My Most Precious Human novel Chapter 34

"This is an act of unbelievable impudence, Duke Calvet!" Duke Orseolo yelled, "None of the nobles were sentenced to death in two hundred years! One noble life is worth more than a thousand mere human lives!"

He definitely made my blood boil, but this time I did my best not to open my mouth. I learned that staying silent was crucial to my survival.

"You have already taken our wealth and titles. Isn't that enough?! For what reason should we give you our lives as well?!" the former-now Marquess, Henri Adragna fumed, supported by frantic gasps of his sons.

Sariel slowly walked to the middle of the courtroom stage again. His eyes showed a firing glow as the slick smile slowly formed on his face. It was the first time I noticed that this court wasn't only for my revenge. His attitude displayed disdain and hatred. For Sariel, this conflict must have been something private, something that had been built for a long time. He was enjoying every second of Adragnas' misery and he clearly wanted them to drown in humiliation and agony. I started to doubt if I was brought here to demand justice for the taking lives of innocent women, and I began to wonder what was the thing that he really needed me here for?

"Your Honor, auxiliary judges, members of the Great Council, may I remind you that there is one crime that is punished by death in our law, and that is betrayal. If a vampire betrayed our kind, there is only one punishment for it," Sariel calmly stated, then glanced at the defendants, checking their reaction.

Henri Adragna gritted his teeth, a distorted, angry roar coming from his vocal cords. Sariel certainly like that reaction, he sent Adragna a playful smile just to fuel that rage in his veins. Once he saw Henri Adragna huff in fury, he graciously turned towards the judges.

"It's been almost thirty years since Lycans attacked the House of Calvet. Since then, I have been searching for a link between the werewolves and one of the vampire noble families, and I found it. There was one family that traded goods with werewolves, and that same family has a direct connection to the leader of the pack that attacked the Calvets." Once again, Sariel's words caused an uproar, but this time the air was filled with anger and hatred.

It seemed to me that if there had even been a truce between vampires and werewolves, the reality would certainly be different. It was only natural that if there was any vampire who used a werewolf pack to kill another vampire, he or she indisputably deserved death.

"This is outrageous!" One of the Adragna's sons slammed the table with his fist, getting up from his seat.

"George, calm down." Henri Adragna grabbed his arm, pulling him down to sit. "If the Duke of Calvet wishes to accuse us of such horrible crime, he will need a solid proof of that, and I seriously doubt he has one…" He glared at Sariel, challenging him.

At the moment I started to think about it, they could have been in contact with the werewolves’ packs. If someone from the pack had been at the auction that would explain how the wolves from my father's pack found me at Sariel's castle. What puzzled me was the fact how could the wolf enter the action unnoticed by so many vampires. Even I could smell them, and I was sure that the vampires could scent them a hundred times more than I. I wish I could provide any evidence that could prove my theory. Unfortunately, although my observation skills weren't bad, that night I had been too absorbed with surviving to notice anything useful… or so I thought.

Sariel's smirk didn't leave his face. He was composed and confident. He didn't even bat an eye at Henri Adragna's remark. He gave Mr. Gotha a meaningful gaze, and his right hand man immediately dashed out of the courtroom. Then Sariel walked closer to my seat and turned towards the judges.

"I'm sure, Ms. Leber's statement will give us the evidence we need." He smiled cunningly.

"W-what?" I muttered, startled.

I gazed at him nervously and shook my head, "How can I help him?! I can hardly remember anything from that night!" I panicked inside my head, as he looked at me with full confidence.

"So, let us hear what Ms. Leber has to say." The female judge grinned at me, looking intrigued.

My stress level increased by the second. I was positive that I was going to make a complete fool of myself. I dug deep into my memory, but it seemed useless as all I could remember was those vampires' lustful eyes locked on me, and then me trying to escape the horror.

Sariel turned my way and gazed deeply into my eyes.

"I cannot help you. Please call it off somehow!" I begged him, softly whispering.

"Calm down, Lilith," he said, smiling, "Focus on my eyes and you will remember everything. Trust me."

Like looking into his eyes had ever helped me concentrate on anything! To make matters even worse, I found the composed tone of his voice sexy as hell... My heart began to throb erratically, and I became everything but calm!

He crouched down in front of me and grabbed my hands. I gulped, watching his face moving closer to mine. He had his eyes locked on mine the entire time, and I sank into the grey ocean of his pupils.

"What happened before the auction?" he asked, his voice amazingly hypnotizing.