Akorsa had moved with a frightful slowness through the passage, which proved not to be entirely predictable, as the steps were old and crumbling and it was pitch black the whole way down. After some time, she was greeted by the rectangular outline of a door; sunlight streaming through the cracks about the frame. The door, which clearly had not been used in a great while, was relatively stuck in place. After kicking the giant door and finding her efforts to be of no avail, she rammed her body into it with the greatest deal of force she could muster. The door opened with a bang and then a loud creak.
Akorsa was forced to shield her eyes from the blazing sun, which at this exact hour of day, had chosen to glare directly upon the secret door from which she now emerged. The door did, as Meada had said, lead her out of the great building of the Proctors. She now found herself in a back alleyway that was free of people. Akorsa closed the door tightly and carefully behind her, making certain that she was not being watched, and then headed down the alleyway toward the sounds of what she thought might be a bustling city street.
Upon further examination, Akorsa did in truth discover that the city streets of Ilyana were in fact very crowded. She was amazed by the sheer volume of people there. The village at Arimythia had only a few people, and those few people had been all she had known through her entire life. From the time of her birth until the day of her departure, the only change in the familiar faces had been caused by the passing of time. There were thousands more people here in the streets walking, shopping, and looking at that very moment than she could have ever hoped to imagine. If only Fionn could have seen this all now; they had often spoken of such things as children. They had dreamed of what the city would be like, and in their fancy they had imagined a journey there someday. If only he were there now; he would have been thoroughly amazed!
She stepped out onto the street slowly, not entirely wanting to attract immediate attention to herself, but also noting that was nearly inevitable. No sooner had she stepped out onto the street, than had people started staring at her. They noted the clothing she wore, a symbol of the Proctors, and stopped directly where they were. Many just stared at her while others bowed their heads. She looked around nervously before she decided to say something by way of greeting.
�Good afternoon, good people of Ilyana!� she called loudly enough for all in the great street to hear her. All of the people looked at her with wide eyes, not a one among their number expecting such a jolly greeting. Whenever the Proctors had come into the street in times past, which had never been very often, they had usually gone about their way without any word to the city-folk. In the midst of the utter silence, Akorsa heard the scuttle of feet on the cobblestone streets. Looking about her she saw a small girl running towards her, skidding to a stop just before running into the shepherdess�s legs. The little girl smiled at her.
�Hello!� said the little girl. Akorsa could not help but smile and then kneel down at her level.
�Hello to you as well! What is your name, little one?� she asked.
�My name is Fariha. I just reached my sixth year!� she said happily, lifting up the appropriate number of fingers in demonstration.
�Well, my how you are growing up!� said Akorsa, making the girl smile with pride. Just then louder footsteps were heard running towards her. A woman skidded to a halt at the outside of the crowd.
�Fahira, there you are!� she hissed, grabbing the child by the arm, clearly embarrassed. �Forgive me, please, Lady Proctor. This shall not happen again, I promise it.�
�On the contrary, my lady, your daughter was quite pleasant! I would hope that she would continue to be as friendly as she grows into a woman,� assured Akorsa. This caused the mother to stare at her for a moment, but then to sigh in great relief.
�I thank you for your understanding,� said the mother.
�A child�s curiosity and rambunctious tendencies should never be punished nor frowned upon; especially when they have done no harm,� said Akorsa. She woman smiled at her and made her way back into the crowd with her daughter in hand. The little girl waved goodbye to her before disappearing into giant mass of people.
Not entirely sure of what she ought to do next, Akorsa gave a respective bow of her head in the direction of the crowd and walked a ways down the street. The crowd, also not knowing how to react, decided to resume going about their business. Feeling slightly relieved, Akorsa started walking past some shops that held clothing and jewelry when she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw an older man, probably having already passed his sixtieth winter, looking at her with a meek and hesitant expression upon his face.
�My lady, I beg you forgive me for disturbing you, but I have a matter of importance; something I feel I should bring to your attention,� he said, wringing his hands in front of him as he spoke.
�You have not disturbed me in the least, my good sir. How might I be of assistance?� she asked, giving the man her full attention.
