“Objection.” Lady Magdalina cut him off. “You’re attempting to make my client implicate himself, and I won’t have it. You’re openly endorsing two things— that he is a traitor, and that he is a vigilante. But it can’t be both.”
Solomon raised an eyebrow. “They’re one and the same, aren’t they?”
“Absolutely not,” Magdalina replied. “Vigilantism isassociatedwith the crime of treason, but unless Ethan Nowak has actually committed a crime that has been shown to harm Malovia, the charge of treason itself cannot be assigned to him.”
Solomon ruffled through his papers, already confused. Elijah went to speak, but Lucien hurried to say something before he did.
“Before we make any rash judgements, let's look at the evidence,” Lucien suggested. “Chief Bosko, could you bring to the court’s attention the crimes you haveactivelyfound Ethan Nowak to be guilty of, without a reasonable doubt?”
A man in a blue uniform came to the front of the room. He was imposing and large— the police chief of the Arcanea Alliance. He took a scroll out of his jacket and began reading. “As far as we know, the Phantom has tampered in numerous investigations, including but not ending at taking evidence from the scene of a Black Claw sacrifice, murdering two cultists and leaving the Alliance with the bodies to clean up, breaking and entering into the Arceanea Alliance station for data regarding the Black Claw, trespassing on private property—”
The police chief listed off all the numerous investigations Ethan had tampered in as the Phantom. As he spoke, he had to unroll the scroll he was reading from. The tail end of it fell to the floor, and Magdalina pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Geez, Ethan, take a night off every once in a while,” Theo grumbled under his breath. We’d been sitting here for five minutes, and the police chief still wasn’t done recounting all of Ethan’s meddling.
“And, finally,” the police chief spoke, “The defendant muddled in an investigation leading to a mass murder case, where one griffin shifter and two Marked were slaughtered in the streets by cultists.”
“Excuse me, that’s not right,” Ethan spoke up.
Steward Solomon looked up from his papers. “Beg your pardon?”
Ethan sat up. “The griffin shifter and the Marked were killed by awraith, not cultists. I slayed it shortly before the Arcanea Alliance stopped the killings by the cultists shortly after, but I found them to be unconnected in my own investigations.”
“Oh, yes, thank you for clearing that up,” the police chief said honestly.
Lady Magdalene's lips thinned, and I nearly facepalmed.
The police chief rolled up the paper. “This is just the start. There were other investigations where the Phantom was suspected to interfere, but as such, we cannot prove.”
“You see?” Elijah said, looking to the members of the Circle. “We have more than enough evidence here to convict him of numerous crimes. I’m sure he was the one who worked with the cult to lead those monsters into the city the night of the Slaughter of the Innocents.”
“I beg your pardon, but given the Phantom’s record on fighting against the Black Claw, that doesn’t make sense,” Magdalina argued. “It seems to me most, if not all of those incidents, involve stopping the actions of the Black Claw, a cult known to have malevolent feelings toward Malovian society. Tell me, my lord, is killing Black Claw cultists and monsters who roam the streets of Dolinska openly harmful to Malovian society?”
I saw Elijah grind his teeth. He couldn’t say yes without revealing too much. He and Gabby blamed the Slaughter of the Innocents on the Black Claw. If he stuck up for them, he’d be siding with the cult, and that would cause an uproar.
Lord Lucien spoke up. “Perhaps if the Phantom had interceded earlier, he might’ve killed those cultists responsible for organizing the attack on Dolinska a few weeks ago. Those children we lost might’ve been saved. Phantom sightings were increasingly minimal in the last few months leading up to the Slaughter of Innocents. Ethan, can you tell me why you took a break?”
“My focus was on my mate, at that time,” Ethan replied. “As the public knows by now, she has a rare disease, and I wanted to do my best to make her my first priority, as any shifter would.”
“I see,” Lucien mused. “Then it seems the Phantom’s absence actually had anegativeeffect on our city, as opposed to a positive one.”
Elijah’s face flushed. He hated that Lucien was making Ethan look good. “My cousin has been jealous of me ever since I’ve taken the throne! This little stint of vigilantism is to get back at me! I’m certain he’s working with the Black Claw, to connive a plan to steal my crown!”
“His work as the Phantom predates the King’s Contest,” Magdalina argued. “Your highness, you can’t possibly believe this is all about you.”
Elijah’s cheeks reddened, and a couple of people giggled. They were silenced by Gabby’s glares.
Lady Magdalina needed to be careful, before she said the wrong thing and lost her own head.
Gabby took control of the situation by leaning forward. “Let’s assume the Phantom wasn’t involved with the Black Claw that night. What I do know is,someonereleased a very hurtful, and very asinine video in an attempt to discredit me as queen. How can we be sure it wasn’t Ethan Nowak?”
“Well, let’s ask him.” Lady Magdalina turned toward Ethan. “Did you release that video the night of the Slaughter of the Innocents?”
“I did not,” Ethan replied. “I was otherwise preoccupied.”
“Liar! It wasyouwho fabricated that video against my mate, and broadcasted it all over Dolinska for everyone to see!” Elijah pointed at Ethan violently, and several people recoiled.
“Your highness, if I may,howwould the prince be able to broadcast the video?” Magdalina asked. “According to live news footage, the Phantom was fighting monsters at the time the video was broadcasted. Do you suggest he could be in two places at once?”
