Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 395: The Last Face ()

"This is not a trial." Weinlor argued.

"It is now, it is only that we are yet to know who will actually be tried." Neveah replied, her tone calm and collected. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"If it is a trial, then the elven council will be the one asking the questions." Weinlor made clear.

"Your contribution is welcomed... for now." Neveah replied dismissively, she had not come here to argue words with the elves.

Neveah stepped away from the throne, walking over to the discarded scroll on the ground which had been torn up in half.

If she was going to get herself out of this, Neveah needed to know how much had already been said before she arrived and what exactly the elves were after.

"Veah, don’t..." Menarx tried to stop Neveah from reading the contents of the scroll but Neveah ignored him.

Though the scroll had been torn in half, nudging both pieces closer to each other made it easy to read through the contents.

Neveah examined the scroll, shaking her head slightly as she saw what exactly it was the elves were after.

Neveah was not even surprised that her bond with Menarx was now being threatened, so far, everything had already been too good to be true, Neveah had known it would blow up in her face at some point.

’This is not that point.’ Neveah’s wolf thought to her.

’It is not.’ Neveah agreed.

Neveah would be damned if she let things go the way the elves wanted, if she was ever going to leave Menarx’s side, then it had been to be by her own choice and not some scheme.

"Treason?" Neveah finally broke the silence, glancing over at Davina with a raised brow.

"And you are the one to testify against me?" Neveah asked, though she did not really expect an answer to her question.

"Very well, let’s hear it then." Neveah said, gesturing for Davina to begin her testimony.

"First, the Lady Neveah has established contact with the dwarves and was reported to be in Dwarven territory during the period she was believed missing, is this true?" Weinlor asked first.

The entire council fell quiet at the accusation, the only people who were not surprised was King Jian and the King’s guard whom Menarx had already revealed Neveah’s whereabouts to.

"It is." Davina confirmed.

Neveah was not surprised at where the questions had begun from, she had known all along that there was a hidden intent to sending her to dwarf territory.

Precisely because it was not something Neveah could explain her way out of without concrete evidence.

"Do you deny this, Lady Neveah?" Weinlor turned his attention to Neveah.

"I was indeed in dwarf territory, in a dungeon where I was kept as a bait to lure Menarx who was at the time set to attack the dwarves. If this is what it means to be in contact, then I admit to it." Neveah replied honestly.

"There is no one who can testify that you were held captive by the dwarves and not there of your own will, how can we believe your claims? How can we know you are not just trying to weasel your way out of this with lies?" Weinlor questioned with a scoff.

"Whatever makes you believe I speak with no proof? My lord dragon discovered I was in dwarven territory when a personal item of mine was found on some dwarf smugglers."

"These dwarves are still held captive at the outposts. It would be easy to send word to Lords Conrad and Lodenworth and procure their testimony." Neveah replied with a casual shrug.

"I already have that." King Jian interrupted.

Neveah glanced over at the Dragon King who nodded at Kirgan to provide a scroll.

"You did not think I would stay in the dark about it, did you?" King Jian asked Neveah with a raised brow.

Neveah recalled she had practically told the Dragon King to stay out of her business, but given his suspicious nature, Neveah should have already expected he would still investigate.

And for the first time, Neveah was grateful that he had done so.

Kirgan handed the report over to Weinlor, summarizing it out loud for everyone to hear.

"According to Conrad’s report, the dwarves in captive confessed to having stolen all the items in their possession from prisoners held in the dungeons."

"They were particular about Lady Neveah’s item since she was the latest prisoner to have arrived and the only dragon rider. This information reached us at dawn."

"My Liege has already given orders to prepare retaliation for this provocation." Kirgan reported.

Neveah glanced over at Menarx who shook his head slightly to show he had no idea of this.

"There, have you something more to say?" Neveah asked the elf.

"If not, then I believe your witness would not mind answering my own question." Neveah continued, not giving Weinlor a chance to respond.

"Davina, how is it that you know I was taken by dwarves? Not even the dragon guards at the academy could tell what happened to me that night. But you seem fully aware of everything." Neveah began,

"Did you perhaps see me walking out of the academy in the company of dwarves? Bearing in mind that there is no possible way the dragon guards would have missed such a sight...or did I sneak out and meet up with them somewhere else?"

"In which case, how is an attendant in Dragon Keep so well informed to know about this?" Neveah asked directly.

"I... I..." Davina stuttered, unable to come up with a defense.

Neveah shook her head slightly, whatever was at work here was as much a sabotage to Davina as it was to her, there were too many loopholes that Davina clearly had no methods to cover up.

"You and I both know what happened that day, Davina. If there is any one with crimes here, it surely is not me." Neveah stated.

"How is it that the last face I remember seeing before I lost consciousness back at the academy was...Lady Adrienne of the Fae?" Neveah asked.