“Form a line,” he bellowed angrily at them as he walked out in front of them. “Stand tall.” He walked up and down the line they had made facing him. He violently corrected their form if they were at all off from his expectations. “I have been granted the task of sorting you worthless pieces of slime into the services you will be providing for your new master, the honorable Merglan.”
Thargon took a second look at everyone, walking up and down the line. He started on the far side away from Kirsten and Maija. “Mine, mine, castle chambers, grounds, mine, kitchen,” he went down the line assigning the prisoners one by one.
Kirsten bent her head just slightly but not enough to be noticed by the guards or Thargon would’ve rushed over to violently correct her position as he did with others who’d made the mistake of relaxing their bodies or turning their heads to see what was happening down the line. She could see out of the corner of her eye Thomas’ head sticking up over those next to him. He was five or six people down the line to her right, but it was hard to tell exactly in the darkness. When Thargon got to him, Kirsten noticed he stopped and looked at him with a truly hateful glare. He said in a growl, “Mine.” Then he continued toward Kirsten and Maija.
When he got to Maija, he paused for a moment, sniffed the air around her and grumbled. “You smell, different. Not like the others.” Then he said, “Castle chambers,” and continued to Kirsten, dismissing the scent he’d smelled on Maija. Kirsten stared right into his black eyes as he looked her up and down, deciding her fate. “Castle chambers,” he said. Kirsten was surprised he didn’t put her in the mine with her brother; of course he had no idea she was his sister, but at least she got to be in the same workforce as her new friend and cellmate, Maija.
Stepping back out in front of them, Thargon announced, “You’ll be taken to your stations and the other slaves will show you your new tasks. Do not bother trying to escape. These walls surrounding the fortress are laced with magic stronger than anything you will be able to get past. Those who attempt to escape will be reprimanded accordingly. Those who do not perform their duties to expectation will be disciplined accordingly. You will be at your workstations at this time every day; tardiness will be met with reprimand. When your work is complete for the day you will be led back to your cells.” When he had finished, Thargon turned and walked out of the courtyard and back up the hallway. Armed guards dressed in uniforms lacking any insignia or recognizable allegiance came to escort them to their new stations.
“Kitchen staff, with me,” one of the guards shouted. Another yelled, “Grounds workers, here.” A third and fourth shouted, “Miners,” and “castle chambers.”
Kirsten and Maija walked toward the guard calling castle chambers. As they pushed through the crowd of prisoners assembled in the courtyard, Kirsten found her brother and grabbed him by the arm to get his attention.
“Kirsten,” he said, glad to see her. “Where are you going?”
“With the chamber slaves,” she said drearily. “I heard they put you in the mine. Listen, tonight when we’re back here we should talk.”
Thomas looked around, noticing the guards were watching the two talking to each other. “Okay, we’ll talk tonight,” he said, then wished her good luck and a safe day. They went their separate ways.
“Follow me,” the expressionless guard said. He led them out of the courtyard and into the hallway where Thargon had departed. Wooden torches lit the walls illuminating the darkened hallway. Entering through a narrow passageway, the guard led them up a staircase. They climbed high into the towering building. Stopping at a landing, the guard pointed to a small wooden door next to the stairs and said, “Through this door and you will be with the other maids. Go on, git!” And he pushed them along through the door. As he pushed Kirsten past, he muttered to himself, “Stupid Westlanders.” Kirsten raised her arm to hit the guard for the insult, but Maija caught her arm and shook her head, telling her not to react. The guard noticed the two had stopped. Shooing them with his hands, he said, “Go on then, through the door you go, with the other slaves.” Kirsten fumed with rage and Maija pushed her through the door into the room with the others.
“I’m going to kill that guard before this is over,” Kirsten said to Maija as they gathered around one of the head maids.
All of the others who had come into the room before them were listening to the shrill voice of a tall thin woman. She wore a white dress and gray apron covered in stains. She spoke clear Landish but her silver hair and ghostly pale complexion was more severe than the most fair Westland people. She shouted for them to gather round and pay attention.
“My name is Chantal, the head chambermaid in this castle. Yes, we are all here against our will. But if you do as you’re expected, you may survive. Your day will begin by meeting here with the other maids. We then take our baskets and go around to the rooms of all the guards and pick up the dirty clothes and blankets. After that we sweep and mop the floors, clean the bathrooms, and do the laundry. Once each room is spotless, we make up the beds with clean sheets. When the rooms and halls are clean, we set the dinner table for the master. He usually has a feast with several officers in his army. After dinner, we clean up their mess and it’s off to bed. There will be lunch at noon and we can eat dinner while the master entertains. Get into groups of two,” she said and paused until everyone was standing next to their new coworker. “I will be placing one of the more experienced members who have been here longer with each pair to make sure you do the job correctly.”
She went around and placed a more experienced maid with each pair except for Kirsten and Maija. Once Chantal got around to them, she said, “I have been ordered to take the two of you under my watch. You will be learning from me.”
