defensive and decided to drop it. “It sure is nice of her, though. We can discuss the plan a little more and figure out how we’re gonna ask Chellion about the necklace.”
Cerise lit up. “Ooh, I want to go tonight.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely. Sunday night is the perfect time. Everyone should be going to bed early to get ready for Monday.”
They strode around the paths lined with flowers and around the big pool of water. They chatted about the weather and about how pretty everything was.
It was a chilly day. Fall was coming in. The flowers that had been there when Ackerley arrived had been removed, replaced with others that could handle the cooler weather better.
“My friend Jarn found out about our nightly walks.” Ackerley said. “He kinda wants to come along sometime—not that he should.” He added quickly.
“Hopefully I won’t have to sneak pretty soon. If I can get Thrindle to realize that a princess needs her exercise, then maybe she’ll let me go around more.”
“How are you going to do that?”
She sighed. “I haven’t figured that part out yet.”
The rest of the day passed uneventfully.
Late that night Ackerley snuck out of his room and met Cerise at the door of her residence.
“Thrindle’s asleep. Let’s get going.”
They sneakily climbed up to the third floor and found the hidden stairs that led to the fourth floor. Cerise found a groove and the door slid open. The two late night adventurers made their way up the dark stone steps to the fourth floor. Ackerley didn’t feel the usual fear that comes with sneaking around. He knew Chellion would be happy to see them, maybe even a little annoyed at the amount of time it took for them to come back.
Cerise pulled the door open and they came out into the fourth floor. Chellion’s door at the end of the hall was open, and they started for it.
However, this time another door was open. As they passed, Ackerley looked in and was extremely surprised to see the woman in the blue robe sitting on a bed. He stopped and stared, wanting to take this chance to see her in a well lit room for once. For a brief moment he forgot that there was a body attached to his eyes and that he could just as easily be seen by her.
The woman glanced over and smiled. “The lord told me you’d be coming up sometime.”
As she turned toward them Ackerley gasped. The right side of her face was badly scarred. It looked as though it had been burned and sliced. Cerise tried to pull Ackerley away and down the hall. It took a few seconds for him to come back to reality and follow.
Chellion stood in the hall, blocking their path.
“Thora’s been wanting to meet you two.” Chellion said, motioning for them to go into the room.
Thora smiled politely as everyone came in.
“Lord Chellion, I wanted to ask something of you, actually.” Cerise said.
“In a minute.” He said. “I’ve thought about my role here at the castle, and I realized that if I can help two bright young minds understand different cultures, then that’s what I should do. Thora, would you like to tell your story?”
Thora gazed mysteriously at Ackerley. “I would indeed.”
Ackerley wanted to know the story behind Thora’s scars, but didn’t quite like how they were cornered. He felt something like a brief prisoner standing there in that room. For some strange reason the feeling of dread he felt on the way to the castle came back. He crossed his arms and took a quick glance at Cerise. She looked just as uneasy as he felt.
There was something about Thora that Ackerley didn’t like. Her small movements as she sat there didn’t seem quite normal. They were too smooth, too. . . too something.
“I just want to say that I have been somewhat interested in you, Ackerley Morzha.” She started softly.
The dread grew, but Ackerley didn’t know where it came from or whether or not it was valid.
“When Chellion told me that a commoner was coming, I became interested. Living here, all I see are the nobles and the children of that type.” Thora smiled. “I didn’t know how a common Chell would act. I imagined you’d be something of a ruffian. I was surely wrong. I see a sadness in you, young man.”
She looked about to continue describing him, and Ackerley did not want to stand there and hear that. “Are you a noble yourself?” He asked, trying to figure out how she hadn’t seen a common Chell before.
“I am a Welgo.”
Ackerley’s body tensed. His eyes widened and he stared at Thora as if she had just materialized from nothing. He had the sudden impulse to run away and fight at the same time. Instead he just stood, unsure of what to do.
