Page 145 of The Forgotten Queen
“I think Queen Myka is right,” Davin agreed. “Besides, Marx is a king. He’s one of us. We need more than the testimony of two criminals to vote guilty against him.”
“We have more,” King Hilton chirped. “We have the letter with his signature on it.”
King Reddick leaned forward. “And we completely forgot about the fact that he killed his own father.”
“We don’t know that he did that,” Myka defended.
“Von’s and Stoddard’s testimonies about that were very similar. Marx asked for a drug to kill his father,” Reddick said.
“Are you all crazy?” Myka asked. “Stoddard killedmyfather and myfriend, Joett. Of course he killed King McKane too.”
Bryant shook his head. “I think you are letting your own experience dictate your emotions. You are more concerned about revenge against Stoddard than the facts of Marx’s trial.”
Myka’s jaw dropped. “And I think you are letting your love for your daughter dictateyouremotions. You’re more concerned about getting revenge on Marx than actually looking at all the evidence.”
“Fighting between us isn’t going to solve anything,” Davin said.
Trev ran a hand through his hair. He hated being in this position. He hated deciding the fate of another man’s life, but he wanted justice for Seran. She’d been wronged so many times, even by him. It was time he did the right thing for her.
“King Reddick brings up an interesting point,” Trev said, looking around the table. “Doctor Von’s and Commander Stoddard’s testimonies weren’t exactly the same. There were a few mix-ups and things that each of them left out, but nothing super inconsistent. If they had been identical, I would’ve thought that they were rehearsed. But they were questioned separately, and they haven’t seen each other in weeks. There is no way they could have corroborated all that information.”
Bryant raised a brow. “Yes, because what they said was the truth, and they didn’t need to corroborate.”
Trev nodded.
Myka slapped the table with her hand, clearly frustrated. “You’re all underestimating Stoddard. He could have planned something like this months ago.”
“Maybe we should hear testimony from Seran,” Trev said. “She lived through all of this. She could give us a better idea of who Marx is.”
Bryant shook his head. “I don’t trust my daughter’s memories right now. She’s not strong enough to give her testimony. But I’ve talked to her about Marx, and I know that she wants justice.”
“Are you sure about that?” Myka asked.
Bryant bristled. “Positive. She wants nothing more to do with Marx and wants to see justice served when it comes to him and his involvement in her kidnapping.”
That changed everything.
Trev trusted Bryant. He’d never known him to be a vengeful man. Bryant and Seran were close. At least they had been before. Bryant would know what Seran wanted. There wasn’t any point in debating. Trev had failed at protecting her once before. He wouldn’t fail again. He would put Seran’s wishes before anything else. She deserved that much from him.
“I know how I’m going to vote,” Bryant said, standing. “I don’t need any more time to think about it.” He looked at Trev. “Are you ready?”
He nodded.
Marx
After thirty minutes,the door to the large meeting room swung open, and the rulers filed back into their seats.
“It’s time for the vote,” King Bryant said, looking around the room.
Already?
That’s it?
Most of the rulers had traveled at least a week to get to New Hope. It seemed premature to vote after only thirty minutes of deliberation. Didn’t they want to make their journey worth their time? Shouldn’t they ask more questions—poll the audience, hear more testimonies?
Their quick deliberation meant one of two things. Either Bryant had convinced them all to vote with him, or it was going to be a tie, resulting in a mistrial.
“Queen Myka, how do you find the accused?” Bryant asked.
