Resurrection (15 page)

Maddie breathed a huge sigh of relief when she felt Rykerian and Tesslar each take one of her arms. Immediately, she felt their Power of Tranquility wash over her. They both sent her suggestions to breathe slowly and deeply and to concentrate on one sound versus the millions she was trying to absorb.

Less than twenty minutes later, the contingency made an impressive procession as they moved in unison toward the Council chambers and trial. They were saluted constantly, as befitted a royal family, and heads bowed in deference to them. The walk to the chambers took about fifteen minutes, and by the time they arrived, they had caused quite a stir. The streets were lined with a multitude of citizens, cheering them on.

They all hoped this was a good omen for them, a large supportive showing. Rayn was loved greatly by these people, and there were many that were upset and disappointed that he had been placed in confinement.

Their timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. They wanted to enter the chambers after everyone had arrived, including Rayn, to make a more impressive show of support. The Council members had been seated, along with the Great Leader and First Mate, and Rayn had just been escorted to his place in the court when the contingency arrived. A great many attending were shocked by their visit, and you could hear the murmurs when the court bailiff began announcing their arrival.

“Attention, joining this Council session today are the following: Therron, Rykerian, Tesslar, Xarrid and Sharra Yarrister and Madeline Mariah Pearce.”

Gasps of shock reverberated throughout the chambers. Rayn stood up, a dazzling smile of appreciation on his face. Maddie stole a sideways glance at him, and she could barely keep herself from breaking into a smile. She wanted to dash over to him and throw herself in his arms, but she didn’t dare. Everything had been carefully rehearsed, and they needed to stick to plan.

“Court is now in session on this day. All rise.”

Everyone stood and a hush fell over the chambers.

One of the Elders spoke up about the charges that were being tried against Rayn on that day, and so the trial began...

Athyna Monteveldo sat in the chambers waiting for the trial to begin. She had to hand it to Rayn. As usual, he looked composed and as cool as a cucumber. She was still troubled that there was even going to be a trial. Rayn Yarrister was of such high moral standards that he would never do anything against any of the covenants unless he had good reason. There must be no other possible course of action. Athyna trusted him enough that she would bet all of her worldly possessions on him. He was just that kind of male.

She started thinking back to when they were youths in school together. Rayn always, without fail, took the high road, even when it caused him great pains. He was flawlessly unselfish, but most of all, Athyna knew him to be kind. He never had a bad word to say about anyone.

Athyna had been very close to both Rayn and Therron. Her father had designs on a relationship between her and Rayn, and he would try to promote this relationship at every opportunity that he could. Athyna always thought he was obsessed with it. She had a deep fondness for Rayn, but it never went beyond that.

Her father would berate her sometimes for that, telling her she was too young to decide what her feelings were. He often threw her into embarrassing situations with Rayn at every possible opportunity, but luckily for Athyna, Rayn would laugh it off and tell her not to worry about it.

Eventually though, Athyna purposely started keeping her distance from him to avoid any awkward moments that her father kept trying to conjure up.

It was a shame too because she missed seeing the Yarristers. Although, in recent times, all the children were stationed on Earth, so it would be unlikely for her to see any of them anyway.

Just then the bailiff stood up and announced the arrival of all the Yarrister children. Athyna had eyes for only one though and that was Therron. It had been over a year since she had seen him, and he truly was a sight for her sore eyes.

She always thought he was the most handsome of all of them, in his unruly sort of way. Therron never had a care for his appearance. Yes, he was neat and orderly, but he didn’t give a snit about what his hair looked like or if he was attired in the latest of fashions. Rykerian was the one for that, and although Rykerian was exceedingly handsome, it was Therron who had captured Athyna’s heart.

Therron, of course, had absolutely no idea of this, and Athyna intended to keep it that way. She would die of humiliation if he ever found out her true feelings. If she was honest with herself though, there was a part of her that wished he did know. She was tired of being hounded by everyone for not taking a mate—or not even trying to find one at that.

The entire family looked stunning, as was the norm, but Athyna suddenly noticed the beautiful female that accompanied them. The bailiff said her name was Madeline something-or-other. That wasn’t familiar at all to Athyna, so she sat there wondering who the girl was.

In the meantime, her eyes wandered over to Therron again. Yes, she was most definitely still powerfully attracted to him. He was not exactly what you would call scruffy, but he just had that devil-may-care look that so appealed to Athyna. His lovely hair all but begged her fingers to work their way through it. And those huge green eyes! They were stunning. Why did it always seem that the males got the beautiful eyes? What she would do given the chance with him. She knew it was just a dream, but a female could dream, couldn’t she?

Athyna started focusing more on the beautiful girl with the Yarristers, and it hit her like an annihilator when she realized what she was wearing.

Great Deity! She is attired in clothing of a bonded female. That must be Rayn’s female, because she has on armbands of the Firstborn mate’s. Heavens above, what is going on here?

Athyna slowly began to comprehend the scene unfolding before her. Rayn must have broken the covenant for this female. Athyna believed that he still would only do it for good reason and with great thought. She began to pay closer attention to what was taking place here.

As the trial progressed, Athyna realized what Rayn had done, and it hit her then that he must have formed a bond with this female instantly. Rayn was the most duty bound male she had ever known. Even when they were children and adolescents, Rayn never did anything out of the realm of duty. He was always the goody two shoes in the family and was teased, sometimes incessantly, over it. He was very calculating in all of his actions, so when he brought this female to Vesturon, Athyna believed he saw no other path to take. She thought it was ridiculous the way the Elders kept focusing on this.

Rayn’s actions would in no way impair his ability to act as the Great Leader. This Council was foolish to think otherwise. Athyna started wondering about their fixation on this, and suddenly, she realized her father had a huge role in all of this. She felt herself getting angry over it all because it was, in her humble opinion, pure nonsense.

