Chapter 3
At first I did not notice it. But as I lowered my head in suspicion of the stillness of the house, I staggered back at the sight of the red liquid on the floor. The color swirled in my mind, making my feel light while curiosity aroused in my mind. My glistening eyes followed the line, almost forcefully, like it had a mind of its own as some would say. The red liquid however, was still flowing through the tiny cracks on the floor. It was heading towards my, and every limb in my body screamed for me to run. I did not listen though. I waited for it to touch my bare feet and experienced the tiny tremors that shot through my body.
All that was left of the blood that had once flowed thick and scarlet in Henrietta’s veins was clasped in his callused fingers. A dried patch of brown that had wicked into the hem of my old grey sweater the day she died. Sometimes he would be tending the animals only to almost tumble to the ground with the strength of the flashback. His Queen lying on the tile in a pool of already congealing blood, the same smell as the slaughterhouse he took their swine to and my unseeing eyes wide with the fear of my final moments. He knew he should dispose of the old rag, stained and ruined as it was, but in the cruel moments when his life with my seemed like a fantasy and by extension their love not only gone but never having existed at all, he would dig it out of his breast pocket. I had been real and I was waiting for him when his time ended.
It was the mate of the Queen. The concubine who had failed to provide her with any heir alive.
I looked at Rex and he could not help but shrug in my direction.
“My Lord, it is not right for you to be here at this moment,” spoke Rex as he went forward and the ex-king raised his eyes and looked at all of us.
“She was in a lot of pain,” he whispered as I could hear him clearly. Not only me. Every single one could hear him clearly.
“We all know that, my lord. Please come with me. This room was supposed to be untouched. You are tampering with the evidence which will help us nab the person who has committed this heinous crime in the first place,” said Rex in a louder and forceful voice and caught hold of the ex-king’s arm who was still in a daze. Rex was a dominant wolf, which meant that even if the king did not want to follow the orders or the commands, his wolf was left with no choice.
When he was almost close to me he suddenly stopped and caught hold of my hand with his bloodied larger hand and said earnestly,” We never had a child but she would want you to be the Queen. She would want you to win. I know that, in my heart.”
And then he was gone. I did not know if this was supposed to be some kind of intervention from the heavenly forces then it could not have been any clearer.
Drima cleared her throat and said,” I don’t want to rush you, Synthia. But you have to know that we are running against time here.”
And like always she was correct. I breathed in deeply and again planted my bare foot near the trail of the blood and I could feel the Alpha Magic of the Queen seeping out slowly. Like it was bleeding into the floor.
“This place needs to be contained,” I spoke in a loud voice as I went ahead towards the place where the dead body of the Queen Henrietta lay.
It was definitely not a pleasant sight. The look in her eyes which were now blank were still in shock. No one had bothered to close the lids of her eyes. And I knew very well that they were going to haunt my dreams for several nights to come.
The moment I touched her cold clammy skin, a shot of electricity coursed through my veins. It was like catching hold of a live wire and getting plugged in directly to the power source.
“It was someone she knew,” I said when I left her skin. I did not know how I knew that but I knew. I stood up and proceeded to walk towards the table where there were two cups kept. She had let someone in the room whom she knew. Whom she was supposed to have a meeting with. This was a pre-mediated murder.
“Synthia, we are running out of time,” Drima reminded me and I told her what I thought about the entire situation.
Luke growled in assent at my words. That meant he also supported my theory.
“Your cousin is fast headed this way. Need to get out of here fast,” said Luke through the mind link and I snatched up my boots with supernatural speed and took a drop of the spilled blood on the floor for the honour mark. Every single one of my pack followed the same we quickly hurried out of the library and shut the door behind us.
And just at that moment I found Rubina standing there with a scowl plastered on her face and beside her was her familiar Salazar, and he was a snake. A huge python which was looking at Luke and hissing. Real intelligent, naming her familiar after Salazar Slytherin, from Harry Potter!
“You had to do this, isn’t it?” asked Rubina.
She was not even the least bit sad that our Queen had been murdered and the only thing on her face that was clear was greed and envy.
