"Aria, time for dinner," Emily taps me on the shoulder to draw me from my meditation.
"Hmm?" But John isn't... Wait.
My thoughts catch on the problem here. John's supposed to be here delivering my dinner any time now, but I'm also supposed to eat the dinner made by the caretakers. Did Karl even get the fancy noble food I'm supposed to eat yet?
To push those questions aside with even more, Emily says, "We're all supposed to go down for the caretakers to talk to us about stuff."
"Oh." I blink at her a few times, not even knowing where to start. What do they want to talk about? I'm too confused to even make any guesses right now, so I just follow after her, and we head downstairs.
Everyone else is doing the same, and we all gather up in the dining room. I take a seat at the far end of one table, closest to the door to the kitchen, since it looks like that's where the caretakers are. The purple and black haired ones are cooking, while the others look over the children all piling into the room after us. I glance around a little. This is a good spot, I wouldn't be able to see past everyone if I took a spot further back. Emily sits next to me, and then Andy takes a seat nearby too.
Actually, it looks like everyone is moving the chairs out from the table a little to get a better look. Just watching them, everyone holds expressions with various mixtures of excitement, worry, or even fear. In fact, Andy doesn't look very happy either...
It doesn't take everyone too long to arrive, and soon enough, dinner is served. Seeing them pass out something like the stew we always had, but smelling way better, I smile a little. Even if I'm eating something different from everyone else, I'm glad they all get to eat better food now. Even Emily is looking at the food with interest, despite mentioning that she's been having dinner with Matthew at the bar for a while now.
Once everyone else has a bowl, I turn my attention to Chisa for a moment, cringing a little because John's almost here, but it looks like they're about to start talking to everyone. I hesitate a little, considering my options. I definitely don't want to attract attention by walking out while they're talking, so I quickly decide. "Hold on, I'll be right back," I whisper to Emily, and walk over to Marrianne, where she's glancing between the kids and the other women, waiting for everyone to be ready.
"U-uh," I stammer a little as I approach, and she looks down at me.
"Yes?"
"I have to go talk to John, I'll try to get back quickly."
She tilts her head a bit, so I slide a little closer, trying to keep my voice down. "He'll be here soon, I don't want to leave while you're all talking."
"Ahh, yes." Now, she clearly gets what I'm saying. "Get going, quickly now." I nod strongly, then rush past.
I go straight out the front door, then run a short way down the street, where John is approaching. "Aria?" he asks as soon as I come close. "Is something wrong?"
"No, uhh, not much time." I wave for him to come with me while speaking quickly, wanting to get back as soon as possible. "We got the new caretakers and they're about to talk to everyone about... something, so I need to get back. There's other stuff too, so could you just wait outside for a bit until they're done?"
"Sure, no problem," he chuckles, then shoos me back to the orphanage since he can clearly see I'm in rush. With a wave, I dash back home, nodding to Marrianne on my way past, and take my seat again. I glance around, to see everyone's already finished eating. Then Marianne turns to the other women, and I'm guessing they waited for me, since they all move forward to stand right in the space connecting the two open rooms, and everyone quickly quiets down, little more than hushed murmurs going through the crowd.
"Hello, children." The woman with her hair all pulled up in a bun is the first to speak. She looks the oldest, almost thirty I think, and stands near the center of the line of six women. She reminds me of Irene a little, standing up very straight, in a way that makes her look kind of proper. Her height helps too, since she's really tall. She takes a few moments to look over the crowd, eyes hanging in a few places throughout, before she goes on.
"We are the caretakers Master Karl Liffan hired to take care of you all. We will now be introducing ourselves, and laying down the ground rules moving forward." She pauses again for emphasis, and to wait out the slight rise in noise from the crowd. "Now, let's get to it." She waves a hand for another woman to start.
On the far left end of the line, they start with Noria. Hmm, she still looks like Marrianne, besides being more tan and a little older. Getting a good look at her now for comparison, I think she has more curves than Marrianne, but her chest is smaller. It looks like her clothes are a little better too, fewer patches. Her hair's almost the exact same shade of brown, but in this light, I think there are places where it's kind of streaked with reddish bits
"My name is Noria," she introduces herself simply, before gesturing for the next woman in line to go.
I turn my attention to her, the blond one. "I'm Ella," she says shortly. Her tone sounds pleasant enough, but she has this forced look to her expression as she gazes over the crowd of children that makes me a little uncomfortable. It's like she's trying to hide some unpleasant feelings toward us. She isn't going to look down on us because we're orphans, is she? All of the caretakers are vulgant class, so that might be something to worry about...
