rested and fed.”
Craith motioned for Ackerley to follow him and headed up the spiral staircase. Kenton followed Yinnib through the doorway to the right.
“I hope you had a good journey.” Craith said as they walked up the stairs.
“Yeah.” Ackerley said casually, not wanting to talk about the Welgo attack.
“It is an honor for us that you are here. Chellion Castle will be your home for the remainder of the war. Here we go.” They came to the next level and Craith led the way through hallways and doors. Ackerley was lost after only a few turns. “We have a series of rules that you will follow. They aren’t too demanding. There are other children here. Many are sons and daughters of nobles or high ranking military officers. I do believe that you are the only brother here. Hmm.”
Ackerley felt a pang of fear. He knew what that hmm meant. It meant it wouldn’t be long before he was sleeping outside with the pigs, if they had pigs.
“Don’t worry about that though.” Craith said as if reading his mind. “We treat everybody the same. The children sleep in the back hall of the third and top floor. Your room will have three other boys in it. Everyday is structured. Monday through Saturday you will have structured time from eight in the morning until five in the evening. Sundays are free days. You will eat with the other children everyday. Two nights a week we have formal dinners where you will wear your formal attire.”
Another pang. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any formal attire.”
Craith nodded. “We will provide your day and night wear. You will have three garments. One is the formal tunic, the second is your day tunic, and the third is a shirt and pants set for free time and private time.” Craith opened a door and they stepped inside. “This here will be one of your classrooms. You will have study Monday through Friday.”
The room had thirty chairs with small tables next to them. Ackerley had never stepped foot in a schoolroom with four walls and chairs. It was bigger than he was expecting. “Are there this many children here?”
“Many more. There are around fifty children here. We have them in three separate groups so we can rotate their tasks. You will be in the third group. It has fourteen children. You will get to be friends. You will do everything with them.”
They kept going. They went down a much smaller stone staircase hidden behind a door at the end of the hall. This took them to very ornate dining room. It had marble pillars and a very long table covered with around sixty plates.
“This is the main dining hall. This is also where the formal dinners take place. The next one is on Wednesday. They are every Wednesday and Saturday. Since today is Monday everyone is having dinner in the small dining area on the third floor. Since it is your first night and your brother is here you will eat on the first floor with him. I’ll show you to your room tonight after dinner.”
He looked at Ackerley expectantly. Ackerley looked back expectantly.
“Any questions?” Craith asked.
There were a thousand Ackerley wanted to ask but he didn’t really want the answer to most of them. “Have the Welgo’s ever come close to here?”
“The Welgo’s are for quick raids. They wouldn’t attack a fortified castle like this. Did you see our wall? That’s the anti-Welgo wall.” He chuckled. “You’re plenty safe here.”
Craith showed him around the first floor. They went through the kitchens and a ballroom and to the backdoor where they looked out onto beautifully kept gardens. Ackerley’s mouth dropped open when he saw it. It was split into four parts bisected by gravel paths and centered around a large pool of water. The hedges, the flowers, the grass, everything was perfectly maintained and full of color. Two of the four quadrants, the upper left and lower right, had an intricately patterned hedge maze with small trees and flowers poking out here and there. The upper right and lower left had paths etched through the grass. The paths were all lined with flowers.
“These are the famous Chellion gardens.” Craith noted proudly. “People used to come from all over.” He added a little sadly.
“They don’t come anymore?”
“After the war started Lord Chellion closed the gardens to the public. It’s been a rough few years here.”
“I guess it’s been rough everywhere.” Ackerley added quietly.
They went back to the main entryway where a woman came up to them. She didn’t look much older than Kenton. Her hair was styled in braids on the top of her head. She held a pile of clothes in her hands.
“Good evening, Ackerley, my name is Loeua. I am the youth supervisor.” She said merrily when they approached. “I have here your three outfits.” She set the pile on a small table next to a vase of flowers. She took up the first one. “This is your everyday tunic.”
