Chapter 189: Trial of bastards
The morning sun didn’t reach the tribunal hall. The towering stained-glass windows glowed dimly in red and gold hues, but the weight inside was colder than stone. Allen entered without a word, his coat trailing behind him like a shadow. He didn’t look at the crowd. He didn’t have to.
They were already looking at him.
At his feet knelt the five Rhelgar sons—stripped of titles, armor, and all the noble arrogance they once wore like armor. Each one had been dragged in shackled and silenced, stripped of every false veneer of dignity. Their faces bore bruises from resisting arrest, but it wasn’t the bruises that made them tremble.
It was Allen’s eyes.
Fina stood beside him, her expression unreadable. Rinni sat on the throne’s armrest, one leg swinging lazily while she twirled a dagger between her fingers, licking a sugar candy she absolutely did not need. She glanced at the kneeling boys and grinned, lips sticky. "Aww. Did the baby lords not sleep well in the dungeon?"
"Quiet," Allen murmured, though without real heat. He wasn’t here for jokes.
He was here for blood.
The nobles filled the gallery in silence, shoulder to shoulder. Foxkin elders lined the side seats, with Yoru seated upright and stony-eyed at the center of them all. None spoke. None blinked. They had seen enough yesterday to know the world had already changed.
A clerk stepped forward with a scroll in trembling hands. "The tribunal is in session. Sovereign Allen presiding. On trial: Lord Endrik, Lord Vashin, Lord Cedran, Lord Karo, and Lord Jule of the House of Rhelgar—"
"They are no lords," Allen said, voice sharp enough to slice. "Not anymore. Speak their names."
The clerk swallowed. "Endrik, Vashin, Cedran, Karo, and Jule. Accused of human and beastkin trafficking, sexual assault, repeated abuse of indentured staff, and conspiracy to cover up noble crimes against the council’s laws."
Gasps rippled through the audience, though no one looked truly surprised. Just publicly scandalized, like actors caught off script.