Chapter 10: Chores

Settling into the beds in our new room was a lot easier said than done, I realized as I settled into the small bed to the left of the room. Back at dinner, it had been relatively quiet, and with the meal that we were given, had Jace not suggested coming back to the room to crash, I could have eaten myself to death. Come to think of it, that actually did not seem like such a bad way to die. Not that that was something I wanted. Funny how quickly things could change.

The room we were in was much smaller compared to the sizeable room that we had been provided back at the motel. The cabin was much cleaner and had a newer appeal to it, which I appreciated over the cobwebs that had been provided to us previously. We had checked out of the motel not too soon after our arrival to the grounds. Jace had insisted that it would be rude otherwise. I could not really complain though, the innkeeper had been kind to us.

The walls of the inside of our cabin were painted a warm brown that was adorned with pictures of caves and trees and the ocean, something that I had never seen before. Jace himself was examining the cabin with great interest, pacing from the window that was toward the back of the room revealing the brook and a great view of the wall to the pictures and back again.

"I'd double check the paintings again," I teased as he walked back to the window, "I think that it might have changed since you were there last."

Throwing me a skeptical glance, he just turned back to the window out to the darkened skies.

Stepping to his side, I exhaled, "We're here, Jace."

Looking at me uncomprehendingly, he answered absently, "We are?" Then as he came back to reality, he sank down into the chair beside me. "Sorry," his amused smile indicated that he was present again. "I just can't believe that we're here."

"Neither can I, really," I laughed back at him expressing the tension that I had been concealing all day. We were in, and at that moment, that was really the only thing that mattered.

"What do you think our assignment will be tomorrow?" Jace inquired stimulating my curiosity.

"Dunno," I replied, forcing myself to relax into the bed that I had been provided. "I'm sure that it's something fantastic, though," I smiled trying to raise his hopes for the first day, I could tell that he was stressed, "You watch, tomorrow, all sorts of new things that we've never heard of before will happen. It'll start raining delicious food all over the place, and it'll be our job to dispose of them."

"I'm sure that will happen," Jace smiled, shaking his head and looking back out the window.

Giggling myself, I tried for my best 'announcer' voice, " And here come the beautiful Jace and Phoenix back from their extremely fantastic mission of cleaning the food off roads from the random storm this afternoon. They look amazing, folks, simply fantastic."

Snorting, Jace jumped in, "Not only that, but they also helped an old lady find her house. Truly, these two heroes are to be commended for their work."

"I say that we reward these heroes, everyone, by crowning them king and queen of awesome!"

"And an all you can eat salad bar!"

"And an unspoken authority over all of us!"

Giving me his best 'royal' look, Jace and I broke down laughing. The look did not suit him much.

"Well, assuming that it doesn't rain food, it'll still be a long day tomorrow," I sighed, unable to wipe the smile off of my face.

Raising his eyebrows in a 'yeah' gesture, Jace rose from the chair and climbed the bed that was indented into the wall above my bed indent.

Extinguishing the light, the room became dark in the night, and suddenly, I found it much easier to relax and close my eyes. Behind my eyes tonight, there would be no nightmares tonight, I could feel it. Allowing myself to begin to fade into the warm silence, Jace spoke up one last time.

"Hey Phoenix," a sad voice intoned above me. "Thanks, for everything. Without you, I wouldn't be here right now."

Unsure of how to respond, I hesitated, and then a sleepy smile crossed my face. "That's what friends are for."

Imagining a small smile cross his face, I allowed myself to fade into the arms of sleep.

"'Night," I whispered up to him.

"'Night," he whispered back.

I could not be sure, but that night, I thought that I might have heard a small sob escape him. What for, I was even less sure of.

Bong! Bong! Bong! A bell rang signaling the start of our new day.

"Phoenix!" Jace gasped as he shot up, tearing out of his bed and causing me to sit up in mine at attention of whatever was happening in the haze of my consciousness. "Get up! Get up!" He frantically began making his bed, then proceeded to fly down the latter to his bunk and made mine with me still on the covers half-awake. "Phoenix!" Jace shouted startling me out of my stupor.

"What?" I asked in a semi-raised voice to match his excited tone. That was when it all washed back over me and I realized where I was and what I was doing. We were at the guild; this was our first day. Realization crossing my face, I leapt out of bed ruffling the recently made covers and skidded to the door where Jace was waiting excitedly. Today was where we started, and I was not planning on being late.

Sprinting into the guild house, we moved into the spots next to Riley and Carly in the two row line up. It looked like we had been the last ones to show up.

"Right on time," Riley whispered to us as Jace caught his breath. With a smile he turned to him and offered a thumbs-up.

As if on cue, the doors to the guild master's office swung open with a quick flash of wood across our vision and the guild master stepped out into the giant room from her office. She seemed somewhat more authoritative here than she had been the day before or in the gathering in the square. There also looked like some type of weariness there, like she had just finished dealing with something or had been up for most of the night. Regardless, she greeted us with an enthusiasm that seemed to fit her age. "Good morning, everyone! We have a fairly small schedule, so let's try and get through this quickly." Apparently, she was not a huge fan of the morning announcements. "First, I would like to address two new apprentices that will be joining us. Jace and Phoenix. They are currently in the trial process, so I expect you all welcome them with patience and friendship." Gazing sharply into the crowd she came back to relax her gaze back on the front row. "I hope that you all enjoy your assignments today, after all the weather has remained rather mild in the times recent. Dismissed." With that, everyone dispersed into the surrounding areas, some heading to the boards, others making their way into the cafeteria, surely to retrieve their breakfast.

"You two!" the mistress called from where she had stood during the announcements. "You two will be in charge of tending to the grounds today. Just protocol, hopefully tomorrow we will be able to put you into something slightly more interesting, but for today, chores it is. Helps us examine your work ethic. I've assigned Riley and Carly to show you what you will be in charge of finishing today. Seeing as you four were already acquainted, it simplifies things. Good luck," With that she turned back into her office and left us to ponder our assignment.

"So, the rumors are true," a cold voice sneered from the entrance to the kitchen, "There are two newbies arrived at the guild." There was something in her tone that brought up contempt for her that I did not even know was possible within the first five words I have heard out of someone.

"Yes," I replied slowly; I was forcing myself to maintain some degree of level-headedness.

"Hmmm… pity," the Servine continued pushing my patience. Examining us with her snake-like eyes, "I had almost hoped for more. My mistake. See you on the training field," she concluded, dismissing herself from the livid Jace, who no doubt had started seeing red. I just stood there undertaking the impossible task of keeping myself in check as she sauntered away.

"Come on," I began steering Jace away from someone who had definitely just made his list. We have chores to do. I got the sense that neither of us were hungry enough to care about breakfast.

"Floors, sweep, counting food stores," Jace rattled off the list of items on our to-do list having promptly forgotten his irritation.

"You forgot washing down the tables," I added moodily, irritated with the lengthy list of things to do. At least we had a job, but the conversation that we had last night might have gotten my hopes a little too high.

"Wanna start with washing the guild house's floors?" Jace inquired as he turned to the shed that Carly had pointed out with a grand puking sound. Apparently he had not forgotten completely about his irritation with what's-her-face.

Making a mental note not to be as irritable, I just shrugged and trotted after him. "So how exactly are we going to go about doing this?"

"With these," Opening the shed, Jace withdrew our weapons: two mops, a bucket, and some cleaning solution that smelled like a mix between a spring meadow and some rotten fruit. This might have been an interesting assignment after all.

Author Note:

Thanks to 'Pure Gamer' for reviewing and reading my story, I really appreciate the feed back; acually, its the reviews that drive me to write more. Thank you!