wouldn’t just let anyone in with that attitude. There were murmurs about you when you first arrived. I remember overhearing a noble say that they were worried you’d be some common rapscallion or something like that. These people have predetermined ideas about commoners. They think they’re all bad news—unable to grasp the ways of a true Chell. No noble would purposefully invite a super commoner family dressed in rags to be a part of all this.”
“I’d believe you, but things are changing. Just look at the food. If things are getting that dire then letting in some people from a regular town should be no problem.”
Jarn shook his head as if Ackerley couldn’t possibly understand what he was trying to say. “Do you know how many towns have gone up to heaven since this war started?”
“Including mine, I have no idea.”
“A lot.” Jarn stressed. “And how many commoners have been allowed in here? None. Only you, but with your brother’s closeness to the king they didn’t see you as a real commoner. Trust me, Acks, before you I was as common as it gets. But my dad entertained many nobles on our farm before he became a commander, and I know how they talk. When we were just a normal farm making corn and milk for the manor region even my dad was looked down on.”
They came out into the chilly cloister and sat in the grass, waiting for Craith to show up.
“Don’t put too much weight on this.” Ackerley warned. “There’s a chance we don’t want to know how they ended up here.”
“This is a mystery and I want to solve it.” Jarn announced stubbornly. “It’s so boring here and with the food situation the way it is I’m gonna need something to keep my mind occupied.”
Ackerley gave up trying to convince Jarn to let it go. He was interested in finding out why Ayya was there as well, but a smidge of dread tends to grow before dissipating completely.
Craith came out into the cloister with his usual stack of books. He handed them out quietly and stood wearily by to make sure they didn’t talk. The rules had relaxed so much in recent weeks that quiet conversations didn’t usually bother him. Not so that day. Craith shouted at the first person who talked so loudly that his voice rang through the cloister for some time after he’d stopped. It made the two hours go by painfully slow, even more so than when they had to be quiet before as any tiny movement received a menacing glare from Craith.
Walking up to their second task, Ackerley and Jarn didn’t say a word as they feared Craith would suddenly appear and shout at them. They had never seen any of the nobles get that worked up over something so small.
Loeua never allowed talking in meditation so they hoped she’d have no reason to yell at anyone. Yelling was the farthest thing from Ackerley’s mind when he went in the meditation room. In fact, everything fell from his mind when he saw Cerise talking to Loeua in the front of the room. She wore a red everyday dress, and if Ackerley had any notion of color he would have realized it was in fact the color cerise. Jarn nudged Ackerley in case he may not have noticed.
Ackerley tried to play it cool and sat on one of the mats as though he really hadn’t noticed. Cerise saw him and sat down next to him, forcing Jarn to sit behind them. It was nice to see her smile after what she had been through.
Ackerley feigned surprise. “Woah, what are you doing here?”
“Yinnib came by this morning and told me I could finally start going to tasks if I wanted to.” She said radiantly. “Of course I jumped at the opportunity. I’ll be in your group. I would have been reading with you this morning, but Yinnib spent a whole two hours telling me how things were going to go now.” The smile faded and the pain underneath came through momentarily. She caught herself and smiled again. “This should be fun. I’ve never meditated with other people before.”
“I figured you’d be bored with it all.”
“I’m never bored with being around people.”
A hand flew in between them. “I’m Jarn, it’s nice to meet you, princess.”
She became very rigid and took his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you.” She said. “But I’m not a princess anymore.” She added quietly.
The hand faded from view. “Oh yeah, I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright.” She said with a smile that Ackerley realized was plastered and fake.
“So you’re the queen?” Jarn asked foolishly.
Ackerley gave Jarn a dirty look, though he secretly wondered that as well.
The smile disappeared for good. “There’s nothing left to be queen of.”
It grew real awkward really quick. Jarn, having realized that he made the worst first impression ever, scooted back a ways and didn’t speak again for the rest of the task.
