I choked on my disbelief as insane laughter threatened to erupt. As I’d thought earlier, one didn’t piss off a fairy. Hamish turned my direction. Maybe others wouldn’t have been able to tell, but I could read the amused satisfaction glinting in his deep green eyes and softening his facial muscles.
A scream tore its way out of Sage’s mouth and was soon followed by Jessup’s aghast, “He’s bleeding. Dear God. It’s running out of his eyes and nose.” Jessup tried to stand again but he couldn’t. It was like an invisible boulder was sitting on his lap.
“Tell me the truth,” Lilibeth ordered, her gaze still firmly focused on her prey. I hadn’t seen her blink once. “Why doesn’t it matter what this court decides?”
Another agonized wail erupted from Sage’s throat before he finally blurted, “Dead.”
Lilibeth cocked her head to the side. “Who’s dead?”
“D-dryad. Todrik. Dead, or soon will be.”
“Oh?” Lilibeth said while Jessup muttered a heartfelt “shit.”
“How do you know this?” Lilibeth pressed.
Sage viciously shook his head, but Lilibeth didn’t relent and he finally conceded. “Poison.”
“Explain,” Lilibeth ordered.
“T-Todrik. Poisoned him.”
“Who poisoned Todrik? Be clear.”
“J-Jessup.”
Jessup tried to stand again, and when that failed, he screamed, “He’s lying!”
“He’s not,” Lilibeth answered. “But he’s not telling the complete truth either. Speak up, Sage. Who poisoned Todrik? Jessup was one, but that’s not all.”
“M-me. Jessup and me.” Sage’s body slumped, and he gulped in heaving breaths of air with that admission.
Lilibeth allowed Sage a moment to reoxygenate his body before she asked, “How did you poison him? Before you answer, remember how much you enjoy being able to breath, Sage.”
I could hear the sneer in Sage’s voice as he answered, “We poisoned the soil. Dryads have to sink their roots into the soil they were born into or they die. Jessup and I poisoned the soil. If he’s not dead yet, that damn dryad will be soon.” The sneer turned into satisfied hatred. The shiver that consumed me this time was completely different than the last one.
“Fucking hell,” Jessup murmured, scrubbing his hand over his face and slumping into his chair. “We’re fucked.”
Sage turned to his brother while viciously wiping at the drying blood streaking his cheeks. “Maybe we are, but Todrik is even more fucked. We taught that dryad not to mess with us. He’s as good as dead, and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it.” Sage’s head snapped up and his shoulders straightened. “Todrik won’t get the land either.”
“I would not be so certain about that.” Hamish’s tone was cool, his demeanor calm as he turned to me and indicated I should come to him.
Standing on shaky legs, I made my way toward the front of the courtroom. All eyes were on me, including Sage and Jessup’s. Their confusion was obvious. That confusion turned to shock and then rage when Hamish told me to drop the charmed glamour, revealing that I wasn’t nearly as deceased as they’d presumed.
“W-what?” Sage’s mouth momentarily hung with laxity. His simmering rage tightened those muscles and snapped his jaw shut with an audible clack. “What trickery is this?”
Straightening from her previously crouched position, Lilibeth clapped her hands, her smile wide and not nearly asfrightening as before. “Just a bit of witchcraft. A simple glamour charm. Todrik didn’t need much to fool the two of you,” she added with disgust. “Jamila would be so disappointed in her sons.”
Sage opened his mouth, ready to say something undoubtedly foolish and horrid. Vaydra stopped him cold. “I would refrain from speaking whatever is on the tip of your tongue.”
“You should heed your lawyer’s advice,” Judge Lucius stated while rising. “Much that has been revealed is beyond the scope of the current case being argued here today. As for the dryad, Todrik’s status, it is the judgment of this court that he is indeed to be counted as one of Jamila Winsome’s children. Therefore, Todrik is just as entitled to his mother’s land as are Jamila’s biological children.” Judge Lucius slammed his gavel and then tucked his hands into the wide sleeves of his robe.
Joy erupted deep in my soul. It wasn’t just the land. Somewhere along the line, being named one of Jamila’s children had become just as important as the earth itself.
“This is bullshit,” Sage grumbled. Jessup held his silence, but his narrowed eyes, thinned lips, and hateful stare spoke more than words.
Vampires didn’t need to breathe. Some still did. Some even sighed. Judge Lucius did neither. His black-as-night eyes drifted from Hamish to Vaydra, and finally settled on Lilibeth. “Jamila Winsome’s land will be divided three ways.” My heart sank, my earlier joy harshly tempered. “In the event of one of the inheritors’ death, each division of land shall then be passed on to the surviving inheritors, which I presume shall become necessary in the near future.”
I gasped. “But I’m not dying.” I turned to Hamish. “Queen Silvidia healed me and the land. She—”
