Chapter 44 Adrain's Verdict
Lila opened her mouth but nothing came. She had no proof. Nothing except memories of conversations with no witnesses. Everything Margot had done was careful, calculated, leaving no trace. Everything Garrett had admitted was private, deniable.
"I demand justice for Celeste." Garrett's voice rang through the chamber. "She was murdered by someone jealous and cruel. Someone who wanted to steal her life. And I demand that person face the full punishment of law. Not just for Celeste, but for every soul that suffers when murderers escape justice."
The council erupted in agreement. Nobles calling for trial. Calling for punishment. Calling for Lila's head.
Adrian stood silent through it all, his face carved from stone. Through the bond, Lila felt his wolf howling. Felt the beast inside him tearing at restraints, demanding he protect his mate. But the human part of Adrian was drowning in duty and doubt and the crushing weight of evidence.
"Your Majesty." Marcus, Adrian's Beta, spoke for the first time. He'd been silent throughout the investigation, but now he stepped forward with grim satisfaction. "I must speak honestly. I've never trusted Lady Lila's presence in this palace. Never understood why you fought so hard to keep her here against all reason. Now we know why. The mate bond clouded your judgment. Made you protect someone who was dangerous all along."
"Marcus." Adrian's voice was warning.
"No, Your Majesty. Someone must say what everyone's thinking. Lady Lila has been a threat from the day she arrived. She caused division in your marriage. Created scandal. Undermined the Queen's authority. And now we have proof she's capable of murder." Marcus's voice hardened. "I was right to question her presence. Right to suggest she be sent away. If you'd listened three years ago, Queen Celeste would still be alive."
The words hit Adrian like physical blows. Through the bond, Lila felt his guilt explode. Felt him wondering if Marcus was right. If keeping Lila close had been the mistake that led to Celeste's death.
"The Beta speaks truth." A councilor stood. "Your Majesty, your attachment to Lady Lila has compromised your judgment. You must step back from this decision. Let the council determine her fate without your interference."
"She's my mate." The words came out strangled. "The bond gives me right to defend her."
"The bond gives you bias." Thorne's voice was firm. "You cannot be objective about someone connected to your soul. This is exactly why we have laws. Why justice cannot be personal. You must let the council handle this, Your Majesty. You must step aside."
Adrian's hands gripped the table so hard the wood cracked. His eyes flashed gold then blue then gold again. His wolf fighting for dominance. Fighting to protect mate regardless of evidence or duty or consequences.
But the human part of him was breaking. Lila felt it through the bond. Felt him crumbling under the weight of it all.
"I need time." His voice was hollow. "Time to think. Time to process everything."
"Time is a luxury the kingdom can't afford." Thorne stood. "Queen Celeste is buried. The evidence is presented. Justice delayed is justice denied. You must make a decision now, Your Majesty. Will you defend your mate despite overwhelming evidence of guilt? Or will you uphold the law and let justice proceed?"
The choice was impossible. Lila saw it breaking Adrian apart. Saw him dying inside trying to decide between bond and duty. Between what his wolf screamed and what his crown demanded.
"I." He stopped. Started again. "Lady Lila will face trial. A formal trial with full council oversight. She'll be given chance to present defense. To call witnesses. To challenge evidence." His voice gained strength even as his soul shattered. "But until that trial concludes, she will remain imprisoned. No visitors except her servant. No communication with anyone who might help her flee or tamper with evidence."
"Adrian, no." Lila's voice broke on his name. "Please. You can't do this."
"I have to." He wouldn't meet her eyes. "Lock her in her chambers until the council decides her punishment. Post guards at every entrance. Make sure she stays contained."
"Your Majesty makes the right choice." Thorne nodded approvingly. "Difficult, but necessary."
Guards moved to seize Lila. She struggled, reaching toward Adrian through the bond. Trying to make him feel her innocence. Trying to push truth through their connection.
But Adrian had locked himself away completely. Built walls so high and thick nothing could penetrate. For the first time in three years, the bond between them went silent. Not broken. But blocked so thoroughly it might as well be dead.
"Adrian, please." Tears streamed down her face as guards grabbed her arms. "Don't do this. Don't let them destroy us. The bond. Everything we've protected. Don't let doubt win."
He finally looked at her. The devastation in his eyes was absolute. "I'm sorry. For all of it. But I can't trust my own judgment anymore. Can't trust what the bond tells me. Can't trust anything except evidence and law." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Forgive me."
They dragged her from the chamber. Through corridors full of hostile faces. Past servants who whispered monster. Past nobles who called for her death. Back to her chambers that had become her prison more completely than any cell.
The door locked behind her with terrible finality. Lila collapsed onto her bed, the mate bond thrumming with Adrian's anguish even through the walls he'd built. He was breaking just as much as she was. Dying inside from doubt and duty and impossible choices.
But breaking together wasn't the same as surviving together. And right now, with Adrian choosing law over bond, with the entire kingdom calling for her blood, Lila understood with devastating clarity that survival might not be possible anymore.
The bond could endure distance. Could endure denial. Could endure years of torture and longing.
But could it endure this? This absolute shattering of trust? This choice of duty over destiny?
She didn't know. And that uncertainty was almost worse than the accusation of murder.