Infirmitate

SEVEN | What Lies Within

I sent for the Elders as quietly as possible, using only the messengers I truly trusted to deliver the news to each of the Elders. Instead of meeting in the Great Hall where it would be obvious something was happening, I called
them to my office.

Gaius is the first to appear. He bursts through the doors with concern drawn across his face. "What is going on Alexandra?" He completely ignores the six chairs set out in a crescent shape around my desk for the Elders and walks up to my standing form behind my desk.

"Oh, Gaius." He pulls me into a father-like hug for a moment. We pull apart and he takes a step back. "My friends came up with a very dangerous hypothesis and they recommended that I hold this private meeting before acting upon it."

Gaius frowns and walks to sit in one of the six chairs with a tired thump. "Oh dear." He pats his furrowed brow with a handkerchief he pulled from his vest pocket.

The door opens again and, this time, Elder Nellie Wescott walks in with her delicate arm draped in the younger, Elder Wallace Hendry's elbow. Elder Wescott is the Elder of Peace. At the age of 67, she is the only Elder to have served three generations of Head Elders-Gaius having only served two.

Elder Hendry is the Elder of the People at 48 years of age. His job is to be the civilian people's voice. He listens to the people and, in turn, I listen to him. It makes things so much easier to have a middleman. At first I thought I would have time to listen to each person speak but I quickly learned that it's nearly impossible to do that and other things as well.

"Why are we meeting in your office instead of in the Great Hall?" Elder Hendry questions as he walks Elder Wescott to a chair next to Gaius. "The matter was too high of a risk to speak of with everyone seeing we had gathered together." I give no further explanation as I wait for the final three to show up.

Elder Dex Symonds is the next to appear, with Elder Eduard Dickens arriving soon after. Elder Symonds is the Potions Elder. He is one of the two newly appointed Elders that I handpicked myself.

It isn't required that each new Head Elder appoint their own Elders-Elder Wescott as living proof-but I didn't approve of the last Potions Elders motives so I found someone I knew I could trust. He is 43 and I have seen and personally tested his work so I knew I could trust him for the job.

Elder Eduard Dickens is my other newly appointed Elder. He is the Laws Elder, meaning, he upholds-and rarely edits-the Laws built for this society. I picked him because he is the youngest man to ever be fully educated in the Laws at age 28. That and he is open to changes that I knew my father and the old Laws Elder would disapprove of.

Last, but not least, is Elder Robert Perdue-who is not-so-coincidentally the last Elder to arrive. The Elder of War and Destruction. He is only thirty years old but he earns his title with ease-which is the only reason I haven't appointed another in his place. No one else is as skilled as he is with war and destruction. He isn't sloppy and he knows exactly what he's doing, which can be both good and bad.

"As much as I love the..." Elder Perdue glances around the room with veiled disgust. "Atmosphere in your little office." I scoff quietly to myself. My office is anything but "little". "I am sure we would all like to know what we are doing here and not meeting in the Great Hall."

All eyes turn to me as I sit behind my desk. I give Elder Perdue a pointed look for him to sit down. Only after he arranges himself in the chair and turns his full attention to me do I speak.

"As you may know," I meet the eyes of each Elder. "There has been another murder." Sharp gasps fill the room. "They were found in the hay loft of our personal stables just this afternoon. The victim was stabbed to death by a pitchfork."