If I Had Wings to Fly

Chapter 13: The Council

My hand rests on the door knob. I use my other hand to brush aside the baby hairs sticking to my cheeks. As the door opens, the silent library is replaced by sounds of a raucous crowd. We enter into a large vestibule carved out of stone. 

I walk forward, glass crunching under my feet. The man's jacket gets shredded. The vestibule leads into an auditorium. When I see the first row of people clearly, I freeze.

No, no, no... I don't like crowds. 

The man places his hand on my back, between my shoulder blades. He leans down and whispers something in my ear.

"Don't show fear."

With that he pushes me forward. He leads me out of the stone alcove and we enter the rest of the auditorium. At the sight of hundreds of people my instincts scream at me to run away. Despite my being captured, I decide to listen to the man's advice. 

We walk forward. I do my best to hold my head up high. As we draw to the center of the floor the cacophony of shouting and laughter lowers to a hum. I catch eyes following us as we walk in and the man's footsteps start to echo in the absence of chatter.

I sneak a few glances at the people as we make our way through. What I see befuddles me. There are women wearing long skirts with sleeveless corsets. Many wear bright red capes, or other red accessories like belts, bows, and hats. There are other colors too, but the red is overwhelming. Men wear something akin to trousers and pirate shirts, but not a single person wears a t-shirt and jeans. 

"The next person that gives you a dirty look, you need to glare back at them." The man says quiet enough, I almost didn't hear him.

I grow uncomfortable at all the eyes following me, but I decide it wouldn't hurt to listen. As we walk I see a woman dressed in a nauseating amount of green. She immediately gives me a dirty look. At that I summon every ounce of hatred I have for my step-dad Jimmy and direct it at her. 

"Easy hot stuff." The man whispers again, "I said glare at them, not set on fire."

I don't want to respond to the disgusting trash holding me captive, but the casual way he nicknamed me sets my tongue ablaze.

"Don't ever call me that!" I growl.

"I'm just trying to help." He says forgetting to whisper.

"Do I need to clear up this confusion?" I snap. "You are not helping me AT ALL!" I yell, though my voice gets drowned out by the crowd. The man doesn't respond as he marches me forward.

The auditorium I'm led through has a domed ceiling with great arching windows.  A gigantic chandelier is unlit and hangs still, save for the occasional tinkle of crystals from a soft breeze. The walls of the auditorium are carved out of thick white stone. 

The strangest of all is the enormous statue of a bear. The longer I look around the more bears I find. Bears hold up butrices to the great ceiling. Bears are fixed upon the iron sconces. Now I notice that they are everywhere. On the rails, between seats, and on tapestries.

The man continues to guide me with his hand. My gaze is torn from the room and lands on a woman's back. I instantly recognize her and stop walking. He grunts and nudges me with a sharp jab between my shoulder blades. 

"NO!" I growl. 

He does not react, but clasps my shoulders in his large hands. With a sigh of annoyance he forces me forward. My bare feet skid on the polished stone floor. We make our way to the center of the floor, where Lauren stands regally. In front of us is a lifted platform with five empty seats are placed in a semi circle. A table with five gavels wraps around the chairs.