Renault gave a short speech which basically covered why they had all gathered as well as some housekeeping notes, such as where the bathrooms were located and what to do in the event of an emergency.

  Twelve out of thirteen of the council seats were now occupied by a different council member, one of whom looked to be barely twelve. Only one seat remained empty.

  Renault stared at it with tight lips, as if he could will the occupant to appear. “Well,” he said, after some time spent trying to summon someone who refused to bow to his demands. “I suppose we shall continue. We are to start with a reading out of the accu-”

  “OOOOOH MICKEY YOU’RE SOOO FINE! YOU’RE SO FINE YOU...” Supported by a blaring sound system that was amplified by the shape of the room, a red-haired man wearing tight leather pants and a 5 o’clock shadow danced his way into the room, singing at the top of his lungs.

  Apart from Eddie, who had acquired a whole plate of more food from somewhere during the room reshuffle and appeared thoroughly entertained by this turn of events, none of the council looked impressed. Most of them appeared downright displeased, except one woman who appeared unsure as to how she should be reacting and was looking wide-eyed from council member to council member. Sirius did not recognise her and assumed she must be the newest member.

  It was the twelve-year-old who spoke, and with more austerity than any twelve-year-old should have been able to muster. “Mickey! So good of you to join us!”

  The man who had just danced his way into the room neither cowered, nor countered the child’s disapproval. Nor did he ignore him. In a perfectly pleasant voice, he simply said, “Good morning, Benjamin,” and then took his seat.

  “Is that a twelve-year-old?” Amanda whispered to Sirius.

  Sirius didn’t get the chance to tell her that the council always reserved one seat for a child under fifteen to represent to voice of the younger population.

  With a piercing glare and a very serious tone, Benjamin looked directly at Amanda and replied, “I am fourteen and I represent the city’s youth on this council.”

  Amanda’s eyes widened.

  Sirius had to try hard not to laugh at her facial expression. She never looked embarrassed or like she regretted her questions. She just got a wide-eyed look like ‘oops’ but it wasn’t shy or demure, more like she knew she’d made a mistake in forgetting how good vampire hearing was and she’d decided to join in on the joke rather than try to hide. Benjamin’s glare slid over her like water over a duck. Sirius decided that she probably would have got on well with Mickey.

  Sirius had met Mickey once or twice before. Despite his red hair, he was human through and through. He was also far less of a clown than he first appeared. He had a good head on his shoulders and lighthearted approach to life. Seeing him here made Sirius feel a lot better.

  Sirius had never met Benjamin before but he’d heard talk that, despite being so young, he took himself and his role very seriously, perhaps a little too seriously.

  The child’s gaze fixed on Amanda, then jumped to Sirius, then slid back to Amanda again. Loudly, he asked, “Why are there two people in the respondent's section? I thought the accusations were being levied at only one person?”

  Renault nodded. “That’s correct. I’m not sure who brought the other chair.” To Amanda he said. “I’m sorry miss, but you’ll need to move to the witnesses section. You may take your chair with you.” He nodded toward the rear of the room where a few of the crew had gathered in case they were needed to give evidence. Some of them stood, some of them sat on chairs. There hadn’t been enough seating for everyone though. On Sirena’s side of the room, Sirena had her own small gathering.

  Amanda glanced questioningly at Sirius. She was obviously worried about leaving him standing there on his own, but he simply nodded in agreement with Renault and reassuringly said, “It’s alright.”

  So she dragged her chair to the back of the room and took a seat next to Neko and Fallon. Sirius turned back to face the council alone. He did feel a little less prepared standing before so many judges without Amanda by his side. Even just her presence had been morale boosting. He’d gotten used to her being with him and he felt naked without her.

  He looked at the council and tried to remember who was who and what they were each like. Beatrice was pointedly not looking at him, which worried Sirius a little. Sandy was giving him an encouraging smile, so that was positive. Nigel had been replaced by the newbie, a tall blonde female, who was otherwise unknown and seemed to be of a nervous disposition. There was Renault, who was acting as moderator for the hearing. Much like Mephistopheles and Mickey, he had a good head on his shoulders and would judge fairly, although he was more likely to follow the letter of the law while the other two would cater more to the law in spirit. Sirius hoped that was a good thing. He knew he had not done wrong but that mattered little if he could not prove it.

