A Place to Belong, Part II
Roshil walked through the stone corridors of the castle. It was quiet, giving her the feeling that she shouldn’t be there.
If anyone asks, I’ve been ordered by my master to go to the kitchens.
It hadn’t entirely sunk in yet that she’d be mentored by the High Artisan himself. The great weapons of the Knights, the King’s throne, all the officers’ weaponry, even some of their clothing, it was all made by him. He was the best of the best.
Is that what I am?
He also seemed to know something about her that she herself didn’t know. What did dragon-touched mean? She knew the dragon had done something to her; it was obvious by her hair and eyes. What else had it done to her?
What am I?
She descended a spiral staircase down below the castle. She heard voices up ahead of her, and saw torchlight flickering from several rooms. These were the servants’ rooms, which weren’t far from the kitchens. Apprentices didn’t venture down here often, or so she’d been told when she’d arrived.
It’d only been a month ago, but it felt longer. Her arriving at the castle, saying goodbye to her father and brother, their friend Master Ekla meeting them at the gates to show her around her new home.
When she’d arrived, she’d been excited. Possibilities had opened up for her with her acceptance to the court. Her father had been so excited when they’d been told she’d been accepted.
“Your mother would’ve been so proud of you,” he’d said.
She walked down the corridors, following the signs to the kitchens. If there was one thing for which she was grateful, it was that there were signs throughout the castle to guide apprentices. Without them, she’d have gotten lost a dozen times a day between classes and the forge.
She arrived at the kitchens and walked inside. Servants were bustling about, cleaning up from the day’s meals, or preparing small snacks for themselves. When they saw her enter, they stood respectfully at attention.
“How may we help you?” one woman asked.
Roshil wondered if they recognized her in particular, or if they knew she wasn’t a servant.
“I missed dinner,” she said, “so His… my master sent me here to get something to eat.”
The woman nodded and motioned for Roshil to follow her. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll get you something to eat.”
She walked through the kitchens as the servants went back to work. Roshil watched with interest as they all moved with a purpose, everyone knowing where they needed to be.
The woman reached into a cupboard, took a plate, and handed it to Roshil.
“What’s left of dinner will be in there,” she said, pointing to a large cupboard. “Everything’s okay to eat. Take whatever you like.”
“Thank you,” Roshil said. She turned to the storage cupboard, then turned back to ask the woman her name, but she’d vanished. Roshil looked around the kitchen, but the woman was nowhere to be found.
She turned back and opened the cupboard. Not only was there light coming from the shelves, but the inside of the cupboard stretched into the distance. Roshil walked through, overwhelmed by the food inside. She spotted some chicken, and added that to her plate. After taking some greens (making her father happy) and potatoes, she left the cupboard.
She walked through the kitchens, taking a glass of water that was offered to her as she did, moving from one room to the next, until she found another familiar face sitting at a table. This one wasn’t only familiar, but friendly.
Master Ekla smiled at Roshil when she saw her. She stood up and motioned to an empty seat at her table.
“Roshil… Sorry, Apprentice Roshil.” She smiled with a touch of pride.
“Master Ekla,” Roshil said, smiling back at the closest thing she had to a friend in the castle. She sat down at the table across from Ekla, then tore into her chicken. The salty taste filled her mouth as she chewed.
“I see your table manners are as respectable as ever,” Ekla said, sitting back down.
“What?” Roshil mumbled through a mouthful of potato that had joined the chicken.
Ekla laughed, covering her mouth before sitting up straight.
“Cut, chew, swallow, talk, repeat,” she said. “A girl as smart as you can manage that.”
Roshil frowned, then put another bite of food in her mouth.
“What brings you here?” Ekla asked. “Skip dinner?”
Roshil nodded as she drank some water.
“Really?”
Roshil started to explain, but closed her mouth when Ekla motioned for her to be quiet.
“Swallow.”
Roshil forced the food down her throat.
“I was working on the furnaces. Master Grund told me—”
“Master Grund?”
Roshil sensed another lecture coming on about using the proper titles when referring to members of the court, so she explained before Ekla could start.
“He found me a few minutes ago, told me he was taking over my apprenticeship, then told me to get food because I’d missed dinner.”
Ekla nodded, a knowing look on her face.
