interested, though he really was. There was a mystery to that girl and he found it hard not to think about her. He didn’t even get a good look at her face but the way she walked and the dress she wore really stood out. He imagined that the princess probably felt a lot like he had when he lived alone for so long. It was probably worse for her because she was living in a castle with a bunch of kids her age and couldn’t even be around them.
“Our final task is coming up and we get a choice.” Yarn said, getting up.
“I’m starting to think that these aren’t really tasks but things to keep us out of their hair for the day.” Ackerley noted, getting up also.
Yarn nodded. “You’ve learned so much already.”
“Hey what did you say your name really was again?”
“Jarn.”
Ackerley held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Jarn. I’m Ackerley, and you can call me anything but that.”
Jarn shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you Acks.”
Ackerley mulled it over. “I like that.”
Jarn led the way into the castle. He had a certain pep to his step that only making a new friend can generate. The entryway buzzed with life. It was weird and yet oddly nice to see so many well dressed kids in such an ornate castle. He felt a part of the buzz. He was part of a larger group and he greatly enjoyed it in those moments of discovery as he followed Jarn through the crowd to a quieter spot.
The joy didn’t last long as he saw Yinnib coming towards him. For a second Ackerley wanted to start running for fear Yinnib might get teary eyed again at the thought of Kenton.
“Young Morzha, I am so glad to see you doing so well and looking so great in your tunic. You will become a well respected citizen, I am certain.” Yinnib said, nodding fervently.
“Um. . . thanks.”
“How has your first day been?”
Ackerley shrugged. “Good.”
“Wonderful! I want you to know that we included your brother into our prayers last night and I am certain things will turn out well for him because of it.”
Ackerley wished he knew what the third task was so he could pretend they were in desperate need to get there right away.
Yinnib spotted Jarn and lit up even further. “You’ve become friends with the young Rogerseen. What a momentous happening for you, young Morzha.”
Ackerley noticed Yinnib often talked with his eyes closed. When he was done he would open them and look around to see if everyone was as impressed as he thought they ought to be.
“Yeah, but we need to get to our third task so. . .”
“Oh, of course, well be off then and have a great day.” Yinnib turned on his heel and was out of sight almost instantly.
Ackerley sighed. “That guy sure is happy about everything.”
“He’s just trying to make sure nobody gets too depressed in here. He figures if he’s overly happy he can spread it to us.” Jarn explained. “But anyway what do you want to do for our third task?”
“What are the choices?” Ackerley asked. “You know you’re being a terrible guide today. You haven’t told me one thing about what we’re going to do.”
Jarn looked taken aback, and then, realizing that Ackerley was joking, smirked. “We have a choice of three things for the third and longest task which will last for four hours.”
“Four hours!” Ackerley exclaimed, fearing that he might have to meditate or read for four hours.
“It’s not that bad.”
“You said that about the reading and that was horrible.”
“The choices!” Jarn said, ignoring Ackerley, “We can exercise outside. That usually ends with playing some stupid sport for a while.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Nah, all the big mean kids do that. You can go if you like, but be prepared for Murdo and all his idiot friends spending four hours pretending not to beat you up while they call you names.”
Ackerley shivered. “No thanks, what else is there?”
“We could go to the library and learn how to transcribe old books and important writings onto new paper.”
“That sounds way above my skill level for the first day.”
“It’s not actually that bad, but we’ll get to do that later anyway.”
“What else is there?”
“The only other thing is working in the kitchens and helping get dinner together. It’s kinda boring on Tuesdays. Wednesday’s are when it’s a little more bearable since the fancy dinner and all.” Jarn explained it as though it was the worst thing imaginable. He kept giving half shrugs and wincing.
Ackerley didn’t much like the sound of any of those, but that one didn’t sound as bad as the others. “That sounds a little interesting.”
“Well, I guess.” Jarn said, still shrugging and wincing. “Usually a lot of girls do it. So if you’d rather go out and, you know, hang out with the cool guys. . .”
