Hunting Royalty

48. Entrances and Evidence

I have a crick in my neck. I had the worst night sleep in my life, if it even counts as sleep when you spend more time trying to get comfortable and stay warm. I rub the sore spot on my neck trying to work out the pain with a massage.

I hear approaching footsteps, more than one set. I stand and face the bars, waiting for the guards. One of them runs a baton along the bars. I feel a touch of magic in the air, he's deactivating them with the baton. Neat trick.

The other guard takes his keys off his belt and unlocks my cell door. He enters and stands one step in front of me, "Turn around," he orders. 

I don't have any real options other than to obey so I turn and face the back of my cell. He grabs my left wrist and clamps the shackle around it before repeating the process and securing my wrists together.

Both guards hold me by the arm just above my elbow in a firm grip and lead me down the passage towards the guard room I saw in my vision. The lead me up the stairs and out into the palace hallways. The light is momentarily blinding, I blink a few times until everything comes into focus.

Our procession is joined by four more guards, two in front and two behind. They pull me along with them, I stumble a few times when they move too quickly for me to keep pace with in my starved and weaken state.

We barely break pace as we approach a heavy double door, the first two guards push them open and hold it for the rest of our procession to pass through. The rest of my guards fall back and the two guards holding me lead me into the center of the room.

They unshackle my wrists and force me to sit in the chair in the center of the room. They force my wrists into the shackles attached to the metal armrests of the chair. They repeat the process with my ankles while I take a quick look around the room. Twelve chairs are arranged in a semicircle in front of me, the king and Nate take the middle two seats. There are four women seated to the left of the king, with one seat immediately to the left empty and five men seated to the right of Nate.

They sit in tall thrones that stretch at least ten feet into the air and are each carved with a specific symbol that rests above their heads, the symbol of their gift. The kings and Nate's symbol is the crest of their house. The empty seat has a stylized symbol of an eye; the sign for foresight. I'm a little surprised by the women sitting in the throne for aura reading, the queen.

I recognize a few of the other people sitting around the room, Sam and Headmistress Corbane are here and Rachel is back in her old seat as healer. I also recognize Duke Forrester sitting in the enhanced senses seat.

"I thought I told you, you can't elect whoever you want to priestess," I say to the king, I smirk as he shifts uncomfortably in his throne. "If you want your old seat back you're going to have to challenge me for it," I say to Rachel. "You'd have to take my collar off though, you know the rules."

"She's a priestess?"

"This is unbelievable."

 "Rachel can't stay, it would completely invalidate the trial."  

"Silence," the king cuts through the chaotic outburst of the other priests and priestesses, "Rachel will leave, we will continue with eight votes."

"Don't you mean nine," Marie asks as she materializes sitting in her rightful throne as High Priestess. She gets to keep it until I formally challenge her for it. I see the king visibly jump at her voice, I get a thrill at his discomfort, "You didn't think I would miss the trial of my only daughter."

"Of course not," Vincent smiles stiffly. The others mumble their greetings to her, most of them have heard the gossip and seem a little fascinated by her return.