Remembered (15 page)

“The Under Master’s apartment is
across from mine. He is second in command and would undertake running the
Citadom should something prevent me from performing my duties. It’s common for
the Under Master to become Master eventually,” he explained. “Conor is head of
our hospital team. He has the apartment next to mine and next to him is our
weapons expert, Mandolis.”

They descended the stairs while
Nordorum filled them in on the various duties of the senior peaceman.

Once again, they were standing in
the pretty garden.

“The building facing us contains
three floors, each with ten apartments, like the one we just left, and the
building to your right is the one you entered through earlier today. These make
up only living quarters and are not very interesting,” he continued. “Each
peaceman keeps his own home. Our apprentices, however, have only a small room
on the basement level. They are allowed no earthly comforts, not even a
window.” He pushed Annie forward gently. “The interesting part of our tour will
be the building to the left, the main building that faces out into the town
center.”

They entered the main building
through a set of wooden doors with glass panels in the middle. Upon entering
the building, they were immediately aware of the difference. The bottom part of
the walls was rich wood paneling; the top painted a deep red. The floor was
covered in an elegant red and gold carpet.

A large portrait of a man,
reaching from floor to ceiling, adorned the middle of the hallway. He was
handsome, with long blonde hair and green eyes. He wore black clothes, not
unlike Nordorum’s uniform, but without the high neck. He wore a long ankle-length
cloak over his clothes.

“This is said to be a real
portrait of the famous Contitus. He was the founder of the Citadom, as I’m sure
you are aware,” Nordorum said.

Annie and Max both nodded.

Every school-aged child in
Vistira was taught the legend of Contitus—or
‘The
Great One’
as
he was sometimes called—and the war with the monstrous krogillians, who were
often referred to as simply
‘Krogs’
.

Krogillians were evil creatures
that lived in the lands to the North, far beyond the borders of North Vistira.
They were said to be frightening to look at—marginally larger than humans with
muscular builds and tight, yellow, curly hair. Their skin had a greenish tint,
but it was their colorless eyes that made them horrendous—no pupil or iris,
only large white orbs set into eye sockets.

Several hundred years ago, the krogs
waged war on the Vistirians, killing many men in battle.

In the end, Contitus defeated
them. Legend tells that he had an enormous capacity to love and, somehow, found
a way to channel that love through a wand—a stick that he carried. He defeated
the krogs with the one emotion they could not tolerate.

“Is that really him?” Max asked
with awe in his voice. He had always loved the old legends of Contitus.

“I’m not sure,” Nordorum replied.
“It’s what I was told, however.”

They followed Nordorum down the
corridor.

“Through those large doors to
your left is our dining room. The kitchens are directly behind,” he explained.

At the end of the hallway,
Nordorum pointed to a small, almost unnoticeable door. “That door leads to the
staircase that descends to the prisons.”

“Prisons?” Max questioned.

“Yes, Max, that’s correct. I am
pleased to say that for the most part the people of Vistira are well behaved,
but just in case someone
should
misbehave…”

They followed Nordorum up one
flight of stairs. “This is the floor where the apprentices spend most of their
days, along with the peacemen who train them,” he said. “The rooms to the left
are where they physically train, and to the right is where they receive their
spiritual and mental training.”

They proceeded to the end of the
corridor where Nordorum pushed opened a white door. The entire room inside was
made of gray and white marble, from floor to ceiling, and in every part of the
large room were various baths and pools of all shapes and sizes that connected
like a jigsaw puzzle. Some had waves, others had hot springs, some were large
enough for lap swimming, some rested behind waterfalls.

He explained that the pools
varied in water temperature and some were as deep as fifteen feet. “This is not
only for recreational purposes,” he said. “Our men are trained to be fine
swimmers and efficient lifesavers. You need not fear drowning with a peaceman
nearby.”

The third floor contained the
grand library and recreational rooms for the men to relax in the evening, filled
with tables and board games.

They reached a rounded stairwell
at the end of the hallway which led up to the roof.

