about the third hour his legs hurt tremendously, he had never stood up for that long before. Cerise motioned for him to sit but he refused. By the time the fourth hour hit he was so tired that he quietly sat down. Every tiny noise sounded like Thrindle’s footsteps and he jumped up multiple times before finally finding the courage to sit for an extended period. When her footsteps did finally ring through the room, he was up and in position before she appeared.
“It’s lunch time.” She announced. “I will go and retrieve it. The rules stay in effect at all times, remember that.”
She exited with a huff.
They remained silent for a few minutes, and then: “That was pretty awful.” Cerise said. “I’m sorry about all this. It was the only way I could think of to keep snooping.”
Ackerley, who didn’t find standing in a corner for hours on end to be much fun, feigned understanding. “It’s alright. This was probably the only way to make sure we didn’t get into trouble.”
She lit up. “So here’s my plan. After this week I’m going to say that I can’t stand being cooped up and need to take regular walks around. On one of these walks we’ll go up to the fourth floor, say ‘hi’ to Chellion and get my necklace.” She nodded proudly.
“That doesn’t sound too hard.” Ackerley admitted.
“Exactly! It’ll be tough to get Thrindle on board, but that’s my problem.”
“Uh-huh.”
With the plan set—though it wasn’t much of a plan—they decided to talk about the war in hushed tones. Cerise mentioned that she hadn’t heard any news since the news Kenton sent. That didn’t bother her, as with everyone else—or perhaps especially with her—no news was the best news. Ackerley told her that he didn’t fear it all very much. He knew the Welgos weren’t going to come bursting in the door any minute, and that the wealth of supplies flowing into the castle proved that things weren’t all bad.
“You know where all this stuff comes from, don’t you?” Cerise said.
“No, where?”
“The manor region. It’s not just for the rich. Well it is, but that’s because all the people with the necessary jobs live there. The people who make the food and stuff. Also there’s a bunch of farms near there.”
Ackerley thought for a bit. “Then why didn’t the Welgos attack there first?”
Cerise mulled it over. Evidently that wasn’t something she had thought of either. “They wanted the easy targets.”
“That makes sense if they were going to just attack and leave, but they clearly want more. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started settling.”
“Don’t say that.” Cerise grimaced at the idea.
“I’m just saying that if they wanted to get rich and leave they would have attacked there first, or at least before now. As far as I know, and judging by the calm of the nobles here, they haven’t attacked there yet. I just don’t get what they’re after here.”
Cerise didn’t much like the topic of conversation and grew very quiet.
Thrindle came back with soup, which seemed awfully watered down. Ackerley felt a little foolish for saying that the supplies were the indicator of good times when this soup was clearly meant to last. He wondered if anyone else would even notice. He’d watered down soup so many times when he lived alone that he’d catch it every time. Cerise didn’t seem to mind, but with Thrindle breathing down their necks she couldn’t say anything anyway.
“You should be happy, princess.” Thrindle said in her kindest voice, which still sounded nasty. “With all this meditating the Great Spirit will have no choice but to be pleased with you. It may even come and visit you sometime.”
Cerise nodded.
“And you, Morzha. I’m sure you being a guard to the princess came from the Great Spirit being proud of your brother’s work. He must be doing the best he can out there. We wish him all the best. Cerise prays for him every night.”
Ackerley nodded, not sure if he was allowed to speak.
After lunch Thrindle decided that the noon walk was still to advanced for Ackerley and told him to stay in the meditation room until they got back. He sat down as soon as they were gone and waited patiently for their return.
The day came to a merciful end a few hours later. Ackerley was so tired that he collapsed onto his bed and had no desire, or ability, to get up. He didn’t know if he had it in him to continue as a guard for the rest of the week, much less the rest of his time in that castle. He tried to think back on how becoming a guard helped in any way, and couldn’t think of any.
“What’s your problem?”
Ackerley jolted awake. He had almost fallen asleep when Murdo spoke from his bed across the room.
“What?” He said, too tired to sit up.
“I said what’s your problem, Achey?” Murdo said, his annoyance clearly coming through.
