New Kingdom: American Court Ch. 11

"No surprise there," she mumbled.

"What?!"

"Someone had to keep things in order while you were fucking that red headed hooker!" she screamed rising to stand.

With a harsh laugh, Edward said, "I thought you were distressed over your sister's future but you're just a selfish little bitch who now happens to be jealous."

"Jealous?" she said in a shaky voice. "Maybe. Jealous that my sister practiced what she preached and actually got Mr. Perfect."

"So I'm not Mr. Perfect because I slept with Helen?" Edward asked moving quickly to stand in front of her. "I never said you were my first. And your reputation for running off with strange men prevented the police from helping your sister search for you."

"Bastard," she hissed at him sitting back down on the couch unceremoniously.

Iona glared at the ridiculous history book still resting on the coffee table where Alena had placed it yesterday. In the corner of her eye, she could see Edward staring at her ready to continue their fight. She did not want to fight. She was not hypocritical enough to be angry over his indiscretion with Helen. She was disappointed that his poor choice of a sex partner could kill her sister, ruin his reign and probably annihilate the New Kingdom.

Refusing to battle him now, she crossed her arms over her chest and dropped her head. Alena could not die. Right now her sister needed her. What a horrible fate for the organized, successful accountant to face. Her true savior was the actual defendant in this case but Alena's bond to him stood without question. If he died, she would not be able to continue living. Iona knew this because she had the same bond with Edward.

With sudden tears in her eyes, Iona looked up to see her mate watching her. He no longer looked angry but rather strained from the hundreds of emotions he was feeling. It was his friend, brother and kingdom that would be destroyed if they could not fight this battle and win.

"Actually," he confessed in a calm tone. "It's the fear of losing you that torments me the most. If I could save Gabriel, I would give this away just to be with you."

"We have to save them," she said letting her tears flow freely. "It's the only way to save us."

With a nod of his head, Edward sat beside his mate and pulled her close to him. "First things first. I'm sorry about what I said."

"I'm sorry for what I said too," she replied and kissed him to close their wounds. "Now, almighty king, where do we start?"

"I've been asking myself the same question and have no answers."

"Ok, tell me how this is an automatic death sentence."

"You didn't read the book," he said in mock disappointment. "Our book tells us everything about how we were created, where we will reign and how to rule our people."

"Where's the part about how to rule?" she asked flipping the book open and staring at the page.

"It's toward the front, after the part about creation," Edward explained reaching to turn the pages.

"Wait," she said in a quiet voice. "What's this?"

Looking at the page she indicated, Edward explained, "I guess you could call it the Table of Contents for each king. You probably don't recognize our names but mine is the right here," he said pointing to the list.

"Have you read this entire book?"

"No. Only the creation, general rules and the section on my kingdom," he said watching a look of shock register on her face. "Have you read your entire Bible?"

"No. Maybe I should and maybe you should read your entire history/prophecy book too," she said with a smile. "So these seven names are the rulers of the New Kingdom."

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. Show me the rules."

Taking the book from her lap, Edward flipped through the pages until he found the section mentioned. He read the process of the judicial system in full including the specific details of the death sentence which could only be requested by another ruler. When he was finished, he stared at the pages in silence and then sighed in frustration.

"There's nothing here about an exception. I promise you that I had to know this by heart before I could rule America."

"Why was that evil, little man here anyway?" asked Iona.

"Cassian? As a favor to a brother who now challenges my throne and demands Gabriel's head," Edward answered with a groan.

"How was keeping Cassian here count as a favor to Heron?"

"Apparently Cassian was traveling in the states. He called Heron with a claim that the rebellion had made contact and threatened his life. As an official emissary, he would have knowledge of Heron's kingdom and therefore, his capture could be a liability to the New Kingdom. We have an obligation..," he paused turning pages in the book. "...it's right here...we have an obligation to protect our kingdoms even if we must execute punishment ourselves."

Reading the passage quickly, Iona pulled the book into her lap and read it again. As she rested her head against the back of the couch, she closed her eyes reviewing a possible scenario. When she looked at Edward, he was smiling at her.