Kirsten and Maija both raised their eyebrows ever so slightly as they looked at each other.
Why would Chantal have been ordered to make sure we work with one another? Is Merglan reading our minds and knows my plans of trying to escape? But I haven’t even started my plan. I just know I want to do something to get out of this wretched place, Kirsten thought to herself as Chantal led them through the narrow stone halls.
As they followed, Chantal pointed out all of the chambers of the more important members of Merglan’s army. They were mostly officers and commanders, the majority of them were human with several male orcs and one female orc tasked with overseeing their grand plan.
Whatever that is, Kirsten wondered.
When they reached the end of the hall, Chantal showed them a set of stairs that led off to a large structure attached to the main building.
Pointing to the stairs, Chantal said, “This is the master’s chamber. You are not to go beyond this point. Only I am allowed to clean the master’s chambers.”
Maija and Kirsten nodded slowly, examining the doorway.
“You two will start by cleaning the rooms here in this hall,” she said pointing back the way they’d just come. She paused and looked at them as if she was wondering why they hadn’t moved yet.
“Oh, now?” Kirsten said, catching the awkwardness of her gaze.
“Yes, now,” Chantal said and shooed them away with her hand.
Kirsten and Maija spent the next several hours of their morning cleaning together. They talked about how strange this place was, what her brother was doing in the mine, and how they were going to plan another escape or attack on the guards.
They were just finishing in the room next door to Merglan’s chambers when Maija caught Kirsten’s attention.
“Pssst,” Maija waved her over to the doorway. Maija had her back pressed up against the wall in their room’s entryway. Kirsten rushed over to her and put her backside against the wall next to her friend.
“Shhh,” Maija shushed with a finger over her lips. She poked her head around the partially open door for a moment and brought it back in. “Did you hear that?” she asked Kirsten.
“Hear what?” Kirsten asked, not hearing anything.
“The voices,” Maija said in a whisper.
“No, I didn’t hear any voices,” Kirsten said.
Maija poked her head through the doorway again and looked up and down the hallway. Then receding back into the doorway again, she said, “I can hear voices talking out there, but I can’t see anyone in the hallway.”
“Let me take a look,” Kirsten said. She poked her head beyond the door and into the stone hallway and looked first to the left, then to the right. There was no one there, and as hard as she strained her ears she could not hear anything. Bringing her head back inside, she said, “I don’t see anyone or hear any voices.”
Maija looked at her surprised, “Really? You don’t hear the people talking?”
Kirsten shook her head. “What are they talking about?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, it’s pretty muffled. I heard something about a prophecy though,” she said.
“Let’s find out where the voices are coming from,” Kirsten said.
Prophecy sounds interesting, she thought.
“What if we get caught?” Maija asked. “We could be beaten or worse if we’re discovered.”
“It’s worth it,” Kirsten said and exited the doorway out into the hallway. “Now where are these voices you’re hearing coming from?” she asked, looking around the stone corridor.
Maija followed her out into the hallway when she saw that no invisible person or force had immediately reprimanded Kirsten.
“The talking is coming from in there,” she pointed to the door leading to Merglan’s chambers. The door was cracked open slightly so Kirsten walked over and put her ear up against the crack opening. At last she could hear muffled voices, more like whispers, floating down the stairs to the door. She pulled her head away from the crack and looked at Maija amazed she’d heard them from the other room.
“You could hear that from the other room?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m surprised you couldn’t,” she whispered.
“Wow, I could barely tell that there were voices when I put my ear on the crack, and I cannot even begin to decipher what they’re saying. To me it just sounds like psssst, psssst, pssst,” she said.
Maija pushed her aside and said, “Let me try.” Maija stood at the doorway for several minutes, her expressions changing from curiosity to shock and surprise. She pulled away from the door and hurriedly said in a low voice, “Quick, back into the room! Chantal is coming back down.”
They rushed back into the room and picked up their cleaning where they’d left off. No sooner had they gotten back to work than Chantal entered the room. She walked around inspecting what they’d been doing. She quickly pointed out some necessary changes and some spots in the room that required further cleaning. Kirsten and Maija wondered if she knew they’d been listening at the door.
Before Chantal left the room, she turned and said, “Ahem.” Kirsten’s heart dropped for a second, thinking they’d been found out and Chantal was going to send them off to be punished. “You’re doing a fine job so far. A bit slow, but better than I expected.” Chantal turned and left the room.
Kirsten waited for almost a half hour before asking Maija what she had heard the voices saying. Just as she was about to tell Kirsten exactly what she’d heard, Merglan walked past the door. They heard his footsteps stop in the hallway and heard him walk backwards until he was centered in the doorway. He turned his head slowly and looked at Kirsten and Maija, who stared back at him terrified at what he might do to them. After several long breaths, he turned back to look down the hallway and continued walking, closing the stairwell door behind him. After that, Kirsten and Maija decided they’d better wait to discuss what she heard until they were back in the solitude of their cell that night.