�Well, you see, my lady, for a long time my wife and I have run the orphanage, for the children of both Ilyana and Uljaya who have lost their families, whatever the cause may be. Over the years, our building that we hold ownership of has been deteriorating. The Proctors promised to give us the money to maintain it, but then one day they decided it was not worth their money, so they stopped giving us the funds we require in order to run it properly,� he explained.
�And you and your wife have not the money to repair all that is in need of repairing?� she asked. The old man nodded sadly. �Do not worry yourself, then. I shall see that something is done to help you, I promise it.�
�Oh, truthfully, my lady?� he asked. She nodded and he smiled with tears welling in his eyes. �This means so much to me, and it will to the children as well. I do not think I will ever be able to repay you!�
�I need not be repaid for doing what should have been done all along. It is dreadful that all of this has gone on for so long. When you return home tell the children that they shall be provided for, if I need to repair your orphanage with my own hands, it shall be done,� she said. The man nodded happily, and, thanking her one last time, headed back through the streets and disappeared through the crowd.
Akorsa could not help but smile to herself with a swelling feeling of satisfaction. She felt so unbearably happy that she was beginning to have even the smallest effect on the world where she was. Of course, when she brought the issue of the orphanage before the other Proctors they would dismiss it as irrelevant, but she would see the situation rectified in a proper manner. She also knew she would catch a great deal of heat from them for associating with the lowly commoners. The plain truth was that they ought to have been doing it all the while; they were put up in positions of power to care for these people, but that idea was long forgotten.
Thus, in being the great nuisance that she had set out to be, Akorsa intended to take ever single opportunity to remind them of that, particularly until she got what it was that she wanted. The Proctors still, now after roughly four weeks, had refused to acknowledged the problem of the Maseriff. Akorsa was really forced to contemplate how these ten had gained their positions in office in the first place, but dared explore that thought any more, for fear of what she might truly discover.
Walking down the streets, Akorsa noted that the sun was beginning to go down. She knew she really ought to head back to her quarters, but she had not yet finished looking about the city, which do to her secluded childhood, left her in awe at every turn. She walked leisurely down the wide street, looking in the small shop windows and smiling at the people she walked past, bidding them a good evening. She was almost near the grand building in the center of the cities when she caught eye of something most that she thought to be most fascinating.
To her left on the wide street was what appeared to be a tavern. Suddenly feeling the urge to eat some genuine food, and maybe get a good pint of ale while she was at it, Akorsa headed across the street and entered the bustling establishment. The place was so loud and busy that no one really noticed her enter, something that pleased her greatly. She decided to sit at a table in the back side of the tavern, observing silently until the man behind the bar, more than likely the owner of the establishment, took notice of her.
�Good evening to you, lady. If you do not mind, I shall save you the formality and ask you what you shall be having. Anyone who cares for formality would not be coming in here,� said the big man. �At least, no one ever has.�
�Your assumption is very much correct, and I thank you greatly. If you could, I shall have something simple. What say bread, cheese, and a good mug of ale?� asked Akorsa.
�Good, very good, indeed, and I shall bring out some of our famous rabbit stew while I am at it. You cannot leave without trying it. It is on the house,� he said with a smile, turning back across the tavern and heading into what Akorsa thought to be the tavern�s kitchens. Within a manner of a few moments he had returned with her food and her ale, bidding her to enjoy her meal. She nodded him her thanks and rapidly began to eat.
She sat there for a long time, eating the simple and delectable meal, all the while musing to herself. According to her standards, the food was wonderful, or so she thought. One could never really go wrong with bread, cheese, and rabbit stew. She thought the ale to be a little weak, but nothing is stronger than Arimythian ale, so she was not too terribly surprised. She took the time while she ate to gaze around the establishment leisurely. There was a fire in the communal fireplace, and there were many different people scattered about the tavern, some eating, others holding drinking contests, some simply talking or watching the amusing antics of others.
Of all of it, Akorsa loved the most how, even if for a short time, she was essentially ignored. The fact that she was actually in a known place of common gathering among every day people made her accepted by society. For the first time in many days, all the different titles and politics thrown away, which made her happy, even if it only lasted for but a short while. She was finally beginning to forget her troubles when the large tavern door was kicked open with a bang and some half-dozen armor-clad men stormed into the building, making the whole of the tavern�s patrons jump in fright.
