world.
Kenton
Ackerley folded the papers and thrust them in his shoe. He nervously watched as everyone else read their letters. A few hours later on their way back up to their room Jarn mentioned his.
“My dad’s doing alright.” Jarn said. “Both my parents are. That’s pretty good considering everything going on. But your brother probably had the best news of the night.” He looked longingly off into the distance. “We might actually win this thing. Here, do you want to read mine?” He handed Ackerley the letter.
Ackerley took one look at it and gave it back. His heart sank. “That’s alright. That’s personal.” He watched Jarn through the corner of his eye. It was rare to see Jarn with such a wide, carefree smile on his face. Ackerley didn’t have the heart to tell his best friend that his letter was written by Kenton. Jarn was probably too happy with what the letter said to notice that the handwriting wasn’t his father’s.
After everyone went to bed Ackerley sat on the windowsill that looked out over the front entrance of the castle. He watched the guards walk back and forth and let their methodic movements lull him until his mind was at ease.
“Ackerley.”
He turned to see Cerise standing nearby. The letters and war vanished from his mind.
“Hey, did you want to explore some more?”
“No.” She said, taking quick looks over her shoulder. “I want to show you something.”
Ackerley jumped up from the windowsill.
“Not right now.” She said. “In the morning. Meet me in my area on the second floor. I’ll keep the door unlocked.”
“What about that nasty lady?”
She laughed. “Madame Thrindle has an all day meeting with the nobles’ tomorrow. Every few months she meets with them to tell them about how I need this or that. I don’t really need any of it. Anyway, I have to stay in meditation all day when she does that, but I really don’t want to.”
“Alright, I’ll see you there.”
Cerise smiled and walked as fast as she could down the hall and out of sight.
Ackerley completely forgot about his tasks when he promised to be there. On Thursday he had reading for two hours. Surely he could find a way out of that.
Someone knocked on the door shortly before dawn as they did everyday. Murdo and Jamie were ready and gone in seconds. Jarn shook Ackerley, who hid under his covers.
“Come on, get up.”
“Ugghh! I have the worst headache. I can’t read for two hours like this.” Ackerley moaned.
“Craith doesn’t excuse people from reading because of headaches. You’d have to be dying.”
“I think I am”
“I’m sure you are.” Jarn said doubtfully. “I’ll tell him, but you’d better be here and dead when he comes to check on you or you’ll be with Mr. Jett tonight.”
Mr. Jett sounded far better than reading. Jarn went to go get Craith. Ackerley jumped out of bed, already in his green everyday tunic, and ran from the room and down the stairs before anyone could ask him where he was going.
The second floor was quiet compared to the third. A few nobles milled about, but he managed to avoid them. He came to the door of the princess’s residence and slipped inside just in time to avoid nearby footsteps.
Cerise sat in the columned room where Ackerley first spoke to her.
“What is this place?” He asked, his voice echoing all around.
“Meditation room.” She answered. “I spend far too much time in here. If the Great Spirit doesn’t think twenty-five fours a week is good enough to come and see me then I’m really lost.”
“I really don’t think it cares. So, what did you want to show me?”
“Follow me.”
She started toward a door on the other side of the room. The purple dress she wore looked far too fancy for sneaking around.
“Don’t you have anything else to wear besides those fancy dresses?” Ackerley asked.
“I have fancy dresses and nightgowns. I would look a little too weird wandering around in a nightgown during the day.”
She led him through the fanciest part of the castle. The halls had thick plush carpets with heavily cushioned couches and realistic landscape paintings all along the walls. The doors were colored wood with designs on them.
“What is this place?” Ackerley asked.
“I think it was Lord Chellion’s residence before he moved to the fourth floor. It’s just me and Madame Thrindle now.”
“What do you do with all these rooms?”
“Some of them are locked and some are different bedrooms that I circulate through. I spend a month in each one.”
Ackerley couldn’t quite believe two people would ever want that much space to themselves. “I would never leave this place if I lived here. It’s so nice.”
“You spend enough time anywhere and it gets old.” She said with a frown.
