Kenton coming down from the roof, having spent the day on lookout duty.
By this point Ackerley didn’t want to tell his brother what he was planning for fear he would shut him down. He knew Kenton would rather just go in a tiny group.
“Do you know where Chellion is?” Ackerley asked.
Kenton looked dead tired and didn’t notice him at first. “What’s that?”
“Chellion, do you know where he is?”
“No clue. He said something about a garden, but I didn’t see him out back.”
Ackerley thanked Kenton and ran off. He didn’t know why he didn’t think of it sooner. For someone so used to being alone, going to the one place left with quiet was an obvious choice.
The small doorway opened and he snuck in the tunnel without anyone seeing him. He came out into the hidden garden between the walls and saw Lord Chellion sitting by himself near the pool of water. He was surprised to see Ackerley, but the surprise turned into a smile and he motioned for him to sit beside him.
“I suppose Cerise showed you this place.” Chellion said, a wisp of nostalgia to his voice.
Ackerley nodded. The sound of frogs and bugs calmed him right down. “I need to talk to you about something important.”
Chellion, who looked just as tired as everyone else, seemed in a state of tranquility in the garden. “I suppose you want to tell me that you have some magical way of getting us out of this mess. My nephew has been talking my ear off with idea after idea. I couldn’t take it anymore. Not because they were ideas to get us out, but because they all ended with him singlehandedly taking over the Welgo capital.” He chuckled. “He sure does take after his father. My brother had all sorts of kooky ideas. Anyway, what’s yours?”
Ackerley looked into the water and pretended Cerise was sitting next to him. It was hard to imagine, but it gave him just enough courage to speak his mind. “I think that we should go to Vloraisha. It’s the only place I know of that’s safe now.” Chellion was about to say something. Ackerley continued on quickly before he could be cut off. “I know it’s dangerous and I know we might get attacked. I know all that stuff. Yinnib told me that we only have a week of food left. If that’s true, then we’re going to die of starvation if we don’t do anything.” Once again Chellion tried to butt in and once again Ackerley sped up. “We can go in small groups, or we can go in one big group. The important thing is to get away. Maybe the invaders don’t want to come here—maybe they do. It doesn’t matter if we don’t have food.”
The lord sat quietly with his finger in the air as if to retort. He lowered it and gazed into the water at a little turtle poking its head above the surface. “Kenton told me about a large group he saw heading there. Of course we don’t know what happened when they got there. He said that we should send all the people in the basement as it is their best chance for survival.” He watched the turtle swim around a little before continuing. “You’re right. It is also our best chance. It would be dangerous.”
“I know.” Ackerley said.
“We’d have to cross the dangerous Vastlands where nothing’s growing anymore.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I—I’ll tell Chellias about it and see what he says. Since he’s here we have to listen to him now. He’s in charge.”
“I understand.”
A small bit of relief edged through some of the dread. It would be a hard sell, but with Chellion being the one to talk to the king, it seemed plausible that they would be heading to Vloraisha sooner rather than later.
Chellion went to tell the king. Ackerley stayed in the little garden attempting to relax as much as possible. When it was too dark to see he made his way back into the castle. He was nervous about what the king said and tried to find someone who might know if anything had been decided. He found Jarn helping his father around and he quickly asked if the king had made an announcement. Jarn said he hadn’t heard anything.
Yinnib found Ackerley and at once told him to head down to the basement where the king had made and important decision. On the way down he told Ackerley that the king decided that the townspeople had to leave at first light for Vloraisha.
When they got down there the families were getting their things together as the king went around trying to drum up support for his idea. Ackerley was put in charge of handing out rations to everyone; there wasn’t much to go around as the king decided that commoners could last longer than nobles without food. When that was finished Yinnib explained that the king felt that with them gone the food would last longer.
“So we aren’t going as well?” Ackerley asked.
The king overheard him and came over. “You’re Kenton’s brother, right?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, I’ve heard great things about you.” The king talked far too loud and every one of the townspeople listened closely. “I’m putting together a small force to go and raid deep into Welgo territory. We’re going to send those cowardly invaders right back up there to defend the place. By the time they get there we’ll be gone with more jewels and food than anyone’s ever seen. It’s an ancient tactic. Raid them while they’re busy raiding you. Many wars were won that way. It’s the only thing left to do.”
“But—sir.” Ackerley croaked.
“What’s that, boy?”
“I just—I think it’s important to get to safety.”
The king’s eyes twinkled with a courage that couldn’t be expressed with words. “We’re going to make our home safe. There’s no point in going to someone else’s and expecting what we can give ourselves.”
Ackerley had to admit he liked the idea, only it was far too late for it to work. If the king had done that before waging an endless war in the Vastlands, back when there were more troops and more to fight for, then it probably would have worked. Now with only a single castle left to call Chell it sounded far too desperate.
The boy didn’t know how to talk to the king and so remained quiet. A few minutes later he sat on his bed and told Cerise everything that happened. She admitted that the idea would have been great before Indigo had gone up.
“It’s far too late now.” She said, echoing his thoughts.
“He’s in charge.” Ackerley said sullenly. “Chellion said we have to do what he says.”
“Then let’s run away tomorrow. We can take one of the horses and get out of here, just the two of us.”
“Kenton . . . Jarn . . .” He lamented. “We can’t.”
“I know it’s hard, but eventually you’re going to have to just think about you. Your brother can take care of himself. He has so far. We can leave him a note and he can visit.”
Ackerley was really close to arguing that she only said that because she didn’t have anyone to think about, but he didn’t want to annoy her. “I know.” Was all he said.
First thing in the morning the gates were opened and the townspeople in the basement streamed out of the castle and into the unknown. Ackerley and Cerise watched from the window of their room. Some looked happy to be going toward a land of promise, while others complained loudly that they didn’t want to leave. The king and Kenton went around trying to calm those down who were making the most noise. When everyone had gone the gates were swung closed once more.
“We can go tonight.” Cerise whispered, still staring at the closed gates down below.
“It’d be too dark.” Ackerley whispered back.
“Then tomorrow.”
He stared longingly out the window. “Maybe.”
The overall mood of the castle improved slightly as the king went around telling everyone that the food supply had been taken care of. Around twenty commoners stayed to be a part of the small force the king was putting together. These twenty spent the day getting drilled in what was expected of a warrior of Chell and how they were to behave. With the rest of the army present they had around sixty fighters to invade Welgland. Ackerley had to avoid the king as every time he was
seen the king asked if he was ready to fight the good fight and go along with them. Kenton had forbid him from going, not that he would have anyway, and he had to decline or go momentarily deaf and run away.
Chellias wanted Kenton to be the one to actually lead the charge, and promoted him to commanding general, which in reality didn’t mean anything. The king promised that he would come close behind, but didn’t want the people of Welgland to see that the Chell king was out of Chell. He assumed they all knew what he looked like and assured everyone that his face was known around the world.
Cerise seemed to think this was a good thing. “I really hope nothing bad happens to him.” She assured Ackerley as they strolled through the gardens that afternoon. “If he’s out of the way then we can leave a note and take off right after he leaves. I really doubt your brother is going to invade Welgland. He’ll probably come back a few days later and tell the king to do it himself.”
Clearly he didn’t want anything to happen to his brother, but Ackerley couldn’t help but agree. “I don’t think he likes the invasion idea any more than we do. The only problem now is making sure they don’t take all the horses.”
“We’ll see. If they do, then we can leave and try to catch up with the commoners. If Kenton’s right about the Welgos not wanting to kill, then we should be fine.”
“What will we do when we get there?” Ackerley wondered.
Cerise smiled as though