked that habit weeks ago."

Nate scoffs when he realizes the 'wrong people' Kayden is referring to is him not the rebels, "You think this is my fault?" Nate asks him.

"Yes!" he sits forward suddenly grabbing the front of the armrest so hard that his knuckles turn white, his anger towards Nate bursts forward suddenly. Nate recoils at his intensity and Kayden slides back in his chair.

"I think it's time to begin," the king announces.

That's my cue I fold my fingers against my palm at far as the can until I can feel the charm bracelet, I twist it around until the charm I want is lying on the heel of my hand. I look at Marie and she takes my cue, she stands from her seat and approaches me. She kneels down in front of me and places her hand in mine, she squeezes gentle and activates the charm I've selected. "You can do this," she whispers.

The shield to protect me from others gifts is active.

Marie returns to her seat she takes a look at each of the assembled members. "Let's begin. Kara, if you will," she nods at the only woman I don't know, she must be the one with the gift of truth inducement. She is going to be my interrogator.

"State your full name," Kara asks.

I can feel her voice weaving itself through me. It grabs something inside me and hear myself responding before I even considered my answer, "Alia de Luca."

"You are accused of conspiracy to commit treason, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," this time, I'm more prepared for it. I see the thread more clearly as it winds its way through my mind.

"Let's hear the case against Alia," Marie directs the proceedings, it's her responsibility as High Priestess.

"Alia de Luca has been present at the last four rebel attacks on my son's life. Once is an accident, twice is a coincident, three times is a pattern, four times is proof," the king is at his most charismatic, his voice echoes across the room and is punctuated by dramatic pauses.

"The only possible way for this to happen, is for her to be informing the rebels of locations when Nate is vulnerable,"  he continues his speech captivating his audience.

"We believe she sends messages to the rebels using this," the king holds up one of my portal mirrors, "We are not yet sure exactly how it works but our best enchanters tell me that it is some kind of linked portal."

I see the surface of the mirror glow a faint blue before a note appears causing the king to flinch and drop them both. I hear the crack as the mirror breaks sending a web of fissures across the surface. The enchantment has broken.

Vincent reaches down and picks up the not, "You talk too much," he reads the message aloud.

"It's true," everyone turns to look at Kayden, he's twisting his own mirror over and between his fingers, "I thought you wanted to know how they work. We use them to send messages to our ships when they are at sea."

"That is proof that these mirrors are used to send messages. Shipping is just a cover, I bet there is a rebel with a mirror just like this," Vincent proclaims gesturing towards Kayden as he rolls his eyes in open disagreement.

"Miss de Luca also attacked two royal guards leaving them unconscious, so she could ambush Nate,"  The king says trying to captivate the crowd again, "She also attempted to bring a weapon into a private meeting with myself."

He pauses dramatically and looks at each person present in turn before facing me,  "This was too much evidence for our family to ignore. We had to have her arrested while we searched her belongings."

The king spends the next two hours going through every single item they found in my room and its significance relating to the rebels. They even show a few of my real belongings like the list of poisons I made when researching for the autumn ball.

The king makes a lot of very valid points, he almost has me believing that I could be a rebel. Why else would I have all these things in my room?

I have to admit this is starting to look pretty bad.