“Did you think that getting an honour mark from the Queen’s blood is going to get you more favourable points to win from the Guardian Council?” she smiled which looked like more of a smirk.
“Honouring your monarch is not against the rules of the Summit, Rubina. If anything they are going to welcome it. And I am sure that you are thinking now why did I have to spend so much time in the bushes with the Queen’s Guard, is it not?” I asked her without any malice in her voice and all my pack members sniggered.
“See you at the Summit, Rubina. Although I would wish you for the best but you see I am really not in the mood,” I said as I strode forward towards the great hall.
But she was not a creature who would be defeated so easily. She followed me and then said, more like she hissed at me,” You think that you are so great just because you are from the Red Hearts Pack, isn’t it? That your mother was the sister of the Queen? But know this for sure that the Summit is going to be won by who is most eligible to be a Queen.”
“Thanks for reminding, Rubina. I really did not know that,” I said with a scoff and then I stood before the gates of the Great Hall and the Guards bowed towards me with respect. Rubina was also standing behind me but they did not look towards her. After all, I was the one who had arrived with honour mark on her head as a mark of reverence for the Fallen Queen.
The Guards opened the door and announced my name as soon as I nodded.
“Here comes Heiress of Red Hearts Pack, Synthia of the Red bearing the mark of honour,” announced the Guard and I strode forward in the Great Hall to stand in front of the Council. I hated those old bastards who had nothing for years except fight the Queen in almost every single thing that she had done and tried to usurp her power but the Red Queen was not a woman to be messed with. She was a woman who was cold and cunning and she had such information on the Council that they could not even speak a word before her later on.
“Here comes Heiress of Purple Poison Pack, Rubina of Purple ,” announced the Guard as Rubina came forward.
“Here comes Heiress of Yellow Sunflower Pack, Ambernette of Yellow,” announced the Guard as Ambernette came forward. Her make-up had been ruined and tears had splotched her face and eyes. I looked at Drima who immediately understood my signal. As a contestant I could not help another heiress but she could be provided support. Drima came forward and gave her a tissue and Amber was grateful for it.
“Here comes Heiress of Black Claws Pack, Blossom Anne of Black, bearing the honour mark,” announced the Guard as Blossom too came forward. Her face was a mask of fury and pain and her eyes were blazing.
“Where is the heiress of the Green Ivy Pack?” asked one of the members of the Council. This time Blossom spoke as Ambernette let out an anguished cry at the name of her friend. It was no secret that Ambernette and Georgia of Green Ivy Pack were best friends since childhood.
“Killed. She has been murdered by those fucking vamps. Bloody longtooths,” said Blossom as her rage was paramount.
“Murdered?” I could not suppress my surprise.” An heiress murdered? This means it calls for war with the vampires. They know the rules.”
The Council nodded at my words and they were also accepting the fact that if the heiress had been murdered then it was an all-out war. The war between the vampires and the werewolves had been only stopped because of the Peace Treaty which was still in effect.. but this was heresy.
“Her death needs to be investigated. It cannot be allowed to go unpunished. We will do everything that is possible for us,” I said and Drima made a gesture in my direction saying that it was enough and there was no need to speak any more.
Rubina was not going to be left behind and she had launched into a tirade against the vampires but I was thinking that there was some reason that we could not see. The vampires had not attacked any werewolf on our territory since almost the Peace Treaty has been in effect but now that our Queen was dead and same day within a few hours an attack was launched on the heiress of the packs. This was really not making any sense.
“We all know that the motions are running high. And today we have not only lost one but rather two royal blooded wolves to unknown assailants,” spoke, Torah, a woman who was known to be level-headed and she had real knowledge of magic some of which had been lost to ages.
“Since the power at the moment is unstable and it is seeping, we need to make sure that the New Queen is chosen and crowned as soon as possible so that we can make sure that the power lines are stable again and our wolves all over the world are safe,” said Torah and I nodded in acceptance of the fact.
“We will start the Summit as soon as possible three hours from now. There will be five contests in total checking each and every skill of the contestants and the heiresses making sure that they are ready to be the Queen. So, please take rest and get ready for the Summit, for as of now the Summit has already begun.”