CHAPTER TWENTY

The next week, Heli was called up to the room for the first time after losing her memories. If she had ever been here before, she couldn't remember it. The elders were now all staring at her, and the back of Heli's neck was prickling uncomfortably. 

"...Why am I here?" Heli asked politely, and they all looked at eachother. She suspected that this was about the mayhem she had caused. Still, luckily for her, apparently elders had been dying all over the place even before she had become an elder or decided to revolt, so she was covered and no one could blame her. 

"We need all the help we can get. Please sit down." The elder in the middle said, moving the cloak aside to point one long, bony hand at the 5 empty seats at the edge of the room. Again Heli felt like she knew them, but she couldn't place why or where. This person simply felt familiar. She shuffled up the corner of the room and sat down in the leftmost 5th chair, sitting still as a statue her hood draped over her. 

Heli watched in curiosity as another elder was brought in. The elder, bony wrists tied together, stood in the middle where Heli had been moments ago, staring wordlessly at the floor. 

"This is the suspected cause of the posters." The elder in the middle said, and Heli chuckled under her breath. This was perfect - better to blame multiple people at once. Then she stood up with a rustle of cotton, and said, to the audience who had all turned to face her,

"I don't think it's just one elder."