We approached Master Asuras. He was bent over a large scroll, which was stretched wide over two wooden desks. From what I could see between his long strands of hair covering the parchment, the scroll was a terrain map of some kind. Lots of colorful dots were clustered in certain areas.

“Scum muffin,” he grumbled.

Mother Emorgen coughed to draw his attention toward us.

“Oh, you’re here.” He nodded with approval of us wearing the appropriate uniform.

“Indeed. If you don’t mind.” Mother Emorgen cordially bowed before the temple’s master.

“Of course.” He dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

She aloofly left the library through a side door. The sisters followed their mother’s example and were dismissed. Only Edde and ourselves remained before him, as we hadn’t received the hand-wave to leave.

“How interesting,” he said to the map as he rubbed his beard pensively.

Kalia and I exchanged glances. Did he forget about us already?

“You black-haired girl, what do you think about this cluster near the river?” He looked at me and tapped the map.

I blinked, not sure what to say. But, since he was asking for my thoughts, I took it as a gesture to go all out.

I peered at the dark gray gathering of dots moving along one square section of the map. When I glanced over other clusters nearby, I saw they were color coded yellow, white and green. Knowing what I did of the master, I took a stab in the dark.

“Master, um, are these lichen clusters?” I perceptively asked.

“Yes!” He clapped his hands with glee. “Now, what are your thoughts of this black cluster?”

“It’s almost like they’re not lichen. Or, lichen that has evolved into something else. Maybe by a strange magic.”

I frowned at the barren and unpopulated square sections surrounding its far end. A dark watercolor was gradually painting the area. Within the darkest square section of the area were four bold white dashes. They seemed neither plant nor rock life.

“My thoughts exactly.” Master Asuras’s voice assumed a grave tone as he resumed this focus on the map.

Edde coughed in the same manner as Mother Emorgen.

“Oh, Edde, right. Welcome girls. I trust you will carry the name of Anwar with reverence and honor. Remember the rules of this place and don’t do anything to bring shame to Our Lady and the order’s reputation.” He dismissed us with a wave of his hand.

We followed Edde through an archway at the far end of the library. My eyes widened at the spectacular sight of the hallway, where the walls were generous sized windows that drew in the sky’s light. I glimpsed rose gardens and a hedge garden courtyard on either side.

“Beautiful,” I whispered.

Edde didn’t stop or slow down. She passed through the exit. We followed her into a white-rose vein marble hallway, where banners held Anwar’s image or the rose bud emblem. They fluttered against the wall.

The majesty of the hallway transitioned into drab gray stone as we descended steps to reach an inner squarish courtyard with more gravel and concrete than gardens. But the prize feature was an enormous statue of Our Lady at the center.

Kalia’s head kept turning at various points with wonder. No doubt she was absorbing the many different stone textures of the place. The courtyard’s loggia was certainly lavish for its simplicity of archway and concrete.

Our path through the loggia ended at the furthest set of double doors. We entered a large conjoined kitchen and dining area. The orange fire hissed and crackled in a generous size hearth, which took up the end wall. Smells of charred wood, cooked beef and vegetables excited our senses.   

I gulped when I saw Sister Branwyn and Malia seated at one of the two bench seats on either side of a long table. They were opposite each other; quietly enjoying their meal close to the hearth.

“Go there.” Edde pointed to a spot on the opposite side of the sisters, just a few spots down from them.

Kalia and I nodded and shuffled onto the seat, and at a distance from Sister Malia. Neither of us dared look at them. By now, it was just common sense not to eyeball the seniors.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Edde had been pottering around the kitchen benches and pot at the hearth. She returned with two wooden bowls of steaming broth and placed these before us.

I blinked, not sure if this was really for me. My stomach growled with hunger pains and mouth was heavy with drool. It hit me that I hadn’t had a filling meal since leaving the old man’s cabin. I didn’t count the salty rock bread and cheese as a meal. Before my eyes was the tasty wonder of chunky meat and vegetable pieces bobbing in a steaming soup. Tears filled with joy slipped down my eyes.

“Eat,” she aloofly ordered us and sat on the opposite bench seat.

I ignored the women’s stares as I scoffed and slurped up the meaty broth that warmed my cheeks. It was wrong to waste food, and damn if I wasn’t going to thoroughly enjoy this meal down to the last drop. I cursed when some of the soup slipped out of the bowl from my fast spoon feds, so I slowed my pace. This seemed to stir sighs and nods of approval from Edde and Sister Malia.

