The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate novel Chapter 311

Chapter 311: A Person I— (He Stopped)

Gavriel looked at Guinevere. Then at the floor, then at the bench.

"I agreed to advocate for reduced charges." Each word arrived separately, placed down with the care of a man arranging fragile things on a table he expected to break. "I signed a document in her cell stating I would speak to the Crown Prince and request leniency. I did speak to him. And I did request it."

He inhaled.

"I agreed to try. I was unaware of the extent of what I was agreeing to defend. I cannot, in conscience, stand before this court and advocate for a woman who did those things to a person I..." He stopped. Recalibrated. The word he had been about to say was a grenade, and he disarmed it mid-throw. "...who I, as Gamma of Drakenfell, am sworn to protect."

Tiberon’s expression didn’t change. It hadn’t changed once during the entire trial. But his eyes moved to Gavriel for the first time since the proceedings began, and the look lasted two full seconds, which was one and a half seconds longer than Tiberon Drakenfell typically spent on a single assessment.

He had known. Of course he had known. Kings knew everything that could threaten their sons, and Tiberon had known about Gavriel Sterling’s feelings the way he knew about weather patterns and enemy troop movements: as a variable he monitored, accounted for, and had not yet needed to act on.

The "yet" had just expired.

He sat down. He did not look at anyone. His hands rested on his thighs, and they were steady, and the steadiness was the most disturbing thing about him, because Gavriel Sterling’s hands were never steady. They were always moving, always drumming, always fidgeting with whatever was closest. The stillness meant the man behind the hands had gone somewhere that movement couldn’t reach.

Hale waited until the silence had settled. Then he opened the folio to its final page.

"The accused has entered a guilty plea on all ten charges."

"Fifteen," Guinevere corrected from the defendant’s chair.

Hale looked at her.

"You said ten. It’s fifteen. If I’m dying for them, the least you can do is count them correctly."

Hale’s expression suggested he was adding a sixteenth charge for being insufferable during sentencing.

"The charges include capital offenses under Drakenfell, Shadowclaw, and inter-kingdom law. Mitigating testimony has been heard. Advocacy for reduced sentencing has been formally withdrawn by the accused’s mate."

He looked at Guinevere.

"Lady Guinevere Ashford. On the charges of sexual assault in the first degree, attempted forced marking, public indecency across two sovereign territories, unlawful entry, forgery of royal documents, filing a false criminal accusation against a member of the Crown, criminal trespass, stalking across two sovereign territories, theft, destruction of irreplaceable property, aggravated assault, assault by projectile, unlawful shifting during active conflict, sustained psychological abuse, and resisting lawful arrest, this court finds you guilty on all counts."

He closed the folio.

Hale stood.

"Lady Guinevere Ashford, please rise."

The guards pulled her to her feet. The manacles clinked once and went still.

"Having entered a plea of guilty on all fifteen charges before this tribunal, and having offered no defense sufficient to mitigate the capital counts among them, this court is prepared to render its sentence."

He paused.

"It is the judgment of this tribunal, convened under the authority of the Crown of Drakenfell and witnessed by representatives of Shadowclaw and the Elder Council, that you are hereby sentenced to death."

His voice did not waver.

"The sentence shall be carried out by execution at a date to be determined by the Crown, with no fewer than two days and no more than fourteen days from today’s proceeding. You are entitled to a final petition to the Crown for clemency, which must be submitted in writing within forty-eight hours. If no petition is filed, or if the petition is denied, the sentence will be carried out as ordered."

He looked at her.

"You will be returned to custody and held under maximum security until the date of execution. Do you understand the sentence as it has been read to you?"

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