At the same moment Fox and I both open our mouths, Silver adds, “I overheard them while you two were settling. They’re at the next room over. They’ll be here any—”
A Crusader, clad in black leather, appears in the doorway on cue.
“You are expected in the dining hall at high noon,” he says. “I am to take you there. If you miss your escort, you won’t be fed until next meal, so I suggest you get a move on things in here.”
He exits, Silver following right behind him, and as I look to Fox, we both shrug, before scurrying after them.
Dark Corridor
Castle of Nigh, Arcathain
It would be all too easy to get lost in these halls. The Castle of Nigh turns out to be quite the labyrinth inside, with enough winding corridors and dimly lit rooms that I feel like a rat set loose in an experiment.
I hear the dining hall before we arrive.
A raucous booming sound of commotion propels us farther down each darkened hallway, each corner, and through every door. It is the only remnant of life that I’ve seen here yet, the only telling that those of us who’ve found themselves desperate enough to come here still have a chance at survival.
The doors are propped wide by the time we arrive, and so the Crusader simply leads us into the dining hall. It’s not as massive as I expected. Endlessly long tables are lined in mostly neat rows and crammed side by side in the small, stout room. The people sitting at them—what seems to easily be a hundred Crusaders—can barely stand up or sit down, or grab their forks without knocking elbows and backing into each other. Half of the riotous sounds we heard on our way down here seem to have been squabbles over who hit who, the other half-crass jokes and immature diversions.
Truth be told, I didn’t expect to see so many Crusaders here. I thought once they finished their training, they were sent to guard the Shadowthorn border, or sent into the Blighted lands to search for Qaeus’ whereabouts. But I suppose this place is rather sprawling. It likely takes most of them just to maintain the upkeep, let alone the ones who would need to guard the borders and ensure the safety of the initiates as they train.
We continue following the Crusader as he makes his way to the front of the hall to the display of food. It’s no banquet fit for the Magistrate, but it’s a far cry from the scraps my family was accustomed to eating. The table is loaded with too many foods to count, too many scents that I’ve never dared think about for fear of torturing myself. A steaming pot of peasant stew, another of beef. In the center, there’s a cascading mound of freshly baked dinner rolls that have tumbled halfway across the table because someone grabbed one too greedily from the pile and upset the delicate balance at play. My eyes rove over the peaches and pears and grapes. My mouth waters at the fried cheese and roasted lamb.
“Dig in,” the Crusader says, gesturing us forward. Then he points to the back corner of the room, to an empty section of the table. “When you’ve gathered what’s to your liking, new recruits sit back there.”
Fox practically shoves me aside and stumbles forward, grasping for one of the stacked plates. Some of the others with us join her, far too exhausted and hungry to care about anything as seemingly useless as manners right now.
But my eyes are trained on the back table. I see no signs of Dimitri, nor of any of the male recruits Alphonse took with him, and I feel the slick, greasy feeling of fear taking hold in my gut. I try convincing myself I have nothing to worry about. If Alphonse was going to do something awful to anyone, it would’ve been to me. But the longer I stare at the empty table, and then to the open doors where there is an absent of newcomers flowing into the hall, the more I start to worry.
“Eat,” says a silken voice behind me.
I turn around to find Silver, two plates in hand. She extends one of them toward me.
“Don’t worry about your friend. The male dormitory is farther than the female’s.”
Sensing the opportunity to connect with her better than I had in our own room, I summon a grateful smile and grab the plate from her. “How do you know that? Have you been here before?”
She shakes her head. “It is a simple deduction. When we arrived, it was mostly the women Crusaders sitting at the tables, while the men still clambered about for their seats. The women had been here longer because it took them less time to arrive.”
Scooping some herbed potatoes onto my plate, I look up at her. “You have a keen eye, don’t you?”
She reaches for a roll, the first thing she’s grabbed so far, and what appears to be the only thing she plans on taking. I hear her words without her even having to say them. Whatever her past, whatever horrible heartache that brought her to this very place, she learned the value of staying alert at all times.
As I finish loading my plate with every mouthwatering, savory starch and meat I can fit, Silver walks quietly to the table in the back and takes a seat. The others and I join her, just as another group enter the dining hall. Spying Dimitri’s muddied face among the others is enough to settle my stomach long enough to dig in.
“Scoot,” Dimitri says after he’s piled enough potatoes and pigeon on his plate that the thing looks too heavy to carry.
I smile at his wobbling hand. “Thanks for bringing me seconds. Now I don’t have to get back up—”
When I reach for a roll, he swats my hand away. “Not for a mage’s dying wish,” he chastises. “Go get your own.”
Rolling my eyes, I return to my food. The other male recruits squeeze their way down the line between the tightly packed tables and join us one by one.
“So, what are your rooms like?” I ask Dimitri.
He waits until he’s done chewing to answer me, not noticing the dribble of soup that’s hanging from the scruff on his chin. “Packed, as you’d expect seeing the dining hall.”
I glance out over the sea of black leather. Most of the conversations have dwindled as the Crusaders have turned their hungry attention to their plates, but where they continue, they’re still loud and animated. Though there are some women among them, it’s difficult not to notice that we are obviously in the minority. I think most young girls grow up still longing for marriage, to start families of their own, so I imagine when given the choice, many decide to try their luck at outrunning the Blight rather than fighting inside it.
“You?” Dimitri asks.
I take another bite of my roll and shrug. “More spacious than your accommodations, from the sounds of it. It’s just me, Fox, and Silver in our room.” I indicate to the women sitting at our end of the table.
Fox waves with her pigeon leg bone.
Silver acts as if she doesn’t even hear us.
“You’re that thief we saw in the square.” Dimitri juts his chin at her before turning protectively back to me. “You better watch your back, Halira. She’s only here because she was too cowardly to face the consequences of her own actions.”
“Dimitri!” I quietly hiss. I’m too shocked by his rudeness too say much else, too embarrassed that the new friend I was trying to make has almost definitely overheard him.
Fox doesn’t appear to have the same problem with being struck speechless. She slams her hands against the table, drawing silence throughout the room. Judging from the curious glances cast her way, I’m guessing it’s not unusual for spats and squabbles to take place here, but instead it’s seen as one of the limited sources of entertainment. The other Crusaders watch with mouths full of food, glee sparking in their eyes.