Chapter Thirty One: Something Fishy

Jackia's Point Of View 

Dressing up took forever; pulling up the dress wasn't easy; and fitting the dress was kind of hard for my maid and me. Eventually, I was able to get into the dress as she began the fitting. I wasn't the only one who did not love to play dress up.

Something like this was more like a stressful activity for me after several hours of my maid turning around in circles, fixing, and making the dress look steady on my body, I was ready for the party. I looked through the mirror to see that she had created a vixen.

I didn't look like my usual self. "You look great at the same time," my wolf said sarcastically, making me roll my eyes at her. Since I was set and ready for the party, I made my way right out of the room, where the guards were all posted. 

It was kind of weird, as there were usually fewer guards in this quarter. I looked back at my maid, She looked up to see me staring at her. She must be wondering what she did, but when she looked around, she realised why?.

"Oh, the alpha didn't want you to go running out again," she said among them. "Come on, we don't want to be late for the party, do we?" She urged me to walk faster, raising my gown as high as it could go.

"Fine, I am going," I rolled my eye, walking towards the hall. 

The place was always full of different activity after another. I wonder if the maids ever rest from all these activities going on. The door to the hall was wide open, and without going in and judging by the voices I am hearing, I was the only one who was not in the hall. 

I walked in facing down, suddenly feeling shy. All of a sudden, I looked up towards his grace and paid my humble homage to him.

"Your highness," I bowed to him.

"Oh my dear Jackia, thank you for joining me tonight. Please join the rest of the mside." Pointing towards them, I looked in their direction to saw that the maidens were all sitting around a table, chatting away into the night. 

As i walked past the judging eyes of the council members, they all noticed someone coming towards them and said.

"Jackia, you look amazing tonight; you sure will be the centre of attention."

Knowing fully well that this will offend Layla, "Well, you aren't looking bad tonight either, but can someone tell me what we are doing here tonight?" 

I asked, sitting on the vacant spot available

"Well we are here to be judged by the council, and one person will be going home tomorrow morning, and we will be cut down to four. Tomorrow will also begin the final stage of this competition, and whoever wins will be mated to the alpha to seal up the mate bond.".

Sarai said, not looking at anyone, which makes me wonder if she was from our world or not. "How come you know about all this?"

I guess I wasn't the only one so curious; Layla was curious too, and asking such questions must have intrigued her enough to question Sarai's knowledge about a whole lot of things she knows about the palace and the kingdom at large. 

"My mother told me about the story, and she also. Said the Moon goddess has already chosen the one, but traditions cannot be pushed aside; this is just a game she enjoys pulling on young maidens like us.".

Sarai said, but no one believed her as they all called her a bluff and ignored her for the rest of the party, but I did not. I looked at her with careful eyes. If she wasn't so sure about this, she wouldn't be so bold and confident about her words as she chose them carefully.

"Hello, my beautiful maidens" one of the counsellors called our attention towards him.

"We all welcome you to another ceremony, as we all know that at the end we only have one who will be the next Luna for another hundred years to come."

I scoffed at his words as they were not of such relevance to any of us anymore,not when there were already doubts in their minds.

"We would call you all up here to ask you some questions; your answers to these questions will determine if you would continue or not.".

"As you all know, the position of a Luna isn't a joke, as she is the backbone of every alpha that every kingdom will have. We the council, will do our best to make sure the best is chosen.".

The counsellor called on Sarai first, which was obvious as she looked like she was the youngest amongst us. She was called before then, and their conversations weren't quite clear as none of us could tell what exactly they were asking her. 

But by the look of things, Sarai was already intimated by whatever they were asking her; not quite long after, she was released, and the next person was called on. My turn came so quickly that I wasn't ready for it yet. 

"Jackia, my dear, is fierce among them all.".

His grace admonishing me felt like a trap or a way to make me feel at ease. I refused to allow them to intimidate me.

"What kind of Luna would you be if you eventually win the games?"  One of the councillors asked me 

"I think that question is wrong. The alpha should be the one answering the question. What kind of Luna does he want me to be?" I looked into their eyes, not feeling intimidated by their judging eyes. "Alright, thank you, that would be all.".

I walked away from them, as the maids had served the meal for the occasion, but something felt off; my wolf became restless. I tried everything possible to calm her down till we left the hall, but she seemed to want to leave at that instant.

"What's going on?" I mindlinked her. "I don't know, but I feel like we need to leave like now," she said as she was beginning to loose control and was trying to take over. This would be a disrespect to hos grace if I transformed in his presence.

"You have to calm down," I said again. "No, I said, leave.My eyeballs had changed, my claws were now out, and I couldn't control her anymore as I ran right out of the hall that instant. What was happening?