Besides her slightly unsettling presence, I'd say her clothes look a bit worse for wear, like she doesn't keep them up quite as much as the other women. Even her long blond hair, which she has pulled up into a high ponytail, looks kind of ragged. Not exactly dirty, but just... like broken and unhealthy or something... I tilt my head a bit as I look her over. At a glance, she's already my least favorite among them.
Next up is the woman with the bun again. "My name is Kerra," she introduces herself like the others. That's the one Mary said she liked, right? But then she goes on. "I have three children of my own at home, so I know how to keep a house in order." She looks around pointedly, and this time, there are a lot more snippets of excitement and worry. It makes it a little hard to get an idea for how everyone feels as a whole.
The response that really jumps out to me though, is Andy scoffing. Does he have a problem with her for some reason?
Next is Marrianne. After introducing herself, she smiles warmly and adds, "I'll be around more often than the others, so don't hesitate to come to me if you have any problems."
"I'm Ami, nice to meet you all," the Shona woman speaks up, with a kind of funny looking grin that catches me off guard. Isn't that the one Eve likes? She sounds... bubbly, I guess. For some reason, I can already imagine Eve getting along with her... Well, except that she's an adult. She looks twenty years old, but just her introduction makes me feel like she acts a few years younger.
Scanning over her briefly while the renewed noise from the other children dies off again, I see that her purple hair really sticks out because she has pretty pale skin. She's probably the most curvy among the six women, with the biggest hips, but basically no chest. It's kind of weird and would probably make me wonder if she was a man... Well, except she has the long hair and big hips, I guess. Hmm, it kind of makes her look weirdly unbalanced...
My attention is suddenly drawn away when the last woman speaks. "I'm Zoe." She says it a bit too quietly, I think.
In fact, after a few moments, the mumbles in the crowd grow louder, before someone in the back shouts, "What did she say?!"
Zoe immediately looks off to the side, away from the kids, as others start to repeat the question.
The volume is really starting to pick up, when Kerra takes a step forward and claps her hands together loudly, twice, to cut through the noise. "Quiet down now, children!" she calls, with a stern hint in her tone that quickly brings everyone to order. "She said her name was Zoe." That finally quiets the room again, but Zoe continues looking away. I can't tell if she's embarrassed, or what...
Since I'm near the left side of the room and she's all the way to the right, I squint a little as I look over at her. She's the youngest, I'd say about seventeen, a little younger than Marrianne, but she reminds me of Kathy, with her dark black hair. Actually... maybe Eryk, because apart from her bangs, she has it cut so short it looks like a man's haircut. Of course unlike Eryk, she has a super pretty, round face. It's impossible to miss, even at this angle, with her looking away. And... kind of pouty looking, especially with how she's staring at the wall right now.
I can't say much about the rest of her appearance, since it's really average. Proportions I've seen a hundred times before on women in town. She is really short though, only coming to the nose of Ami next to her, and barely even up to Kerra's chin, who's the tallest. And her clothes are all over the place too, all sorts of different colors with tons of patches everywhere. I'd think she was a peasant if they weren't well maintained and clean...
Even as I'm looking over her odd appearance, I can't help but wonder about her attitude. It's not exactly the same, but I feel like there are similarities to Selena. Did something bad happen to her in the past? She doesn't look afraid like Selena does sometimes, but that kind of withdrawn expression makes me wonder...
"Alright, everyone," Kerra speaks up loudly once more. "That does it for introductions. I know it can be a lot to remember at once, so feel free to ask us for our names again later if you forget." Glancing back at the crowd, I see a number kids nodding, even as they look back and forth across the faces of the six women.
I'm suddenly very glad my water mana makes it so easy to memorize things...
"Now, we're going to move onto the rules." That brings the whole room to a tense silence. "We're aware that the orphanage ran one way under it's former caretaker. I can't say we're too familiar with how things used to be, but I'd like to think the new living conditions will be acceptable as well." I bring a hand up to my mouth when she says that when I get an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh. It doesn't matter what they do, pretty much anything would be an improvement, wouldn't it?
