Chapter 2 - The Elder's Verdict

Daciana’s P.O.V

I woke up with a headache and a blurred vision of where I lay.

I could hear hushed voices around me all mumbling something underneath their breath, but I could barely see their faces or recognize their voices.

“Where… where am I?” I whispered as my sight became clear.

“Ciana! You’re a wake!” yelled a female voice which sounded just like that of my sisters and I felt a thud on my body as she hugged me tightly.

“Too tight Amelia. You're squeezing me,” I mumbled under my breath.

She giggled softly, but something about her laughter didn’t feel right.

“I thought I had lost you too,” she sobbed.

I took a deep breath and sat upright on the bed. That was when I realized I was in my bedroom at home.

Mother was not with us in the room. Only a few guards and the village healer who seemed to have worked tirelessly to ensure I was in good health.

I couldn’t recall what happened to me, but I remembered bumping into Caleb on my way out of the forest.

“Where are Mother and Father, Amelia?”

“Mother is with Caleb and the elders in Dad’s office,” Amelia informed me.

“What about dad? Where is he?” I asked again.

I noticed a teardrop from Amelia’s eye. I was still unsure of what was going on and I really needed an answer from her.

In the silence, there was a gentle tap on my door, and Caleb walked into my bedroom.

He dismissed the guards and the village healer and made sure it was just the three of us inside the room.

“Caleb, what is going on? Where’s my father?” I questioned.

He sighed deeply. “You still don’t remember what happened, do you?”

I shook my head in disapproval. “No, I don’t. My head still feels heavy and my memories are a little foggy.”

“Get up and come with me. The Elders are waiting to see you,” he announced and turned his back to me as he stepped out of my bedroom.

Amelia was still crying softly. She helped me stand on my feet, but I staggered a little, a wave of nausea washing over me. I felt like I had forgotten how to use my feet, but soon, I was able to get better control of myself and stood firmly above the ground.

Amelia grabbed my hand before I left and whispered to me. “Tell me it’s not true, Ciana?”

I looked down at my sister, and her eyes were filled with tears. It made my heart ache, but I didn’t know what she was referring to.

“I don’t know what’s going on Amelia, but I promise you I did nothing wrong,” I assured her and a smile forced its way to her lips.

I walked gracefully to my father’s office, limping each time I felt the pain in my thighs sting like a bee.

I knocked on the door gently, waiting for their permission for me to come on in, but when no one answered, I placed a hand on the doorknob and all too soon, images from the forest flashed through my head.

Images of father and I fighting against rogues in the forest after our training session for the day.

I gasped in fear as I recalled why I had returned to the village. To get help, just as father instructed.

I forced the door open and yelled. “Where is he?”

The elders fixed their eyes on me and so did my mother, whose eyes were swollen and red. Just like Amelia, she had been crying, and it made me worry.

“In the forest, we were attacked. Dad told me to come get help. Where is he?” I demanded once more from the elders, but no one responded.

I turned to my mother. “Where is dad? Why isn’t he here with you and Caleb?”

“Miss Daciana Hart. You are standing before the elders today on trial for the murder of the Alpha, Nathan Hart, who was stabbed with a knife found in your possession,” an elder declared.

My eyes widened in surprise. “Did you just say my father is dead? More importantly, are you accusing me of murdering him?”

“Ciana, just tell them the truth so we can end this,” my mother said with bitterness in her voice.

Caleb stood to his feet. “Do you care to explain to everyone present here today what happened in the Forest of Dreams, Miss Daciana?”

I took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. “We had just finished with my daily training and were on our way home when these wolves appeared from behind us. Dad said they were rogues, and he did his best to fight them off. There were too many of them, so he sent me back to get help.”

Even though they listened eagerly, the elders didn’t believe a single word that I said.

“Miss Daciana, you are a liar and a murderer!” Caleb accused.

I stood there, speechless for a moment, and my mother rushed into my defense.

“You have no right to speak to my daughter in such a manner. She is still the daughter of your Alpha, dead or alive,” she scolded bitterly.

“How can someone who murdered her own father be accorded such respect?” Caleb asked.

The elders bickered amongst themselves for a moment. My mother was unsure of how things were going to turn out, and I stood there before the elders at sixes and sevens.

Caleb walked towards me. “Miss Daciana, I charge you before the honorable elders of this court for the murder of Alpha Nathan Hart.”

There was silence amongst us for a short time. The Head of the elders, Henry – my fathers advisor stood to his feet and raised a hand in the air to call everyone’s attention to him.

“Does the accused have any words to say in her defense?” He asked.

Shaken, I responded bluntly. “I have nothing to say.”

“Ciana! What do you think you’re doing?” my mother cried.

She walked up to me, and struck my cheek with her right hand. It hurt, but I acted tough and ignored the pain.

“Let the council of elders do unto me as they please and find it worthy,” I declared. “Besides, nothing I say will convince you otherwise.”

My mother gasped. A teardrop trickled down her right cheek. She couldn’t seem to bear me taking the blame for my father’s death, which was still a mystery to me.

“And does the Prosecutor have any proof that Miss. Daciana Hart here, was the one who murdered the Alpha?” Henry continued.

Caleb smiled mischievously. “Yes, I do.”

He clapped his hands twice and a guard walked in, bearing a knife covered in blood.

A short while later, the body of my father was dragged into his office by four guards.

Sorrow and anguish washed over me as I stared at my father’s spiritless body lying face to the sky. His arms were folded and his hands placed on top of his chest. His legs were extended and his eyelids were closed tight.

On closer observation, I saw a mark by his side, the same place the rogue had hit him. I wouldn’t have been worried at first, but on closer look, the mark from the rogue’s hit looked like a knife stab.

Caleb took a deep breath. “Elders of the Shadow pack, before your very eyes, is the body of our Alpha, slain by his own daughter out of jealousy that the younger would be chosen as Alpha ahead of her.”

His reason made no sense to me, but when a plot has been set in motion, every nonsense sounds sensible to those involved.

He made a gesture towards the guard who came before the others and he dropped the tiny knife on the table for the elders to examine.

“Nathan and Daciana forged that knife when she was twelve. She has held on to it all these years, and now, she used that same knife to murder her father,” he spoke with anger.

Once again, that sorrowful silence engulfed the entire room. Henry, who had taken a seat earlier, rose back to his feet, a decisive look on his face.

I braced myself for his judgment and decision.

“Miss Daciana Hart. For your atrocious sin; murdering your father and Alpha of the Shadow Pack, I banish you from this village. You shall live out the rest of your life as a rogue and hunted down by the spirit of your father till you draw your last breath.”