I turned back to Harold and watched him as he looked at the dead Fae. “You’ve accused us of attacking the Spokane Guild.”
“We have proof!” he shouted.
“You only have proof that we entered it,” I replied. “Alden is going to explain the rest, but I will warn you once. Only once, Harold,” I said with enough warning in the words, that his eyes narrowed with the tone of it. “If you try to accuse him, or charge him here today without hearing him out, you will get the war you want. Look into the crowd and tell me what you see,” I whispered.
Ryder had changed forms. His warriors were decked in full armor, including the masks that concealed everything but their eyes. The crowd moved away from them as the veil of invisibility disappeared. Adam had come with his Shadow Warriors, Liam had brought a few of the Blood Warriors as well, and the army looked positively evil, and awe-inspiring.
I could see the cameras flashing pictures of the warriors, a rare sight in the Human world, since marching in full armor with this many would cause even the stoutest of heart and courage to cower.
“That’s…” Harold whispered and I watched with a mixture of annoyance, and pity.
“Man up; it’s the Horde King. It is also my fiancé, and the father of my children. I suggest you consider and weigh your options before you make any hasty decisions. Make no mistake, Harold, we don’t want a war with the Human race, but we will fight if you push us. I am the same girl who fought for the Spokane Guild, but at the same time, I am Fae. They are my people, and I will protect them at all cost. We came because you’ve accused us, so lay out the charges and one of our own Elders will speak for us.”
I moved to the bottom of the stairs where Ryder and his men now stood; since the crowd had given him and his men a wide berth. “I took their power to create war away. Alden, tell them what happened at the Guild. If you see parents of the children we have, we will bring them here to be reunited with them. The others will have to come later when we discover who they belong to. No child is to be returned to the Guild if they don’t have parents to claim them,” I said, making sure Harold heard it.
“I’ve got it from here, kid,” Alden said proudly as he squared his shoulders and moved to stand in front of Harold. “I’m here because you’ve accused me and my niece of betraying the Guild, and I’ve never done anything to endanger the Guild or anyone inside of it. The Spokane Guild was attacked, Harold, but that attack came from within. The Guild itself has been compromised,” Alden said sternly, reminding me of the strong warrior he is.
“You lie,” Harold said as he looked around to the Humans who now looked worried, and unsure of who to believe. “There’s no proof of what you say.”
“I am proof, and I also have the children that you’ve accused us of slaughtering. A lot of them died at the hands of Witches and Warlocks who were supposed to protect them, Harold, and that is a hard loss for us all. I was drugged by one of my own librarians; she was only a librarian, one I trusted and helped raise, so she had to have been under the orders of another. Someone she thought she could trust.”
“Olivia,” one of the women said as she pushed her way through the large group on the stairs. “Tell me, is she still alive? She and Alden both will face charges for betraying us. You did say that it’s only fair that we judge and sentence our own people,” the woman said, and I watched her carefully.
“Olivia is dead,” I said, and watched as relief pinched her features.
Interesting.