The people in the council again went wide-eyed over the way Damien shushed the old man who was considered to be a strict elder council. The elder councilman was a human and no matter how wise he tried to portray him to be, Damien was ten times smarter and wiser.
“All of you need to stop assuming things. We are only stating facts unless you are trying to tell that the exam that was held this time was not done by the elders but other council members,” Damien walked towards a table that had a stack of files. Pulling one of them he said, “Here is the list that was signed by you, Mr. Krane.”
He handed the file to the man but Mr. Krane didn’t go to look at it because he was the one who had signed it.
“Please tell me this isn’t your signature,” Damien asked the man.
“It is mine,” Mr. Krane claimed the doc.u.ment, “I was asked to authorize it after the council meeting with the other elders.”
“Thank you for your confirmation. Getting back to the matter again, as I said the ritual was set up before the other examinees knew where the location was.”
Councilwoman Ava who had been sitting there with her legs crossed and hands placed on her lap, said, “How can you blame that it was done by the elders who planned the event when even the head council knew about it.”
Damien nodded his head, “That might be right too. Even if you put Councilman Rueben in the line of a suspect where he assigned the white witches, have you ever seen a white witch creating a ritual? I don’t think any of us even know a white witch who would sacrifice people and what use is a sacrifice for a white witch?”
“Who knows, the person might have been a converting black witch. We all know how corruption takes place,” said Councilwoman Ava.
“That’s right,” Damien smiled looking at her, “The person. There have been sightings already that witches who are turning rapidly towards the black witches aren’t sane anymore. Everything goes back to what the black witches are doing. To go ahead with the proceeding, I would like to call one of our very renowned council members here. Councilwoman Evelyn.”
The woman’s eyes slightly widened when Damien called her name. She could feel her heart skip a beat when he uttered her name.
Evelyn, who had been seated in one of the closest front rows stood up, walking towards the square box that was placed next to the high standing chair and desk of the supervising councilman.
“Councilwoman Evelyn, were you there in the meeting when the elders decided on what the exam has to be?”
The blonde woman nodded her head, “Yes, I was there.”
“When you set the questions for the examinees who are the ones who are going to take part in the second exam, who is the one to set the targets on what has to be done to pass the exam? Could you explain it to us.”
Evelyn looked slightly nervous at the moment but her stance was still firm as she stood there. She looked at Damien’s handsome feature remembering what he had done to her a few weeks ago when they were in Valeria but at the same time, she remembered how Damien had arrived to meet her two days ago to discuss what was going to happen today.
She parted her red painted lips, “In the council of elders, we are divided into teams and each of us take turns in keeping a task and then assigning a location that could fit according to what is required.”
“And does this work get rotated every time a council exam is held?” he asked her.
“Yes. This way all of us get to test the examinees. This time the rotation of what the exam’s goal was set by me and two other councilmen while the others picked the location.”
“Names please,” he smiled not looking at her but at the council members.
The councilwoman who was a vampiress could feel the gaze coming from the front seats which were looking at her intensely. Waiting to see what the words were going to spill out. In those spare moments, before she replied, Evelyn recollected what happened two nights ago.
She was at home when Damien had knocked on her door. Without stepping into the house, Damien had spoken to her outside,
“What can I do for you?” Evelyn had asked knowing well the man didn’t come for her but to know something from her.
And he had not wasted his breath with any pleasantries, “The last inspection you made on the church which is now closed. Who did you get the orders from?” he asked her.
“Why do you want to know?” when a council gave work tasks it was no other councilmen or councilwomen’s business unless it was their direct superior.
“Because I didn’t find any form being issued to raid the church. It was too sudden without any submission unless you decided to follow just because my lover was in there,” Damien didn’t try to be subtle about his relationship status with Evelyn who already knew about it.
She gritted her teeth at this, “I haven’t fallen so low to follow what the girl does. I was given out orders to raid the church.”
“Why?” Damien continued to question her.
“It was told that the white witches in there were plotting against the council members. That they were creating potions that could affect a vampire’s health. The elders feel that they are up to no good as many witches were sent from here to the council exam.”
“And the same witches were found dead. Stuck in the trees, you don’t believe that the white witches decided to sacrifice themselves for joy now, did you? The place where you kept the exam was already in use, which had been turned to a ritual ground before the candidates were sent there.”
She huffed, looking away from, and to look back, “Are you implying that it was a setup?”
“That is exactly what I am implying. There’s someone or some people in the council who set it up and I want to know who picked the venue as the forest.”
