Sitting in his assigned seat, Jem gazed around the circular court chamber. It was much bigger than he had anticipated. He had been brought down to the bowels of the castle around eight thirty by one of the minor court officials. Initially, he had been shown to the rooms he would share with Trine for the duration of the trial then a short while later, a second official had escorted him back up two floors to the court room.
The purebloods were all seated at a long, curved table facing towards the centre of the room and the rows of seats where the witnesses were gathering. Including Trine, they were all dressed in identical blue velvet robes. Something wasn't right, he thought as he scanned the serene faces of the vampires. Quickly he counted them. Twelve. Someone was missing. Checking along the row, he realised that it was Alessandro who was conspicuous by his absence.
A large metal box sat in the centre of an intricate circular pattern drawn on the slate floor in the centre of the room. It was positioned directly in front of the pure bloods. Coils of red rope lay either side of it.
All around him, the air reeked of magic.
He turned his attention to the pure bloods who were quietly whispering among themselves. Stefan and his mother sat to the right of a large, bald, coloured gentleman. He assumed that he was Jefferson. To his left there was an empty seat then there was Michael. To his mother's right sat a striking looking vampire who had to be Jai from India. At the far right of the table, Trine sat chatting to the gentleman beside her. Taking a guess, Jem figured it had to be Miguel.
Standing at intervals around the room were numerous court officials all dressed in identical black tailcoats and black trousers with red piping down the outside of their legs. They wore white high-collared shirts with white cravats. There were three officials who wore red cravats and Jem guessed that they must be the senior officials. Each of them held a wooden staff with an ornate silver top piece. All three were different.
Behind him, he heard the shuffling of feet as other witnesses took their seats. Once they were seated, Jefferson got to his feet and raised his hands. His height was what struck Jem first. The vampire stood at least seven feet tall. He was an imposing figure of a man.
Silence fell upon the chamber.
The three officials with the staffs, raised them then brought them down hard on the slate floor in unison as Jefferson recited an incantation in a language that Jem was unfamiliar with.
A shock wave reverberated through the chamber. He could almost see it ripple through the air.
"The chamber is now sealed," declared Jefferson. He spoke with a deep warm American accent that revealed he was most likely originally from Louisiana or thereabouts. "The seal will remain unbroken until this trial concludes, a verdict is agreed upon and, if appropriate, the sentence laid out. The verdict of this trial must be reach by a majority of no less than three and there can be no abstentions."
He paused to glance along the table.
"Some of you will have noticed that one of the thirteen has yet to take their seat," he continued. "They are however present in the room so we can proceed. Michael, please bring the accused before us."
With a nod, Michael got to his feet and walked round to stand in front of the metal crate. He kept his back to the witnesses as he removed the protection from the box and slid back the bolts. Stepping behind the door, he pulled it open, keeping it between himself and the opening.
Instantly a blood curdling scream filled the chamber as Alessandro emerged from inside the crate, dragging a furious Anna with him. With the rattle of the shackles echoing round the room, Alessandro pulled the dark angel to her feet and pushed her into position directly in front of Jefferson. She spat on him, screaming curses at the top of her voice.
Speaking in the same foreign tongue, Jefferson recited another incantation, weaving intricate magical symbols in the air with his huge hands. The cursing stopped. As silence fell, the shackles fell loose and the fine chains that had been binding Anna's arms and wings disappeared.
Free from his charge for the first time in six long months, Alessandro stood rubbing his wrists for a moment before bowing to the table of pure bloods.
"Please excuse me un momento," said the Italian vampire politely.
"You are excused for ten minutes, Alessandro," advised Jefferson, indicating that he could leave the room.
"Grazie."
Less than ten minutes later, Alessandro returned to the court room, dressed in his blue robes and took his seat at the table. In the interim, two of the officials had removed the metal box.
Anna stood still and silent in a pentagram that had been drawn on the floor directly in line with the centre of the table.
Clearing his throat, Jefferson addressed the room, "Court is now in session. The trial of our sister Anna, daughter of Trystan, has now commenced. The list of charges is lengthy and runs to more than a hundred individual breaches of the code of conduct that we are bound by. There is a full list of these charges in front of each of you but for the benefit of our guests, each golden rule has been broken on multiple occasions. There are five charges listed where all the rules were broken simultaneously by the actions of our sister."
He paused.
"This trial will be lengthy. It will be complex. There will be hours of testimony and debate, but I implore each of you to stick to the facts as they are presented in this chamber over the coming days, weeks, months…"
Again, he paused.
"While the court is in session, our sister Anna will remain standing within the sacred symbol as she is now. Enchantments prevent her from moving from this spot during the session. Enchantments will also force her to speak her whole truth. Should she attempt to lie, she will be instantly punished by the magic that binds her to the pentagram. In due course, if any of our witnesses are called to stand before the Thirteen, the same laws apply. If there are no questions, we shall commence."
No one spoke.
"I call our first witness…"
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