Jax's voice cut across the room.
"Thane. Go."
Corvin Thane rose.
"Elle Valehart."
Elle stepped forward, gave Jax a nod.
"Beta Luna Valehart, you saw the attack?"
"Yes."
"What happened after the match ended?"
"Nova walked away. Helga hit her from behind. No order. No warning."
"Did she stop when commanded?"
"No. She kept attacking."
Corvin nodded once and looked at Jax.
"Understood. No further questions."
Jax turned towards Eldric.
"Defense. Your witness."
Eldric Vaelor rose smoothly, his tone even and measured.
"Beta Luna, before the poisoning incident, had either you or Nova Moonveil experienced any form of hostility or threat during your time within Shadowclaw?"
Elle's gaze flicked briefly toward Corvin, then back to Eldric.
"Yes. On several occasions. Most were verbal — comments, rumors, hostility from a few warriors and students who didn't believe Nova belonged here. We also received threatening notes and at one point, written on the window in the room we shared."
Whispers stirred in the hall. Jax lifted a hand for silence.
"You said we. You mean both you and Nova?" Eldric asked.
"Yes. Most of it was directed at her, but when I defended her, it extended to me."
A stir in the gallery. Jax silenced it with a glance.
"And when you defended her, it escalated."
"Yes."
Eldric nodded once, as if confirming a calculation. "The Crown focuses on Helga's attack. I'm asking about what led up to it. Was anyone else openly hostile toward Nova before then?"
Elle's jaw tightened.
"Princess Meredith Ashbane."
A ripple moved through the room. Jax's gavel cracked once. "Order."
"Let's get to the part everyone's avoiding. What happened?"
Elle drew a breath. "We were assigned to attend to her. The moment we walked in, she went after Nova — called her a whore and that she didn't belong here."
A low murmur rippled through the room.
"Nova didn't respond. Meredith stepped in, grabbed her by the throat, and slammed her into the wall."
Elle's tone stayed level, though her eyes tightened.
"Then… then she went after her mother. Called her a dead whore. Said Nova had the same vacant look she'd had when Queen Velora killed her."
Elle swallowed hard, voice unsteady.
"She… taunted her. Wondered if her mother screamed when her throat was opened. And she—" a small breath, "she said she hoped Nova was raped and died."
The chamber went still.
Eldric didn't look away. "Thank you, Luna Valehart."
He turned to Jax, voice clipped, decisive.
"Entered into the record."
Jax spoke.
"Beta Luna Valehart, you are excused."
Elle stepped down, the echo of her boots fading into the charged silence that followed. The air in the Hall of the Tribunal had gone thick enough to choke on.
Cael's jaw locked, fury tightening every line of his face. The threatening notes — he hadn't known about those notes. Elle had kept that from him to spare him. Hearing it here, in front of the Tribunal, was the last damn way he ever wanted to learn it.
Fin went still, fingers trembling once against the armrest. He already knew pieces of what Nova had endured — but hearing Elle lay it all out together, every insult, every threat, every cruelty, carved deeper than he expected. He hadn't claimed her, and she'd suffered for it.
Rex looked stunned, torn between disbelief and disgust.
Bloodmoon was frozen, color drained from his face. Veins rose along his neck. His son's fated mate had attacked the daughter of the woman he once loved — and spat filth on her memory. The truth hollowed him.