The tunic was green with embroidered bronze designs in places. It was by far the fanciest outfit he had ever owned, and that was just the everyday tunic.
She set it down and took up the second one. This one was obvious without her saying anything. “This one is the formal tunic to be worn at the formal dinners twice a week.”
It was the same white with gold edging as all of the uniforms he’d seen already.
“And finally,” she took up the third and final outfit. It was a very simple brown shirt and pants. “This is the free time and roughhousing shirt and pants set.”
This was the only one of the outfits that Ackerley liked at all. It was very similar to what he had been wearing his entire life. Loeua carefully folded the clothes and took them up to his room for him.
Craith then took him through the kitchens to a very plain room with a small table. There Yinnib was having a serious conversation with Kenton. When Ackerley came in Yinnib jumped up.
“Oh my, young Morzha, you’ve had quite the day today. Mr. Morzha’s told me everything. You are a very brave boy for getting through it so well.”
Ackerley didn’t say anything.
Craith set out two plates and several bowls filled with meat, rolls, and cooked vegetables. Ackerley took his seat and started piling his plate with as much as it would fit. He’d been starving all day and had never seen so much food in one place. Craith and Yinnib left the room.
“What do you think of it here?” Kenton asked, his mouth full.
“It’ll be pretty good if they have food like this.”
“Can’t beat that. But what about the rest of it?”
Ackerley shrugged. “They haven’t told me too much yet.”
Kenton nodded seriously.
“But I think it’ll be great.” Ackerley added. “The gardens are so great, have you seen them? And the outfits are so . . . neat.”
Kenton smiled. “It’s going to take some getting used to. When the war ends and we get rid of those horrible invaders I’ll come back and we can go live in a nice town just like any other carefree Chell Kingdom kid would want.”
“Why is it called that, the kingdom?” Ackerley asked suddenly.
“The line of kings are all named a variation of Chell. It comes from King Chell the Great. He founded the kingdom many years ago. The current king, King Chellias is his great-grandson. And of course Lord Chellion, who owns this castle, is the old king’s brother. Don’t worry about not knowing as much as the others. You’ll learn just like they did.”
After they ate Kenton went back to the front door. It was growing dark. Yinnib tried to convince him to stay the night but he said that he had already been gone longer than he had anticipated and needed to leave. One of the doormen went to get Sidestep ready. Kenton knelt down and hugged his brother.
“Remember, I’ll be back as soon as this war is over. We’ll crush the enemy as soon as we can.”
Ackerley nodded, not sure what to say.
Kenton stood up and shook Yinnib’s hand. Just then a boy ran up to Kenton. He wore a blue everyday tunic and had a rolled up piece of paper with a ribbon around it in his hand.
>
“Sir,” the boy began, “You are in the king’s army, right?”
“Yes.” Kenton said.
“So is my father. His name is Rogerseen.”
“Oh, commander Rogerseen, of course. He’s one of the king’s most trusted warriors.”
“Yes,” the boy agreed, “can you give him this letter for me?” He handed Kenton the rolled up paper.
“I will.” Kenton took the paper and put it in his pocket. “I will give it to him myself as soon as I get to the base.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The boy turned, quickly glanced at Ackerley, and ran out of the entryway. Ackerley watched him go. That boy was the first one he had actually seen. It made him feel a little better to actually see one of the other children he would be spending time with.
“Young Yarn is a great student and will make a valiant citizen.” Yinnib said proudly.
“I was his father’s adjutant before I became the king’s.” Kenton noted.
“Ah, and what does the king’s adjutant do? I expect you're a great aide.” Yinnib asked with a rather unnatural smile creeping across his face.
Kenton breathed deeply. “I’m not much of an aide. Too many of his staff have died. I usually take messages to other armies or protect the king in battle.”
Yinnib’s face lit up. “That is a very important role. Your life is between the enemy and the king. You must be extremely proud.” Yinnib bowed. “I wish you the utmost success in your endeavor. Know that we here will be praying very hard for your success as the