The morning came and chaos was the word of the day. People all over the Keep had different perspectives of the length of time that passed these last two days. Visitors, residents, servants, and vendors coming and going entered and left the time-sink at different points and were affected more or less depending on proximity to the anomalies center. Some people lost a few hours, while the people in the audience lost a full day. Lord Brust settled most issues by compensation with gold, a small price to pay to quell tempers and fears.
The person who seemed the least affected was Malo. Either the trauma of the last few days or the knock to the head by Terius erased the last three days of his memory. The only part of his situation that caused a reaction was hearing of the loss of his father. The adults decided to hold back the spotty news about him being the cause of the fire, not knowing how true that story to be. When he looked at himself in the mirror and observed the burns for the first time, all he did was grimace. He sulked for a bit while Lady Terara tried to comfort him, until he asked to be alone to grieve. Lady Terara obliged his request, but had a servant stationed outside the door in case he needed something.
Two minutes later he was poking his head out the door asking about food.
“Excuse me, ma’am? I don’t know when I last ate, and I don’t have any food. I do have a couple silver; can I buy something to eat around here?”
The servant, a young girl in her twenties, didn’t know Malo’s status, but considering the way her Ladyship was treating the young boy she had to assume he was well considered. Even if he was gross looking and so uncouth to bring up money when the Lady has granted the keeps full hospitality. They don’t get many guests in the keep. She’s been assigned to babysit many of them. Some are as disgusting to the eye and as ill-mannered as this boy. In spite of her personal feelings, he will get no better or worse treatment than anyone else.
“You can get food from the kitchen at any time. I’ll take you there whenever you are ready.”
“I’m ready now and thank you.”
The servant turned without saying a word, her long brown braided hair flopping around behind her as she led her creepy guest down the hallway.
Malo had never seen braided hair before and thought it looked nice.
“I like the way your hair is all twisted together. What’s that called?”
The young servant couldn’t believe the creepy boy was being genuinely complementary and inquisitive, he must have some sick game in mind. Her cheeks began to redden at the thought of what he may try to do to her.
Malo has been dealing with these scenarios his whole life, the girl in front of him with her back straight and shoulders tense is walking yet barely moving her arms. She is clearly troubled and uncomfortable.
Having dealt with this issue, his curse as he thinks of it, he knows what to do. Being direct is the best way forward when someone is unnaturally nervous or hateful around him. It’s always been this way, people either like him unconditionally or hate him to his core onsite.
“Tell me your name please.”
The now scared servant gets more tense if that’s possible, “Mill… it’s Milldy. My name is Milldy.”
“It’s nice to meet you Milldy. My name is Malo, and I can smell fresh baked bread from here and I’m sure I can find the kitchen on my own. I’m going to stand over here against the wall until you go. I didn’t mean to scare you. I really think your hair looks neat. Nobody in Feltworks wears their hair like that so I don’t know what to call it. I’m sorry.”
Relieved at her dismissal, Milldy hurries to the end of the hall where stairs extend both up and down. She pauses with her hand on the rail leading up a flight, “Forgive me I don’t know what came over me. Braids, my hair is braided. Thank you, Malo. You are to kind.” Done speaking, she forces herself to walk up the stairs at a normal pace.
“This is not bang-up,” mutters Malo.
“He-he,” comes a youthful giggle from the staircase leading down.
“You hear something funny,” asks Malo of whoever is lurking down the stairs.
“You, you’re funny,” says the young man who had been crouching on the stairs just out of sight and is now standing up. His mother’s golden hair, and his father’s green eyes and button nose give him away as the Lord and Ladies child.
Malo asks, “Were you spying on me?”
“Why would I do that? I was spying on Milldy.”
“Ohhh, do you like her?”
“No. It’s not like that.”
“Sure, I bet you just like her braided hair.”
“Yeah, that’s it, I like braids. I’m Tomas, I live here. You must be Malo, because you’re all burned up,” Tomas pauses not sure if he should continue. Then decides he should, “Does it hurt?”
“Ummm,” Malo takes a moment to consider his answer. Sometimes it’s best to lie when asked how you feel because the person asking doesn’t really care and only asked to be polite. In that case always default to something positive. He decides Tomas is genuine and deserves the truth. “Nice to meet you, Tomas. Yes, I hurt all over. I’ve never had burns or cuts that didn’t heal complete before.”
“You’re so tall. I was hoping you’d be close to my age, so you’d want to play.”
“I’m a lot younger than I look, I just turned nine years old. But I still like to play. One of my favorite games is sneaking. Would you like to play a sneaking game?”
“Sneaking is the best!”
“Good, because the game is to sneak me into the kitchen and steal some food without anyone seeing me. The game is called Smuggle. You play as the smuggler and it’s ok if you’re seen. I’m the contraband and have to remain hidden or we lose. Does that sound fun?”
“That sounds bad, my dad is always trying to catch smugglers.
Grinning broadly, Tomas continues, ” Yes, let’s play Smuggle!”
