gave up the throne. In the months following the battle the emperor grew weary of Chell. He had done something so heroic, so marvelous that all the people of Honias called him their true ruler. The emperor couldn’t take it any more. He sent several assassins to Chell’s house in the night. When they arrived they were each slaughtered by the great Chell, who turned his vengeance on the emperor. Chell went to his house with all the loyal soldiers he could gather and overthrew the Honias government right then and there. He offered the emperor mercy, but the emperor did not want it. He jumped out the window and when he hit the ground the Honias Empire was no more. From that moment forward the Chell kingdom took its place. Chell the Great went on to conquer lands and by the time he died at eighty his kingdom was twice the size of Honias as its peak.”
She then told all about the little dealings of King Chell during his lifetime. Ackerley wasn’t as interested in this and waited until they got to the Welgos. Unfortunately, she spent the rest of the class talking about how great Chell was and how he revolutionized the world and did all sorts of other great things.
“That was kinda interesting.” Ackerley told Jarn as they climbed the stairs to the third floor.
“History has its moments.” Jarn said. “I’m not that into it.”
Ackerley forgot about the fancy dinner until he saw everyone in their white and gold fancy clothes. That didn't stop the running about and carrying on that met them when they got to the third floor.
The room was empty when they got there, which was plenty fine with them. Ackerley changed into his fancy tunic only to find that it was far too big. His sleeves swallowed his hands and it was far too baggy. Jarn tried not to laugh.
“They must have given you the wrong size.” He said, screwing up his face so as not to laugh.
“I can see that.” Ackerley grumbled. “What am I supposed to do, I’ll look like an idiot with everyone else.”
“It’s alright, everyone looks like an idiot at these things. Nobody wants to be there. The only good thing is that the food is a little better. Why don’t you go to the tailor’s office?”
“There’s a tailor here?”
“Sure, people grow out of stuff. It’s down on the first floor somewhere.”
Ackerley quickly changed back into his green tunic and hurried down to the first floor hoping that the tailor might have an outfit in his size. He wandered around the first floor but had no idea where to go. None of the doors had names on them.
He hurriedly went around looking for someone to ask. He turned a corner and saw two people. He was about to go up and ask them but saw that one seemed to be distraught and crying. Ackerley jumped back around the corner and listened. He didn’t think they saw him.
“I just. . . I don’t know, I can’t do it.” One of them cried. Both men wore white and gold, but were too old to be students. They must have been workers of some sort.
“There’s nothing you can do, Orrand.” The other man said calmly.
“I—I—they’re coming; I know they are.” Orrand wept. “There’s nowhere to go, there’s nothing left anywhere.”
“You’re safe here. I promise.”
Ackerley heard the crinkling of paper.
“They went up.” Orrand moaned. “They went up and I was here. I couldn’t help them.”
“There’s nothing you can do about that now.”
Their voices sounded distant. Ackerley peeked around the corner and saw that they were walking away. One shook while the other patted him on the back.
The tailor’s office thankfully had a sign on it, but tragically it was closed for the day. Ackerley wondered if he’d be allowed to wear his green and not look like a fool.
He found Craith going room to room trying to hurry people downstairs. Ackerley told him about his clothes but Craith still made him wear the baggy one to dinner.
Ackerley figured it wasn’t worth the fuss to avoid the dinner altogether so he went ahead and tried to forget how he looked.
He pulled Jarn away from the group of kids heading down to dinner and told him what he heard the two workers say. Jarn shrugged.
“He must of gotten a letter saying his family was killed. I guess it happens in times like these.”
“Yeah, but what about the guy saying that they were coming. He said he knew they were coming. I think he meant the Welgos.”
Once again Jarn shrugged it off. “He’s just paranoid. People like my dad and your brother are out there to make sure those nasty things don’t get anywhere near us.”
“But you said yourself said that they’re fast and they can get anywhere before the army.”
Jarn grabbed Ackerley’s arms and shook him. “Listen to me, Acks, everything is alright, alright?”
