Chapter 38 Prosecution

Chapter 38 Prosecution
Sienna's POV

They threw me into a cell that smelled like fear and old blood.

The chains stayed on and burned my wrists.

I had one hour before they decided if I lived or died.

One hour before they brought my daughter into that courtroom.

I paced the small space and tried not to think about what Celeste wanted with Lily.

Testing her for the moon witch gene. That's what Dr. Helena had said.

But what if they found it? What if Lily had the same power I did?

Would they kill her too?

The door opened and a guard shoved someone inside.

Kael stumbled in and the door slammed shut behind him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I demanded to see you. They gave me five minutes." He moved closer. "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?"

"No."

We stood there and I didn't know what to say.

"Dr. Helena bought you time," Kael said. "The genetic evidence is real. Half the Assembly carries dormant moon witch genes."

"Including you."

"Including me." He touched my face where the guard had hit me. "I'm sorry I didn't know sooner. If I'd known what you were, what Lily was, maybe I could have protected you both."

"You rejected me because I was wolfless. Finding out I'm a moon witch wouldn't have changed that."

"It would have changed everything." His voice was rough. "I was a coward. I let my mother and the pack tell me what to do. I threw away the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Kael, don't."

"I love you. I've always loved you. Even when I was too weak to admit it."

The words should have meant something. Should have made me feel something.

But all I felt was tired.

"Your five minutes are up," I said.

"Sienna—"

"They're going to test Lily. They're going to find out she's a moon witch. And then they're going to kill us both." My voice cracked. "So your love doesn't matter. Nothing matters except getting her out of here alive."

"Then we fight. We break you out. We run."

"To where? They'll hunt us forever."

"Then we keep running forever."

The door opened and guards grabbed Kael.

"Time's up," one said.

They dragged him out and I was alone again.

I sat on the cold floor and put my head in my hands.

This was it. This was how it ended.

Not fighting. Not running. Just waiting in a cell for them to kill me.

The door opened again and I expected more guards.

Instead, Celeste walked in.

She looked older without her throne and her power.

Just an old woman who'd lived too long.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"To tell you the truth." She sat on the floor across from me. "About the laws I wrote. About the choices I made."

"I don't want to hear it."

"Too bad. You're going to listen anyway." She leaned back against the wall. "When the Assembly came for us, we fought back. Every moon witch used their full power to defend themselves."

"Good."

"No, not good. Because our full power was terrifying. We destroyed cities. Killed thousands. Became the monsters they accused us of being."

I looked up at her.

"The Assembly didn't start the war," Celeste continued. "We did. By refusing to control ourselves. By using our power without restraint."

"They were trying to kill us!"

"And we were killing everyone around us trying to survive!" Her voice rose. "Innocent people. Children. Entire families wiped out because a moon witch lost control."

"So you decided we should all die?"

"I decided we should all submit. Learn control. Prove we weren't monsters." She looked at her hands. "But submission became slavery. Control became oppression. And I watched it happen for three hundred years."

"Why didn't you stop it?"

"Because I was afraid! Afraid that if I spoke up, they'd start the purges again. Afraid that changing the laws would kill the few moon witches left."

"So you did nothing."

"I did what I thought would keep us alive." Tears ran down her face. "I was wrong."

The confession hung in the air.

"Why tell me this now?" I asked.

"Because in one hour, I have to decide if you live or die. And I need to know something first."

"What?"

"If I set you free, what will you do? Will you use your power to destroy everyone who hurt you? Will you become the monster they fear?"

I thought about Vera. About the guards. About everyone who'd made my life hell.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Part of me wants to burn them all."

"And the other part?"

"The other part just wants to take my daughter and disappear. Live somewhere they'll never find us."

Celeste nodded slowly. "That's the right answer."

"What?"

"If you'd said you wanted revenge, I'd know you were too dangerous to live. If you'd said you forgave everyone, I'd know you were lying." She stood. "But wanting to protect your child above everything else? That's the answer of a mother, not a monster."

"So you're going to let me go?"

"I'm going to try. But the Assembly won't make it easy." She walked to the door. "The genetic evidence bought you time. But time isn't freedom."

"Then what do I do?"

"Survive the next hour. Let your daughter testify. And pray that the Assembly sees what I see."

"What do you see?"

"A mother who will do anything to protect her child. Even die." Celeste opened the door. "That's not a monster. That's a hero."

She left and I was alone again.

Guards came thirty minutes later.

They dragged me back to the courtroom and the chains burned worse than before.

The Assembly members filled every seat.

Celeste sat on her throne and looked down at me.

"We've reviewed the genetic evidence," she said. "The council has voted to continue the trial."

My stomach dropped. Not freedom. Just more theater.

"The prosecution may call its final witness," Celeste said.

A door opened at the back of the courtroom.

My heart stopped.

They led Lily in and she looked so small in chains.

"No," I whispered. "Please, not her."

"The prosecution calls Lily Ashford-Voss to testify," someone announced.

They brought her to a small stand in front of Celeste.

Lily looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"It's okay, baby," I called out. "Just tell the truth."

"Silence!" A guard hit me.

I fell to my knees.

"Lily Ashford-Voss," Celeste said gently. "Do you know why you're here?"

"Yes," Lily said. Her voice was small but clear. "You want me to say bad things about my mommy."

"We want you to tell the truth."

"I will. But the truth isn't what you want to hear."

Murmurs spread through the courtroom.

A prosecutor stepped forward. He was tall and mean-looking.

"Lily, has your mother ever hurt anyone?"

"Yes."

My heart broke.

"Has she killed anyone?"

"Yes."

"Has she destroyed property?"

"Yes."

"So she's dangerous?"

Lily looked right at him. "No. She's protective."

"Those are the same thing."

"No, they're not." Lily's voice got stronger. "Mommy only hurts people who try to hurt us first. She only kills people who want to kill her. She only destroys things to keep me safe."

"That doesn't make it right."

"It makes it necessary!" Lily's hands gripped the stand. "You don't know what it's like. Being hunted. Being scared all the time. Watching your mommy get hurt trying to protect you."

"Your mother chose that life."

"No, you chose it for her! You rejected her! You called her defective! You threw her away like garbage!" Tears streamed down Lily's face. "And when she came back strong, you called her a monster!"

"Lily, calm down," Celeste said.

"I won't calm down! You want the truth? Here's the truth!" Lily turned to face the entire courtroom. "My mommy is the bravest person I know. She gave up everything to keep me safe. She lived in hiding for five years. She let people hate her. She became the thing you feared most. And she did it all for me!"

"That's enough," the prosecutor said.

"No, it's not enough!" Lily's voice echoed. "You want to kill her because you're scared. But she's not the one you should fear."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise." Lily's eyes started to glow.

Silver light.

Just like mine.

"She's manifesting!" someone screamed.

"Get the suppressors!" another yelled.

Guards rushed forward with weapons.

But it was too late.

Power exploded from Lily's small body and threw everyone backward.

The courtroom erupted into chaos.

And my five-year-old daughter stood in the center of it all, glowing like a star, proving she was exactly what they feared.

A moon witch.