The Story of Amara Kuran | Mariah Bryant

Book One, Chapter Nineteen

My Trial (Part Two)

The next morning, the guards traded off. It was the originals again. I sensed them, and relief flooded through me. So I woke Mike up and he got dressed, then I got dressed, then we got cleaned up.

"Your friends are having breakfast in the same dining hall as last night. It is a buffet. Would you like to join them?" the one with the light brown hair asked.

"Certainly." I said. Mike and I were then escorted to the dining hall.

Everyone was casual, though dressed in formalwear. They laughed with each other and ate without formalities. Some stood around the buffet table. I was pleased.

Kaname found us immediately. At first he gave me a look, then smiled at both Mike and me. "Good morning."

Kaien rushed up to me and gave me a hug. "Kaname told me about our success. It is so good that Ichio is on our side." Then he stood back. "Amara-chan, I am certain you know who this is."

"Yes, I do. It is nice to finally meet you formally, President." I shook hands with an older-looking woman who seemed like she was supposed to be a vampyre instead of the head of the vampyre hunters.

"It is nice to meet you, too. I have seen you quite a few times as a baby, but it has been a while."

"It has." I agreed.

"Come, everyone, and eat." Kaname said. He led Mike and me to the half-empty buffet table. Mike filled up a plate and I grabbed a glass of blood.

We sat and talked with our friends until it was time to resume my trial.

I had all of the pieces to win the trial, and apparently, to put the rest of the prophesy in motion.

***

Now my side of the table was filled. No friends sat against the wall.

The room was on a different beat than the day before. When we entered and sat down, there was more appreciation than disdain. Kaname sat to my right. Mike sat to my left. Kaien was on the other side of Mike, and beside him was the President. On the other side of Kaname sat Yuki and Zero, then Ichijo. You understand: everyone was there.

Shiki had also brought more people to back his story up, it seemed. The men and women dressed darkly, and with their addition as well as my friends' many people sat in chairs against the wall.

"Welcome back. I hope everyone had a nice night. Today we continue the trial of Amara Kuran-sama. Yesterday we learned almost all sides of the story. I understand, however, that there are more testimonies waiting to be given. Those for the victim will go first." Ichio declared.

"I have here the records for the first trial regarding the dangerous and powerful Kuran baby, and the quotes of what Kuran-sama herself told us yesterday about her startling powers. There is nothing to suggest that Shiki-sama had any ill feelings toward any of the Kurans. He actually has the justice and wellbeing of the people at heart." It was a lawyer who said it, obviously, but I caught every strong and panicked brainwave and heartbeat: he was unsure of himself and knew that what he was trying to pull off was wrong in the first place. I think that that was what was wrong with him. I knew there was something severely wrong.

Then I realized. Something was about to happen.

"Example, Shi?"

"At one point he said, 'Purebloods should not be allowed to be above the law any longer.' He meant it. Do you not see, that the woman before you is just a person like you and me? Because of her lineage are you going to sit back while someone as dangerous as she is and who has taken the lives of our devoted protectors like she has convinces to put one of your most just allies and fellow senators behind bars or worse?"

"Shiki-sama, are these your feelings?" Ichio was slow and skeptical with his words. The way that he peered at Shiki told everyone that he was watching him closely.

"Yes, of course." Shiki responded. It was too bad that his eyes were so mysterious, because otherwise he would have been a horrible actor.

"Hmm. Continue."

"I feel that the best way to show that this woman is dangerous is to give you an example." the lawyer held up pictures of Shiki's body in its tub-like thing, being fed blood. It was quite disgusting. I felt pleased.

Everyone shuddered to some degree.

The lawyer clicked a button and suddenly some machine he had projected the image onto the ceiling.

"Imagine the pain this man has gone through because of a misunderstanding! You even consider that he is the villain here." the man said. "Here is your villain. And here is her power!"

There was lots of talking amongst everyone, so no one noticed the look on my face.

The lawyer pulled out a long blade and hurled it right at me. Now there were gasps as people saw the shiny silver fly past their faces. It rotated twice in the air, and I realized that I would not be able to duck it: it was headed for Mike.

I did not scream.

There was a huge, echoing bang! that rang in everyone's ears and even shook the ground in waves. After the initial bang! and during the repercussions was the clang of a chair. Then everything was silent. No one spoke. They all simply watched.

The President ripped the blade (too short to be a sword but longer than a machete, curved, and magical) out of the glowing purple mist floating in the air in front of Michelangelo. It stopped it as solidly as a wall would. Only Mike's cheek was cut, and it was minor compared to what would have happened. She examined it, surprised, and then glared at the lawyer and Shiki.

