The Unknown Alchemist

Chapter 44 - The Trial

"Will he be in the room? Will I have to -- will he – how--" Avery looked down at her hands. She sat with Hayden and Adelyn on the sofas of Khalil's guest apartments. The others were scouting the grounds, suspicious of everyone and generally making any members of the Terraly pack too terrified to approach the suite. Avery had no interest in exploring the castle this time. Instead she curled up on the couch, with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"He has the right to face his accuser," Hayden explained. "But he'll be in shackles and under guard, not to mention that Khalil and Aubrey will be there too."

Avery nodded and looked out the window, her expression hard.

"We'll be there too, Avery," Adelyn tried to reassure her. "And Sari, Arctos, and Roedin in the gallery. Niamh will stay and watch the apartments."

Avery's expression didn't change. She refused to make eye contact with the alpha primes, like a sullen adolescent being reprimanded.

"I'm not wearing a dress," she said defiantly. "If he...if something...if..." She blinked back her tears, swallowing her fear before going on. "I will be able to defend myself. A dress gets in the way."

Hayden leaned forward to catch her eye. "That will absolutely not happen. I will stop his heart before he even gets close."

Avery unfolded her knees and stood, looking down at the twins. Her face was stony, hard like the life she had lived.

"Yes well, the best laid plans..."

**************

In a cruel twist of fate, the trial occurred in the ballroom where they had once danced the night away. The alpha primes presiding over the trial sat in a semi-circle with other members of their packs standing in the room behind them. Roedin, Arctos, and Sari hovered around Avery giving menacing looks to anyone who glanced her way. Avery shifted on her feet, fidgeting with the hem of her jacket and flinching under the stares and whispers of the crowd.

A commotion sounded across the hall and Ferrik was led in, the sound of his shackles clanging off the walls. He was crudely shoved into a chair but sat back casually, like he couldn't care less what happened today. His face was sallow and hair greasy and unkempt. The gash on his face had finally closed but a messy scar was left behind. His clothes were disheveled but his eyes were clear after weeks of being clean of whatever drug had been destroying his body.

Khalil called the room to attention, explaining the purpose of the trial to the eager audience. Before he could finish, Caiaphas stood up from his seat and called out to the crowd.

"We call the human Avery to the front. Explain to us how you think it was my son who visited your home all those years," he sneered.

Adelyn snarled and both faunids let out a low growl. Hayden schooled his features cold as ice and gave his short-tempered sister a cutting look while Sari put her hands on the shoulders of the males to calm them.

Avery took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before stepping out from behind the Corinthian pack and approaching the centre of the half circle, facing the rulers. It was everything she could do to keep her knees from shaking as the crowd shifted to get a better look.

Khalil spoke gently, trying to make her comfortable as well. "Avery, do you recognise the male over there? Have you seen him before?"

Avery could barely look at him. "Yes."

Khalil waited for more.

"He used to come by... my house."

She looked down at the floor and swallowed a bad taste from her mouth.