Chapter 66

Hannah’s POV

“Get up, thief,” a guard said from the doors of my cell.

I opened my swollen eyes and tried to peer through the darkened atmosphere; I could almost make the shape of the guard standing before me. He was bulky and towered over me in an intimidating manner. His aura was darker than the room itself; I knew he wasn’t one of Sebastian’s guards. He had to have been Jack’s.

I struggled to stand to my feet; my entire body was bruised from when Jack beat me earlier that day. I grabbed the edge of the concrete wall and pulled myself to my feet.

The guard stared at me, shaking his head with disgust.

“I’m too weak…” I muttered, trying to keep the weakness out of my tone, but I failed to do so. I coughed immediately after speaking and I tumbled back to the ground as blood escaped through my lips.

He must have damaged my ribs if I was coughing up blood.

“Your trial is starting soon, you need to get to the courtroom,” he ordered; there were no emotions in his tone. He had zero compassion for someone who was as injured as I was. He didn’t care that I couldn’t even stand on my own and that I was coughing up blood.

Wait…

Did he say the trial was starting soon?

“A trial?” I asked, mimicking my thoughts. “Already?”

“Queen’s orders.”

Of course, it was.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that Magnolia would want the trial to be sooner than later. I wondered if Sebastian had evidence to prove my innocence. He wouldn’t go ahead with the trial unless he was prepared. Right?

As much as I wanted to believe that I had an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Let’s go!” He said, aggravated as he grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

He led me through the dark dungeon and up the stairs until my vision was invaded by the blinding lights of the palace foyer. As we walked toward the back end of the palace, I caught the eyes of Caroline. She looked pale and worried as she stared around my damaged body. I could only imagine what she must have been thinking at that moment.

I wanted to say something to her, but the force of the guard pulling me along with him was painful to the bruises on my skin. I could hardly move on my own, let alone speak. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through this trial.

As we reached the courtroom and entered, everyone turned to me, and they gasped.

…

Sebastian’s POV

“What the hell happened to her?!” Eric hissed as Hannah walked into the courtroom.

Her eyes were nearly swollen shut, and he couldn’t imagine she could see well, if at all. She had dark bruises and gashes all over her body, including her jawline. Her clothes were ripped, and she looked almost dirty, probably from the dungeon grounds.

It was a miracle she was able to get to the courtroom at all.

He then noticed how forcefully the guard was pulling her along with him and it started to make sense.

“Who did this?!” Eric growled, fury boiling through him.

Sebastian was nearly shaking with the urge to let Eric loose on everyone in the courtroom. He was infuriated at the fact that his chosen mate was in such poor conditions. He scanned the courtroom until his eyes landed on Jack who sat in the front, beside Magnolia. Jack’s beady eyes never left Sebastian’s face.

“That bastard…” Sebastian muttered to his wolf. “He did this to her.”

Eric was itching to escape and tear Jack apart, but Sebastian took in a deep breath, attempting to calm him. He knew it was no use though; Eric was too strong for a couple of deep breaths to soothe him. He pulled his eyes away from Jack to focus back on Hannah who was watching him through her swollen eyes. There was something about her that instantly started to calm his wolf down. He felt a wave of tranquility washing over him and he was able to ease himself back into his seat.

The guard brought her to the front of the room where she sat nearby. She glanced back up at Sebastian, nervously. He could tell she had so many questions but was too afraid and too weak to speak. He tried to reassure her with a gentle smile, but he knew the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He wasn’t sure of the outcome of this trial either; he was completely unprepared to go against Magnolia.

He knew in his heart that Hannah didn’t steal the scepter; he isn’t sure why she was researching about it and how she found it in the first place, but he knows she didn’t steal it. Magnolia and Jack were up to something and one look at Hannah’s damaged face, and his thoughts were confirmed.

The judge sat at the podium, going over all the documents that were presented to him before he stood up, and addressed the rest of the courtroom.

“Luna Queen Hannah is being charged with the crime of stealing a powerful scepter from the Alpha King,” the judge began. “Before the scepter went missing, Luna Queen had left the wolf king, anticipating a divorce, is that correct?”

“Yes,” Magnolia spoke up quickly. “We have the divorce papers she signed as evidence.”

Hannah visibly tensed in her seat; Sebastian clenched his fists to keep himself calm.

“I see,” the judge said, staring at the papers at the podium. “It says here that you had suspicions of her thievery and sent warriors to search her belongings and came across an image and some research on the same scepter that went missing?”

“That is correct,” Magnolia said, glancing over at Hannah with her darkening gaze.

“Did you actually find the scepter?” The judge asked.

Magnolia pulled her eyes away from Hannah to address the judge.

“No,” she answered. “That isn’t the point. The point is that the scepter went missing at the same time Hannah decides to leave my stepson. It isn’t a coincidence.”

“But you didn’t actually find the scepter?” The judge asked, raising his eyebrows.

“It doesn’t matter if it was found or not,” Magnolia hissed. “She’s been lying to us this entire time. The scepter was locked away, nobody but Sebastian knew where it was. She somehow found it and kept that information to herself. Do you honestly believe she just looked at it and put it back?”

“Yes,” Sebastian said, standing to his feet; he kept his eyes locked on Magnolia. “That’s exactly what I think happened. If you have no proof that she stole, it…”

“She researched it!” Magnolia growled.

“Research isn’t proof of anything other than curiosity,” Sebastian shot back. “You have no case here. This trial was a mistake.”

“There was a witness,” the judge interrupted. “It’s stated on this paper that one of your maid’s witnessed Hannah taking the scepter.”

“Excuse me?” Sebastian asked, turning his attention to the judge.

“The maid… Rosalie,” the judge said, reading the paper.

Magnolia had a smug look on her face as she folded her arms across her chest.

Rosalie? Sebastian had never heard of a Rosalie. Then again, Magnolia was constantly hiring new servants every time a servant turned up dead. So, he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t know this specific one. But did she really witness Hannah stealing the scepter?

A small maid stood from her seat in the crowd; she looked oddly familiar. He must have seen her around the palace after all. She walked to the front of the courtroom and stood near the podium. She looked a bit lost; like her mind was elsewhere.

Then she spoke and her voice rang with familiarity.

Sebastian suddenly realized who this girl was.

She was the sister of that young servant boy that died in the kitchen from Magnolia’s hands.