He Dethroned His Queen, Now He Wants Her Home novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Chosen, Not Given

They sentenced Verity at dawn, in the great hall, with the doors open to the court.

Anyone who wanted to hear it could.

By the time the eldest took his seat, a thousand wolves stood out on the flagstones in the cold.

She was brought in between two guards in a plain grey dress.

Her hands were bound in front of her, and her hair had been combed and tied back by someone else.

There was no lavender on her.

The eldest read it in his dry voice.

For the harm to a living creature, and the theft of a rescue, and the payment of a witness, and the taking of a king's gift, Verity Lorne was found guilty.

She was stripped of the Lorne name.

She was banished from Highmark and the royal lands for ten years.

She would serve those years at the northern granary, weighing out flour at the one price the king had set, for any pack that asked.

"She will also pay the vet's bill," the eldest added. "And the cost of a new coat for the cat."

A ripple of laughter went through the court, and he let it.

Verity stood with her head down.

"Does the accused wish to speak?"

She lifted her face.

She looked for me, and found me in the Willowmere chair.

"I'd do it again," she said.

Then she dropped her eyes, and her mouth shook.

"No," she said. "I wouldn't. I don't know why I said that."

The guards took her out through the side door.

I watched her go and felt nothing at all, and I was grateful for it.

That night the castle was quiet.

The festival was over, the court was empty, and the lanterns hung dark along the wall.

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