Taliyah’s P.O.V. I know that today is just the beginning and that I will be sick and tired of the Courthouse by the time it is done. I know that by the time these trials are over everyone will know what happened to my Mother and who I am, I have no doubts about that. I just hope that with the help of Ivory I will manage to stay calm and not lose control of my temper, like I did with Alena. Part of me is scared I will go in to hiding again, like I always do when I get confronted and my Mates won’t be close by to pull me out. We are sitting in the Courthouse and this time I get the time to take in my surroundings. The Royals are seated on a stage in front of floor to ceiling windows and in front of us is a large open space. To the right of the stage, is the stage for the Council and each Council-member has taken his or her seat. Nakoa is sitting on the lower part of the stage and there are files on the table in front of him. To the left are two desks in front of rows of benches for the public, the desks are for the Council’s representative and the accused and their representative. The mezzanines and boardwalks created around the room hold seats for the public and even though this is the first trial I don’t see an empty seat. I see screens mounted on the pillars, so the public has a good view of whoever is speaking. Suddenly the room goes quiet and I see a man emerge from a small corridor in the left corner of the room to my left. He walks to the desk closest to us and I know that this is the Council’s representative. I have no idea what his name is, but I know from Elder Matthew that there are two representatives for the Council and that they are both male. I keep my eye on the small corridor in the right corner of the room to my left, because I know that soon Eva and her representative will emerge from there.Malachay has put me on his lap again and I know that this is not protocol, but he explained that this was the least he could do until I had to take the stand. My Mates are pretty calm about the fact that I will have to take the stand and they will not be there to support me in any way. Eva is the first one to appear out of the corridor and I smirk as I see that she is wearing the same kind of outfit I had provided for Sofia. As soon as the representative comes in to view my Mates stiffen and I hear Alaric mutter “Fuck.” I look at Alaric and I can see that he is trying hard to control his Lycan, which he does successfully with the help of Anayah. “Princess, that is Anwir and he is one of the worst. I wish I could have done something about this.” Alaric says and I assure him that I will be fine. “Lycans and Werewolves, please take your seats. Representative Fabian will start with his opening statement and after that Representative Anwir will hold his opening statement.” Armas’ voice sounds loud through the Courthouse.It startles me as I was staring at Anwir in his navy-blue three-pieced suit and the devilish smile he has on his face. Everyone takes a seat and it takes a few minutes before the Courthouse is quiet again. Council-member Armas’ P.O.V. I don’t like the look on Anwir’s face, it always means trouble and I get a feeling that today it will be directed at Taliyah. I nod my head at Fabian, a signal for him to start his opening statement, but Anwir is the first to rise. “Council-member Armas, seeing the fact that this is a trial I feel it is my duty to point out that protocol should be followed. Even by the Royal Family.” His words are directed to me, but his eyes are on Taliyah. Before I can respond, Taliyah gets up from Malachay’s lap and looks straight at Anwir. “Representative Anwir, my apologies for breaking protocol. As Eva will confirm, I was not raised as a Royal and I am new at the protocols I should follow. I want to thank you for pointing this out to me and if in the future I accidently break protocol again, please don’t hesitate to inform me. I know that there is a lot for me to learn when it comes to being a Royal and I appreciate any help I can get in learning about the right protocol to follow. My apologies once more for accidently breaking protocol.” She says and gives him a sweet, shy smile. As she spoke, Eamon made room for her between himself and Malachay. Ward had moved to the seat behind her and puts his hands on her waist the second she sits down. I keep quiet to give everyone the time to process what just happened and I see Anayah and Maleah hiding their faces behind their Mates. Dante and Alaric are staring at Anwir and I wonder if he will respond at all, but he doesn’t. Fabian gets to his feet, he grabs a paper from his desk and walks to the center of the Courthouse. He bows at the Council and the Royal Family and then he turns to Anwir.“Before I start my opening statement, I would like to thank Representative Anwir as well. Thank you for helping in the education of Princess Taliyah, I hope you will honor her request to point out any accidental breakings of protocol.” He nods his head at Anwir and as he turns to face us again, I see the twinkle in his eyes. After Fabian is done with his statement it is Anwir’s turn and for some reason he doesn’t look as comfortable as usual. Like Fabian he bows at the Council and the Royal Family, before he starts with his statement. As expected he points out that Eva can’t be charged with attacking a Royal, because it was unknown to the public that Taliyah is a Royal. The public starts to mumble and I do nothing to stop them. Let Anwir think that he is winning points here, he will find out soon that Eva did or could have known Taliyah’s status as a Royal. I finally order everyone to settle down and ask Fabian and Anwir if they are ready to proceed. Fabian starts by calling out Camden, after that he calls out Eamon and after that he calls out Armand. I see his strategy the second Armand walks to the stand, he calls the most level-headed men out. Anwir doesn’t ask them any questions and I wonder what the hell he is up to. After Armand leaves the stand, Nakoa points out that it is almost lunch-time and that this will be a good time to call a recess. It takes a while before the Courthouse is empty and the Royal Family can make their way to the conference-room where their lunch will be served. During lunch Taliyah is seated on Eamon’s lap and the second she holds a piece of meat in front of him, the others start laughing. Not that it bothers either one of them as she keeps feeding him pieces of food from her plate. Once their done, she pecks his lips and I can see that they are communicating with one another. It spreads a huge grin on his face and it makes her giggle. Both Ward and Malachay make a fake pout while staring at their empty plates, she pecks their lips as well and then she says “You two are Big Boys too for emptying your plates.” I spit out the sip of coffee I just took and start laughing and coughing at the same time. Boaz stares at me with his mouth wide open while shaking his head and I can’t help myself as I say “You wanted to be her tutor, deal with it.”