  Not to be confused with Renault, there was also a vampire simply called Ren. Plain looking and softly spoken but highly persuasive when he wanted to be, he too was not an unreasonable man. His opinion would matter greatly as both Eddie and Napkin, the old man who often appeared half-asleep, were likely to agree with whatever he decided. Marie, one of the few council-members, apart from Eddie, who wasn’t stick thin, often played the dissenting voice. Whenever the council agreed too quickly, she was the one who would make sure they had considered everything even if it should have been an obvious decision. Beatrice had often complained about her and said that she liked to argue for the sake of it. Benjamin, likewise, could easily prove to be a stick in the mud.

  The remaining two, Sirius knew less well. One was a dark-haired, older looking male, with scary looking features, sunken and jutted such that wherever he looked, there was always some part of his face that was cast in shadow. His nose was so hooked, one could have hung an umbrella on it. Sirius had seem him before but never spoken of or to him. Beatrice had never had much to say on the man, and Sirius was now wishing that he had pried into who the council was more than he had done.

  The last man Sirius did not recognise at all, but he was confident, given the man's relaxed posture, that this was not the most recently appointed council member. It was possible that he was new since Sirius had last been here though, for the man’s hair was an unmissable green and he had enough piercings to lure a dragon. Sirius could see an unmistakable set of fangs in the man’s mouth when he talked with his neighbor. It left Sirius confused, for he had thought that the last member would have been a witch or a human. At last count he was sure there had been two of one of them. But with the exception of Marie, Mickey, and Mephistopheles, the entire council was filled with vampires. Sirius just hoped they were all on his side.

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  He turned to look at Sirena. She was no longer looking at him, nor was she looking at Amanda. She had turned to face the council and was eyeing up each of them, just as Sirius had been doing. How did she know them? She must have business in Cap to have been able to call this hearing at all. Sandy had not been able to tell him a lot but he had confirmed that much at least, and that she had friends on the council, although he had not said who.

  “Right, without further ado,” said Renault. “The accusations. Glory, if you please.” He gestured to the tall thin blonde lady, the one that Sirius assumed was the newbie.

  Glory, as she was called, gave a nod of her head and then she started to read from a sheet of paper with the trembling voice of one who was not used to public speaking.

  “S-S-Sirius James, you stand here today accused of the following:

  1. Damage to property belonging to Sirena Silver, including animal containers, which resulted in,

  2. The death of a few hundred flesh-eating beetles, and several arasnids.

  3. The theft of a couple dozen snakes and one pegasus.

  4. The release of multiple species from their containers at the docks of Scarlett resulting in injury to animal and person alike, and both financial and reputational damage to Sirena Silver.

  5. And finally, the assault and murder of one, Michael Von Whisker.

  While it is understood that you did not partake in all of these events, it was under your orders that they occurred and as such the accusations for all are levied at you. We will proceed to analyse and judge each incident in turn. Prior to that, do you have any statements to make?”

  “I may make accusations of my own?” Sirius asked. Sandy had told him he would be able to do that.

  “You may,” Renault told him.

  Sirius gave a nod and took his time to think through his words before he spoke.

  “Firstly, I would like to accuse Sirena Silver of failing to disclose the dangerous wildlife that she loaded onto The Black Dog, and for failing to ensure that it was properly secured. This resulted in the escape of several creatures which caused damage to my ship and endangered the life of my entire crew as well as other patron’s property. This damage extends to the remains of two deceased vampires who were on their way here to Cap.

  Furthermore, I would like to accuse her of improper care of the animals she was shipping, including improper containers and selection of a handler who quite blatantly didn’t know what he was doing, and who himself proved a danger to my crew-”

  “That is a lie!” Sirena, who up until then had been pressing her lips together tightly, suddenly hadn’t been able to contain herself any longer.

  “Ms Silver!” Renault called out sharply. “You will have your opportunity defend against these accusations later. For now, hold you tongue.”

  Sirena scowled but lowered her head slightly and did as asked.

