CHAPTER 98 Return to the Palace

　　As soon as the Royal Court of Elders had released them into the hands of their specially trained guards, they were escorted back to the palace in an unmarked car with blacked-out windows and no trace of the usual pomp and ceremony that followed them everywhere.

　　They sat in silence as they headed towards the palace, the guards watching them like hawks with impassive expressions on their faces.

　　The trial had been a disaster for all of them, especially Leopold.

　　This latest installment in the saga of events that revolved around Ada's obsession with trying to destroy Ann had exposed the long-standing defects and flaws that Narcissa had spent so long cultivating in Leopold's character.

　　The time and energy it had taken to chip away at his sense of righteousness, the seduction and whispered persuasion that it had taken to twist his mind with her poisonous words, and the sacrifices of flesh that she had been forced to make over the years to bind his heart to hers, ensnaring his wolf i