Making Friends, Part I
Aonva and Roshil walked through the corridors of the castle. Aonva had been there for months and she still wasn’t used to it. She gazed up at the ceiling overhead and smiled.
“It took them a year to build the castle,” she said. “They had artisans working the whole time. While some slept, others were working. They enchanted defenses into it to keep away threats to the court. Then there were the magic doors. The Queen said she didn’t want a better library than she gave the people. It seemed silly to build two libraries, one for the servants of the court, and one for everyone else. Or two forges, or two schools, or two hospitals. So the High Artisan at the time had an idea to make the doors.”
She turned back to Roshil, who was smiling at her.
“Sorry.” Aonva looked away. “I was rambling again. I… I do that sometimes, especially when I’m nervous, then I keep talking until I’m not, but it never actually helps, so instead I keep talking and don’t stop, and—”
“Do you think they could’ve gotten the doors to work without having to carry our IDs with us?” Roshil asked, stopping her ramblings short.
“I doubt it. Only servants of the court can use them, otherwise it’d leave the castle vulnerable to attack. They had to enchant something, otherwise they’d have to enchant us, and that’s a lot harder. Besides, we can’t leave our rooms without them. Remember the magic doors at the north tower?”
Roshil made a face like she’d just eaten a lemon.
“Now you sound like Master Grund.”
“Sorry! Is that not going well? You seem happy with Our Lord High Artisan teaching you. I guess. I mean, I didn’t know you before that, so—”
“It’s fine.” Roshil grimaced. Aonva liked how expressive she was. She wasn’t afraid to express herself, the thought of which terrified Aonva. “We started knitting yesterday.”
Aonva had to stifle a laugh. She knew artisans needed to know how to make anything the court might need, but the thought of His Lord High Artisan — or Roshil — sitting around and knitting was too strange for her.
They didn’t have long before they both had class, but they had just enough time to explore part of the castle. While Aonva had wanted to spend their free time in the library, Roshil had dragged her along on “an adventure”. As Aonva studied more of their surroundings, she checked her mental map of the castle.
“This is… We’re near the west tower.”
“Yup.” Roshil pointed up ahead at the end of the corridor. A single door stood at the end. “Remember last week when you wondered about where the officers lived?”
Beyond that door were the private chambers of the six officers of the court and His Majesty, along with a meeting room. To say they’d be in trouble if they managed to get inside would be an understatement.
“I did, but we shouldn’t be here.” Aonva glanced back down the corridor for anyone coming.
Roshil glanced behind them, then crouched down to see the lock on the door. She inspected it for a moment, then produced a pair of long, thin pieces of metal from a pouch on her belt.
“Are those lock picks?” Aonva lowered her voice, fearing that raising her voice would cause one of the officers to materialize behind them. “Did you make those? Why did you make those?”
More questions flooded her head while Roshil remained silent. Why hadn’t His Lord High Artisan stopped her? Had he realized she was making them? He must have noticed them.
“Roshil.” Aonva pleaded with her friend. She didn’t want to know what would happen if someone happened to glance down the corridor and see them. They were exposed to another corridor not far away, save the lack of lighting in the area. Someone could spot them at any moment.
“My father says that if they don’t want you to get in, then they need to protect it better.” Roshil slid the pieces of metal inside and began to work them. “I’m surprised they even have a door. Why not a magic one that only they can use, like our rooms?”
“Who cares?” Despite her saying it, Aonva was wondering the same thing. She knew the officers’ families lived in the castle with them, but they could have baubles like the ones that let the apprentices use the doors out of the castle. Why have a door to their private chambers that could so easily be passed? They’d discovered that they couldn’t enter the other’s room. Was that why? Have a regular door so other people could enter?
She glanced back over her shoulder. No one was there. How had no one come by yet?
Aonva kept her eyes on the corridor. With luck, Roshil would get bored when it was too difficult. That didn’t stop Aonva’s heart from pounding in her ears.
