"Then this tribunal finds Cadence Turner guilty of all charges. You are hereby convicted of fraud and-"
"NO!"
The shout tore through the room like a thunderclap. I jerked my head up to see Ryder on his feet, his face contorted with panic and rage.
"It was me!" he bellowed, his voice cracking with emotion. "I was the one who faked the records. It was me, not her! She had nothing to do with it!" The room erupted in shocked murmurs. I stared at Ryder in horror, unable to process what he was doing. The panel members were on their feet, shouting for order, but Ryder continued, his words tumbling out in desperate confession.
"I forged her signature! I manipulated the system to get her into Courts! She's innocent!" Before the enforcers could reach him, Logan stood as well, his face a mask of grim determination. He looked at me, his hazel eyes filled with apology, and mouthed "I'm sorry" before turning to the tribunal.
"It wasn't just Ryder," he declared, his voice carrying over the chaos. "I orchestrated the whole thing. I ordered Ryder to falsify the documents. I manipulated the system to bring Cadence in as Consort against her will. The guilt is mine."
“I was also involved,” Cole said, standing up beside Ryder and Cole. “I am as much to blame as these two, but Cade, she is not to blame; she is the victim here.”
The room descended into complete pandemonium. The panel members shouted for silence, enforcers moved toward Logan, Cole, and Ryder, and spectators rose from their seats, craning to see the unfolding drama. Through it all, I remained frozen in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening. They were sacrificing themselves for me. After everything, the punishment ritual, the branding, the manipulation, they were still trying toprotect me. Or were they telling the truth? Had they actually been the ones to do all this to me?
The grey-haired man slammed his hand down repeatedly on the surface before him.
"Order!" he roared. "I will have order in this tribunal!" Gradually, the noise subsided. Cole, Logan, and Ryder remained standing, their postures defiant despite the enforcers who now flanked them. The grey-haired man's face was flushed with anger.
"In light of these... unexpected developments," he said, his voice tight with controlled fury, "this tribunal is temporarily adjourned. The accused will be returned to a holding room while we investigate these new claims." He turned his cold gaze on Logan, Cole, and Ryder.
"The Regents of Covenant House will be detained for questioning. This hearing will reconvene when we have determined the veracity of these confessions." He struck a gavel against the surface before him, the sound echoing like a gunshot through the chamber. Immediately, the enforcers beside me stepped forward, taking my arms in their bruising grip once more.
"Wait!" I cried, struggling against them as they began to drag me toward the door. "Please, let me speak to them." Logan's eyes met mine one last time, filled with a mixture of determination and regret.
"It's going to be okay, Princess," he called, even as enforcers moved to restrain him. "We'll fix this."
"Don't fight them, Cade," Cole added, his voice steady despite the tension in his face. "We'll handle it." Ryder didn't speak, but the anguish in his blue eyes said everything his voice couldn't.
Then I was through the doors, and they were gone. The enforcers marched me back through the maze of white corridors to a room that looked more like a windowed waiting room than the cell I was just in. I was told to sit at the table and be quiet before the door was slammed shut, and I heard the finality of the lock sliding into place. I dropped heavily into a seat with all the weight of despair in me. I sat there, my mind reeling with what had just happened. They'd confessed to crimes they didn't commit, or had they? Had they really been the ones to forge my signature, to manipulate my placement at Courts House from the very beginning?
The sterile interrogation room seemed designed to break the human spirit. Harsh fluorescent lighting that buzzed like an insect trapped in your skull. A metal table bolted to the floor. The hard chair grew more uncomfortable with each passing hour. I'd been in this room for what felt like days, though my watch told me it had only been five hours. The same questions.The same enforcer with his dead eyes and monotone voice. Five long, tedious hours of fighting to save Cadence.
"Let's go through this again, Mr Bale," the enforcer said, his voice betraying no fatigue despite the marathon interrogation. "You claim that you personally orchestrated the falsification of Cadence Turner's scholarship documents."
"Yes," I answered for what must have been the twentieth time. My voice was hoarse, my patience threadbare.
"And you instructed Ryder Purcell to forge her signature on the Legacy application."
"Yes."
"And Cole Bowers was aware of this deception."
"Yes. We all were." I leaned forward, pressing my palms flat against the cool metal. "I've told you this repeatedly. Cadence is innocent. She had no idea what we were doing." The enforcer's expression didn't change, but something in his eyes hardened.
"You understand that making false statements to the Trivium carries severe penalties." A bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it. "More severe than what you're planning to do to her? Go ahead. Throw me in the Hole. Just let her go."
The enforcer shuffled his papers, an affectation of consideration.
"Aaron Purcell is on his way to refute your claims. He says Ryder Purcell would never have access to the scholarship systems."
"Aaron Purcell is a manipulative sociopath who tortures his own son," I shot back. "And you're wasting time. Ryder is a world-class hacker with a focus bordering on manic attentiveness, and that's on a good day. I told him to make it happen, and he did. End of story."
"And what was your motive, Mr Bale? Why target Miss Turner specifically?" I closed my eyes briefly, the weight of my fabricated confession sitting heavily on my shoulders.
"I told you. I spilt my coffee on her in the quad at the beginning of the year. She didn't apologise. She stood up to me in front of everyone. Embarrassed me. I wanted to teach her a lesson."
"So you ruined her academic career, took over some random girl's life, over spilt coffee." His voice was flat, but the judgment was clear.
