Red:The Alpha's Queen

Chapter Five

~Ruby~

Arms bound with enchanted ropes, I trailed behind the Alpha's entourage, barely holding in a sigh and an eye roll about how seriously all this felt.

The Council's main building loomed high above us, casting a dark shadow on us as the sun began to set.

It looked like an old cathedral church, the only difference being the symbols and the thousands of sculptures with magical runes in them. It also happened to be four stories high.

Dragon-like gargoyles were designed into a few arches, forming a somewhat crisscross pattern when evenly matched. Corinthian themed columns sidelined the eastern and western side of the building, giving it ancient Greek vibes.

12 feet high oak doors stood closed before us, with magic induced knobs sealing them shut.

Without even knocking, the large oak doors opened with a loud creak, exposing a very lanky looking man. He was paler than average, the blue-greenish veins clear in his arms that were exposed from the dark robes that he wore. The way he carried himself, and the aura around him, I was positive he was a vampire.

He also happened to spot a very bored expression on his narrow face. Surprisingly, his face was freckled too, with high cheek bones and plump lips. His hazel eyes were framed by long dark lashes and a mass of white tied back hair sat on his head.

Aside from his impassive expressionless face, he was extremely handsome. Most of the men in my world were.

"Guardian Aurelius, greetings to you. I hope you've been expecting us." The Alpha greeted neutrally. Blankly, the man simply raised an eyebrow our way. "Of course I was. Not that I wasn't expecting you."

There was something snarky implied under his statement, that I found myself entirely amused. I was starting to think that I wasn't the only one that didn't like the Alpha.

From the corner of my eye, I caught the Alpha's left eye twitching. He was definitely ticked off. I fought down my grin. Whoever this Aurelius guy was, I seriously liked him.

Without waiting for any response, Aurelius, as I heard the Alpha address him, turned and strolled back inside. The rest of the entrourage followed without hesitation. Because I was tied to one of the guards, I was obviously dragged behind them.

With dim lit touches, there was nothing much to see in the hallways as we quickly passed through. But that didn't matter, because I could see everything clearly. As a warrior under The Order, the 'Life Serum' had been obviously administered to my body once I had endured my training and passed the final test.

That way, I had automatically become a genetically enhanced human, with the vision and strength of a werewolf and the speed of a vampire. While our abilities as enhanced humans didn't come close to what the naturally born vampires and werewolves had, we were much stronger than the average human.

I didn't have any time to do any sight seeing as my attention was drawn to the sound of distant voices of a number of people reached my ears. While the words were quite unclear, I could tell there was much unrest and arguments from the tone of their voices.

The voices got much clearer with every step we took and then suddenly, we came to a stop before another set of oak doors, before they were being pushed open.

The loud creak of the doors hushed out the noise in the room as everyone else turned their gaze our way. The Council of Elders. So this is where the Alpha had brought me. So that I could be tried. Each elder also had some of their officials present for this hearing.

The Council of Elders was made up of a representative from each of the clans within the Southern districts, the Vampires, the Werewolves, the Witches, the Wizards, the Nymph, the Fae, the Elves, the Giants, the Winged creatures , and of course, the enhanced humans, us.

As per the rules of the Council, only five of the the Elders were present for my trial. Unless all the clans were facing a common threat, then and only then would all Ten of the Council Elders would be present.

In attendance today, Master Milagros of the Enhanced humans, Guardian Aurelius of the Vampires, Master Andres of the Winged Creatures, Madame Iris of the Nymphs and of course, Alpha Jared of the Werewolves.

Aside from the Alpha, all the Elders were seated on a platform, raised from all the other seats. I almost teared up at the sight of my master and teacher.

I knew he was the only one that was willing to listen and defend me. The last time we had parted.... I swallowed the lump that suddenly came up my throat.

I wasn't surprised when he immediately proceeded with my questioning, taking the lead before anyone else could. "State your name, warrior."

"I'm Ruby Winter, granddaughter of Claudia Winter and the 1st guard of the Order."

"The Council and it's Elders have gathered here today, holding you responsible for the murder of the Royal Family and 2nd rank prince of the werewolves, Nate Blackthorn of the Silver Mist Pack. There's enough evidence to have you sentenced to death. "

He paused, then faced me. "What do you have to say for yourself, warrior?"

