Chapter 8½ - The End of the Elder.
There was a grating of stone on stone as the door opened and then shut behind them, they scooted up the stairs and back into the vestry. They didn’t speak, Tom just concentrated on his dad’s mind and sent him a message to come out quickly. He included feelings of panic and urgency in the thought which his father picked up quickly.
“Excuse me again,” the Elder said, “Tummy trouble, I’ll be back in a few moments,” and scurried around the back of his chair and into the vestry.
“This had better be good.”
Gwen intervened, “We just been to the market and met Llewel down there. He claimed that the Elder himself released him a few days back.”
“Well, didn’t you call the guard and have him rearrested?”
“Yes, we did, but the guard said it was true.”
“What?” Llewellyn exclaimed, then quietened down again, “Okay, leave it with me, now go home and stay there, and I mean it this time boys.”
He swept out and back into the chamber, retaking his seat.
“I apologise again for having to leave you, whilst I was out, I received a message that Llewel, our former colleague has been released.”
“Yes, that is correct,” the clerk replied, “you decided three days ago that he had learnt his lesson and you asked the council to sanction his release.”
“What if I now told you that three days ago, I was travelling to my home in Wales visiting my family?”
There were loud mumblings amongst the High Elders and shaking of heads.
“But sir,” Govannon Staley of the Elven community answered, “the remaining members of the council plus your clerk, our clerk and the minute taker were all here with you. The only difference is, it was as it used to be, and you did not speak, your clerk did all the talking.”
“I was not here. Again, someone has taken on my identity, and we have been made fools of by the Master. It is less than two weeks ago that he walked into the Residence of the Elders and walked out again with our dear departed sister Brangwen Binnion.”
“Well, it is hardly our fault,” insisted Govannon Staley indignantly, “If we knew who you were and what you looked like, it would not have happened.”
For the first time ever, the Elder of Elders was flummoxed. “I need to think and take council with others, council dismissed. Reconvene in two hours.”
All rose and went to leave except Aneta and Flintock who lingered talking until the others had left.
Aneta spoke first, as usual, holding no punches. “It is true what Govannon says, if they knew who you were, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Llewellyn ignored the remark. “Come, let us all retire to my dwelling and discuss.”
To their surprise, Llewellyn then apparated all three of them from the chamber directly to the hideout. Just as shocked were Gwen, Jon, and Tom when the three of them appeared suddenly in their midst.
“Oh!” exclaimed Gwen, this must be important, I’d better get the kettle on for a brew.”
“But we don’t have any tea,” Tom said.
“You didn’t, but you do now. I never go anywhere without a good supply of tea,” Gwen replied.
Before long there were six mugs of tea and a mound of cakes on the table. “Made those earlier,” she said, “just in case.”
“Right, listen up,” Llewellyn started, “the Master has tricked us again by turning up when we were away disguised as the Elder and had Llewel released. The council feel that I am to blame because no one knows who I am, or what I look like, or even fundamentals like how old I am, where I came from, and even how I became the Elder. So, we have two hours before the council meets again to come up with something.”
“Well,” said Gwen, “I think it’s a resigning matter. You should resign and go into exile.”
“What? And then what? said Llewellyn angrily.
“Simple, Aneta proposes Llewellyn the Brave as the new Elder and uses her considerable influence. If you know what I mean, so the others all vote you in unanimously.” Gwen replied.
“No,” said Tom, “it’s not fair that you keep mind-bending people to get your own way, it’s morally wrong, and I expect illegal. Allow Aneta to propose you, but then either win fairly or lose and take it on the chin. But if you do win, do it with persuasive reasons why they should choose you to be the Elder, not by cheating.”
“I agree with the boy,” Flintock added, “you would obviously have my vote and Aneta’s as well. But let’s win this with proper debate, not mind-bending games.”
“Alright,” Llewellyn said, “let’s vote on it. All in favour of a fair contest with no mind tricks, raise their hand.”
“That’s settled then,” Gwen said after a very short pause, “that’s five for the motion of fair play and one abstention.”
“I did not abstain,” Llewellyn said, “I didn’t think I had a vote.”
Back in the chamber, the council was reforming. But muttering about the fact that the Elder was late.
“Order,” said the clerk, “council now in session.”
“But where is the Elder?” asked Aneta, knowing full well where he was.
“The Elder has resigned his position and will be going into self-imposed exile,” the clerk said dispassionately, “he feels that his actions in keeping his identity secret have allowed the so-called Master to obtain the upper hand for the second time and therefore does not feel he can continue in the role. We, therefore, have to elect a new Elder of Elders, either from members here present or from a worthy and powerful wizard from the populous.”
“No,” said Aneta with a fake look of shock, “that cannot be true, it was a simple mistake, surely by just revealing his identity he could continue as our Elder.”
“That is not up for debate,” the clerk said in his normal down to business, unemotional voice, “our former Elder has stepped down and will not return. So, do we have any nominations for the now vacant position of the Elder of Elders?”
