The Dark Side Of Fate Chapter 146

They read the photocopied letter that Sylvester had passed to them, and they were silent. Then Pamela moved to question Bryce, and he was honest. She asked him if anyone was coerced.

"Are you sure you speak the truth, Enforcer?" She asked him, and Bryce kept his head down.

"I feared they would kill my wife and our unborn child. The instructions were clear. I was to get to the Volkov estate so it would seem like I had a meeting with Lord Dominic. I was to go to the East and state that the council sent me under Lord Volkov's orders to collect development tax. I was asked to be rude and threaten the head Alpha of the East, and when I was asked who sent me, I was to tell this council it was lord Dominic Volkov. That is the truth," The man said, and Pamela nodded.

"So, what made you tell the truth?" She asked him.

"My Lord and Lady interrogated me in the council prison and figured out I was lying. I had to give up the pretence and tell the truth," he confessed, and Pamela shook her head.

"Are you sure you were not coerced by Lady Tamia?" She asked, and I would have slapped her if I had been close to her. Suddenly I began to feel the woman loathed me. I wondered what I did to these people.

She was now high on my investigation list. She better be clean, or I would disgrace her and make sure she loses her seat. I will make an example of the bitch. I was pissed off.

I felt Sylvester's hand on my thighs, and he touched it gently and smiled at me.

"Calm down, green eyes," he pleaded with me, and I nodded.

"I wasn't threatened or coerced by my Lady." Enforcer Bryce said, and the woman kept quiet. I thought she would dare to ask if Sylvester coerced him, but she didn't. The bitch.

"Very well then, I doubt there is any need for a trail," Vino said, and people were silent.

"I hereby acquit Dominic Volkov of all the allegations made against him. I also acquit Councilman Larry McMillian Babanins of the suspicion of conniving with Dominic to commit treason." Vino said, and I remembered the Babanins as one of the families that Maurice took out, according to Jake Brighton. I kept a mental note of it.

Some enforcers went to release Dominic and Larry from the chains. Dominic walked away with his head bowed, feeling ashamed. Likewise Larry, but I noticed something while they walked; Dominic kept his distance from Larry. Locked up for a few days, death looming over his head made Dominic rethink certain things.

Soon I saw Dominic come to join us in our box. I was uncomfortable, but he was Sylvester's brother.

"Enforcer Bryce Golubev, you have lied against royalty. You committed an offence that would have cost the man his life. You also misled this council, which is an act of treason. As a result, we sentence you to death by beheading." Vino pronounced with a tinge of anger, and I squeezed Sylvester's lap.

"Do not let them kill him. This will not be the end of people plotting against you. The next person will never tell the truth if Bryce loses his life," I said quickly, and Sylvester stopped the enforcers from taking Bryce away.

"No one is going to die by beheading," Sylvester said comfortably, and Dominic growled. I could understand Dominic's anger, but Bryce had no choice.

"He spoke up and told the truth. He could have also maintained his lie, which would have saved him from punishment. But he told the truth and, in turn, saved my brother and councilman Larry from being sentenced for treason. As a result, I pardon him and move him to work at the Volkov estate. I would rather surround myself with honest people than connivers," Sylvester said, and the council murmured.

"The law, your Eminence," Pamela said, and Sylvester shook his head.

"I choose mercy," he said, and the woman looked at me. Her eyes showed she knew I was the one that instigated it. I needed to find a way to clip her wings before she became a problem for me. As things were, Vino was the only council member who did not hate me.