"I pledge innocence. "

"That's not a truth." One of the officials roared out in anger. "We have clear evidence you committed the crime. There's no way you can fish your way out of this. "

Murmurs of agreement echoed as everyone seemed to agree with what he had said.

While I had watched on everything nonchalantly and without being affected at all, the fact they all readily agreed that I had murdered someone got me really angry.

"I'm innocent." I said, sticking to my truth.

The official wasn't backing down though. "Then where were you on the night the 2nd Prince was murdered? "

"I was on a mission, under the orders of the Order. "

"You seem to have an answer for everything, warrior. " The official said, smirking, "but that doesn't mean you'll get away with this. "

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe missions are carried out in pairs. Perchance, where's your partner? Why isn't he here defending you? Shouldn't he be your alias? "

I inwardly sneered at him. He knew exactly why my partner wasn't here. Nevertheless, I kept my cool and replied. "He's critically injured. He can't make it here. "

"And why is that? Did you beat him, just so you could hide your tracks and prevent your evil secrets and crimes? "

"I'm telling the truth. " I said, imploring the elders with my eyes and answering with as much sincerity as I could muster. "And I did not murder the Prince. "

"If you didn't commit these crimes as you say," The official roared, "Well prove it to us. "

I gritted my teeth. I couldn't control my anger anymore as I roared back at him. "If you don't believe that I'm telling the truth, then why don't we seek out the House of Mirrors?"

Silence echoed in the room, and I watched as the official's eyes widened in disbelief. I wondered if I shouldn't have said anything.

Pale with shock, the Elders and the other Council officials looked like I had revealed one of their deepest secrets. Master Milagros looked surprised too. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned any of that, but I recalled that these were Luna's specific instructions.

From the corner of my eye, I finally noticed the Alpha. He and his men and been led to a few seats right before my trial was. He had watched the proceedings in silence, but at the moment, he was frowning, deep in thought.

I turned back to the Elders. From their reactions, I could tell they didn't expect such a thing to come from me. Perhaps I also didn't realize the weight of the words I had just said.

The Elder, Andres of the Winged creatures was the first to recover. "Child, how did you find out about that?"

Just like that, the rest of the Elders seemed to regain their consciousness and began muttering amongst themselves, before Master Milagros called for silence.

Meanwhile, I pondered on how to reveal my knowledge about the House of Mirrors. There's no way I would mention being reincarnated by the Goddess, Luna, and that she had specifically required me to mention it at this trial. So, I settled on a half truth, "I had a vision. "

Andres turned to Aurelius, Guardian of the Vampires, "Is she telling the truth?"

As a naturally born vampire, Aurelius couldn't tell a lie even if he wanted to, which also made it easy for him to point out spoken lies. It was an ability all natural born vampires had, and so did Aurelius.

Aurelius' hazel gaze settled on me, as if scanning for any fabricated lies. I fought the urge to make a face at him. After a few minutes, he turned back to Andres. "She's telling the truth. "

This time, the muttering voices were much louder, like no one could believe his confirmation. An official, one just below the elders' stands rose on his feet.

"Your honor," he implored to Master Andres, "the House of Mirrors hasn't shown itself for over 40 years. How are we going to go about summoning it's presence. We can't determine it's presence or location. "

Master Andres rubbed his forehead like he had an incoming headache. "I'm well aware of that. Since the convicted suspect has fully requested to be tried by the House of Mirrors, we'll have to locate it and then ride there."

"Meanwhile," he faced me directly. "Ruby Winter, 1st guard of The Order will be sentenced to the dungeons and then subjected to hard labour until further notice."

Mutters echoed in the room once again before Master Aurelius beckoned for silence once again.

"I do hope you realize that once the House of Mirrors finds you guilty, you'll be doomed to spend eternity as a lost soul. Not even your body will be revived. "

I found myself gulping at this new knowledge, but nevertheless nodded. I knew I was innocent, but the idea that I could easily lose my soul was indeed unsettling.

Master Andres proceeded to end the court session, but before he could, the doors of the Council room were suddenly bursting open, revealing a heavily breathing young official.

"What is going on, Javier? Why did you come in so unceremoniously? " Master Andres barked at the poor young man.

The young official, still heavily panting, replied with a tone of emergency and surprise. "Master, it's the House of Mirrors. The House of Mirrors is outside. "