Cerise made a small noise. Ackerley could only imagine what must have been going through her head.
Thora chuckled guiltily. “I know, I know. That’s not what you expected. As you can see I didn’t quite get along with the other Welgos. I was once in the army up there. I was in a search party to uncover the weakness to the great Chell kingdom. When I found it, I went back and became a small hero to my commanders. I am very sorry to say that I am one of the reasons why you two are here.” She lowered her head and extended her arm in a gesture of prayer. “May the Great Spirit find—”
“Weakness?” Ackerley blurted out angrily. “What weakness do you mean? What did you tell those horrible people?”
Thora scratched the back of her hand thoughtfully. “While here I found that this kingdom is extremely ill governed. It’s so big and the entirety of it’s government rests on the shoulders of one man, the king. It was obvious that all the Welgos had to do was stretch the king’s army and they could raid anything they wanted. One band comes over the mountains as a decoy, the king goes out to get them, and another larger one goes after the real prize. That’s what they did at the start and it really worked.”
“Why . . .” Ackerley started dangerously. “Are you here?”
Thora raised her hands defensively. “Let me finish. I thought a few raids were all that was going to happen. And for a while it looked that way. But then our great king died and all of Welgland descended into madness. Only weeks after the battle for succession started a voice rose above the rest. A man named Victor inexplicably took control of the army using his wit and quickly became the new leader. He dropped the title king and simply became leader. He greatly expanded the raids and sent large bands of warriors into Chell with the intention of taking over the kingdom entirely. I realized that this could only end in the end of both nations. I started telling lies to my commanders in the hopes that they would believe me and give up that foolish idea. Victor realized that something was up with me and well—did this.” She smiled, turning the scarred side of her face fully towards them. “I escaped and came here to give my services to the Chell army. I don’t want to see either of these countries end each other.”
Ackerley looked at Chellion. “You believe this?” He said irritably.
Chellion looked taken aback. “Of course I do. Thora has lived here and given valuable information for over two years.”
“Then why do you hide her away?” Cerise asked, also skeptical.
“It’s not easy for me to be among people.” Thora said. “I have to answer questions about my face, and with this place filled with the children of the Chell army, I didn’t know who I could trust. But I trust you, Ackerley. I know that, like me, you grew up away from all the rhetoric. And you did as well, princess.”
Cerise kept her eyes down, frowning at the floor. Ackerley stared steadfastly at Thora.
“I can see that this will take some time to get used to.” Chellion said with an attempt at a smile. “Here, let’s go to my room and you can ask me that question, princess.”
Cerise and Ackerley were out of the room as fast as can be. They went down to Chellion’s room while exchanging nervous glances.
Chellion closed the door behind them. “So, what is it th
at you wanted to ask me?”
“How can you have a Welgo here?” Cerise said loudly, trying very hard not to yell. Her voice had a quiver, as though trying to hold back tears.
“Now Cerise, you heard that she’s not a Welgo anymore. She’s been an important asset in the fight against the Welgos. I need you to understand that before you continue.”
Cerise wiped her eyes. “It’s just . . .”
“I know,” Chellion said softly. “I should have eased you into finding out about her. I thought it might be nice to meet someone helping to defeat the Welgos, that’s all.”
“She’s not helping my parents.” Cerise cried. “It’s because of her that they’re trapped—that I’m here.”
“No, no, no.” Chellion said calmly but sternly. “That was this Victor person. She is helping.”
Cerise took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m sorry for my attitude.” She said, talking once again like a princess.
Chellion nodded. “That’s alright.”
“We came up here tonight so that I could ask you for a pendant that was among the jewels that came with me when I arrived.”
Chellion clapped his hands. “Oh, yes, of course. I’ll go and get that. I think I know what you’re talking about.”
Chellion left them alone for a minute.
Ackerley wanted to say something, but couldn’t think of anything that would make the situation any easier to deal with.
Chellion returned with a blue pendant in the shape of a shell attached to a gold chain. Cerise took it