“That makes sense.”
Roshil frowned, put more food in her mouth, then remembered to finish her mouthful before talking again.
“It does?”
“Master Udra… she’s not a people person. All Masters are supposed to take on an apprentice sometime, but not all of them are good at it.”
You’re an abomination.
“I noticed,” Roshil said, putting an edge to her voice.
While Roshil ate her next mouthful, Ekla stood up and walked away. Her voice came from another room, along with the clattering of silver. She came back a moment later with a fork and knife.
“These might help,” she said, sitting back down and handing them to Roshil.
Roshil stared at them.
“Can I stab Master Udra with them?”
“Roshil!” Ekla snapped. “No! They’re for eating! Don’t talk about anyone like that!”
“She started it! I didn’t do anything wrong! She’s the one that said I was an abomination!”
Ekla froze, her eyes fixed on Roshil. Even the sounds of the servants seemed to fade away.
“She didn’t,” she said in a low voice. “Roshil, that’s not funny.”
“I’m not lying!” Roshil shouted. Her lips drew back into a snarl.
“Lower your voice. Calm down, I believe you.”
Roshil sat back in her chair, glaring at Ekla. The rage inside her quelled, and she took another drink of water.
“I believe you,” Ekla said again. “Our Lord High Artisan wouldn’t have taken you on himself without good reason.”
Roshil placed the utensils on the table, then ignored them and picked up the chicken and took another bite.
“Stop eating for a minute so I can talk to you, please.”
Roshil grumbled and put down her food. While she could tune out hunger when she was working, it was harder when it was right in front of her and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. That, and ripping something apart made her feel better.
“Are you alright?” Ekla asked.
“Fine. People have always been that way. I don’t know why you’re surprised.”
“People aren’t supposed to be that way. Your brother isn’t. I’m not.”
Roshil thought of her brother. The one person in the world that had never treated her worse. He was nice to everyone, but he’d always been a little nicer to her than everyone else.
“Sure. But everyone else is. I shouldn’t have come here. I should go home.”
Ekla shook her head.
“Remember when you told me you wanted to be an apprentice? What was my first question?”
“‘Why?’”
“And you said you wanted to work in the forge. You didn’t have to become an apprentice to work in the forge, but you did anyway.”
Roshil nodded, remembering their discussions about it over the past several months. Serving the court seemed tedious, but the stories of people of all sorts fitting in at the court had made her want to go. She’d believed it. She liked making things, and she wanted to be at the court.
“I wanted to be where people could fit in,” she said. “Where I could fit in.”
She hated admitting it to anyone out loud, but Ekla had worn her down months ago by questioning her about her motives.
“And I want to be like my mother.”
As much as I still can be.
“You belong here too,” Ekla said. “If Our Lord High Artisan took over your apprenticeship, he thinks so too.”
They didn’t say anything after that until after Roshil had finished her food. The only conversation they had was Ekla giving significant looks at her and the utensils near her plate, and the nods when Roshil started using them.
“Do you know what ‘dragon-touched’ means?” Roshil asked when she’d finished and a servant had cleared her plate.
“No, why? Is… is that what that thing did to you?”
“I don’t know. Master Grund told me to look it up after I was finished here.”
Ekla got up from the table.
“Then you’ve got to get going. Curfew’s in half an hour. I’ll walk you to the library, but I can’t stay with you. I have important master things to do.”
Roshil nodded and got up from the table. She wasn’t sure she wanted anyone else to know the truth about her. If she was right, it was why people hated her. It made her inhuman.
An abomination.
They left the kitchens, with Master Ekla leading the way. No one questioned them or reminded them that it was almost curfew. They walked through the corridors until they reached the door with the word “Library” in gold letters above it.
“You’re on your own from here,” Ekla said. “Don’t worry about whatever you find out in there. It doesn’t change who you are.”
“I’m not worried,” Roshil said, ignoring the churning feeling in her stomach. She chalked it up to having eaten too fast. It certainly wasn’t from nerves, because she wasn’t nervous at all.
Ekla faced her and stood at attention.
“Good luck, Apprentice Roshil.”
Roshil mirrored her posture.
“Thank you, Master Ekla.”
Ekla turned and left, leaving Roshil to discover the nature of her curse alone.