Athyna continued to steal glances at Therron during the trial. Try as she may, it was next to impossible to ignore him. He exuded power; she could feel the tendrils of it reaching out from him. She didn’t exactly know if it was just Therron or if it was a combination of all the Yarristers in one place giving her that sensation.

True to his role as a Guardian, Therron was one hundred percent focused on what was taking place before his eyes. Athyna had to wonder what would happen if the Elders decided that Rayn be stripped of his rank. More importantly to her, what would Therron do? Since Therron was second in birth rank, he would be the one to take Rayn’s place. How would he handle that?

Athyna desperately wanted to reach into Therron’s mind to determine his thoughts, but she didn’t dare. First, it was such a complete invasion of privacy, but furthermore, he would know it the moment she did. She would die before she let herself do that.

Testimony was given by several different people, including Rayn, when suddenly, an energy mass was dropped by the beautiful female. Apparently, there was much more to this whole story than what Rayn had done, and Athyna was beginning to enjoy herself immensely. She had a very strong feeling that Rayn would be coming out of this ahead and that the Council of Elders would be eating crow, as they say.

Athyna had to wonder though how much involvement her father had in this. Was it his obsession with the Yarristers that drove him, or did he truly think Rayn had made an unforgivable transgression? Athyna hoped it was the latter; she didn’t know if she could deal with the former.

Maddie couldn’t drag her eyes off of Rayn. She did her best to keep her eyes looking straight ahead, but every now and then she would steal glances at him. He was smiling and openly staring at her. Unable to help herself, she found herself smiling and staring back in return.

She was sitting between Therron and Rykerian, and they were both watching the visual exchanges taking place between them. Simultaneously, they both nudged her with their elbows, trying to get her to stay focused on the trial that was about to begin. Maddie, not able to help herself, let a bubble of laughter escape. Suddenly, all eyes were on her.

Uh oh, not cool at all. I need to focus here. Focus, Maddie, focus
, she thought.

She did her best, but unfortunately, she ended up getting a bad case of the giggles. She brought her hand to her mouth to mute the sound, but not before everyone heard her. Rowan and Annalise threw murderous glances her way, but Rayn just kept on smiling at her.

Therron and Rykerian both clamped a hand on each of her thighs to get her attention, but then, the strangest thing happened. All at once, she started hearing the voices of Therron, Rykerian, and Rayn. It was as if her telepathic gateway had opened and her mind was a highway of thoughts speeding in and out.

Therron and Rykerian were upset with her because she wasn’t staying focused on the task at hand, and Rayn was absolutely mesmerized by her. He kept telling her how lovely she was, how amazed he was by her, and how thrilled he was just to feast his eyes on her.

Maddie:
Oh my gosh, Rayn! I am hearing everything you’re thinking. I am amazed by you as well, and you look, well, I am just so glad to see you too.

Rayn:
I cannot believe you can hear me! I wonder how this happened.

Maddie:
I have been able to hear things since we arrived, but I think we need to focus on what’s going on here.

Therron:
May I remind you two that if this doesn’t go well, we are all in a mess? Now, please pay attention!

Maddie and Rayn:
Yes, sir!

They yanked their eyes away from each other with great effort and focused their attention on the Chief Elder on the bench. He was reading the charges against Rayn, which amounted to the infraction of bringing Maddie to Vesturon to be healed. The Council had declined charging Therron and Rykerian for their infraction because it was a matter of life and death for Maddie. Under those circumstances, they agreed there was no other option.

Rayn, on the other hand was not so fortunate. He looked exhausted and frustrated as the charges were being read.

Maddie:
Hold on a little longer, Rayn. I have a good feeling about all of this, and wait till you see what we have in store for them.

She could barely contain her excitement.

He was being charged with a blatant disregard for one of the most sacred of covenants. For that, the Council would decide if he would be stripped of his rank along with the rightful place as heir to the Leadership of Vesturon.

There were many present that would testify on his behalf, but the law was the law. Under no circumstances, other than a life or death situation, was a human ever to be taken to Vesturon.

Athyna sat alone, her eyes focused on her father. For the life of her, she simply couldn’t understand this vendetta her father seemed to have against Rayn. Their families had been friends, very close friends, for decades. Athyna saw this as a blatant betrayal of that friendship. Not only that, but her father knew Rayn for what he was: an honest, upstanding citizen of the highest caliber. Athyna surmised that there was more to this than what was on the surface, and she aimed to discover exactly what it was.

The Elder finally finished reading all the charges, and he then asked how Rayn pled. His advocate claimed he was not guilty. Then both advocates made their opening statements, and things proceeded much as everyone thought they would.

After the charge was read, the testimonies began for Rayn. At first, they were very tedious: basic formalities attesting to his character. Then, Rayn’s siblings were called to take the stand. They all presented themselves calmly but with the strength one would expect from the Yarristers. Every one of them stated that Rayn had no other option as he had bonded with the human, which shook the courtroom tremendously. There were murmurs everywhere, and a call for silence was issued.

Rayn took the stand and took the Oath of Truth. They asked him many questions about what happened and why he brought Maddie to Vesturon, over and over again. The questions were phrased differently every time, as if they were trying to catch him in a lie. He repeated himself dutifully and never showed his frustration or anger during the entire proceeding. His father was brought forth and was also questioned about Rayn’s actions.

It was apparent that Rowan was in great turmoil over what his son was experiencing, but his lack of support was also shocking. Maddie thought about the position in which Rowan found himself.
He honestly didn’t have a choice,
she thought. For the first time, she felt her heart go out to him and Annalise.

The presiding Elder then stood and claimed that it would be impossible for Rayn to have bonded with the human as that had never occurred throughout recorded history, with the exception of the Nunne’hi.