I flung the door open, just about ready to flip the room upside down.

I made a bee line for my dad, who turned to me in surprise, but was unexpectedly swept off my feet.

I looked around confused until I met Uncle Cook’s eyes. When did he get here? He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and seemingly asked me what was wrong.

-Dumb old lady, grabbed my face!-

-Who did what to your face?!-

Dad asked, with an outraged expression, as he stood up from his seat.

He turned to the maid and asked for explanations, which she hurriedly provided.

I couldn’t properly see Uncle Cook’s expression from my nestled position, but it was clear from the way he and my dad rubbed the bridge of their nose, that they knew who the old woman was.

-What is it?-

I asked him, confused as they spoke between themselves.

Dad turned to me.

-That woman was your great-aunt Kerry… In other words, Granddad’s sister.-

I looked at him confused.

-So why did she grab my face?-

He scratched his head, looking for his word.

-You could say it was because she didn’t recognize you.-

I frowned at his answer.

-I don’t understand why she would grab my face for that.-

He looked uncomfortable as he looked for his words.

-It’s a bit complicated, let’s just say there’s a lot of people going around the castle right now and she was in a bad mood.-

Dad obviously didn’t want to continue this topic, but I wasn’t about to let that rude old lady get away with it.

-Is she going to be punished for hurting my face?

-I’ll talk to her about it.-

I frowned even more.

-But is she going to be PUNISHED for it?-

He sighed.

-It’s complicated, Silika. Your grand-father is very sick, so she’s upset right now.-

I grit my teeth. Why wasn’t dad taking my side? Didn’t he care that someone hurt me?

-Last time you said you shouldn’t hurt someone even if you’re upset…-

-I know what I said, Silika…-

-So why aren’t you angry!-

-Because…!-

His face contorted angrily for a moment scaring me, but Uncle Cook spun me aside.

They argued back and forth for a bit before dad calmed down.

I don’t understand what’s going on. Why is everyone so on edge? Did I do something?

-I’m sorry, Silika, but we can’t punish Aunt Kerry. Not right now. But I promise once things everything’s over, I’ll have a very serious talk with her.-

-Once what’s over?-

A sad expression washed over his face for a moment, but before he could say anything more, another maid entered the room and said something to us. Uncle cook politely thanked her and put me down to the ground as dad grabbed my hand.

-What’s going on?-

I asked him, still a bit upset.

He took a deep breath before signing to me.

-We’re going to go see granddad.-

I felt something rise in my chest. I had never met any of my grandparents before. I was sort of excited, but seeing everyone around me looking so nervous made me unsure if I really should be happy.

As we walked through the halls, I could almost see the weight on my father’s shoulder grow. By the time we arrived at our destination, I was almost dragging him behind me as we followed the butler and Uncle Cook.

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It was a large ornate wooden door on which the butler firmly knocked with the back of his hand.

I was taken aback when shortly after, an older white-haired and red-eyed woman came out of the door.

I hadn’t seen a Feikin since Hare at the orphanage.

She recognized my dad and uncle and they began talking for a moment before my dad turned the conversation to me and the woman politely curtsied to which I replied with one as well before turning to dad expectantly.

-This is Lady Gotts. She’s Coltop’s chief scholar. She advises us on all sorts of matter and is also trained in medicine.-

I didn’t quite understand everything, but it seemed quite impressive and I nodded as if I did.

-Is she taking care of granddad?-

-That’s right.-

I turned to the door that was closed once more. A strange feeling grew in my chest as I stared at the door. It wasn’t quite fear, but…

-Are we going to see him now?-

I asked, trying to push out the uncomfortable feeling.

He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

-No he’s asleep now, and she doesn’t expect him to wake-up until tomorrow.-

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

-Not until tomorrow? But we haven’t even had dinner yet. Isn’t he going to be hungry? Shouldn’t we wake him up?-

Dad smiled sadly.

