Chapter Two, Part Six.

As my eyes adjusted to the low lamplight of the chamber, a long table covered by a thick linen tablecloth became visible. A group of older teenagers and some who looked a bit older, male and female, all clothed in velvet, leather, and lace. Their faces were blank, and they all shared the same light complexion and their eyes and hair were all colored similarly. It was like a creepy old horror movie. How cliche. My mouth twisted into a smile that I hid quickly. The "Council" that the girl had mentioned would probably not appreciate my humor.
"I humbly approach the Council with a New Blood," she said, kneeling beside me. As I looked at her, bewildered, she waved to me to kneel. I hurriedly followed her example.
"Vervain Chalmers, Pathguide, you are admitted, as is this New Blood," a slender girl with a ringing voice replied. "The Council will now convene." I looked to my companion, but her eyes were on the Council.
"Now that that's out of the way..." her serious expression dissolved, and she smiled. "Can't a couple of pretty ladies get some chairs?" What in the hell?! What happened to the seriousness?
"Vera, you really should abide by the rules better," grinned the guy who had attacked me earlier. Vera had said his name was Ray, and that he was the Beta. No excuse for being a jerk. As if he had heard my thoughts, he looked at me and winked. I almost toppled over in surprise, making his smile wider.
"Ahh, to hell with the rules," Vera said as she walked over to a corner of the room and brought over a couple of velvety chairs for the two of us. "Here, sit. This could take a while."
I obeyed. "I-, uh, do I have to ask permission to speak or something?" my voice sounded small in the large space, in sharp contrast to the other voices that had only just finished echoing.
"No, you don't," chimed the slender girl who had "admitted" Vera. She smiled kindly. "One thing first though. What is your name, just for the record?" Upon hearing the question, Ray smirked. Perhaps he was more informed than the rest of the Council.
"Athaliah Cavailier."
The girl's eyes widened. "Did...Did you say Cavailier?"
"Uh...Yes?" Even Vera was staring at me with eyes wide. Only Ray didn't react, aside from the smile that still played across his lips. He was kind of a creeper when he did that. Again, he reacted as if he had heard me, this time chuckling. Seriously creepy. The Council muttered to each other.
Vera turned to face me. "Do you fully grasp what you've just said?"
"What did I say...? Did I say something offensive or something?" Her jaw dropped. "Why are you staring at me like that?!"
"You don't know anything about your history, do you?"
"I... My what?"
The slender girl sitting at the Council table spoke up. "Rafael Cacciatore."
"Ye-es?" he answered slowly.
"Did you know of this girl's parentage before this assembly?"
"Adallinde Sebas," he accented every syllable mockingly. Either he didn't like her, or he didn't like protocol. "You, and all at this table, know that I research every New Blood in great detail before they are even aware that they carry the Blood."
"Why did you not inform us of the lineage of this one?"
His eyes sparked. "You seem to have forgotten that I am the Beta, and I answer to the Alpha, and only to the Alpha. I may be younger than you are, but I am not below you. You will do well to remember this fact." With every word, his eyes turned golden yellow, and his laid-back, know-it-all demeanor vanished, replaced with an icy anger. Adallinde stared back, chin jutted out stubbornly.
Suddenly, I felt as if I were intruding. The Council sat in silence during this exchange, some with an here-they-go-again vibe rolling off of them, some looking as uncomfortable as I felt.

The doors suddenly burst open, popping the tension like an overinflated balloon.
"I apologize for being so late. The gardeners were being extraordinarily nosy. Lucky them, they didn't get those noses bitten off, " quipped a tall, wiry boy who looked to be my age. He seemed so familiar. As he swept past me, he fixed his collar and buttoned his long trenchcoat. Pulling a leaf out of his long, wavy hair, he sat at a slightly elevated seat in the center of the table, Ray to his right. "Aubrey Champlain, Alpha, is in attendance. Now then," his velvety voice echoed around the room, sliding around every crack in the floor and walls. I bit my lip, trying to ignore how much I liked hearing him talk. Those annoying, giggly girls who would swoon over boys right after they asked them to "say more words" did not have the attitude I was trying to channel. "What's going on with this New Blood?"
Adallinde and Rafael sat in stubborn silence, glaring in opposite directions, away from each other. Way to act like two year olds, I thought, and Rafael smirked.
A deep male voice, issuing from a bulky older guy sitting at the end of the table, answered. "The Council has convened to discuss the birth of this New Blood."
The boy frowned. "Why did the Council deem it necessary to assemble so quickly?"
"Because this girl is Athaliah Cavailier."
"That makes it all the less necessary. She will be initiated immediately."
"What of her Blood Trial?"
The Alpha, Aubrey, stared at me, silent. Uncomfortable and completely confused, I raised my hand. He looked at me and smiled. "You don't need permission to talk, Athaliah."
I fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, it um, it seems that everyone here knows something I don't."
He chuckled. "We know a lot that you don't, considering you obviously know nothing of your origins."
Gee thanks, I thought. Because I didn't feel inferior already. Ray snorted. Aubrey turned to him, then to Vera. "How long has he been doing that?"
She burst out laughing. "The whole time, sir."
"Dammit, Ray! The poor girl's already lost as it is and you're not helping!" he smacked the Beta lightly upside the head. I stared in shock. "Knock it off."
"Fine." he pouted like a toddler.
"Wh-?" I began to ask.
"He reads minds," Aubrey answered, grinning from ear to ear. "A neat parlor trick, but very annoying when he does it that much."
My jaw dropped. "He does what?!"
Most of the Council smiled, except for a grave-looking guy who had spoken to Aubrey earlier.
"Many of us have talents like that," he explained. "It's something that goes along with the transformation, for whatever reason."
"The...The what?"
He sat up straight. "You know what? I think I'll just have a conversation with you privately." My heart did a backflip. Talking to him? Alone? I think I'd rather not have a myocardial infarction. "The Council is adjourned."
"Good luck," Vera said, gripping my arm as she walked out. I stood up, moving to follow her, but she stopped me. "You have to talk to Aubrey," she smiled. "Don't worry, he's not going to hurt you." And then she was gone, with the rest of the Council.