Forcing those thoughts away, I make myself keep listening. "First things first, as peasants, we're aware that you normally spend your days gathering in the forest. That will not change," Kerra assures everyone. "We will be keeping things in order here, but there are only six of us. We don't have the manpower to look after you all outside of the house as well." There are a few mumbles, but everyone sounds pretty understanding of that. Six people obviously can't watch over a hundred orphans spread over kilometers of dense forest...
"Now, we've spoken to a few children today, and heard that there's been some significant distance between all of you all in the past." The tall woman takes a breath, looking over the crowd once more, before her voice drops lower, more serious. "I won't sugar-coat it. We're aware that Fredricson used to sell children. It sounds as if that created fear of loss and abandonment, and isolation in the children living here."
I frown, and there are unpleasant sounds from much of the rest of the room too, having it addressed out loud like that. Even Emily grumbles under her breath, and I lean a little closer, against her side for comfort. I still remember what she said back when we first became friends. Not getting close because it would hurt later.
Once the murmurs recede, Kerra goes on in a strong voice. "Those days are over, we have been hired to look after you, not to hurt you." Here, Andy scoffs again, and I turn a glance his way, to see him staring off at a wall angrily. Why would he have a problem with that? But before I can wonder about it any more, she says, "From now on, community comes first. We expect you all to work together and support each other out there, because you're all in this together."
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My hand shoots to my head, a stab of pain out of nowhere as something crashes to the front of my mind. Something familiar, some memory-
Then it's gone, as quick as it came. I'm left blinking, confused. What was that? I catch a worried glance from Emily, but silently wave off her concern, and try to focus on Kerra again. Where was she? Right, working together...
"We expect you all to work together, so older children," she says, her eyes hopping across the crowd, surely focusing on them one after another as she addresses them. "We expect you to watch over the younger children outside of the house. Keep them safe, get them back home at night." She lets out a small sigh, and she's about to go on, before Marrianne puts a hand on her shoulder. The women share a look, before Kerra steps back.
Now Marrianne continues speaking in her place. "We understand that you are all orphans. You've all lost family." Her words, as gentle and comforting as they are, immediately darken the mood in the room. "It's no surprise if you don't want to connect to others around you, but..." Here, she takes a shallow, nervous breath, that I'm sure everyone catches.
"As a mother who lost my only daughter-" at those words, I catch the entire line of women flinch. They definitely didn't expect her to say that all of a sudden. Even I'm surprised she would bring that up here, she never even told me about it... The entire room of children goes dead silent, but Marrianne continues speaking like she doesn't notice any of it. "-I can tell you, with absolute certainty, that it's better not to shut yourself off. Keep connecting with others around you, and things will get better."
She blinks a little, and I think I catch the shine of tears she's holding back. Talking about this must really hurt... "You may not have a family anymore, but that's something every one of you has in common here. It's a pain you share, a bond between you, that can hold you all together, as a community. If you all work together, you'll all be able to improve your lives, together."
As she finishes her short speech, I have to wipe my eyes. It wasn't that sad, but my water mana makes it harder to control. I gulp down a lump in my throat as Marrianne steps back.
It's Kerra who speaks up again when she's done. "Yes, it's exactly as Marrianne said. You are all each other's greatest allies. We want you all to work together so you can live better lives from now on." She lets that be briefly, before clearing her throat.
"Now for the next topic. That is..." she has to think a moment, before saying, "Meals," with a tiny bob of her head. Then she tells us how we'll have two main meals, breakfast and dinner, at the second and twelfth bells. It's exactly the same as before, but I guess they wouldn't know that, would they? There isn't a single comment from the entire crowd of children either.
But then she adds, "We'll make a light lunch as well, for any children who come home during the middle of the day. And since we expect you'll be around on the weekends too, we'll be making larger lunches those days." Oh, that's a lot different.
Actually... they don't know most of the kids went to the forest all day, every day but Shanaday, do they? Right, Eryk told me about that, how six days of work every week is not normal for children our age... I grimace as bits of confused comments reach my ears. A lot of kids don't understand how lunch could possibly work for us. Even Kerra catches onto the confusion this time, her eyebrows drawing together as something she clearly didn't expect comes up.
Her eyes travel over the crowd, then settle on Andy since he's one of the older kids, and he's near the front. Clearly speaking to him, she asks, "Is there anything you don't understand about our meal plans?"
With an unpleasant look he clicks his tongue, then stands up. "We all go gathering Arcaday through Nuvoday, no one would be here for lunch."
Clearly unprepared for that response, the woman is at a loss for a few long moments. Then, she actually asks to confirm, "Arcaday to Nuvoday? Six days a week?"
