Every single soul is on their feet at the mention of what I might be.

“The Erika?” The question resounds through the room, echoing well under the dome.

“Are you sure?” asks Olympias, almost hissing through her teeth, sounding just like a snake on defense.

Miras turns to Ms Pink and all other heads follow. “Princess Pan Ni, what do you have to say about your claim?”

Ms Pink faces them with flashing pink eyes. “Madam Miras has mirrored my suspicions. I too, had wondered about Taeyeon’s blood and apparent resistance to my charms. But it was only two days before my capture that I considered the possibility.”

Charles points an accusing finger at Ms Pink. “Liar.”

Edith turns to Charles. “Whence does your accusation find its footing?”

“Isn’t it plain to see?” Charles has gone red in the face. “This princess has planned it all. She knew her claim could kill the Park brothers. It is only a matter of time before she kills all of them.”

At this point in time, the man with an indigo turban speaks again, “We have to stay calm. There is no need to panic when we cannot be sure that this human does indeed possess the power of the Erika.”

“Ayers is right,” says Miras. “My read is only a deduction at best.”

“Princess Pan Ni confessed to the true nature of her claim. Is that not enough?” says Charles.

“I confessed to considering the possibility. I did not at any time confirm the fact. Even right now as we speak, Taeyeon has not been properly tested.”

“Well, this can be taken care of very quickly.” Miras turns to Sintix. “You can measure energy and diagnose it, can you not? We cannot take too long to decide. The recess is but a few moments of respite.”

Sintix moves to stand in front of me, looking deep into my eyes with his wise ones. His thick grey brows raise a fraction of an inch as he waves his healing wand over my head. A splitting headache strikes and I cry out from the pain. He pulls his wand away and steps back immediately.

“The force is strong in this one. She is resisting my energy shift. But she is very new to it. The force within her is only just awakening.”

“What made you suspect your claim, Pan Ni?” asks Miras.

“We were having when her force threw me off the bed. That was two days ago.”

“Why didn’t you report it to us immediately?” asks Charles.

Is Charles out for Ms Pink’s blood or is he out for Ms Pink’s blood.

He is looking suspicious to me too. Something tells me things are not as simple as they may seem.

“I was stunned. The amount of energy Taeyeon expended was not something I expected to see from her. But at that point in time, we were in the middle of having and it even more. I was driven by her power and her beauty. I was taken over by my desire to have her.”

“Enough about the ,” says Charles with a frown. “What about after the . You had more than a day to tell us. Yet you chose to keep it a secret.”

“As you can see, it has taken both Miras and Sintix to ascertain Taeyeon’s condition. I had been convinced for a long time that Taeyeon is a bait. Stronger than any bait I have ever met but a bait, nonetheless. So it takes a while for me to contemplate the possibility of something else. But business was at hand and I was busy with some assignments from the Sovereign regarding some illegal kills in my region. You know the importance of these assignments.”

Charles snorts. “Excuses.”

Ms Pink lifts her chin. “You as a human member of the Federation may not fully understand the duties we royals have to bear. Your kind may pose little threat to our treaty but our kind is capable to upsetting it if we are not careful. The on-going murders have been subject to our scrutiny for a long time. Tending to this matter can hardly be seen as an excuse.”

Ayers puts his hand up. “We will make no accusations. All of us in this room are committed to keeping the peace. We just have different ways of doing it. What Charles here means to question is the reason why it took you forty eight hours to decide and even then, we cannot be sure that you would have told us at the soonest possible time. Although we will never know because of the Park triplets.”

Olympias hisses. “Princess, you seem to have all your answers so handily. But the occurrence of Praneso’s death in the presence of your claim is more than a coincidence, isn’t it?”

Ms Pink’s eyes are cold as pink stone. “You mean to say I orchestrated Praneso’s request to arrest myself and had Praeson issue the bet with Praneos to capture my claim and I so that Praneso might so conveniently be handed the both of us? After which, somehow triggering my claim’s newly discovered Erika powers to kill Praneso?” She laughs. “I had no grievance with Praneso. My grievance was with Praeson as all of you know very well.”

“Perhaps we should ask Taeyeon about her side of the story.” The man who has spoken the least turns to me with his intelligent eyes. His strong shoulders remind me of Kharne’s but less bulky. “We have not introduced ourselves so you must be feeling thoroughly confused by everything. I am Yaelhu Chutsai. On the human side of the Federation. In case you are unaware, the human portion of the Federation change ever so often due to our mortality. But we are the powers behind the perceived powers of the human world. Our faces will never be published on newspapers. We remain hidden. But I would daresay we are some of the greatest minds and manipulators the human world has ever seen, at the risk of sounding conceited.” Yaelhu smiles. “The reason I tell you this is to warn you. We are human so we can read humans like you. Do not think of lying to us. We will find out. Miras in particular is an excellent mind reader. Not to mention Queen Olympias, who has a long history of knowing when a lie is being laid before her.”

“I-I won’t lie.”

Yaelhu smiles and nods. “Good. Now, tell us what happened the night you killed Praneso.”

“H-He took us from Praeson and Praneos. He told them he had permission from the Sovereign and it was more important than the score Praeson had to settle with Ms Pink. So Praeson let him take us away. But he didn’t bring us to see the Sovereign. He brought us to a scary place. He locked us up. A-And he tortured Ms Pink.” Tears brim once again as the torrid memories flooded my mind.

“As a claim, you felt it too?”

“Y-Yes. I share a kind of telepathy with Ms Pink. I can feel her emotions when they are strong. But it wasn’t just that.” I blink the tears away, suddenly uneasy about what I have to confess. Do I want all these beings to know about my innermost feelings? I don’t have much choice, do I? “I love Ms Pink.” All eyes are on me now but I studiously avoid looking at Ms Pink. “I love her and watching Praneso whip and torture her was too much to bear. I couldn’t take it. But when Praneso shot Ms Pink. I lost it. I got angry. And I wanted him to die too.”

“Why did Praneso torture Princess Pan Ni? And why did he shoot her?” asks Edith.

“He said to exchange whips for the truth about Praeson.”

“We all know the truth about Praeson.” Olympias scoffs. “We are even aware of Pan Ni’s plan to exact revenge on Praeson.” Throwing a dirty look at Sintix, she adds, “She would have been tried for her plan here in Demortams if it weren’t for Helene pulling strings with some weaklings and vouching for her the past hundred years. The exchange is worthless.”

I shake my head, determined not to meet Ms Pink’s eyes at all, strong as the urge may be. “The exchange bought Ms Pink the admission by Praneso that he was responsible for all the heinous crimes, not Praeson. He only made it look like Praeson had done it.”

Judging from the number of gasps ringing out, this piece of news seems to surprise some members of the Federation as well as Sovereign.

“Is that really true?” asks Yaelhu, his eyes narrowed into slits.

Miras comes close to me and presses her palm over my forehead. At once,