DarkRevenge by Jennifer Leeland Page B

chose Tory. He is my mate. How that happened no longer
matters.”
    “Bullshit,” Tesia snapped.
    Alex shook her head. “Not bullshit. I have said the words,
committed to my Sarat.”
    “Is this true?” she demanded and glared at Tory.
    He nodded. “She has.”
    “You didn’t force them from her?” Tesia asked him.
    “He didn’t,” Alex interrupted.
    The other men seemed uncomfortable with this topic. Should
she reveal the mutual nullification? No. Tory’s pride might be hurt if she did.
Besides, the details of their contract were no one’s business but their own.
    “Why?” Tesia bit out the word.
    Tory tensed beside her. Maybe he thought she didn’t have an
answer. But she did. “Why not? Could I ask for a better mate? You know he had
to prove my family wronged him. He wasn’t guilty of treason. He is a man of
honor and courage. Why wouldn’t I accept him as a mate?”
    Tesia snorted. “Anyone who knew him wouldn’t have believed
that crap in the first place.”
    “You’re right.” Alex answered that charge. It needed to be
said, dealt with. She felt Tory’s gaze on her but she focused on the woman who
accused her. “I was afraid.” Tesia’s eyes widened and Tory hissed a quick
intake of breath. “I had discussed a courtship contract for Tory and myself
with my family.”
    “You did?” Tory burst out and Alex glanced at him.
    “I did. I was insistent.” She bit her lip. “Two weeks later,
my brother presented evidence that Tory was a traitor.” Her chin rose. “Tory
had no alibi, no defense. My brother had witnesses, vid evidence that the
Tribunal said was genuine. I had no reason to doubt them.” Her stomach
clenched. There was much more to it than that, but she wasn’t going to talk
about it. “I was an idiot. I thought my feelings for Tory had blinded me.” She
couldn’t hold Tesia’s gaze anymore. She stared at the floor. “I questioned my
own judgment.”
    “Because you loved him,” Tesia stated.
    Loved him? She blinked and stared at the woman. “I don’t
know. I cared about him enough to ask for a courtship contract.”
    “But five years? You never doubted it for five fucking
years?” Tesia’s hands clenched into fists.
    “No, I never did.” To her ever-loving regret. “The Tribunal
found him guilty.”
    “Your Tribunal was wrong.” Tesia clenched her fists at her
side. “You let them exile him. You didn’t defend him.”
    “That’s not true,” Tory interrupted.
    Tesia and Alex both turned to stare at him. He met Alex’s
gaze as he spoke. “I read the transcripts after I heard Darius say you defended
me. I should have gotten them sooner. I was so hurt I—” He stopped. He didn’t
have to say it. She remembered. He’d begged her to run away, to make a life
with him. Instead, she’d chosen to side with her family. He glanced at Tesia.
“She told the Tribunal I was a hero and she’d fought by my side. She didn’t
believe I was capable of the accusations presented.” He met her gaze. “They
showed you the vids. Was that the first time you’d seen them?”
    She nodded. “And the bank accounts.”
    “Your brother was thorough.” He gazed at Tesia. “What you
don’t know is that the Tribunal recommended a death sentence. It was Alex’s
testimony that changed it to exile.”
    “How did you find that out?” Alex stared at him and he
grasped her hand.
    “I have sources who obtained the notes from the Tribunal
Judgment.”
    “So you saved his life,” Tesia said with a frown.
    “And he saved mine. That’s what this is really all about.”
She twined her fingers with Tory’s.
    “Only one more ordeal, dear heart,” Tory said. Ordeal?
Another man stepped forward with a bow. He had jet-black hair like Tory’s but
it was cut very short. And his eyes were an eerie green. An Ardasian? Serving
on The Pinnacle’s crew? She glanced at Tory. “I am Jezar Rysa,” the man
said, his voice deep and pleasant.
    She bowed. “I am honored.” What was he