Queen of Fate (Fae of Woodlands & Wild #3)

Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

The first day of my trial was a formality more than anything. My magistrate outlined what she planned to reveal to the courts over the duration of my trial, and I learned what witnesses would be called forth and what evidence she planned to submit. Following that, I was taken to a smaller prison than the one I’d been kept in on the Nolus continent. The guards hauled me out immediately, not even allowing me to say goodbye to Jax or my friends.

My new cell was just outside of Jaggedston. It was just as forbidding, but the rock walls didn’t shift like they did on the Nolus continent, but the potions continued.

Each day of my trial blurred from one day to the next. My head was perpetually fuzzy. Muddled. And I was so unbearably tired, but I tried my best to focus.

Each witness who my magistrate had found came forward, one after another. I was vaguely able to understand why my magistrate was presenting them, but it was too hard to fully comprehend what they were saying.

And when the day finally arrived when it was my turn to testify, my heart turned into a galloping beast. Because the courts would not allow me to speak without taking a truth potion.

“Bring the truth potion.” The Queen Justice signaled the guard, who disappeared back into a room in the court’s corner. He re-emerged a few minutes later carrying a tiny vial.

“Drink.” The Queen Justice made a motion toward me. “And then we’ll get to the bottom of all of this.”

Behind me, Jax’s aura pulsed steadily around him. The Queen Justice didn’t like him touching me or talking to me, as she’d made clear on the second day of my trial, so instead of laying a hand on my shoulder as he’d done the first day, he instead used his magic to soothe me as best he could.

Pine and spice wrapped around me, filling my senses as he projected his aura outward. Warmth from his air element billowed against my back next, warming my perpetually cool skin. There was only so much he could do to help me in the courtroom, but he was constantly doing something.

The guard stopped beside me and handed me the small vial.

Reluctantly, I took it, my fingers shaking. I knew that whatever words tumbled from my mouth in the coming hour would be pulled from me as though Jax’s commanding Mistvale magic had taken hold.

For the briefest moment, I glanced at Jax behind me, my stomach tumbling, because if the judges asked me to reveal more than just King Paevin’s plan...if they asked me to tell them what else I’d had the semelees change, the truth potion magic would ensure that I revealed all.

Which would mean that Jax and all of our friends would be damned.

After I drank the potion and the necessary time was allotted to have it in full effect, they placed me on a seat to the side of the judges, thankfully allowing me to sit down so I didn’t topple over right in front of them. The hard chair pressed into my back, hitting every bump in my spine, but I kept my back rigid.

Jax, Esopeel, Lillivel, and all of my Stonewild friends watched on, their expressions encouraging and their eyes sharp.

My magistrate stood astutely at her table, her no-nonsense persona clouding around her.

“Now, let us begin.” The Queen Justice turned in her seat to face me more. “State your full name.”

I parted my lips, my mouth still dry from the multiple potions I’d been forced to ingest, but my voice was clear when I replied, “Elowen Emerson of Faewood Kingdom.”

“Your age?”

“Twenty-eight summers.”

“Your magic?”

“I’m a lorafin.”

The Queen Justice canted her head. “And how many times in your life have you commanded the fates?”

The truth potion’s magic coursed through me, responding for me before I even knew what I was going to say. “Once.”

“And when was that?”

My brow furrowed, and the magic pulled at me, seeking an answer. Yet, I didn’t know. “I apologize, Queen Justice, but I’ve lost track of time. I’m unsure of the exact day that I twisted fate, but it was sometime in the previous month.”

Her lips pursed. “And why did you command the fates?”

Panic engulfed me, but my mouth opened, the words bubbling up from inside me as though pulled of their own accord, but just as I was about to speak, an arrow of magic struck me.

Commanding Mistvale magic spiraled down my throat, entwining with the truth potion’s serum. The magic was so precisely aimed, so perfectly concealed, that nobody in the courtroom blinked. Everyone was entirely unaware of it.

My eyes widened, my foggy mind barely understanding what was happening, but the second I did, my breaths quickened.

Jax sat quietly in the courtroom, his expression masked, his demeanor non-threatening, yet he was wielding his magic so subtly, so precisely , that nobody was any the wiser.

His magic wrestled with the truth potion as the truth potion struggled to erupt the words from me.

“I commanded the fates to—” I licked my lips, the truth of wanting to save the Dark Raider trying to break free of me, but Jax’s magic continued to subdue the potion. My gaze darted around, but other than the Queen Justice and the judges waiting with expectantly raised eyebrows, nobody was acting unsettled.

Jax’s magic heightened. Just a touch more of it entered my system, and the words spilled out of me. “I commanded the fates to stop King Paevin. I commanded them to stop him from marching on the kingdoms and destroying our continent as we know it.” I gasped, my head now pounding from the effects of the truth serum warring against Jax’s potent magic.

The Queen Justice arched an eyebrow. “Is that the only reason?”

My lips parted, the truth again desperately trying to break free, but Jax’s magic engulfed it once more. “Yes.”