Various names were thrown into the ring by the members of the council, even Flintock and Aneta made a couple of suggestions. High Elder Aneta was suggested by High Elder Lintang Ananas, but Aneta, full of false modesty turned down the nomination. Neither she nor Flintock wanted to be the one to nominate Llewellyn when one of the new High Elders Penvro Dey spoke.
“What about Llewellyn the Brave? He is one of, if not the, most powerful wizard in the land, although,” he nodded towards Flintock, “High Elder Funsan Osei might disagree.”
“No, I do not disagree, he is a very fine, powerful, brave and wise wizard and most suitable for the task.”
Aneta then waded in, “I agree, especially at this present time, we need a fearless leader who will lead from the front, not a frail old man who we have to protect in times of battle.”
There was a murmur of approval from the other High Elders which went around the room.
Even Asmodeus, the Dark High Elder spoke, “There are few wizards I would not like to come up against in battle, in fact, I can name only two, possibly three, Llewellyn the Brave and our friend High Elder Funsan Osei. Oh, and possibly Jonathan, son of Llewellyn, I could probably outsmart Jonathan while he is young and inexperienced, but his firepower is incredible,” he then turned to Flintock and asked, “may we call you Flintock? Funsan Osei is such a mouthful.”
“Please do, I am only known by the name Funsan Osei back in my own land, no one calls or even knows me by my birth name in Trymyll.”
“Thank goodness for that,” came as a mutter from several of the elders.
As usual, High Elder Aneta Stepanek assumed control. “Well then, shall we have a vote?”
The clerk then stepped in. “Procedurally, it is I who should ask that question. All in favour raise your hand.”
All seven hands went up, Aneta and Flintock led the field, followed by Penvro Dey and Asmodeus, the other three hands went up after a few seconds delay.
“Then it is settled,” the clerk announced, “Llewellyn the Brave is the new Elder of Elders, I will prepare a declaration to be posted and read in every city, town, village, hamlet and by-way to inform the population of Trymyll. We will adjourn for one hour.”
An hour later the council reconvened, and the Elder entered from his vestry and walked around to his chair. As usual, he was cloaked in secrecy, no one could see his face under the deep hood of his cloak. Not a hand or even a finger appeared from his sleeves and not a toe from the bottom of his flowing robes.
“We thought you had resigned,” lied High Elder Aneta Stepanek, “and we thought you had left.”
“No,” said the Elder, “I am very much here and will continue to be your Elder for some considerable time.”
His hands emerged from the gown and went straight to his long hood which he threw back to reveal his identity.
“Llewellyn!” they exclaimed in one voice. “Is this some sort of joke?” continued High Elder Lintang Ananas, “if so, it is in bad taste.”
“No, it is not a joke, I have been your Elder of Elders for....” he hesitated, “Well, ever since I created the position, and yes, you did hear me right, I created the Elder of Elders. But my identity was kept as a secret from all to add to the mystique. If you think about it, you never did see the two of us together in the same room, I will always enter just as the Elder left, and vice-versa. My thirteen-year-old son, Thomas, worked it out. So, it would not be too long before others who were wiser than he, saw through the deception. Thomas even pointed out that there was no Elder of Elders palace, or even a blue plaque over a door, “Here lives the Elder of Elders,” What my thirteen-year-old son also persuaded me to do was to be nominated and elected by the Council of High Elders without any outside interference. I am sure you must realise by now that the old Elder was never elected by anyone, as Thomas also pointed out, how can you elect someone without a name? So here I am,” he shed the cloak and gown and stood before them in his normal clothes, “here I am, your new and elected Elder of Elders. I would only ask one thing of you all, that whereas my election should be known to all, the identity of the former, unelected Elder, remain a secret.”
They all nodded in agreement and mumbled a yes. Aneta also scanned all their thoughts to see if any were not fully on board; they all were.
“That does raise one question,” said High Elder Lintang Ananas, “where do you live? No one knows where Llewellyn the Brave lives either.”
“That too is a secret to be kept, but I live in a suite of apartments right here in the castle and below this very chamber.”
That too bought an intake of breath from several of them.
“But where is the door, the entrance, the way in?” continued High Elder Lintang Ananas,
“So many secrets in one afternoon, the door is not even known to my family. We apparate in and out, we do not use the hidden door at all.”
“But you cannot apparate within the city walls,” Flintock said knowing the truth.
“Well, don’t tell everyone, but you can, it is just urban myth and folk-law that it cannot be done, just as the lie, that everyone believes, despite seeing it done in the trial of Llewel the former elder, that you cannot perform a spell in the chamber.”
It was true, they had all seen or heard that a spell had been cast by the former Elder, but they still did not question the long-held deception.
“Now, to business. First a few ground rules. No points of order, no prevarication, no filibustering or other delaying tactics. From now on, meetings will be short and keep to the point. Our land is in great danger, we cannot afford to waste time in endless debates.”
“Then what do you bid us do?” Flintock asked.
“First, find that little worm of a wizard Llewel and bring him here for questioning. Alert the city guard but bring him in unharmed.”