A ripple of surprise and shock spread through the crowd. Even among the companions, there was surprise at the charge itself. Dean kept his shock down and used the ripple as a means to move forward a little more, nearer to the center.
“Shortly after our return to Raw today,” the baron continued, “I returned to my chambers to find Ryan Cawdor alone with my wife. She was naked and distressed—”
Another ripple of shock, this time not shared by the companions. Dean, for his part, found the idea of Jenna distressed by her nakedness sickly amusing, considering what the woman had told him about her plans for his father and himself.
Alien held up his hands for silence, and continued, “When I had dismissed Ryan Cawdor and had calmed my wife, I discovered that Ryan had told her he wanted to rule Raw, and use the people to help him achieve his aims. Also that he wanted her as his woman, as he was tired of the one he has now.”
Krysty felt sick at the accusation coming from the mutie woman, but also amused at how far wide of the mark she knew it to be. She felt the raven eyes of the queen searing into her, but refused to meet them.
Tiring of that game, Jenna stepped forward and interrupted her husband. “When I told him that I wasn’t interested, the bastard tried to take me by force. It was only my husband arriving that saved me from that animal,” she cried, her voice trembling with an anger and fear that was convincing—unless you knew the truth.
The muttering in the crowd started again, but with an uglier undertone. Jenna had never been popular, but Alien was loved and respected by his people, and she was his wife.
The baron held up his hands. “I’ve called you here to announce that they will be expelled. I want no chilling, as the rest of the party are not to blame. They will be escorted from the ville. If, however, they do so much as come near us again, then they will be chilled. That is my ruling.”
There was a buzz among the crowd as they debated between those who agreed with the baron, and those who favored a chilling. Dean put aside his own surprise, and moved to the front of the crowd, making ready to break into the circle.
In the middle, it was hard to tell who was the more surprised, Ryan and his companions, or Jenna and Harvey.
“J.B., better be triple red just in case,” Ryan whispered, leaning close to the Armorer. He was careful not to approach his weapons and spark a reaction.
J.B. nodded agreement and swept his gaze over the others. While shocked, they had all taken in the judgment and were prepared to believe the baron. No one had reached for a blaster. Not even Dean. The Armorer blinked, momentarily surprised at the stealth with which the youngster had infiltrated the center of the circle.
J.B. wasn’t the only one to notice Dean. Harvey reached for his Colt Magnum Carry blaster as soon as he spotted Dean, but was stayed by the hand of the baron, who said something that J.B. was unable to make out in the surrounding noise. The Armorer also noticed that Jenna had turned pale.
Alien held up his hand once more for silence, and made to speak as the hubbub subsided. But before he could actually speak, Dean began.
“Listen to me! Alien is being lied to—Jenna and Harvey have a lab hidden at the end of one of the tunnels, and they’re making muties down there. It was them who took me, and I wasn’t able to escape until now.”
Alien listened to the youngster with a puzzled frown. Noticing this, Jenna grabbed her husband’s arm.
“Don’t listen to that shit! Get them out of here,” she screamed with an almost hysterical edge to her voice.
But when her husband looked at her, there was a coldness in his eyes that made her shrink.
“No,” he said quietly. His voice was almost a whisper, but over the shocked silence of the gathered ville dwellers, it carried like the loudest shout. “No, let the child show me. If he lies, then it will be shown for that. If I do not allow him that chance, how can my people ever trust again that I am fair and honest?”