(Alaric's POV)
"Is it cold in here or is it just me," Don asks me. We just walked into the high court that's now filled with loads of people.
They haven't opened the court room yet, but shit seems to already be hitting the fan. The unknown people around us seem to be arguing and already starting to choose sides before the trial even starts.
"No, it feels a lot more heated to me right now," I answer to my beta. "Who are all these people? I thought the trial would be private."
"You can't ask for privacy when a really important figure has been killed," Don says. I guess he's right. The wolves here want to see Markus be avenged, while most of the witches are sticking up for Anne. The vampires are floating with either side.
"I just want my girl back. I'm starting to grow hives from being away from her." Don shivers and itches his arm. He's been like this since they took Chris back into custody.
"We're going to get them all back," I reassure him and myself.
"That's all up to how well Anne can defend herself," Don makes a good point.
We see the different groups start to crowd around the entrance and they get louder. In the middle of the crowd, a path starts to form as people are pushed out of the way. A group of five emerge from the path between the crowd.
Gianna, Giovanni, their mother Hailey, and two guards walked through. Gianna leads them with the two guards flanking her sides. Her face doesn't show anything she feels inside, while her brother and mother are the opposite.
Giovanni's face is brooding. I know he's been waiting for this day and he wished he were the one that found Anne and brought her back. After his sister took his spot in the higher court, he pretty much went into hiding until this moment arrived.
He doesn't seem to be as angry as before, with flames in his eyes or smoking ears. It's more of a freezer burn, cold, silence. I'm not sure if this burning coldness is better than his loud anger.
Hailey looks tired, but a little better than the last time I saw her. I knows she's been through many hard nights of sleeping. It's evident on her face, but it seems she's finally ready to move on and just be there for her kids.
"Lock up the witch!" The chants break my train of thought. Half of the crowd starts to demand justice, while the other half refuses to believe Anne is guilty. Gianna ignores the chants and ushers her group into the courtroom and disappears.
Another powerful figure walks through the main entrance and she demands attention as she walks through.
"Everyone quiet down," Kora, the vampire countess shouts, silenting everyone. "The courtroom is now open to the public. You will stay silent throughout the trial. If you make a riot, you will be asked to leave. The only noise we should hear, is from the defense, offense, and whoever we choose to sit on the witness stand."
She marches to the doors Gianna and her group just went through and opens them up. The room starts to empty out as the adjacent one fills. Don and I didn't move though as we realized what Kora said.
"Alaric, their doing a Martha trial," Don tells me. I start to become more nervous.
The history of Martha verses the higher court is that Martha Lewis was a powerfully vicious vampire. Everywhere she went, humans would go missing and would be found days later dead. It was hard to trace who was killing all these humans and she'd hush any witness with fear and intimidation.
Only one witness was able to ever get a word to the court about her mass killings, but was soon found dead afterwards. The court investigated and followed her around. They could find things that they could convict her for, but evidence would go missing shortly after. The only thing they could do was force a trial and hide the names of any witnesses they found.
Martha was forced into court, but the witnesses were scared to talk. They feared Martha. The witch representative of the higher court at that time was forced to enclose the courtroom, cast a spell that forced anyone on the witness stand to tell the truth. They added an additional rule that they could bring anyone in the courtroom onto the stand and they would be forced to tell the truth.
They don't do this with every trial because it would be inhuman and against our rights to privacy. They want to rule this court like the humans and consider defendants innocent until proven guilty. It gives them a chance to tell the truth without being forced. The Martha trial is only for extreme cases and this case happens to involve the murder of a higher court leader.
"They can't possibly do it. It's only Kora and Gianna here. They'd need to have Cassandra here to be able to do it. They need the witch representative to do it and she hasn't been here in New Orleans for over a year," I tell Don. He shrugs his shoulders.
"This just better go the way I want it to. If not, I'm breaking Chris out on my own," he growls out. He's always been more agitated without Chris around. This version of Don isn't the best.
We enter the courtroom and it's congested. Everyone's whispering, trying to keep their voices down. I catch some people giving Don and I dirty looks, probably associating us with Anne, who they believe is a murderer. We find a place to sit.
I can spot Arsenio sitting by Giovanni and Hailey. He's been oddly attached to their family since Gianna claimed her spot in the court. He's sucking up to them to keep any semblance of business contact with them that he had with Markus. He doesn't miss a chance to have friends with higher power.
We hear the hardwood gavel hit the desk at the very front of the room. It brings all of our attention over to Kora and Gianna, who are up top. Gianna clears her throat to speak.
"The trial will start now. We call for the defendant, Anne Micheal, to enter with her legal team," Gianna says loud and clear.
I smell her before I see her. The strong scent of apple blossoms and cinnamon fill my senses.
I could never forget that scent.
The doors of the court room opens and she enters. The woman that had the whole world looking for her stands only a few feet from my seat.
The courtroom goes quiet as they see the angel that has been accused of spilling blood walks in gracefully with her father by her side.
She keeps her head straight, ignoring all the stares, including my own. Unlike her, her father takes a look around the space. He looks into the eyes of every person that wishes the downfall of his daughter and every person that hopes she wins this case. He looks at me and I see only full certainty in his eyes for the outcome of this trial and it helps me calm down.
She reaches the front where everyone can see her and where she has to look up at the two judges, Kora and Gianna. Although they sit above her, she still gives off the aura of being the only one in power. Maybe I only feel that way because she's the only creature that owns my mind, body, and soul.
"Where's your legal team?" Kora's voice booms through the quiet room. Anne's body stands stern, unmoved by Kora's intimidation.
"This is it," she motions to herself and Greg. Her voice is velvety and strong at the same time. I can't believe it still holds so much power over me.
"Well, then I wish you the best of luck." Sarcasm bleeds through Gianna's words. I know she's jumping with giddy on the inside. "I'll ask our witch representative to secure the courtroom now and prepare it for the Martha trial rule."
The door opens one last time and the one and only Cassandra walks in. None of us can see anything the she's done, but we can already feel the effects of the spell as she passes the rows we sit in. As she passes me, I almost feel sleepy and calm. I shake it off and focus to the front where the whole trio of the higher court now sits in front of us all and above Anne and her father.
"Anne, you have been accused of assassinating Sir Markus Zevo and killing 80 of his pack members. Your trial will tied into the fate of Chris Micheal, Hannah Jones, and Jaisley Miller. How do you plead," Cassandra directs to Anne.
"Not guilty."
And so now everything begins.