“When yuh done, I show yuh beds,” Edde said with an accent I was detecting for the first time.

Then again, her words had been limited. This was the most she had spoken to us.

I stared at the other two over the brim of my bowl and caught a scowl from Sister Branwyn.

“Nasty.” I shivered with my thought and returned my attention to the comfort of my broth, which was going cold quickly. I picked up my spoon-feeding pace again until the bowl was empty; licked the spoon then the bowl until they were clean.

Kalia meticulously pushed her bowl and spoon aside and sat upright.

“Thank you for the meal.” She clapped her hands in a prayer and bowed her thanks.

“Well, at least one of them is house broken. Unlike this wild black haired thing.” Sister Branwyn huffed with a tone of voice that was far from being impressed.

She glared at me and turned her nose up at my burp. I frowned but ignored her attitude. There was no way I would disrespect the food. I’m sure the cook would’ve been happy I had enjoyed the tasty results of their labor.

Edde groaned. She ignored my uncouth manner and started talking to us about our role to ease tensions. “As soon as yuh wake, yuh work as scarlee maids, that what yuh do.”

She added. “Now yuh wash and pack away all the dirty dishes, then if yuh lucky, yuh go to bed.”

The sisters shuffled out of the bench seats.

“Welcome girls.” Sister Malia greeted us with a smile as she passed.

We rose and gave her a cordial bow.

“Try to cause trouble, you’ll be instantly expelled.” Sister Branwyn left without caring if we were bowing to her.

“Don’t get on her bad side. I’ll come back to get yuh when the hourglass is up.” Edde slammed an hourglass on the table and turned it, so sand began spilling into the bottom.

We were left alone.

Kalia scowled. I sighed and scanned the kitchen. Stacks of pots and plates were piled high in three water barrels fixed to one kitchen wall. All of them were crusty and filthy. It was going to be a long hour.

“Can we really get this done before sands up?” I scratched my head.

“No use talking about it,” Kalia said and picked up one of the dirty dishes.

She stared at it for some time and the surroundings before filling up a bucket of water from a large barrel nearby.

I found brushes for the cleaning. Then heated the flat stone plate before the hearth.

“Oh, there’s fat soap.” I chuckled as I picked up the lumpy chunk of lye in a small pot hanging on the hooks on the mantle.

Kalia whimpered and complained as we laid the dishes on the stone plate and cleaned.

“My hands.” She moped at the welts on her fingers from the steam.

“Oi. Princess. Yah dry and stack. I’ll do the washing.” I took over the cleaning duty and flashed her a cocky grin.

“Thank you.” She nodded.

We assumed a rhythm of washing and drying until all was down. There was even time to wipe down the benches and table. The kitchen was looking tidy for the next day when the last trail of sand had it the bottom of the hourglass.

“Not bad.” Edde nodded when she returned to see the kitchen clean.

She examined the freshly cleaned stone plate I had wiped down. Then examined the stacked clean plates in the nearby cupboards; pulling out one plate to give it a once over.

“Very good. Yuh know how to clean.” Her expression was deadpan, but I sensed a warmth to her tones.

“Yah call Famisto, Onii-san. He ain’t speaking right, either.” I gasped at the fleeting memory of a similar deadpan voice that carried sarcasm. There was no denying that these snippets of conversation were from my memories. But they were so vague and seemed irrelevant. What were they?

A ringing sounded through my ears. Pain pushed at my temples. I felt black energies circling around my body. Something slapped my face. I staggered on the spot as I swiftly returned to my senses.

“What was the cold feeling?” Kalia shivered as she stared at me.

Edde stared at me carefully before handing me a cloth. “Wipe yuh drool.”

I nodded and obeyed, feeling my sore cheek at the same time. She turned to leave the kitchen.

“Did I go rabid again?” I carefully whispered to Kali out of Edde’s earshot.

She nodded.

We hurried after Edde and held our silence. She led us along a limestone hallway, down a flight of stone steps and into a granite corridor with many cloth doors fixed either side of its walls.

“This the servants quarters. Yuh come and go from here no problems,” she whispered.

We followed her through the end cloth door into a small alcove. It held just enough space to fit two single - sized cots.

“Get to sleep,” she whispered.

She left the alcove through a cloth door behind the cots.

We picked out our cots and snuggled beneath the woolly blanket.

I was asleep as soon as my eyes closed, but my mind became awake to something else.