“How old are you, Tomas?”
“Don’t laugh at me. I’m only five, but I’ll be six soon.”
“I won’t laugh, I think six years old is a perfect age for playing smuggle. Where do we go first?”
“That’s easy. We’ll use the new servant’s passages.”
“Wouldn’t the old ones be less used?”
“Nah, the new ones were made too narrow. There’s only room for one person at a time. If someone is coming the other way you have to back up or climb the wall to get past them. The servants all use the old ones.”
The sound of soft footsteps coming up the stairs was signaled the games beginning.
Tomas took the lead by rushing to one of the side doors that Malo had barely noticed, opened it and waved for Malo to enter.
Excited by the prospect of sneaking around a real castle and the prospect of food, Malo complies. Tomas ducks into the room and quietly closes the door.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“That sounded like mother in her slippers coming up the stairs. Follow me.”
The room was a butler’s pantry and would be used to stage meals to be served to guests staying in this wing. It had the bare essentials, nothing perishable.
Tomas whispering, “Shhhhhhh, don’t make a sound.” Then walks lightly to the back of the room. He uses the toe of his right foot to lift a section of baseboard. This recesses and tilts the back wall panel up and inward a quarter inch, then he slides the panel to the right. Still whispering, “it’s a pocket door.”
Malo has never seen a pocket door, so the hidden opening mechanism doesn’t appear out of place. The servant’s passage can’t be more than 24 inches wide and runs perpendicular to the doorway. There are wooden steps leading down a little more than a yard in each direction. There is no light, Malo can see fine but wonders how Tomas handles the situation.
Tomas pushes Malo on to the top step and squeezes in with him before sliding the panel back into place.
Tomas is excited beyond belief that he gets to share his secret hiding place with someone. “Head back towards the stairs,” speaks Tomas softly. “It’s ok to talk quietly, these walls are thick in most places. You only need to be careful when we’re between the windows.”
The two shuffle along back in the direction of the staircase. They pass one set of stairs like the ones they started on. Tomas taps Malo on the shoulder and whispers, “Let me go first.” He then braces his hands and feet on either wall and shimmies up and over Malo, dropping back down lightly on his feet.
Malo’s mind is blown when he sees this normal kid crawl up the passage walls like a spider. He makes a note to try that himself sometime.
Tomas continues ahead, he has both hands trailing along the two walls, there are horizontal slots chiseled into each side about one every yard. Tomas appears to be counting them, to know where he is in the dark passageway. There are also pairs of metal railings evenly spaced every three or four yards, Malo has no idea what those could be.
Speaking softly Tomas continues, “Are you ok in the dark?”
“I’m fine, I can see in the dark. There’s always a little light and that’s all I need.”
“Whoa, you’re like Master Terius. He has the gift too. I wish I did, I’d be the greatest Defender ever.”
“Wait, you mean that guy with the blond hair is a real Defender?”
“Yes, a really good one too. That’s why he came here and knocked you out.”
“Wait, what?”
“Didn’t they tell you? You were messing up the sun or something and had trapped mom, dad, and the whole court in a sink or something. Then Master Terius came in and knocked you out. Then everyone started arguing over who gets to adopt you. I don’t understand adults. I hope I don’t become a stupid-face like them, when I grow up.”
Malo’s head starts to hurt, all this information makes a certain amount of sense, apart from the sink-trap and messing with the sun. Auntie Ge’get used to do something to lessen the effect he has on people. It seems to be completely gone now and maybe worse.
“Tomas, I’m sorry. This was a bad idea. Can you smuggle me back to my room?”
The disappointment was obvious to see on Tomas’s face, but he agreed, “Hold on, let me get on the other side of you.” He spiders up the wall and drops back on the other side of Malo, then counts slots until they are well past the starting point.
Now whispering again, “Remember when I said you need to be quiet around the windows? Up ahead at the end of the hall are two pocket doors, but smaller. One leads to your room, the other to the room below yours.
Malo can’t figure out how a servant or anyone could use such a tiny door for anything practical. But this will get him back in his room without anyone seeing him, so he goes along.
Tomas goes first, using the slots in the wall to reach the upper rails, he feels around for a tiny handle and slowly pulls it out. A hole a half inch in diameter floods the passage with light. He peeks through the hole and listens for a few seconds before poking his finger through and pulling the panel inward and sliding it to the right. Revealing an 18 by 18-inch opening into Malo’s room. He then shimmies inside with Malo right behind him.
Malo is glad to be back in the room, he doesn’t want to cause a problem, and him showing up in the kitchen could have started one.
Tomas may only be five years old, but he’s been tutored and groomed for the better part of four years to be the new Lord of Brust. He knows the look of defeat when he sees it and Malo looks defeated.
“Hey friend, I don’t know why you changed your mind, but I bet some food will make you feel better. I’m going to play smuggle on my own. I’m going to slip down to the kitchen and get you some bread and cheese and whatever else I can easily carry and come back here.”