-I don’t think we can do anything about that. Lady Gotts is taking care of him, so I’m sure he already ate.-

-Why did we come here if he was asleep then…-

-Well, the lady earlier came to get us because he had just woken up, but I guess he fell asleep again.-

-Wait… So he woke up and fell asleep in the time it took us to walk here?-

Dad was about to respond, when he was interrupted by Lady Gotts.

She seemed to be curious about something. Dad and her spoke shortly before he produced the secret language hand book from his breast pocket from jacket’s pocket.

She glanced over it for a moment before flipping through a few pages. She stopped at something that seemed to catch her interest.

-Greetings, General!-

She signed confidently.

I looked at her strangely before turning to dad who smiled before saying something to the woman, who seemed to take her mistake with stride and asked to borrow the book for a bit which dad permitted before she headed back into the room.

The butler asked something to dad to which this one nodded, before turning his attention to me and extending his hand.

-When are we going to see grand-dad then?-

-Tomorrow, probably.-

-Probably?-

He nodded.

-If he’s feeling good enough.-

-And what if he isn’t?-

-Well then, we’ll probably go the day after tomorrow.-

-And what if he’s still not feeling well?-

-Well we’ll go the day after that.-

-What if he never feels well enough?-

Dad stopped in his tracks and stared off blankly for a moment. Deep in thoughts.

Before leaving Evergreen, he had said his father was dying, but now that we were here, he was avoiding the subject. It’s not like I had forgotten his words or didn’t know what dying meant. I think he himself didn’t really want to admit that it was coming. He turned to me and smiled sadly.

-He will. He has to.-

I was about to argue again, but stopped myself. I don’t think he would hear it.

-Okay.-

We caught up with Uncle Cook and the butler. Seeing as we were tired from our trip, the butler began showing us to our room.

They hadn't finished setting up my room yet apparently, so I was shown to a guest room instead. I was so tired that I simply laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a while.

Dad was being strange. Normally he was always patient, collectedand attentive with me, but now he was so dismissive and angry… I didn’t want to show it, but I felt hurt.

Why had his mood changed so much? It stung. It stung so hard that I could cry. He told me not to worry when we left Evergreen. He said I’d love Clotop, but it had been nothing but uncomfortable and weird. The stone walls of the castle feel cold and so did the people here. Their eyes only glaze over me and dad even though this is supposed to be our home…

I don’t want to live in a place like this…

I want to go back home… To Evergreen… With Stash and Mili and Jade and everyone…

I hugged Darkie tightly as these thoughts swirled in my head and the uncomfortable pang in my chest hung.

Somehow, I fell asleep.

When I woke up again, the sun was much lower in the horizon. It was yet another maid who came to wake me up. She helped me into a different set of clothes. They were different from what I typically wore indoors. Thicker and heavier. Maybe because it was colder here?

She then guided me out where dad was waiting for me.

He bent down and looked at me with a tired smile as he straightened out my outfit.

He looked on edge. His eyes looked haggard and they darted around nervously, but not in a way that meant he was angry at me. Instead, it looked like he was worried about me.

-Silika, I need to ask you a favour.-

I looked at him strangely. Since when did he have to ask favours from me?

-There’s going to be a lot of people in there and not all of them will be nice, but I need you to stay calm and polite. Can you do that for me?-

This sounded suspiciously like the lady from earlier was going to be there and he wanted me to behave.

Normally, I wouldn’t hear any of it, but…

-Is it important?-

He nodded.

-Very.-

I looked down for a moment, considering what he said.

-Will things go back to normal after?-

He shook his head.

-Not right away… But soon. I promise.-

I closed my eyes as I tried to control the ball growing in my throat. I just wanted things to be normal, but I nodded.

-Okay.-

He hugged me tightly, before standing up and taking my hand.

He nodded at a servant waiting by the door, who proceeded to let us into what turned out to be a large dining room packed with people.

Dad quickly walked down the entire table and sat just left of the table end seat which remained empty.

He sat me at his right, leaving my own thankfully empty.

I didn’t recognise anyone directly around me, which was a relief, but when all attention around the table turned toward the other end of the table. I immediately recognised the woman talking.

It was that rude lady from this morning.

Or maybe I should call her ‘Aunt Kerry’.