Alanic's outfit would have put Augusto's to shame if he had just gone just a few more steps with it. Instead of the emerald colour, his was blue, the colour of Lapis. He had no pearls stitched on but his family crest on his left breast. A lapis dragon against bluer waves. His familiar, a two headed indigo coloured serpent coiled itself around his arm, watching her with those blue inky eyes with unnerving interest.
"Relax everyone, perhaps the injuries from her failed experiment, have contributed to such accusations." Minerva said through the chaos of murmurs. The rings of jewels on her neck gleaming in the manifested lights. Her familiar, a thumb sized bright yellow lizard nestled within the coils.
Maybe she was right. The injuries she had sustained gave her a looser tongue. Or maybe she was just tired of keeping quiet. But would anyone believe her? Her Aunt Minerva had the exceptional talent of rallying support to herself and her cause when she wanted to.
It was how she got one of the most coveted titles in the clan and made sure her beloved children had everything they could possibly want and need to succeed. Money, power, connections and most importantly, influence and unwavering support. The reason they got away with anything and had a blind eye to every wrong.
She could already hear some people switching to her defense and those that did not share the same view be silenced by the majority. Just the way she liked it.
"All that is needed to remedy this is an apology." she said in her usual smooth voice.
She wanted her to apologize. She even made herself look so gracious about it. Audrey looked to her mother, who looked at her with a livid yet expectant expression. Her father almost exactly mirrored hers. They and everyone else was waiting for her apology.
"Forgive me," she started, the words bitter like bile on her tongue. The smugly satisfied look on their faces had the next words rushing out of her mouth with righteous venom. "But I do not take kindly to cheaters."
The crowd gasped and murmurs started anew. Minerva looked livid, her green eyes aflame.
"Audrey!" Her father shouted. Pain bloomed in her right check, throwing her head to the other side. Admittedly, she was shocked but she knew it was coming. Her father had slapped her.
"You are lucky, you are in this state right now, else I would have given you a more severe punishment that you would not recover from anytime soon." His familiar, a brown ferret, hissed at her.
Translation, you are lucky there are so many people around.
"Typical always blaming others for her mistakes." someone sniggered. Audrey knew who the voice belonged to. Florence Vist.