“That’s a lie,” Sasha said, pointing at the baron with a hard snap. “There were Vampires in the conflict!”

“Anticipating a hostile affront to our peaceful way of life!” the baron spat.

“Tonight, you involved innocent people who didn’t have anything to do with it,” Sasha shouted. “Pedestrians, parents, who knows-people’s sons and daughters who were just out to shop, or eat, or go to work, or go grab a beer, and they’re dead! That you will pay for, no matter what! This isn’t over, Baron, not by a long shot. This goes beyond what the rules are at the UCE, this is an issue of human justice!”

“Oh, to be sure this is not over, bitch,” the baron said evenly as his gaze narrowed.

“What?” Hunter shouted, lunging, but was caught by Shogun and two of his men.

“And are we not getting away from the true point, which is always the Vampire diversionary tactic?” Sir Rodney called out. “You, Baron Geoff Montague, commissioned a member of the Unseelie Court, one Kiagehul, to report on the progress of black magick spells he cast against my castle-thereby partially financing this treason against the Seelie, which is aiding and abetting a person committing known treason, thus making you an accomplice, and therefore inadvertently declaring war on the House of Clerk and all members of the Seelie Court that fall under my protection… including the Wolf Federations, thus specifically declaring war with the Southeast Asian Werewolf Clan and the North American Shadow Wolf Clan… By harming their members, the human population, you have by extension also declared war against members of the US military!”

“Monitoring the activities of one’s enemies is not the same as an attack!” the baron shouted, looking around. “I admit, we have been watching you and will continue to do so for this very reason… but we had no hand in the dark magick. That is provable-we have ways to draw a confession from the prisoner that are time-tested.”

“I don’t care what you say. On the way to court, you tried to bait us out of the protection of Forte Shannon of Inverness so that we would release the Unseelie prisoner, and you ambushed our evacuation attempts. We knew you’d try something, so we had to be sure that innocent Seelie were out of harm’s way-we just didn’t think you’d stoop so low as to butcher innocent humans and throw them through Aurelia’s Ale Alley’s front window as bait,” Sasha shouted, veins of outrage standing in her neck. “Humans, Seelie, wolves, human authorities, everyone got caught in the crossfire!”

“That is a lie!” the baron shouted, walking over to the book. “Strike me, draw the blood and you will see that this time, she-wolf, you have erred and it will cost you dearly.”

He produced his wrist and the pen struck it, causing thick, black blood to ooze from the slashed vein. When his testimony took, the court erupted again and the crone ran forward waving her hands, shouting over the gavel. Sasha and Hunter glanced at each other and then toward Sir Rodney and Shogun. This was not good. The baron gave Sasha a smug nod and returned to his box.

“Enough, enough-there are so many capital offenses here that we must call the accused! Bring the prisoner up,” the crone yelled as the gavel banged on the bench.

“We don’t have to sit for this out-of-order travesty of indignities and injustice! I demand recompense now!” Baron Montague shouted, still standing.

“Sit,” Elder Vlad said evenly.

Baron Montague sat slowly and smoothed down his lapels, but it was palpable that his nerves were drawn tight by the ancient Vampire’s words. He shared a look with Queen Blatand as Kiagehul was roughly brought to the front witness box by very disgruntled wolves. They shoved him into the seat and the book and pen swished closer to him to take his testimony.

“How do ye plead?” the crone screeched.

“Not guilty by reason of insanity!” Kiagehul called out.

The court erupted and, after many attempts by the frazzled gavel, the audience finally settled down.

“Speak,” the crone said, and then walked away shaking her head.

“I was influenced by very strong forces,” Kiagehul said, beginning to weep. “My queen, I wanted to do it for you… It wasn’t for the money.”

Sasha laughed a cold, hard laugh as she walked back to her box with Hunter. “The little bastard just threw you under the bus, Baron.”

“That is an outright lie!” the baron said, standing and pointing to Kiagehul. “He came to me and offered me a chance to build an alliance, for a price. He wanted the lands and establishments that should have come to him under normal inheritance law-but that had been nationalized by Sir Rodney… Dugan’s properties!” The baron regained his composure and then looked at Elder Vlad. “He then said that he would show me the extent of his capabilities in a way that would utterly shock and surprise me… I of course had no knowledge of how far he would go; my goal was to one day meet the queen of the Unseelie Court to see if there was some common ground. But there is a third party-again, I was simply a monitor of activities, not a direct participant!”

“She is formidable; the Vampire speaks the truth,” Kiagehul called out in a shrill voice. “My queen, save me; I’ve been duped! She has not come for me.”

“I bet the baron did business with this unnamed third party,” Hunter said with a snarl.

“No…” Baron Montague said, smiling, his eyes glittering with rage. “You will have to make blood restitution before it is all said and done, wolf.”

“Care to put some more blood on the line?” Sasha said, turning her wrist up so that the magick pen could open a vein. “Once your black blood hits the pages of your testimony this time, even money says they’ll torch, Baron.”

“This hypocrisy and twisting of words and intent,” the baron said calmly, “is all a fraud.”

Queen Blatand narrowed her gaze on the baron and then on Elder Vlad. “Am I to understand that I have been brought all the way here from Iceland to learn that my court member is an outright liar?” She tsked. “Elder Vlad… what do you think it will do for détente if, after this man is beheaded, I find out that his argument had merit? Might that cause an unusual, albeit strained, alliance between my court and the Seelie like days of old? If any Fae finds they’ve been duped by another species, we, too, are known for our unrelenting grudges… We do have that in common with the Vampires.”

Elder Vlad stood and left the box. “I should not like to see us have a falling-out and create an unnatural power-base shift that is so thoroughly one-sided, dear queen. Balance is always the way to ensure no one group becomes unmanageable.”

“Cerridwen!” Sir Rodney called out as the queen left the box to walk with Elder Vlad. “I may have been many things, made many missteps, and our views and politics may have clashed, but I have never, ever, attacked you unprovoked.”

She stopped her retreat and something close to warmth filled her eyes. She cocked her pretty head to the side and wrinkled her smooth brow in disbelief. “Nor have I ever attacked you unprovoked, Rodney… What would make you even say such a thing? I had no hand in this.”

“Those were not your warriors, then, that fought against my men in the heart of New Orleans?” Sir Rodney held her gaze as the queen shook her head no.

“There was a force out there, animal in scent,” Sasha said quietly, glancing around the court. “Feral female.”

“Disembodied?” the queen said, looking at Kiagehul. “That is very dark magick, my dear… Whomever did you get to give up her body to increase your powers? That is never allowed without my express consent, for obvious reasons.”

The queen walked forward as the entire court silently watched, turned over her delicate wrist, and allowed the pen to strike her flawless skin. A slow, cool blue ooze slid from the small gash and the pen dipped itself in it and then signed the page of her entry. All waited and the book never even smoldered.