“I know I asked about it, but I… I was just rambling. I didn’t think—”
“Ha!” Roshil leaped to her feet and pushed the door open. Despite the possible felony she’d just committed, she wore a grin like an excited child. “Told you I could do it.”
“How—”
“I grew up outside the kingdoms,” Roshil said as though it were obvious. “Cities didn’t always give us food, so me and my father would… improvise.” She pushed the door farther. “Shall we find the answer to your question?”
The two of them looked through the open door. Beyond it was another corridor, that ended with… another door.
The excited look faded from Roshil’s face. Like the magic doors in the rest of the castle, this one had no handle. In fact, it looked exactly like another magic door.
“The first one’s enchanted to make people ignore it,” a new voice said. “Obviously, it doesn’t work on some people.”
Aonva whirled around. All things considered, there were worse people to catch them breaking and entering.
“Apprentice Aonva, Apprentice Roshil.” Master Ekla stood with her arms folded. Behind her, a boy not much older than them wore an expression that looked sympathetic, yet implied he’d rather they be in trouble than him. “I’m sure this isn’t as bad as it looks.”
“Nope!” Roshil closed the door behind her. “Nothing to see except two apprentices learning about their new home.”
Master Ekla covered her face with her hand and sighed.
“One warning. That’s all I’m giving you. That door’s locked for a reason. I don’t want to catch you here again.”
“Then you and your apprentice shouldn’t be following us,” Roshil said, her voice taking on a slight edge.
Aonva was too stunned to express any emotion at that. Not only did Roshil seem to refuse to learn manners, but she’d accused a master of following them! Master Ekla wasn’t following them, was she? Aonva thought back on the past few weeks. She’d seen Master Ekla plenty of times, but not enough that she’d met her apprentice. Thinking about it, she’d never seen Master Ekla before she and Roshil became friends, but now she always seemed to be right around the corner.
Master Ekla glanced back at her apprentice. “Apprentice Kurgm.” The boy stood at attention. “This is Apprentice Roshil and Apprentice Aonva. If anyone asks, you didn’t see them here.”
Kurgm. Haven’t I heard that name somewhere?
“It’s really not that interesting,” Kurgm said. “The officers don’t spend much time in their rooms anyway. It’s mostly a bigger version of our rooms, split into smaller rooms for their families. Most of them don’t even bother decorating them.”
“Thank you, Apprentice Kurgm,” Master Ekla said. Aonva could hear her patience dying in her voice. “You two have arcane language class.”
“Because every good stalker knows her prey’s schedule,” Roshil muttered.
“We’re leaving.” Aonva grabbed Roshil’s hand. “Thank you for your kindness, Master Ekla.” She turned to Kurgm. “It was nice to meet you, Apprentice Kurgm.”
“We’ll run into them after class too,” Roshil said as Aonva pulled her away. “Completely by coincidence, I’m sure.”
Aonva didn’t slow down for anything until they’d passed through the door to the school and her heart had stopped beating so loud. She paused for a breath before going any further. She checked the time. They’d be late for class if they didn’t keep moving.
“We have to get to class,” Aonva said.
Roshil smiled and nodded. If Aonva hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have known Roshil had been caught breaking and entering moments ago.
“I’m sorry we didn’t get to see it,” Roshil said.
“It’s really fine. Let’s just get to class.”
They went to class, trying not to run in their haste. When they arrived, they found they weren’t the only ones who hadn’t arrived yet. A few of the students from outside the castle weren’t there either.
They both took seats at the back of the room. Master Dordir waited until the last students had arrived before greeting them.
“Good morning, class.”
They all stood at attention and addressed him with a chorus of “Good morning, Master Dordir”. Once they had, they took their seats again.
He faced the board and wrote words for them to copy. Each one was an emotion. As Aonva copied them down, she filed them away in her head, wondering how she could use them.
While she was writing, she heard a noise. It was small, like a squeak or… a whimper.
She turned and saw Roshil staring at the board. Her body trembled slightly. Every few seconds, a whimper escaped her lips.
Then she screamed.