The council chamber was designed in a circular manner. It was very large and decorated with all kinds of statues and carvings from countless cultures all over the world. Hildr and Anastasia now stood in front of the entrance to this chamber. The door was made from pure gold and designed to give off an aura of power and authority. At the sides of the hall were two humanoid statues that held long swords.
These statues looked like ancient soldiers, and from the way they were dressed, they were from an age long come and gone.
When Hildr looked at them, she felt as though these soldiers could come to life at any moment and cut her down where she stood.
This same feeling permeated Anastasia's heart.
Boom, there was a small shift in the power that filled the world, and the door opened on its own.
Hildr was the first to take a step forward. Anastasia soon followed, but it was already clear that she was already scared witless.
In the dark chamber, the two girls stood at the center and looked around for any other person present, but they saw nothing.
Boom, a circular beam of light fell from the sky and fell on these two at the center.
After a few seconds, more lights appeared. Each light was focused on one of the council members who were seated in a circular manner, with their chairs being placed above the heads of the two girls.
This place was designed to make the person standing at the center feel like there was nothing else they could possibly do other than to fall on the sword placed before them.
In this hall, even lying became a struggle for the most seasoned liars in the world.
One light after another appeared, and yet this light did not spread out and remained focused in the places it was meant to appear. This left most of the chamber in total darkness.
One light after another appeared, and soon, there were twenty-seven of them with twenty-seven council members.
Hildr could sense that some of these people were Draugr, but these were in the minority. This was to be expected in a school such as this, which took in all kinds of beings from all over the world.
Among the Otherkind, it was said that the number of beings that fell in this group was unknown, and no one would ever truly know how many there were. This was because more beings were discovered every year, and this trend was only growing in strength.
At this moment, Hildr was truly in awe at the power that the academy had gathered.
'If Lemuria Academy had been as strong as this academy, things would have been truly troublesome.'
Hildr looked at the cold faces of all the council members, and as she had expected, the principal, Flavia Audax, sat in the central position. Her face was the coldest of all the council members. This was to be expected since this principal had been against Hildr's enrollment from the very start. The council had overruled her decision, and this had only increased her hatred of Hildr.
Hildr did not know why there were so many people who seemed to hate her for nothing, but right now was not the time to ponder this question.
"Greetings to the honorable council members," Anastasia said. She even bowed deeply, showing the greatest respect she could for her elders. One had to remember that Anastasia was the crown princess of the Strigoi. For her to lower her station so much to pay respect to the council members got most of them smiling with pride. The way they looked at her changed greatly.
On the other hand, Hildr stood there like a pole that would never bend.
Some of the council members were clearly displeased by her lack of respect for their power and positions, while a few had expected no less than this from the princess of the Draugr. The latter council members were those who belonged to the Draugr clan. Hildr was their princess, and they believed that her not bowing to anyone was the proper way of things.
"You have broken the rules that govern this academy. You are here to be judged," the principal said. By now, she had remembered not to show her displeasure with Hildr. Even though this was already known by all the council members, she still had to put on a show of fairness.
This was the only way her decisions would be respected by the other council members.
"What do you have to say for your defense?" she asked, knowing well that according to the rules, there was no excuse that Hildr could give to escape being expelled.
Hildr knew this as well and so she looked at Anastasia to first make her case.
She would then go from there and deal with the situation.
Anastasia had already come up with a defense for herself, and she did not hesitate to throw Hildr under the bus.
She told the council about how everything had begun, resulting in the fight.
According to her, she found a stranger in her room, and on top of this, she was attacked.
With no other option, Anastasia had no option but to fight back, for the sake of her people who could not afford the chaos that would result from her death. Anastasia was very good with her words, and the way she used each syllable to garner sympathy for her side was very impressive.
Even Hildr was left stunned by her words. She had expected something along these lines, but she had not expected Anastasia to lie so readily with little to no shame.
When Hildr looked into the young woman's eyes, she did not find any kind of malice or evil. All she could see was an innocence that had the power to pull all who saw her into having the desire to risk everything to protect her.
'This is why the Draugr can never get along with the Strigoi.'
When dealing with most situations, the Strigoi were more willing to employ "diplomacy," and on the other hand, when the Draugr found themselves in similar situations, they often chose to deal with the issue head-on. In short, the Strigoi valued their peace, while the Draugr believed that peace can often be found with much more ease if the right people are killed. This difference in beliefs is what has led to the unending conflict between the two peoples.
When Anastasia was done weaving her story, even the Draugr who were members of the council were inclined to believe her words.
The principal looked at Hildr, waiting for her to deny Anastasia's words. Even though the principal did not fully believe what Anastasia had claimed to be the flow of events, she only doubted less than ten percent of it. The other ninety percent was enough to get Hildr expelled while also saving Anastasia, who was also the principal's favorite student among the newcomers.
Hildr understood her current situation, and she had already expected something like this.
She looked at all the council members before she spoke directly to the principal.
"My actions all fall under the Guidance of Fate," she said. These words were like a bomb that had gone off out of nowhere. Even Anastasia looked at Hildr as though she had not expected this level of crazy from her.
Among the Otherkind, a belief in the Three Fates was taken very seriously.
The religion of the Three Fates had stood on the continent for thousands of years, and it had countless believers.
The Three Fates were the ones responsible for forming bonds between people and many other things.
In all the courts of the land, one could avoid any kind of punishment as long as they were able to prove that their actions were guided by the Fates. This is what is referred to as the Guidance of Fate.
It is very difficult for one to prove Guidance of Fate, but once done, even massacring millions of people could not be judged by any power in the mortal world.
The principal jumped out of her chair with her eyes filled with rage.
"Stop spouting nonsense, devil spawn," she cried out.
Hildr did just that. she kept quiet and waited for the principal to come to her senses.
The principal was usually very bold in her actions, but when she got the chance to calm down, she realized the error of her words.
She had just insulted the Night King and all Draugr with her words.
There were Draugr on this very council, and she could already feel their eyes on her. If she were to continue with her ranting, things would truly become dangerous. After all, Draugr were not known for their logical nature.
She had just insulted their princess and their king in the same sentence. This was a crime worthy of death in the eyes of these Draugr.
The principal said nothing and sat back down.
"As I was saying, my actions were with the Guidance of Fate. Fate led me to Anastasia, and fate led to our fight. We can easily prove all this with the help of a Shadow," Hildr continued.
The chamber was silent, and Anastasia looked at Hildr as though she was seeing her for the first time.