Ackerley suddenly realized that he sounded panicked. He took a deep breath and smiled. “Yeah, I know. It’s just the way that guy was carrying on. You’d have to of been there. He was a real mess.”
“He was. That’s his problem. Let’s get this dinner thing over with so we can get back to some great old fashioned reading time tomorrow.”
“Ugh, I’d rather take the dinner.”
“Don’t say that just yet.”
The food was great, dinner however—not so much. Ackerley found himself sitting next to a four-year-old on one side and Murdo on the other. Evidently Yinnib knew that they shared a room and thought putting them next to each other would surely make them fast friends. The fear of Murdo making fun of him made Ackerley wish he had a four-year-old on either side. Even if the one to his left kept throwing food at him.
The large dining room was a buzz with people talking down the table at each other—it seemed nobody got to sit with their friends. Jarn sat all the way at the other end talking to Yinnib, who sat at the head of the table. Ackerley was very quiet and was surprised to see that Murdo was as well, at least for a while.
“How come I haven’t seen you outside for third task?” He asked midway through the third course, which was some sort of seafood.
Ackerley pulled up his sleeves for the tenth time and wished he could be anywhere but there. “I don’t know.”
“Come on out sometime, it might do you some good.”
Ackerley thought that might be a threat and didn’t respond.
“Hey, how come you hang out with that little knitface? He’s a twerp. Every time I say anything to him he makes fists and gets super red like he’s gonna burst.”
“Maybe you should try to say something nice for a change.” Ackerley instantly became super red himself.
“My mom sees his dad sometimes. She tells me he’s the same way—a little guy who doesn’t get his way and then pouts about it. You think we’re safe here with a loser like that as commander?” He scoffed and shook his head. “With people like that protecting us the Welgos ‘ll get here and murder us all any day now.”
Partly because everything that came out of Murdo’s mouth annoyed him, and partly because of what he overheard earlier, Ackerley really wanted to pick up his chair and hit Murdo over the head with it.
“You don’t know what Welgo’s are like.” Ackerley said under his breath. He wasn’t even sure what he meant by it.
“Oh, and you do?”
He really wanted to tell all about how he survived a Welgo attack. In fact, he wanted to say that he took the stick from Kenton and beat the Welgo to death with it. He figured Murdo wouldn’t believe it and he’d get some kind of nickname like stickface that all the big guys would call him forever.
“I’ve heard stories.”
“Well so have I.” He scoffed again. “I can’t believe I’m stuck in this place. I’m twenty-three and my mom won’t let me fight yet. Humph, you’ll see that this place is just a fancy prison when you’re older. It’s not a place to keep us safe, it’s only here so our parents feel good about themselves.” He lowered his head and looked about to well up.
Ackerley looked away at all the happy
faces telling jokes and sharing stories.
Murdo was quiet for a long time, and then: “It’ll all end when one side is eradicated. That’s how these things end. It’s the same throughout history. The only reason we care so much is because the side with the castles and kings usually destroys the side without. No one can figure out why we aren’t. . .” He laughed. “Oh Great Spirit, they must have put something in our juice tonight.” He slapped Ackerley over the head. “Look at little Achey’s tunic, someone thought he was big Achey.”
A few people laughed. Some other big guy echoed it down the table and pretty soon everyone was craning to see. Ackerley didn’t know how one stupid comment could get that out of hand. He lowered himself in his chair and thought extensively about running from the table. That might make it worse so he stayed put.
Dinner came to a merciful end and it was time for everyone to crowd around in a little ballroom just off the dining room. Ackerley found Jarn and stood by him, hoping all those people still gawking wouldn’t want to gawk at two people. He forgot that before he got there Jarn was the one people laughed at. The staring and pointing only seemed to get worse.
Yinnib came in and told everyone to get a partner. Suddenly Ackerley realized why they were there.
“Why didn’t you tell me there was a dance?” He demanded.
“It’s the worst part of being here, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Ackerley stood around as everyone picked a partner. He didn’t know what to do or who to ask. Yinnib