Numbness sets in, I cannot feel my hands, cannot hear my heartbeat.
"Whatever for?" It was supposed to be my inner voice, but somehow, I opened my mouth at that moment.
"What Grand Keeper Pael Juine means to say is…" the feminine voice piques my ears, making my knees cave in like a siren struck man at sea. ".....you've committed treason."
My hands remain at my sides, fingers digging into my palm. "Treason?"
"Council," my head snaps to the far right where Grand Keeper Pael Juine stays seated. I know that fat belly poking out anywhere. The room is dim, but I can make out Grand Keeper Pael Juine and the bronze cup in his hand. "Giving the girl a listening ear is not necessary."
This has been his plan all along, hasn't it? To get rid of me.
"She should at least be given a fair trial." The most reasonable voice I've ever heard speaks up. I can't make out his face, the light doesn't reach the far left of the hall.
Why are they so hell bent on avoiding the light?
"The council needs someone to blame." Says Grand Keeper Pael Juine.
"I am not to be blamed." My voice is loud, sending the council members to an abrupt silence. I step forward, needing to see the faces of these ones who are so quick to condemn me.
"You plead guilty?" Asks the woman.
"I–"
But Grand Keeper Pael Juine interrupts me immediately. "She is guilty."
"Might I ask, grand keeper…" I'm drawing in sharp breaths like I just ran an obstacle course. My body moves on its own, leaning forward in anxiety. ".....why am I guilty?"
"Silly child," it's another voice. "You left your teammate on mission grounds and you brought a lycan into Eldarda."
This is it, Dina. They seek justice for Anna. Something they'll never do for you no matter how much you try.
"I didn't leave Anna, she was killed by wolves."
"And you…you managed to make it back?" It's Grand Keeper Pael Juine and I swear this man needs his tongue chopped off. I stay silent, waiting for his absurdity to spew. "How do we know that you didn't kill her?"
The gasps in the hall clouds mine.
"That is ridiculous!" The reasonable voice sends an eerie silence filling the hall. "Treasonous!"
"Did you kill Anna Rcmlen, Miss Dina?" The female voice asks gently. She leans forward into the light, her golden hair is kissed by the sun. There's doubt and worry in her twinkling green eyes.
Dylan takes after his mother, I suppose.
"Lady Magnate…." Grand Keeper Pael Juine's chair creaks as he stands up. ".....you cannot possibly —"
"See to it that you hold your tongue while I am speaking, Grand Keeper." My eyes widen, a cheerfulness wash through me. "You will not condemn a member of Eldarda's third line of defence so unjustly."
The silence deafens the halls, the rest of the council members stay still, unmoving.
Her sharp eyes darts to me, cutting through my poised demeanour. I know she can see through me.
"Answer my question."
I swallow. She's the lady magnate for a reason. Unjust, proper, principled. Like a storm in an egg, delicate, powerful with softness and grace. But, if she finds me guilty, I know she won't hesitate to have me killed.
"I didn't kill Anna."
She stills, her green eyes lock onto mine for a moment. It feels like claws tightening their grip around my neck, waiting for me to give up.
"She didn't kill Anna," says the Lady Magnate as she leans back on her seat. "She's telling the truth."
"And the lycan?" It's some other voice, totally unnecessary. "She brought him here."
"I didn't even know it was a lycan. It was human first, everyone saw it." My tone is strong, I'm unwilling to shake before any of them. "But you all seem to point out what it is…..that is so wrong, you forget that I saved Eldarda's first line of defence."
"The walls and the gate have stood for centuries," says Grand Keeper Pael Juine with a gruff voice. "It never would have fallen yesterday, not today, not ever."
"There were two full grown Alphas charging at us. I shot one–"
"You missed."
I scoff. You're gonna lie now, aren't you? "I hit it right where I wanted to."
"You were having mercy on the enemy."
This motherfu– "I simply bought us time to close the gates."
"That's enough, both of you." Lady Magnate speaks up, shunning us both at once. She turns to me. "This is a tense situation here, Dina. You fought alongside the greatest hunter we've had in years and somehow, you managed to escape and she's dead. You failed to kill an enemy on sight, therefore violating the second law of the hunter code. There's a beast within us, and you are responsible for it."