  Sirius eyed her. She was a small woman. Taller than Amanda but likely still below average in height and very petite. It was hard to imagine her getting the better of Amanda, especially in that outfit. That was the nature of shifters though. They could be stealthy or strong or whatever advantaged them in the moment. He remembered her eyes being yellow, like a wildcat’s. That one was a predator for sure. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. She wasn’t just physically dangerous though. She’d convinced him to take those animals and thinking back on it now he could see how easily the woman could manipulate words. He would have to be very careful with his own.

  “You may continue,” Renault said to Sirius.

  Sirius gave the man a nod of thanks and picked up a little back from where he had been interrupted. Sirena had been calm in demeanor during their previous encounter and Sirius suspected she was difficult to flap, but her outburst just now showed it wasn’t impossible to get under her skin and it had given Sirius an idea. Knowing this council, he was confident that it would be words and not yelling that would be the most persuasive. If there was a way he could get her to lose her cool again, it might just help his case.

  “The handler, Michael Von Whisker, injured at least one female passenger during his time on board, and he had to be briefly restrained so as not to continue to injure said passenger. Sirena Silver required Michael to be on board my ship, which makes her ultimately responsible for his actions during the journey.” Sirius glanced at Sirena to check her reaction but the woman was keeping her tongue.

  He continued. “The so-called animal handler failed to care for the animals in his possession to the extent that my crew and other passengers were required, at great effort on their part and strain to the running of the ship, to do his job for him.”

  He could see Sirena shaking her head out of the corner of his eye. Sure, he was embellishing a little but none of it was technically incorrect either and Michael had been a handful.

  He still wasn’t done. “I also accuse Sirena of buying stolen goods. The pegasus referenced earlier was never hers to begin with. It belongs to one of our passengers and was taken from her first. Sirena then tried to pass it off as her own when it never was.”

  Another glance at Sirena. Sirius was familiar with anger, every subtle version of it, from the marginal shift in someone’s shoulders or a forced smile, to the obvious curling up of fists. If someone was angry, he would know it, even if they were trying to hide it. His father had never had much of a tell to those who did not know him well and he had often overcompensated right up to the point he exploded. It was the happy moods that had always frightened Sirius the most. Sirena made it obvious though. Her face looked to literally be turning red and her fists were clenched, but still she said not a word.

  “Finally, I accuse Sirena of assault with a knife, blackmail, and threatening to kill the original owner of the pegasus.”

  There was silence for several seconds as everyone on the council took notes, except for the old man, who looked like he’d fallen asleep upright. Sirius knew from experience not to trust first impressions when it came to Napkin though. The old man might look like he was dozing but Sirius had seen him suddenly spring to life, make a witty comment, then go right back to looking like a slumbering statue.

  Finally, Renault spoke. “Right, thank you. Klaus, can you summerise for us.”

  The green haired vampire with the abundance of piercings nodded. He pulled himself out of his slouch and read cleanly from his own notes.

  “Let it be noted that Sirius has accused Sirena of the following acts:

  1. Miscommunication and negligence to restrain certain creatures, resulting damage to Sirius’s ship.”

  2. Negligence in animal care, causing stress to the animals and extra work for the crew.

  3. Improper vetting of sub-contractors, resulting in assault to a female passenger.

  4. Smuggling of stolen goods, and

  5. Assault, blackmail, and threatening murder.

  Does that sound about right?” Klaus asked the rest of the council.

  Beatrice raised a pen and then spoke immediately, “For one, there was also damage to crew and other patron’s property.”

  “Ah, yes, good point.” Klaus amended his notes.

  The rest of the council all spent a few seconds adjusting their own notes based on Klaus’s summary.

  Renault gave them their time and then he said, “Good, anyone else?”

  When none of the council answered, he turned to Sirius. “Any amendments you’d like to make to what Klaus said?”

  Sirius gave a quick shake of the head.

  Renault turned to Sirena. “And you? Not with regards to the accusations Sirius made. We’ll come back to those later. But with regard to the summary of your accusations, any amendments?”

  Sirena took a deep breath, as if to calm herself. “No,” She answered abruptly.

  “Excellent. We will now go through each item briefly to gather context and so as not to miss any confounding factors. Then we will do a second pass to hear witness statements and review other evidence, before doing a final third pass for judgment.”

  Renault paused for several seconds again, in case there were any objections. Then he continued. “Let’s begin with item one.”