Mike, who was now not stuck between the blade and the back of his chair, turned to see my body lying limply on the ground, my chair overturned. I appeared unscathed, but I was completely unconscious.

My soul, which floated in front of Mike, laughed at him. Could he not recognize me when he saw me?

And then he did turn to the mist that was me, and had the dreamiest look on his face than I had ever seen. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but then I began to feel the tugging sensation I felt when my body needed me back. I floated back into my body, returning breath to it. I was reluctant, however. I wanted Mike to look at me like that all of the time.

My body (now me) was gasping. I sat up, blinking to readjust my soul to my eyes. Chi flooded me once more.

Mike rushed out of his chair to my side. (He looked like he was in pain.) "Are you alright? You just blocked that sword with your soul, I mean aren't you . . ."

I smiled. I had actually thought that the move would kill me, also. I guess I would not go that easily. "Come here. I bet that stings."

Blood ran down his face. He grimaced. "Yeah."

My hand I placed very gently behind his head and my other I guided his jaw with. I pulled my legs under me so that I could get better height.

Mike sighed as I put my lips near his long wound and blew gently against his flesh, ignoring the blood streaming down his cheek. I suppose he realized that I was healing him. When I pulled back he seemed much more relaxed. An assassin standing beside us handed me a handkerchief. Calmly I (caressed) the blood from his cheek. He took it back and placed it in his pocket while I thanked him.

I stood then. The assassin righted my chair. I helped Mike to his feet and returned him to his seat, then also sat. Then I turned my eyes on the lawyer.

"There you have it: she is capable of far more than we believe. Is it hard to believe that someone capable of all that we have seen would want to take over the senate, starting with Shiki-sama? Just because she is a pureblood does not mean that she can be treated differently. They have to abide by laws, too."

"Shi, Shiki-sama: that was out of line." Ichio growled. "What if she had not been able to save him?"

"Shiki-sama has seen what she is capable of." the lawyer said.

"It was my first time projecting my soul from my body." I stated.

Again the room was silent for a moment. I really wanted to go to sleep, but I kept myself looking unscathed and alert.

"Would you mind explaining to us the extent of your powers?" Shi asked.

I met Ichio's eyes and stood. "It is required of me by law to explain my medical attributes?"

Ichio shook his head.

"Then I ask you to please respect my privacy." I told the lawyer, and sat back down.

I could tell out of the corner of my eye that Kaname could tell that I was furious; so was he.

"Is this all that you have to offer?" Ichio asked Shiki.

"What more is there to say?" Shiki replied. "I am at the mercy of the senate's judgment."

"Then, the defendant's testimonies will begin." Ichio announced. "First, the investigators the Kurans hired."

The men and women dressed darkly now stood. "We found from looking at the bloodstains and corpses on the floor still in the library of the Kuran mansion that the two pureblood parents were obviously murdered. There was no way that they could have even killed one another, judging from how far apart they were sprawled. They could not have done it to themselves because there was no evidence that anything had been hit hard enough to dislocate their limbs the way that they were. It was obvious that a fight had taken place in that room, because of the damage to the things in it. Again, none of the damaged things were damaged enough to suggest that a pureblood threw a body part at one of them hard enough to dislocate that limb." one of the women said. She had her hip popped and she seemed royally bored and furious to be there.

I loved her reason: she was angry because no one had gone out to see the evidence before then. If they had, there would be no fight.

"There was evidence that a door knob had been broken in order for the murderer to get into the house. The blood on the wood floors belongs to three different people, one of those being Shiki-sama. His blood was shed close to the exact moment that the others' was. Amara Kuran-sama says that she saw Shiki-sama finish off her parents. The timing works perfectly, and the place matches her description." the woman concluded. She hit a button and Shiki's image was replaced by one picture of the library after the other.

"Last but not least, we too, have a complete record of the senate's activities the day that the Kuran case was won. The senate did not send out any assassins. They were unaware of any malicious activity. It was not until the day after that the senate issued the hunt for Amara Kuran-sama." one of the darkly dressed men said. "Shiki-sama had been in contact with a different group of assassins and that is who Kuran-sama had to defend herself against. The records for that are right here." The woman clicked a button and the ceiling now showed what the man was talking about. "In fact, those assassins resigned earlier that day and many others have been resigning since to join the army of Shiki-sama. The ones that brought Kuran-sama and company here are not accounted for presently, to keep our numbers correct. We can see them all filing out and disappearing from view in the outdoor and indoor security cameras here at the Night Clan Great Hall. Whether these men are under his power or not I cannot tell you. But it is plain to see that Shiki-sama knew he would need them, and still needs them."