At the end of the hall was a dead end. She felt around the wall. “Aha.” She exclaimed. Her hand pushed at a particular place and the wall opened like a door. A slight breeze rustled Ackerley’s hair as he looked into a dark stone passage. Cerise hurried down the stone steps and Ackerley followed. They came to another dead end and she pushed at the wall. They squinted in the morning sun. The door led straight outside.
“Now here’s the hard part.” Cerise rubbed her hands together and made sure the coast was clear. “Ready?”
“What, wait—”
Cerise suddenly took off across the sleek lawn towards the outer wall as fast as her dress would allow. Ackerley wavered for a moment and then sped off after her. He looked both ways as he ran and saw several people out tending to bushes and cows. He didn’t even know the castle had any cows. They didn’t seem to care or notice what was going on.
Cerise went all the way to the outer wall and kneeled down. “Wasn’t that great?” She said, trying to catch her breath.
“I guess. What are we doing out here?”
“I wish you would stop asking questions. Just wait.”
She felt around this wall as well. Ackerley kept a look out, thinking that Yinnib or Craith would appear with a small army of nobles to toss him in a dungeon somewhere. Surely a great castle like that had a dungeon.
She exclaimed again and a small hole appeared in the wall. She crawled in. Ackerey reluctantly did the same. He was starting to feel that her want to be free of Madame Thrindle meant escaping all together.
It took a while to find the end of the tunnel. It twisted and turned. Ackerley’s hands felt soft ground and he stood up.
“Here we are.” Cerise announced excitedly.
They stood in a small area encircled by the outer wall. It was covered with lush grass and bright flowers. A few tall trees poked up almost over the edge of the tall gray boundary between the outside world and the inner castle grounds. Vines climbed their way up the walls on all sides. A pool of water bubbled in the middle. Bugs and frogs ceaselessly sang their songs.
Ackerley let the wondrous feeling wash over him. It felt as great as the ride through the forest.
Cerise took a seat next to the pool of water and patted the stump for him to join her.
“How did you ever find out about this place?” Ackerley asked, sitting beside her.
“Madame Thrindle used to take me here. She doesn’t anymore.” Cerise stared deep into the pool. “It felt a little like our garden at home.”
“Where are you from?” Ackerley asked, watching the little fish swim around in the water. It was the largest body of water he’d ever seen.
“I’m from the Indigo Kingdom in the mountains to the north. It’s not very big or very nice—especially now. The Welgos keep attacking. That’s why I had to come here. My parents made sure of it. They didn’t want me there with all the fighting and danger.”
“It’s great that your parents haven’t given up.” Ackerley told her, hoping to make her
feel better.
She stared at the water for a long time before speaking. “They’re under siege.” She said breathlessly, as though it took everything she had to say it. “An army of Welgos surrounded the walls of the town with the palace several months ago. They’re running out of supplies.”
“The king will help. Our kingdoms have a bond, right? He’ll defeat them.” Ackerley doubted this very much, but said it anyway.
“Your king hasn’t helped yet. And besides, he’s probably too busy celebrating after clearing the Vastlands. Madame Thrindle told me what your brother wrote.”
Ackerley didn’t have the heart to tell her what was really going on. “They’ll make it alright. Why do they want the castle so bad? I thought Welgos were more of the grab and run type. I didn’t know they cared about sieges.”
“They didn’t at first. They were indeed the grab and go type we all thought they were.” Cerise shivered and rubbed her arms. “And then a bigger group came over the mountains. They had catapults and were ready to wait. From the news we get we know they cut off all the roads and made it impossible for supplies to get through. Even if your king decided to do anything it wouldn’t work. These Welgos are far more impressive than the ones destroying your towns.” Once again she suddenly thought she said too much. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
“No, it’s fine.” Ackerley assured her. “You’re right. This is all just too complicated for me.” He laughed softly. “I don’t know up from down when it comes to Welgos and war. That’s my brother’s problem. I’m just here trying to stay out of trouble.”
She gasped and clasped her