"But will it work?" she asked hopefully.

"What other choice do we have?" he answered standing and pulling her to her feet.

"What are you doing?"

"Ruling a kingdom," he answered quickly. "I need to organize the Council. I implemented the system so now I need to use it. We will need to make this happen as quickly as possible."

"We?"

"Of course. You are proving that you are more than just a pretty face," he exclaimed pulling her into his arms. "You are a great queen who happens to have a beautiful face."

Smiling at the compliment, Iona stretched up to place a quick kiss to his lips. She then moved out of his arms.

"If you don't mind, I would like to do some more reading. Something is bugging me and I want to see if I can figure it out. Besides, if you need me, you always know where to find me," she said gently tapping her forehead.

"Ok," he said with a smile. "I'll let you know when we have everything arranged."

With a parting kiss, he left her alone in their apartment. Sitting on the couch, Iona picked up the book and found the page that had caught her attention earlier. While she could not read the names, she could see that seven separate names were listed with a designation underneath each. Leaning over the book in her lap, she began studying the stories of the men who ruled the New Kingdom.

In the luxury apartment serving as his current prison, Gabriel lay in his bed with is head propped up watching his mate sleep. He had told her that she would have no rest but he had reconsidered later and even assisted putting her into a peaceful slumber.

During an interval between one of their many sessions making love, he could read her thoughts moving toward worries and concerns on his behalf. Her love for him would make him strong enough to face his accusers and the verdict. The irony of his death being the result of killing Cassian flashed through his mind again.

When Alena's emotions had finally escalated to fear, Gabriel had pulled her into his arms and gently touched her temple. She had immediately lost consciousness. Even now, he treaded in her mind watching her thoughts and dreams and intervened with a tender caress if her visions drifted toward their current predicament. He did not want to verbally promise her an easy death, but, if he was found guilty by the Council, he would ensure that she passed from this life feeling no pain in the process.

If she could read his mind, she would know that he had no fear for losing his own life. As selfish as it sounded, he could not imagine her living after his death and possibly loving another. Deep in his soul a thought had sparked and caught fire until it burned his mind. When they left this life, would they be together? If she had changed, then he could count on the promise of spending immortality together on a different plane. But now, she was still human, even partially, she was still considered a member of the Second Creation, a people that failed from willful disobedience.

Looking at the door, he frowned at the approaching interruption. Entering the visitor's mind, Gabriel raised from the bed quickly dressing in pants and an unbuttoned shirt before exiting his bedroom. When he reached the door of the apartment, he saw Iona, with a book in her arms, arguing with the guards that she had every right to visit the inmates and demanded to be granted access.

"It's alright," Gabriel said to the guards.

In silence, he escorted Iona into the apartment stopping when she detoured away from the living room and continued to the small library.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"This book."

"Yes?"

"Where's yours?"

"Is this really the time to take inventory?"

"Edward and I have spent the last several hours searching for an exception for you."

"There's not one," Gabriel interrupted.

"Thanks. I know. How would you know unless you'd read the book. I showed this to Alena yesterday and she acted like she had never seen it before. This one is Edward's but every ruler has one. Where is yours Gabriel?"

"Why are you doing this? Now?"

"I will forgive all of Edward's past transgressions. And I don't care about your reasons for hiding in the background. But I will not allow his mistake and your issues to take my sister's life."

"I'll admit that I'm a little shocked to see this in you."

"Fuck you, Gabriel. And everyone else that thought I was just some party girl whore. You should know Alena well enough to understand that she has faith in me. She always thought that I was better than even I thought I could be."

"Misplaced loyalty. She and I are both guilty."

"I know that you blame me for eight years ago."

"Even you have to admit that your sister would not be in this predicament today if you had tried to be anything other than a hormone driven deviant."

"Sure, I'll admit that. Then you need to admit that she wouldn't be in this predicament if you had restrained Cassian as Edward advised."

"Bitch."

"Asshole."

"Hey," said the feminine voice thick with sleep from the doorway. "What are you two doing?"