Nordorum gestured for Annie and
Max to climb the stairs before him. They climbed out into the night and
marveled at the most spectacular view of the village.

“Would you please follow me to
that tower on your left? I would like to show you both something truly
breath-taking,” Nordorum said.

They walked over the roof and
climbed the little stone staircase outside the foot of the tower.

Nordorum was right, the view of
the sky, and the dull outline of the town, was beautiful. “On a clear day, you
can see all the way to the East-West Crossing and beyond,” he explained.

Annie noticed two pieces of
sophisticated equipment pushed over to the edge of the tower. “What are those?”
she asked.

“Those are telescopes. We have
been attempting to teach young men how to read the night sky for generations.
It has never been a beloved subject, however, as most people don’t give it much
credence,” he answered.

Nordorum stared off into the
starry sky momentarily, and then turned to face Annie and Max. “Would you like
to know a secret?” he asked. “This is one that very few in the Citadom are
aware of.” His eyes twinkled, and he smiled mischievously.

Annie and Max were all too eager
to hear.

“Under your feet is a trap door
that leads to a sublevel of the complex,” he whispered.

“A basement below the basement?”
Max asked.

Nordorum nodded. “It’s a dark and
dingy old place, and not very appealing. It may have led to tunnels in the old
days, a way for folks to leave town unnoticed, back during the war with the krogs,”
he informed them.

“Why doesn’t anyone know about
it?” Annie asked.

“Many years ago, it was decided
that the apprentices were much too fond of playing pranks and practical jokes
on one another. It has been that way for centuries. I suppose it’s merely a
consequence of having men, barely out of boyhood, confined to one place. One
could only imagine the mischief they could carry out in a secret tunnel.
Besides that, it has no practical use for us. It just isn’t mentioned anymore,
so I trust you both to keep it to yourselves.”

“We will,” they assured him.

“Now, I believe our tour is
almost complete,” Nordorum announced. “Our lower level, through the back
building, contains our hospital, as you both know, and many storage facilities,
and that’s everything, I think.” His face broke into a large, playful smile.
“Now we are fashionably late for dinner.”

Annie’s stomach was uneasy as
they approached the large double doors the led to the dining room.

Max walked through first and held
one door opened for Annie and Nordorum.

Nordorum held out his arm for
Annie to take. She placed her hand on it and walked through the door, feeling
only slightly comforted by his presence.

She quickly counted ten tables,
each surrounded by ten chairs. The white tablecloths and red napkins
complemented the red and white carpet.

As they entered the room, an
absolute silence fell. It was worse than she could have imagined. Over eighty
pairs of eyes landed on her as though they’d never seen a woman before.

Nordorum smiled reassuringly, but
it did not help. A dry lump was filling up her throat, threatening to choke
her.

He patted her arm encouragingly
and spoke in a loud voice. “Since you are our honorary apprentice for this
evening, we shall sit in the back with the
other
apprentices.”

She nodded, but her face burned.
It became worse initially as the younger men in the back started clapping and
whistling as they approached.

“Come on, gentlemen, behave
yourselves,” Nordorum scolded. “I believe you are only eight this evening,” he
continued, “two are on leave, correct?” He motioned for Max to take the empty
seat facing Loc. “Annella and I wish to sit at the head of the table. Would you
be so kind as to fetch us two spare chairs,” He asked Loc and the young man sitting
next to him.

Annie was mortified. She wondered
why Nordorum wanted to put her on display in front of the apprentices. If she
had known this would happen, she would have refused his offer to stay. She
couldn’t begin to imagine what shade of red her face had morphed into.

With two spare chairs and two
additional place settings on the table, Nordorum held out a seat for her. He
lifted a glass and filled it with wine, and then handed it to her.

When he was seated, he raised his
glass. “Gentlemen, I would like you to welcome Annella and Max this evening,”
he said in a booming voice.

Seven apprentices raised their
glasses and looked towards them. One raised his glass and looked straight
ahead, wearing an expression of stone. Kellus did not look happy to see Annie
at his table.