"But i–"
Her chair creaks as she stands. The rest of the council members stand with her. She looks down at me from the centre where she stands tall.
My heartbeat is loud, flooding my ears as my lungs tighten.
"The council needs someone to blame, Dina. It's unfortunate that it just so happens to be you." I'm still watching as she speaks because I'm unable to speak. The words stay buried and I'm inhaling but I still cannot breathe.
She casts a soft glance at me, I see her chest rise and fall heavily. Then suddenly, she tears her eyes from me, looking elsewhere.
"You are to be hanged by the sacred laws of Eldarda," her voice breaks, she swallows. "You have till first light to say goodbye to anyone you wish well."
My lips part, the words fail to comply with my command. I'm just standing there, numb, watching as the Lady Magnate rushes out of the hall. My eyes follow her but Grand Keeper Pael Juine comes into view, a full blown smirk on his face that I so desperately want to cut off right now.
Heat floods my skin, itching for violence. I feel the anger climb me swiftly, not giving me a chance to choose. But just as Grand Keeper Pael Juine walks out the door, the anger disappears, replaced with something much darker, much deeper.
My heart sinks and I fall to the ground. There's an emptiness within me, my fingers clutch at my chest, hoping to warm the void spreading like the dread of night within me, but it's not working.
I inhale deeply, trying to control my emotions but the tears sting my eyes.
What is this? This is why I hate dealing with emotions. Making me weak, making me helpless.
It's the lycan's fault. He's the one who smirked at you like something would go wrong. He's the one.
The lycan. Yes, yes.
My feet shuffled against the floor, and I scurry off towards the door. I dry my eyes with the back of my palm but as soon as I'm outside and the sunlight of hot noon hits, my eyes dim.
Bloody council hall.
My feet refuse to heed calmness, just shuffling through the grounds of Eldarda. My body seems to know the way, turning at this corner and that corner until I come to the crimson bricked building where guards are swarming like flies.
Kill the lycan.
I'll kill the damned lycan.
I march straight, opening the front door with a thud. My feet rushes to the bricked counter, eyes locked on the well built man who's spread out on a chair, steel cup in hand.
"And who is this gorgeous looking fellow?" He throws me a lazy smirk.
"The lycan, I want to speak with him."
"You cannot speak with the lycan, love," he sits up with a lazy lean. He's drunk by noon, splendid. "Too dangerous for a pretty face like you."
I groan inwardly, but I lean in slowly. "My favourite rule amongst many hunter laws is rule number two," I tug at the gather of my dress, slightly exposing my breasts and the glint of the silver knife between them. "Kill an enemy on sight."
"You want to fight me?"
"Not unless I have to. Right now, you're posing as my enemy and I don't have the strength of the day to give a damn about you or your bloody weight. I'm light and you're a fat face, which makes me faster. It'll be like slicing meat."
He leans back into his chair, his pupils dilated as he holds his breath. "The last floor ma'am."
I nod, making my way down the stairs. It's a lot of stairs way down as it's the last floor. The last floor was created for something uncontrollable, that was what we were taught. I just didn't know that I'd be visiting it.
I reach the last floor, the lantern casts a faint amber in the long hall. I can see the silver gate in the distance. I take one lantern and move closer. Suddenly, every thought to kill this lycan has fled and nothing but horror sweeps through me, making every hair on my body stand.
I stand right in front of the silver gate. It's see through and I can see him chained with silver. His hands, his legs are chained with at least five chains each.
Could it really be that dangerous?.
His head hangs low, I'm unable to see his eyes. But I'm thankful he's wearing long pants now. A faint brown. Small black hairs rumble his chest.
I swallow, hoping my voice comes out strong and stays that way. But he beats me to it.
"I can smell you from a mile away," his voice is deep, dark, raspy. Oddly spiking my blood flow into a silent turmoil.
I shake my head, ignoring it.
"What have you come to Eldarda for?"
He doesn't reply. He slowly raises his head, I can't make out his face properly. But I step backwards.
A dry chuckle emits from
him. "Scared of me, mate?"
I squint my eyes, my chest rises and falls. It's like everything is hell bent on making me lose my mind.
"What?!" I shriek.