"Yes." He's almost scowling at her, with a dark look in his eyes. Does Andy have something against Kerra? He can't be mad that they meant to make us lunch, right? I have no idea what he's thinking right now...
Then Kerra clears her throat. "Ahem... Alright, I see... If that's how you normally do things here, we won't stop you, but I would recommend you take time to be children as well." Following her words, she searches the crowd with her eyes, and once more, is clearly met with something outside her expectations.
Some kids must get it, the ones who were orphaned at an older age, but for the most part, everyone stares back, zero comprehension on their faces. The caretakers really need to be filled in on this one, but I really, really don't want to be the one to say it and draw attention to myself. Nudging Emily, I silently ask her to do it, and she agrees immediately.
Standing up on her chair, she raises her hand to get their attention. Everyone looks her way, but she holds her ground. "This is something you need to know," she says loudly enough for everyone to hear, and Kerra makes a small gesture for her to go on. "We always worked six days a week because we didn't get any food if we didn't bring anything home."
Kerra opens her mouth wordlessly, shocked, but doesn't say anything, before Emily goes on, answering what I'm sure is the next question. "We had to bring stuff home every day, because Mister Fredricson took half of everything. He used what we gathered to feed us, and sold everything else for a profit."
There is a deep, deep silence for a very long time after Emily finishes her explanation. Every one of the caretakers looks over the room with wide eyes, full of shock and pity.
It's almost ten ticks later before Kerra finally claps her hands together, the loud sound like a boom through the silent house. "Well, there will certainly be no more of that!" she exclaims indignantly, on the edge of anger. "Any work you do will be for yourselves. We have no intention of profiting off the backs of child laborers, do we ladies?" Of course, they all nod emphatically, their hard expressions similar to her own.
There's another bout of commotion throughout the group of kids. Some happy, some unwilling to believe them. Unable to understand that we aren't going to have our things taken from us. Kerra doesn't let it go on for long before bringing everyone to order again with another couple claps.
"As I said, we will not require you to give us any of your earnings, nor punish you for not bringing home said earnings, every day of the week," she practically growls the last words, before standing a bit straighter and visibly calming herself. "Every child gets breakfast, lunch, and dinner, if they are home during mealtimes."
"But where does the food come from?!" one boy near the middle of the room suddenly stands up and shouts, like he can't believe this at all.
"Where?" Kerra turns momentarily to look at the other women, like she doesn't even understand the question, and they shrug at her. Addressing the boy, she answers, with a faltering voice for the first time. "The market?"
To that, the boy actually scoffs. "And who's going to pay for it?!" he demands.
Clearly unsettled, Kerra responds, "Karl Liffan. He's in charge of the continued operation of the orphanage, so he's the one providing any funds needed for things like food, supplies, maintenance, and personnel. Like us, for instance." I feel like a lot of that goes over the kids' heads, but the whole room goes quiet anyway. And if my basic economics lessons taught me anything, Karl Liffan is probably getting the money for this from the government.
After a short delay, Emily stands up again to clarify things between us and the new caretakers. "So, the thing is, we've never had anyone 'provide' anything before. No one would take care of us, we had to do it all ourselves."
Kerra's eyebrows draw in, deep, concerned creases crossing her forehead, but it's Ella from next to her, who speaks up this time. "What about the old caretaker? What did he even do here?"
Dropping straight into a scowl, Emily answers, "He sat in his office, took the money we earned, and beat the shit out of us if we did anything he didn't like." My head snaps up, I hardly ever hear her curse. Then I turn to the front of the room again, expecting them to scold her, but-
Kerra isn't looking at Emily anymore, she's looking at me. Her eyes are tracing down the bandages wrapped up my entire arm and side, clearly visible through my patched peasant clothing. The others are following her gaze too. Her hand comes up over her mouth, eyes widening with horror, similar expressions mirrored on the faces of the others. The only exception is Marrianne, of course, but I told her all about what he did to me in the past, so she ends up glaring at the floor anyway.
Looking at the five women, I know exactly what they're thinking.
Frantically waving at them, I stammer out, "Mister Fredricson d-didn't do this to me! He beat me a lot before, but this wasn't actually him!" I realize a moment late that what I said doesn't help. All I really did was confirm that he abused me...