"Alena," Gabriel and Iona said in unison.

With a glare at his mate's sister, Gabriel crossed the room and wrapped his arms around his love. "I'm sorry we woke you."

"Actually, I wasn't supposed to be sleeping. You promised," she said was a bashful grin.

"Is this really the appropriate time?" Iona asked.

"Wow, when did she get so serious?" Alena asked.

"We need to talk," Iona told her sister but glared at Gabriel.

"It seems kind of pointless doesn't it?" Alena responded.

"Alena, are you giving up? All the shit you've suffered, all of the sacrifices you made, are being thrown away without any argument?"

Walking to her sister, Alena looked at the serious expression on the woman's face and turned to look at Gabriel. As though looking through clearer eyes, she could see the battle her sister was fighting but admired the composure the girl was maintaining. Suddenly, Iona seemed older but not old, wiser and mature. Sometime in the past few hours, her sister that had been her greatest challenge in life had become worthy of being a queen.

"If there were any hope, would Gabriel give up on us so quickly?"

"Nothing is ironclad but there's a gray area. Sometimes you just need a really good bullshit artist."

"Our hopes rest on a bullshit artist?" Alena asked and then started chuckling. Within a few minutes, both girls were laughing.

"Alena, you've spent all of your life fighting to save me. Now it's my chance to fight for you."

"Ok," she said to her sister. "My life is in your hands."

"Good," she answered. "We will win. I know it. And when we do, you and I are gonna tag team these sons-a-bitches in the rebellion. The guys were taking too long anyway. But now the bad guys have pissed us off."

"Hell hath no fury?"

"I hate to think what I've missed in here," Edward said from the doorway. Walking into the room he glanced at Gabriel's unbuttoned shirt and Alena's robe.

"I told you that we were reacting the wrong way, love," he said pulling Iona into his arms. "Look how Gabe and your sister worked off their stress."

"Good point," she replied snuggling into him embrace. "Let's go play catch up."

"Not now," he said seriously, kissed her forehead and turned to face Gabriel and Alena. "The Council will meet today."

"Today?" asked Gabriel. "Why so soon?"

"It would have already begun but we're waiting on Heron. Technically, he is your accuser so he needs to be here. Gabriel, my failures are being used against us by the rebellion. I will fight to the death to protect my kingdom but I will not let them have you. Do you trust me?"

Watching the two men stare quietly at each other, Alena assumed thoughts were being passed back and forth. When Gabriel dropped his head with a sad grin, she realized that their only hope had been evaluated by Gabe as flimsy at best.

"If that's all we've got, then let's make it work," he said pulling Alena close him. "I've got more to lose than my life."

With a look at Alena, Edward nodded his head in understanding. "We will be victorious. Iona, let's get ready for our first battle we fight together."

After the king and his mate had left the room, the tension Gabriel had tried to eliminate in his mate returned with a vengeance. He held her close not knowing what words he could say to comfort her without making promises he had no power to keep.

When he sensed another interruption, he pulled away from Alena and looked at her attire. Sexy as hell, the white silk robe she wore was definitely for his pleasure and not for modesty. As a matter of fact, he would have to explain that another robe, long, thick, wool maybe, would need to be used as a cover in front of others.

"Baby, the medical supervisor is about to knock on the door. Maybe you should go to our bedroom until I can get rid of him."

"What if something is wrong with the children?"

Wanting to tell her that it may not be their concern much longer, Gabriel decided to withhold any quick comments and just nodded his head.

"I'll get dressed and be right back," she said excitedly racing to their bedroom.

Walking to the door, Gabriel opened it to find a man in scrubs being escorted by Phil. Waving them passed the guards, he led the two men into the living room and motioned for them to have a seat.

"Alena will be here soon," he informed them. "Of course I know that you have news about the children but I want to wait until she arrives so she can hear it too."

When Alena entered the room, the men stood until she was seated. Gabriel noted that she had dressed in a loose cotton shirt and tight pants that appeared to be worn to practice yoga. Even in the casual attire with her bare feet peeking out from the leg of her pants, Alena was still gorgeous. With a growl, he diverted the men's attention from his mate's body.