There was much chatter. Shiki looked very uncomfortable. I was grinning evilly to myself on the inside.

Meanwhile the investigators' news made my heart turn icy. "But it is plain to see that Shiki-sama knew he would need them, and still needs them."

Ichio nodded, half-smiling. "Now, I will say that the Kuran children were at my house on the day that the trial of Amara Kuran-sama was won and that Cho Cross, the woman who had driven them to see Ichijo, did have to take them home early because Amara was in tears. When I got word, I did visit the house and I can tell you that the pictures the investigators are showing you are no different from what I saw. The next day when the short debate was had to hunt her or not to, I asked that we inspect the house but was overruled by the uncle of the wife of Shiki-sama. Now the President of the vampyre hunter society will speak."

"Thank you." the woman stood with the stature of twelve pureblood vampyres. "It is in our records that Kaien Cross-san called me the day that the Kuran case was won and told us what had happened, which is exactly what Amara Kuran-sama described. While I was summoning and organizing help for the Kuran children, I got another call from Kaien Cross-san. He told me that Cho-san had been killed and that the assassins had found the kids, but that the daughter had killed them. That day I sent out fifteen vampyre hunters to escort them to the docks to be shipped to China so that they could stay there until everything was sorted out. They were ambushed by yet more assassins and killed. That is in the records that I hold. All fifteen bodies were recovered amongst no assassins."

Kaien stood now, too. "I talked to Kaname Kuran-sama on the phone after they were taken to China and told him that it was wisest if he came home to help the senate bring Amara Kuran-sama to light while she waited in China. She was only a little girl, and we all knew that she would have no chance in the senate, especially since she would not even be able to attend her trial. Ichio-sama tried subtly to have something more done but was unsuccessful. We kept vaguely in contact, fearing Shiki-sama would find out."

"While in France, Amara-sama had begun painting for the public and was quickly becoming famous. She then went to America, fearing, as she said, for the safety of the humans." the President said. "It is in our files. We kept a close eye on her."

Mike stood then, proud and tall above the senate. Everyone else sat down.

Without missing a beat, Mike continued.

"I never felt threatened by her. She never barred her fangs, used her powers, or even took charge. She was always kind to everyone. I could see the pain in her eyes whenever we spoke of parents. I could see her anger when war and killing was talked about. She never expressed or talked about these emotions. Only I could see this. She never looked like she thought she was innocent, but she never looked guilty. She never looked scared until the day that the assassin found her, and it was only for a split second. That day, she did everything in her power to keep her friends safe. That is why I am not dead today. She enjoyed every day as it came until then. She was not hiding. She was waiting for the senate to find her – she was waiting for the reassurance that the senate would be the one handling her case, not Shiki-sama. But she knew it would be an assassin from the senate, because Shiki-sama was using the senate to take down the one person who stood between him, money, and power over the senate. That is what he continues to attempt to do today. He had everything planned, even his false-death. If he had killed her himself, he would not be able to go on to rule the senate afterward. He framed her. Still, he had not realized that Amara would have so many people standing up for her. He had guessed that he would win. He will not. Her friends have cleared up every charge against her, and have exposed the real killer here."

"Beware, though: Shiki-sama will not be tried. He will not stop until he has succeeded." Kaname stood now. "There is a war to come. My sister has foreseen it." Kaname nailed Shiki right in the eye, and he glared back. He really looked like he wanted to kill him.

I wanted to cry with pride for my two men.

"I imagine that that is all of the evidence and testimonies we need? Must I even call a vote?" Ichio asked.

"No. We are decided." the woman from yesterday said. "Amara Kuran-sama is the victim. Guards, apprehend Shiki, his uncle-in-law, and his lawyer; we cannot allow attempts at murder, even against humans. We will debate along with Amara-sama the punishment for Shiki, and what will be done about what she has foreseen."

Ichio nodded once, a finalization. "Dismissed. Now the debating over Shiki-sama will begin."

Shiki was silent as the guards took him and his two followers out, but the lawyer babbled out excuses. The guards were grim. Everyone was grimly glaring at him, angry and ashamed: he had fooled them.

Mike, Kaname, and I sat back down. Mike took my hand. I was so grateful.

Now my head was throbbing for a different reason.

At least the senate would not be what killed me.


I hope it is not too terribly obvious that I do not know the first name of Senri's father, or any part of the name of his great uncle. :)