Nordorum introduced them to the
men. “This young man to my right is Loc,” he said. “Next to Loc is Palo, then
Borm, and in the last chair is Tilidus.”

Each apprentice smiled as he was
introduced.

“To my left side, next to Max, is
Rom, then Ciro, Danus, and of course you know Kellus.”

Rom and Ciro smiled up the table.

“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting
Annella and Max earlier today,” Danus said with a warm smile, wiggling his
fingers at Annie.

Kellus looked down at his plate
as though he was about to vomit.

When she felt slightly more at
ease, Annie chanced another glance in Kellus’s direction. He looked more and
more uncomfortable as time went on. He spoke to no one and did not eat. He
merely stabbed at the food on his plate with a fork.

A large knot twisted in Annie’s
stomach.

Turning to ask Nordorum a
question, she noticed that his eyes were on Kellus also. His hands were folded
together, his forefingers making a point which he rested under his chin. He had
an unmistakable look of pity in his eyes.

Kellus put down his fork and pushed
away from the table.

“Leaving, Kellus?” Nordorum
asked.

“Please excuse me, sir. I don’t
feel well,” Kellus said weakly.

As Kellus walked by, his eyes
shot to Annie’s for a brief second, and the pain there was evident. She could
tell that the look had not gone unnoticed by Nordorum.

After dinner, Nordorum led Annie
and Max back to his apartment and left them alone in his spare room.

She was asleep within seconds.

The next morning, Annie and Max
went down to the hospital early, wearing matching apprentice uniforms that had
been left out for them.

“Annie, Max,” Cora beamed. She
looked every bit as pale, but her smile was reassuring.

“Cora,” Annie called, relieved to
see her sister in one piece.

“How do you feel?” Max asked,
kissing her on the forehead.

“I’m better, thank you, but still
sore, although they have been giving me plenty of pain killers.” Her eyes
scanned over her brother and sister. “Unusual clothing. Have you taken your
vows yet?” A smile played on her lips.

“We spent the night here as guests
of Nordorum. We were given a grand tour of the complex, and were treated like
guests of honor at dinner,” Max informed her.

“That’s impressive,” she
commented.

“Have you been awake long?” Annie
questioned. “What have you been doing all morning?”

“I’ve been awake for hours,” Cora
replied, “but since I can’t move yet, I’ve done nothing.” Her look turned
suddenly somber. “I’ve had a visitor, though,” she mumbled. “Kellus came to see
me earlier.”

“He did?” Annie asked. She
noticed Cora’s sad look. “What is it, Cora?”

“He’s not doing very well,” Cora
replied quietly.

“I know,” Annie responded,
turning her head away to hide her pain.

“I’m sorry,” Cora said. “I didn’t
tell you that to make you sad. I just think that maybe you should have a talk
with him.”

“And say what?” Annie questioned.
“There is nothing more for us to talk about.”

Max placed his hand on Annie’s
shoulder sympathetically.

They visited Cora for an hour or
two every day, and by the end of the week, they were starting to feel like part
of the furniture. Peaceman and apprentices greeted them by their first names,
and when they ran into Danus, he treated them like old friends.

By Friday, Cora was almost back
to her old self again. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, talking with
Nordorum, when Annie and Max arrived. “I can go home tomorrow,” she sang out.

“I plan to have her delivered to
you early in the morning,” Nordorum added.

Annie noticed a large bouquet of
flowers sitting on the table beside Cora’s bed. “Where did you get those?” she
questioned.

“From Kellus,” Cora answered
quietly. “But look at what else I got,” she added excitedly, whipping around a
large plate of chocolate. “Want some?”

“Did Kellus bring you that also?”
Max questioned.

“No, Danus did,” Cora replied.

“You met Danus?” Annie asked.

“Danus is in charge of making
sure the hospital is clean and orderly,” Nordorum explained. “It seems that
Cora has been amusing him with funny stories all week.”