Locked Away- Chapter 4
I Have to do What?
A/N Hi! Thanks to those who reviewed. This story is officially off hiatus! Enjoy Chapter 4!
I awoke to a loud bell ringing in the distance. In a vain attempt to disregard it, I buried my head in my pillow, and was trying to go back to sleep when a heavy weight fell on top of me. I quickly go up to see Tanner sitting on top of me.
"C'mon Geo." I cringed at the use of a nickname. "We've gotta go or we're gonna be late!"
"Late for what? Watching the sunrise? It can't be later than 5 in the morning."
"Don't be silly Geoden, it's 4:00!" I heard Edie's voice say. I moaned and rolled over. Tanner shook me as Edie laid a type of uniform on my bed. "Let's go Geo! Up and at 'em!" I slowly crawled out of bed and wiped my eyes. Upon opening them, I noticed my four roommates were looking at me expectantly.
"You had best be getting changed Geoden. I am not wanting you… I don't want you to be late your first day." I heard Katrika say.
'Do you mind turning around?" I asked, and they immediately obliged. The servants uniform fit well. It consisted of navy blue pants, and a tidy white shirt with the crest of Norsunder stitched on. On the sleeve was the number 725. My servant number.
Once I had changed, our entire ragtag group departed for the palace. Edie began to explain how each of us would have different duties, and that the head of the servants would place me with whomever he felt was in charge of a job that I would be the most capable of doing.
As we arrived, I met the head of the palace servants. His name was Zeke, and was as tough as his name implied. After scrutinizing me, he decided to place me with a man named Kurt. Strangely enough, after he said this, Jarrett and Tanner grimaced and Edie paled slightly. Only Katrika remained unfazed, and moved towards Zeke.
"Please Zeke. I am needing help with my duties. Can not Geoden be assigned to work with me instead?" She smiled and batted her eyelashes. Pathetic, but I had a feeling I might need to thank her for it later. Luckily for me, I supposed, it seemed as if Zeke had a soft spot for the Cidamon girl, because he blushed and told her that "it'd be no trouble at all darlin'." The rest of my roommates sighed with relief. I made a mental note to ask about Kurt's duties later.
As we were dismissed to our duties, Katrika led me to a rather large ballroom in the palace. I assumed there had been a party the night before as the room was in shambles.
"So you're telling me that you normally clean this room all by yourself?" I asked.
"Yes. But it is not so bad." She replied. I wanted to disagree but I thought it might make her a bit uncomfortable. I decided to break the silence by first, asking her where to begin, and secondly, what it was that Kurt did. She laughed and answered that Kurt cleaned the washbasins and privies of the nobility. Was I ever glad she stepped in when she did.
As we began to clear off the tables, we worked in a contented silence. I admit that her gold eyes tended to set me on edge still; I was impressed with the fact that I was starting to be able to deal with my original distaste with the Cidamon through the vassal of Katrika. After working for about 7 hours, it was lunchtime, and we were almost finished. I was starving, so Katrika rushed to lead me to the mess hall.
The meals were satisfactory I guess. But they were defiantly not what I was used to. We met up with the other members of servant house #72, and chatted pleasantly about the days' events thus far as we ate. I digress: though the food was not as good I was used to, the company certainly was far better. For once, I actually had something pleasant to talk about, and I didn't eat my meals in dead silence. In short is was kinda nice, and even though I was working harder than I ever have in my life, I didn't care.
As the day drew to a close, my newfound friends and I returned to our home. Tanner got out his Ynots game, and we sat together and played a version of the game that involves team. Edie told me it was customary to play it with new members of house #72, because it requires a great deal of teamwork. She paired with Jarrett and I was with Katrika. Tanner was left to be the mediator. The game was to be played without words, and the dice were thrown on the table. The small silver rings were passed back and forth, and the object was to, between your partner and your self, have 13 rings in total. Small, discreet movements were used to represent a different amount of rings, and you had to rely on deciphering your partners' signals. Since Edie and Jarrett were the oldest members of our small group, and most experienced, they beat Katrika and I to a pulp.
Later as I settled into bed, the young boys from the night before arrived, and requested 'Rika' to sing again. She obliged, singing another Cidamon Folk tune, which put me to sleep right away. Boy, was I tired. Maybe I could finally get some hard-earned rest.