She leaned back, her brow furrowing. “I see. And why didn’t you go to the kingsfae to report what you found? Why did you take matters into your own hands?”

“There wasn’t time,” I replied readily, and that was close enough to the truth that not even Jax’s magic or the potion were needed to supply my answer. “Half-breeds were being bred against their will. Several females were already pregnant, and other children had already been born. The longer King Paevin’s plan was continued, the more innocent half-breeds would be targeted. I felt that I needed to act immediately to stop his heinous crimes.”

The Queen Justice and the judges shared another veiled look, and several fae watching my trial began talking.

“Silence!” the Queen Justice roared.

Quiet descended in the courtroom once more.

The Queen Justice angled toward me again. “And have you ever considered twisting fate to your own advantage?” She arched an eyebrow. “Have you ever wanted to use your magic to give yourself immense power or to give someone else an advantage, something that they would not have otherwise been privy to had you not altered fate?”

My mouth opened again, the truth potion demanding that I say yes I’d done such a thing for the Dark Raider, that I’d granted his freedom, but my mate’s magic again pulsed steadily inside me. “No.”

Her eyes widened. For one brief, infinitesimal moment, she looked at me with a flash of guilt.

Even the kingsfae commander and magistrate on the other side shared uneasy looks.

Frowning, the Queen Justice leaned back, a wash of sympathy radiating across her face. Another moment of silence fell over the courtroom, but the Queen Justice straightened, her expression turning shrewd again.

Questions resuming, she didn’t relent. She came at me from all angles, digging into my past, asking me more personal questions, commanding me to reveal every intrusive detail about myself.

Yet each time the truth potion demanded me to reveal anything that might implicate Jax as the Dark Raider or something that would hurt Bastian or our friends, Jax’s magic saved me from responding.

However, as her questioning wore on, Jax’s magic was needed less and less. Most of her questions became more focused on my character, as though she thoroughly wanted to understand my motivations and nothing more.

It seemed the Queen Justice was more interested in learning about my risk to others versus trying to uncover details about the king’s malicious plan.

And by the time her questioning finished and the truth potion began to wear off, she at last stopped.

“I believe that’s enough for today. We shall adjourn and begin questioning again tomorrow.”

My trial continued for the rest of the week. Each day, the prison system continued to force the magic-suppressing potion down my throat, and my head was constantly swimming, so much so that I could barely walk, let alone fully understand all that was happening.

Yet, as my trial wore on, my surprise and love for my mate grew. Fae were brought in to testify on my behalf. Fae who only Jax could have told my magistrate about. Lillivel, Esopeel, Saramel, and even my former Emerson Estate guards were all called to stand witness to my character.

When Mushil was brought into the courtroom, I nearly wept. He looked healthy and whole, his walk smooth and even. And when he sat before the judges, he turned kind eyes on me and told the entire courtroom of the horrific abuse I’d suffered my entire life under Guardian Alleron’s care. And he further revealed that despite that upbringing, my demeanor remained kind and true. He testified that I was a rare fairy who the realm did not need to fear despite my immense magic.

But it was the last fairy to testify who truly seemed to capture everyone’s attention. When Norivun walked into the courtroom, every fairy in attendance took notice. The Solis royal’s huge black wings folded behind him, and his demeanor was as commanding and icy as his northern realm.

Norivun even ingested a truth potion as a sign of good faith before telling the courts of how the prince and I had uncovered what King Paevin had done with the gems mined from his continent. He further explained how it was the prince and me who’d worked tirelessly to ensure all of the half-breeds King Paevin had egregiously used be returned to their normal state of mind.

And he then went on to explain that a similar gem had been used to control me throughout my lifetime. That I’d worn a collar, like a slave, and that my guardian—who the courts had appointed to own me—had viciously used that gem’s control over me only to benefit himself.

Gasps had emitted from the crowd when that knowledge was shared.

Yet, despite all of that, Norivun testified that he’d never seen anything but me wanting to do good in the realm. That, despite all of the suffering I’d been subjected to in my lifetime, I still wanted what was best for others.

And even when the opposing magistrate and kingsfae commander had their turn to argue their side, it wasn’t lost on me that they didn’t seem enthralled with the idea of imprisoning me. Magistrate Fortifine’s case had been too strong, too convincing,

At last, as the trial came to a close and the Queen Justice had me stand before her, she handed down her sentence.

“Elowen Emerson, lorafin of Faewood Kingdom, the supernatural courts have ruled that you are not a danger to the realm. They have further ruled that you enacted your lorafin magic to twist fate as a way to save the realm from further misgivings.” She banged the gong near her bench. “Your charges have been dropped, and you are free to go, Lady Emerson, but let me remind you, should you use your lorafin magic to twist fate again, without the permission of the courts, you run the risk of being imprisoned once more. Do I make myself clear?”

Tears filled my eyes, and an explosion of satisfaction burst from Jax’s aura.

I dipped my head and nodded emphatically. “Yes, Queen Justice. I understand, and I can assure you that I will never twist fate again.”