Then I catch movement at the far end of the room. Zoe is bringing her hands up to cover her face. I only see the tears streaming from her eyes for a moment before she covers herself, turns her back, and dashes out of the room. Grimacing, I try to shrink down a little more in my seat to avoid all the eyes pointed at me.
While there's another stretch of tense silence, Ami turns, looking worriedly in the direction Zoe went, then leaves the room as well.
After some time, Marrianne speaks up, since Kerra still looks too shaken up. "I think I speak for all of us, when I say it's shocking, and appalling... hearing about your atrocious living conditions. The abuse you've all gone through."
She takes a few deep breaths, wiping at her eyes with her arm, before leveling the room with a determined look. "Things are far from perfect, but they will be better. You may not be our children, but we were hired to take care of you. So we're going to take care of you. No one can replace the love of your lost parents," she sighs, eyes wandering toward the floor, before she regroups. "But we'll try to ensure you are at least fed, and clothed, and safe," she puts heavy emphasis on each word as she goes, then gulps as her voice starts to crack, before adding, "as best as we can. That's what we're here for."
Marrianne turns back to look at the other women, receiving a big nod in response from Kerra, and smaller, less certain ones from Noria and Ella. Again, the reaction from the kids is mixed. Some sound grateful, while others refuse to believe her words without proof. I guess that's understandable...
"Alright, just a few more things," Marrianne continues after another short pause. Thankfully, the rest is less intense. She covers a few pretty basic things, like how we're expected to behave politely and follow their directions. We aren't supposed to bother Karl Liffan either, that's what they're here for. Not that they have to convince us of anything, what orphan would want to take their problems to a noble?
Eventually, Kerra joins back in explaining again, switching off with Marrianne from time to time. They talk about how we should be home at night, but don't mention any strict curfew like we used to have. Then there are a few little things like keeping ourselves and our spaces clean. At least, as clean as they can expect from peasants.
Then something unexpected comes out. We still have to go to church every Shanaday. I raise a brow at that one. I know Marrianne isn't that religious, what about the other caretakers?
Speaking of, Ami and Zoe still haven't come back. I'm starting to get a bit worried about that...
But there isn't much time to consider that, because Kerra notices the confusion in the crowd, and explains that one isn't their choice. For some reason, Karl Liffan ordered them to make us all go to church. They have no idea why, but an order is an order.
My eyes narrow. Now that I think about it, why did Mister Fredricson always make us go to church? Why didn't he have us working seven days a week? Even if he knew we needed a day off to sell the stuff we collected, why did he make us go to church? Just to show special ones like me to Marvin Salazar? But then there wouldn't be any reason to go every week, or to make all the kids go...
When I realize what I'm doing, I push those thoughts away. I'm not going to get anywhere, wondering about the reasoning of a dead man...
It doesn't take much longer before they finish up, their last few explanations focusing on their schedules. Apparently, Noria, Ella, and Kerra will work one day, then Ami and Zoe the next, swapping back and forth, while Marrianne works three days on, one day off. Just hearing it doesn't really help me picture how it will work in practice, but it should be fine. They assure us a few times that we can go to any of them that are on duty, and they'll help us with whatever.
I'm not completely sold on that idea, given the less than pleasant feeling I get from Ella, and how Ami and Zoe never actually came back.
Of course, just as I'm thinking that, the two women reappear in the doorway, quickly taking their spots. However, something about their body language is... odd. Or at least Zoe's is, like she's trying to distance herself from Ami. Did something happen? The other caretakers also note their arrival with a few glances in their direction, but keep talking to the kids anyway.
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Soon enough, they finish, and call for everyone to head up to bed. I'm feeling a lot better about our living conditions moving forward. Having some people around who might actually care about things around here is going to be a huge improvement. One part of me says that I shouldn't get my hopes up again though. Things are always going wrong, so I shouldn't set myself up for disappointment again.
But... But it's Marrianne. She'll make sure things go well, won't she? Expecting bad stuff to happen would be like I expect her to fail, or like I don't trust her or something. Even thinking like that, it's so hard to be sure. I really don't want to get hurt like that again...
In the end, I don't know what to do, and just try to stop thinking about it. Everyone's already leaving anyway.
Approaching Marrianne while the room rapidly empties around us, I point toward the front of the house and mouth, "John," at her since it's so loud with everyone walking and talking over each other. She returns a quick nod and gathers up the other caretakers, by the time everyone else goes upstairs. Emily stays with me, providing some support since my leg still hurts, and soon enough, we all head outside.