At that moment Murdo and some other big guys ran through the hall shoving each other into the walls.
“Hey, its aches and pains.” Murdo said, putting an end to the roughhousing by simply coming to a stop. All his friends formed a half circle around Ackerley and Jarn, trapping them. “I heard your brother protected the king.” Murdo sounded impressed.
Ackerley was not about to be intimidated. He’d survived a Welgo fight after all. “I’m not really sure what he does.” He said casually.
Murdo moved his mouth around as if trying hard to figure out what to say next. “He sounds pretty cool. You know my mom works in the king’s castle. She sees the king every now and then.” He looked down at Ackerley threateningly. He seemed to be ready to judge him entirely on how that conversation went.
Ackerley thought about the mean things he said the night before and figured there was a history of problems between Murdo and Jarn.
“Is that all?” Ackerley blurted out. He wanted to say something smart, not stupid. He immediately wished he hadn’t said it. His face grew red and he started to sweat.
Murdo stared at him emotionlessly. He quickly glanced at Jarn and then back to Ackerley. “She doesn’t go out and fight, you see. She has plans to survive this war.” His voice was poison, his words deadly.
He led his friends away without another word. Ackerley’s face reddened further and he was surprised to find himself welling up a little. He shook it off and turned back to Jarn, forcing his face into a smile.
“Let’s not do whatever they are doing.” He gave a fake laugh. “It’s almost like you got them to come down here on purpose to sway me to go to the kitchen.”
Jarn gaped at his new friend. He nodded in understanding. “I may or may not have paid him to come around the corner at that exact instant.”
A few minutes later Ackerley found himself in the kitchens with a bunch of other people who didn’t want to write or get beat up. Though most were indeed girls. That didn’t bother Ackerley, who hadn’t properly met any of the girls in his group or in the castle at all.
The kitchens were large and had stations set out. Each one had a black bowl with a grill over it and drawers in every shape and size. The head of the kitchens came up and patted Jarn on the shoulder. She said that she was glad to see him so much wanting to help with dinner. Ackerley repressed a grin. They were put into groups of four and were given a recipe for a different part of that night’s dinner. Ackerley’s group got vegetables. The four of them started by shucking corn and getting peas out of their pod, which seemed awfully hard.
The other half of their foursome had two girls, Numa and Melexa. They were quick to start a conversation. Evidently they had shucked corn and shelled peas with Jarn on a number of occasions.
“How’s life with Murdo?” Numa asked.
“Ugh, can I go ten minutes without having to see or hear about that idiot?”
“I take it you saw him ten minutes ago.” Numa deduced.
Jarn shrank down in his
chair. “I don't wanna talk about it.”
“What about you?” Melexa asked Ackerley. “What’s your story?”
Ackerley told them that he came from a small town and that his brother was some kind of officer in the army. They seemed mildly impressed.
After the corn and peas, they also had broccoli and carrots to prepare, they grilled it all on a metal tray over a fire in that black bowl in the counter. The kitchen staff then busied them by having them take plates and cutlery up to the third floor dining room. When that was done they helped bring the food up. Finally, when everything was set up and ready they were allowed to go back to their rooms to get ready for dinner. Ackerley and Jarn sat on their beds and passed the time by talking about the Welgos.
“So I don’t really understand anything about the whole thing.” Ackerley confessed.
Jarn beamed at the chance to not be the dumbest around. “The Welgo’s are horrible invaders that came from somewhere and are doing bad things.”
“I get that, but what is really going on. Not much news gets to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. We heard that these people from Welgland came in and were destroying towns and things, but we rarely knew why. My brother’s letters were the only real source of news, and he couldn’t say too much for fear they might get intercepted somewhere.”
Jarn looked a little bummed at having to relinquish a little of that not dumbest prize he had been given. “This is what I know. My dad actually writes detailed accounts of events in his letters so that I can give them to the historians here and they can write them out for the Chell annals. He