Ackerley’s mood dampened considerably for the first twenty minutes or so, but then rebounded as he started thinking of all the things he could do with Cerise now that she was free of her prison-like life.
After meditation they all went to lunch together. Jarn dragged along behind them. Cerise, who ached for more friends than just Ackerley, didn’t let him feel bad for too long. She held back and walked with him. They talked about Yinnib and how crazy he was, Commander Rogerseen and his rising up from farmer to commander, and even about the architecture of the castle. Cerise clearly knew more about that and instructed them both on the time period the castle was built and how long it probably took. By the time they got to the lunch table, which because the weather grew cool was now inside the main entryway, Jarn felt much better.
They sat outside and ate their lunch, which thankfully consisted of an egg sandwich and milk. Jarn was happy to say that the milk and eggs probably came from the castle grounds, as he knew the stables had cows and chickens.
“Maybe we’ll be getting more of the food grown here.” He wondered aloud. “It’s about time they gave us something that I’m used to eating.” He took a bite of his egg sandwich. “So when are we going to go on an adventure together?”
“I don’t think I’ll be going on many adventures.” Cerise said.
“Yeah, I’m adventured out.” Ackerley agreed.
“But you can’t be.” Jarn protested. “What about that girl? There’s something going on there and we need to figure it out—for the good of Chell.”
“What girl?” Cerise asked.
Jarn retold the story of Ayya, elaborating quite a bit. He insisted that her father picked them up and threw them out of the breakfast room with his bare hands.
“That is strange.” Cerise agreed. “I’ve never heard of people coming in in the dead of night except for the occasional food supply or messenger. And you say she’s one of us now?”
“Indeed. We need to figure this out. It may mean that the Welgos are in the area and heading this way.”
“If they were in the area,” Ackerley began, a little spooked, “then we’d be seeing all sorts of new faces. If the nobles would allow more people in. I’m certain she’s just a one-time exception. Her parents probably had a note from the king or something.”
“Keep your eyes peeled.” Jarn said seriously. “We may be seeing a lot more new faces in the coming days.”
Thoroughly creeped out, Ackerley decided to go back inside in hopes that he wouldn’t have to hear any more about the Welgos or people running from them.
For the first time in several weeks Ackerley was allowed to pick what he wanted to do for third task. He briefly thought about going out and playing a sport for the first time now that all the biggest and meanest kids were gone. Jarn convinced Cerise that the kitchens were the place to be and he went along with them instead.
They had a good time slicing bread and making sandwiches. They were informed that the last shipment was only bread, and that the people who brought it said it would be the last one for a while. The head of the kitchens promised them that they had enough food in storage to wait out however long that would be, but that didn’t stop Ackerley from getting worried anyway.
Numa and Melexa were there as
well. Ackerley hadn’t seen them in a while and couldn’t remember which one was which. They were greatly fascinated by Cerise being there, as was everyone else. She had a crowd around her as soon as she sat down; everyone in the kitchens asked her as many questions as they could before she finally stood up and said that they were being awfully rude and should be concentrating on making dinner. The crowd dispersed, and things went back to relative normalcy.
Later in the evening, after dinner, Ackerley walked Cerise back to her residence.
“Some day, huh?” Ackerley said, eagerly awaiting her reaction to being normal for once.
Cerise nodded and walked slowly into the columned room. Her shoulders hunched forward and her steps sounded heavy and dull. All the joy and confidence she showed throughout the day vanished instantly.
“Thank you.” She said softly. “That was a lot of fun today.”
“Are you alright?”
She grasped one of the columns for support and slid to the floor. She put her face in her hands and began to cry.
Ackerley started towards her and then stopped. He never knew what to do in situations like that.
“It’s just I—I—I don’t know.”
“It’s alright. You’ve been through a lot recently. It’ll take time to figure it all out.”
She wiped her eyes and looked irritably across the room. “Thrindle’s even left me. I never really could stand her, but she left so suddenly.”
“Don’t