“It’s been a long day.” Ackerley responded irritably.
“Humph, yeah right. Why don’t you go out and die like your stupid brother probably will? Serves you right.”
Ackerley was too tired to really care what Murdo had to say. He turned over and ignored him.
“Hey, I said go die.” Murdo yelled across the room.
“You go die.” Ackerley responded.
“I would. It’s better than being trapped in here.”
Ackerley finally turned to face Murdo. “Then why don’t you just run away? Climb over the wall somehow and get out of here.”
Murdo fell silent. He clearly hadn’t thought about that. “Maybe I will.” He said defiantly. “See if you care that I die.”
“I don’t.”
“Yeah, well we’re all gonna go up if we stay here. You think those barbarians will spare this castle? It’s a miracle they haven’t knocked the thing down yet. I don’t know what they’re waiting for. Please, I’d fight for them if I could. They’re clearly gonna win.”
“Then go fight for them.”
“I will. You think I won’t? I’ll go right now and join ‘em.”
“Just do it already.”
“I know. I’ll kill every one of you. They’ll be so pleased they’ll give me a rank and everything. I’ll be a hero.”
Ackerley sat up and rested against the wall. “You won’t do a thing. The only way to get out of here is to do it yourself. Your mom’s never gonna let you. But since you know that already—why are you still here?”
“Shut up.” Said Murdo stubbornly. “Just go die.”
“Is that how you’re gonna beat the Welgos? Just telling them to die?”
Murdo stood up threateningly. “I’m not afraid of anything. I’m not afraid to leave. I’m not afraid to fight. And I’m definitely not afraid of some stupid invaders. I’ll show them.”
Ackerley laid back down. “I’ll tell Yinnib that you’re gone.”
Murdo sat back down and was quiet. Ackerley fell asleep and when he got up in the middle of the night Murdo was snoring from his corner.
Monday wasn’t as bad as Sunday as far as guard duty was concerned. Ackerley only had to do it for his third task. Thrindle didn’t leave the room this time, making it even more difficult to sneak even the smallest of topics to Cerise.
By Tuesday Ackerley felt like he was getting the hang of it. That’s when Thrindle told him that he would be standing guard during the dance. He never did like the dance part of the fancy dinners, and being forced to stand in the corner sounded more fun than having to find someone to dance with. When Wednesday night came everyone gave him the same shocked look as they saw that not only was he allowed near the princess, but now he couldn’t leave. Jarn looked the most shocked, but after a while he smiled creepily at Ackerley every chance he got, occasionally raising his eyebrows expectantly.
The rest of the week passed uneventfully. Meditation was as boring as ever, as was reading. The only real excitement came when the old transcribing man, Ackerley could never remember his name, finally accepted one of his pages.
Ackerley felt so good about it that he accidentally spilled ink all over it and was banished from the room for the remainder of the task.
Sunday morning Ackerley got in position in the corner of the columned room. Thrindle came in hurriedly with Cerise close behind.
“I have decided,” Thrindle announced powerfully, “that you will escort the princess out to the garden today.”
Ackerley nodded. “Alright.”
Evidently Thrindle thought the news would get a whoop or a cheer. “This is big news.” She declared. “It means I am growing to trust you.”
“Well, thank you.”
Thrindle fought back a dirty look and took her position near enough to make sure nobody talked. Several hours later, and after lunch, Thrindle allowed Ackerley to escort the princess out of the castle. She didn’t even come along to make sure they actually went.
“What’s with her?” Ackerley asked as they combed through the halls for the back doors.
“She just got up this morning and announced that the Great Spirit told her to let me out in the gardens with my new guard as he was brave and well respected.”
Ackerley grinned. “That’s really weird.”
“She takes great stock in the Great Spirit.”
“Apparently everyone here does.”
“You don’t?” She asked.
Ackerley pushed open the back door and held it open for Cerise.
“I never really grew up with it, you know. That’s one of those things you have to grow up with.”
“I believe in it.” She said flatly.
“Well sure, because you grew up with it.” Ackerley found himself getting