“Thank you, Tomas. I didn’t realize how much trouble I caused, and I don’t want to make anymore.”
“No problem, friend.” Tomas slips feet first into the secret passage and closes the panel.
Malo goes to the mirror and studies his face. Then starts looking under his clothes. He really is burned only on his left side. “Well, that explains why I hurt worse than I could have ever imagined.” he says to himself.
Before Lady Terara left, she had a servant bring him a wash basin of water, a clean towel, and a change of clothes. The water was cold, soothing his burnt skin. He couldn’t scrub much around the blisters and sores, settling for dabbing them with a wet corner of the towel. He felt better when finished. The clothes were a good fit, he absently wondered where they came from. The pants were brown, the shirt was white, maybe the guards were wearing a similar cut of clothes.
The bed started looking good even though he wasn’t tired, he lays down and listens to the distant sounds of people barking orders and running up and down hallways. He doses off after a while until a familiar voice wakes him.
“Hey friend, I’m back!” Tomas shouts as he pushes a bag full of food ahead of him through the open panel under his window. “It’s crazy out there. All our guards are running around searching for something. I wonder what they lost?”
Malo sits up and helps Tomas to his feet. He glances out the window and sees sentries posted inside the gate, watching the keep. “I was wondering what all the shouting was about. Maybe you should go out and ask someone?”
“Nah, if there was an emergency or something bad happening, they’d come looking for me.”
“Oh, Ok. What kind of food did you bring me?”
“The kitchen was empty, so I made us a couple cavi sandwiches and I grabbed all the cookies I saw.”
“Now, this is Bang Up!”
“Yeah, Bang up,” parrots Tomas.
The two traded stories about their childhood and shared their biggest worries about growing up. While unspoken, they know they are now best friends. It was sometime after sunset when Tomas said he should get going.
“Thank you, Tomas. I’m glad I met you. Will you come see me tomorrow?”
“I’ll try but I have a lot of lessons to make up. I was told that I missed a day of sword training. I don’t remember skipping it, but that’s ok. I enjoy our sword master and his lessons.”
Malo hears something outside his door, “Wait, someone is coming. I can hear them whispering.”
Tomas stays quiet, not wanting to interfere with his gifted new friend’s ability to hear.
“It sounds like your mom, I mean Lady Terara. She isn’t happy. There’s a bunch of people with her and they’re trying to stop her.”
This description of events doesn’t make sense to either boy.
Then her voice erupts, and Tomas can hear too, “Foolish men! There are two missing boys and a ransacked kitchen missing three dozen cookies and in your mind that adds up to something nefarious?”
“Lady! We don’t know what to think. Your son and our unknown guest have been missing for the better part of eight hours. Anything could have transpired in that time!”
“Yes, they may have eaten all the cookies without you,” rebuts Lady Terara.
The two boys did in fact eat all the cookies.
“Lady, please let Master Terius enter first,” pleads the guardsmen.
The familiar voice of Terius speaks up, “Master Gertus, you can stand down. I can clearly see both boys are in the room and there is no indication of harm to your young charge.”
That was enough for the Master guardsman. He relinquished his position and allowed the Lady to knock on the guest room door.
Rapping lightly, she calls, “Is everything all right in there?”
Tomas jumps off the bed and pulls open the door, “Of course everything is all right. I’m here taking care of our guests’ needs. He was hungry and afraid of the trouble he could cause if he were to show up in the kitchen.”
Lady Terara shakes her head slightly, “Our guest was hungry, so you decided to sneak him some food. Leaving the entire keeps staff in a panic, while they looked for the two of you?”
“The sneaking part is right. I didn’t ask anyone to panic. Malo and I were on our way when he decided it might be better if he stayed in the room, so we returned. I don’t blame him. You should have seen the way Milldy reacted around him. She was terrified. Malo thinks his curse is getting stronger.”
“Yes, she said as much,” affirmed Lady Terara.
“We turned around and came back here. Then I went for the food. Right Malo?”
Malo wasn’t nearly as assertive, “Yeah, that was what happened.” While slumping forward and covering his face with his hands.
Lady Terara becomes mother Brust at the site of the destitute boy before her. “Tomas, go with Milldy and get ready for bed. I trust you ate enough cookies to constitute a dinner?”
“Yeah, I had three of them. Malo ate the rest, it was amazing.”
With those as his parting words, Tomas happily followed Milldy to attend to his bedtime routine.
Mother Brust whisked through the room and climbed onto the bed next to Malo, wrapping her arms around him.
“You, poor dear, I don’t care what kind of spell has been cast to cloud my feelings. You have no mother; you recently lost your father. You are in a strange new household surrounded by strangers, half of which don’t like you. Know that you are safe here. We’d like to make you family. Would you like to have Tomas as a brother?”
Malo is quiet for a while and wonders if he should mention that he already has six brothers. He decides against it for now, and just nods his head to answer affirmative.