"What?" she asked him in confusion.

With a shake of his head, he turned his attention to the men and motioned them to give their report.

"Well, sir," the man in the scrubs started, "I believe we now know everything about these children."

"Then by all means, start from the beginning," Gabriel responded.

"According to the various notes and medical records, the experiments began with hopes of obtaining a DNA sample from all seven brothers of the Third Creation. When they repeatedly failed to get yours sir, they proceeded with the samples they had assuming that it would be as close to perfect as possible."

"Keep going."

"Several experiments included in vitro fertilization of the combined DNA with a human female egg. As you saw in the hospital, those attempts ended in various stages of abortion. Since we, as vampires, do not procreate as the humans do, the experiments took a different route."

"Yes?" Gabriel said frustrated with the man's pauses.

"They used the DNA samples on a viable egg taken from a female vampire."

"How would a female vampire have an egg?"

"If she was change at the appropriate age, she could have possibly been ovulating."

"Good lord!" Alena exclaimed. "Is this woman stuck in eternal PMS?"

"I don't know what that means," the man in scrubs answered. "But I can assure you that no trace of human DNA can be found in these two children."

"How are they?" Alena asked.

"As well as can be expected. Neither is human nor vampire."

"How can they not be vampires?" Gabriel asked. "How can they be the product of six male and one female vampire and not be truly vampire?"

"Because all of the donors were either originally created or changed. These children were an attempt to reproduce the original creation."

"You mean like creating the first man, Adam, from dust?" Alena asked.

"Actually, it would be like attempting to create Adam, perfect and strong, from his DNA and not as he was originally made from dust."

"So," Alena paused trying to word her question correctly, "what happens to them?"

"I'm not sure," the man quietly answered. "They cannot sustain their own lives. Furthermore, I can find no evidence that they will mature into more that what they are now."

"Have you found anything explaining the purpose for their creation?" Gabriel asked tightening his hold on Alena.

"Yes," Phillip answered. "We've been reading the various records in our investigation and working with the clinicians to understand the methods. Gabriel, whoever is behind this madness, was attempting to create the approved race again."

"Why create only one?"

"The children weren't the final purpose, just a means to the end. They were the last stage of producing the blood of the Third Generation which would be shared with others who could then be, well, equal with you."

"But that blood drove Iona mad," Gabriel explained.

"Exactly. According to the notes, subjects were given various levels of the blood. The first subjects died almost instantly. A small dilution with normal donated blood created an addictive quality making the addict willing to do anything with the promise of more blood."

"That described how Iona acted when she visited Cassian," Alena commented.

"What was the narcotic?" Gabriel asked.

"Power," Phillip answered. "The strength and knowledge of six members of the Third Creation swimming through their veins. The original plan would have included your blood, Gabriel, which would have been given to, well, someone specific. I'm afraid the notes never offer a name."

"Was the product they made given to this person?"

"No. Nothing less than perfection would be offered. When they realized you would not be so easily distracted, they tested the current product and discovered its limited abilities and chose to use that as a weapon. But they still want you."

"Being a vampire is more power than any mortal can achieve. Why have the blood of all seven?" Gabriel asked.

"We have not found the answer to that," Phillip confessed.

"Because that answer will tell us the mission behind the rebellion," Gabriel responded. "Nonetheless, you've done well today. The information puts us closer to the truth."

"Sir," Phillip said then hesitated looking to Alena then back to Gabriel, "What about the children?"

"What about them?" Gabriel asked.

When Phillip could not respond, he looked to the man in the scrubs silently pleading for him to intervene.

"We need to know what you wish us to do with them?" the man clarified. "We believe we have learned all there is to know from them. Should we terminate them?"

"What?!" Alena asked rising to her feet.

"Baby, calm down," Gabriel said quietly. "Keep them in their current condition. Are you sure they have no chance of growing?"

"We removed the bandages from their eyes. The irises are white indicating they're blind. If we artificially improved their bodies, they would be handicapped. That's not how our people exist," the man responded.