�What is the meaning of this?� demanded the tavern owner gruffly, stepping out from behind the bar. One of the armor-clad men began surveying the room.
�The Lady Proctor Akorsa has gone missing. We are investigating every building in the city in search of her,� he said. Akorsa groaned to herself; they would never truly allow her to be her own person!
�Well, you have found her,� she called across the tavern, waving her arm about in the air so they would notice where she sat. �I did not go missing at all, my good sirs, I simply decided to go out and have a wonderful time on my own around some real people.�
The armor-clad guards bowed before her. �My lady, we have been ordered to see you safely returned to your quarters. We feared you had been kidnapped, or worse,� said the foremost guard.
�Unlike the rest of the men and women you dub as the honorable Proctors, I am capable defending myself when it becomes necessary,� she said, motioning the great axe that was leaning against the wall next to her.
�My lady, I do not doubt your abilities in the least. I am simply telling you what we have been ordered to do. If you would please return to your quarters under our escort, perhaps this matter can be cleared up?� suggested the guard once more, a pleading look in his eyes. Akorsa took a final swig of her ale and thumped the mug down on the table, rising to her feet.
�You do your duty well,� she told them, grabbing the axe. �Who ordered this?�
�We received orders from the Captain-General, my lady. He was summoned when you did not make an appearance at supper with the other Proctors, and were not to be found in your quarters,� he explained.
�I shall need to have a word with them, indeed, as well as with our most esteemed Captain-General,� she said, heading out the tavern door. She stormed down the street towards the grand edifice of the Proctors, leaping up the steps into the building, leaving the guards chasing after her. She shoved the great doors into the building open and stormed in, heading straight for the Hall of the Proctorage. There did she not only find the ten Proctors, but the Captain-General as well, all sitting at the long table.
�So I do understand that you managed to misplace me?� she asked, causing all eleven people in the room to jump out of their chairs as the angry figure burst though the door. She glared at all of them, the Proctors not looking her in the eye. The locked gazes with the Captain-General, who, not about to lose a battle of wills to a young girl, glared back, until she finally turned her glowering gaze back to the others in the room.
�I have had it with the lot of you! You send out the entire Proctorial Guard in search of me? Not even because you were concerned for my safety but because you wish to invade my privacy! Heaven forbid I go out and fraternize with the little people! They are the very ones you were placed in office to serve! You exist solely to help these people, every single last one of them, and they fear your cold cruelty and your prejudiced laws!� she yelled.
�I ran into a mother this very day who feared I would punish her and her family, and only because her little daughter was kind enough to bid me good morning! What kind of people are you, aside from liars, hypocrites, and servants of yourself?� she demanded fiercely, looking at each and every one of the Proctors in the room, none of which had the nerve to meet her gaze at the moment.
�I was also informed about the astonishing situation you have left the orphanage in over the years. It is an absolute disgrace! Money shall be given to the elderly couple that cares for those children, though you never should have stopped giving it to them in the first place. I can clearly see where your loyalties lie; with yourselves! I am going to my quarters now to allow myself to calm down before I break yet another table or window. If you enjoy having all of your limbs attached, do not presume to bother me!� she said, raising the humongous axe threateningly, then turning on her heel and leaving the room.
Akorsa nearly ran up the stairs to the top floor of the great building, storming down her wing and throwing her door to her quarters open to find the room totally dark. She was immensely thankful that Meada and Daysha were not there; for she knew how greatly she needed some time to herself. She put the great axe in its spot against the wall, threw of her boots, and ran into her sleeping quarters, jumping on the large bed. She yelled in frustration and started punching one of the feather pillows until her tears of frustration finally sprang free from her eyes and coated her cheeks.
Burying her head in the soft pillows of the bed, she wept bitterly for home and for her family; for the freedom she had once had among her own people. She was not understood here in the least, and she desperately needed some sign of home. The Proctors saw her as a sort of Maseriff, only in the form of an Arimythian; a hideous and fearful monster that needed to be destroyed. However, Akorsa was no monster, only one seeing to the prosperity of her people. She had been pulled into something so much greater than herself, and now she had not the slightest idea of what to do about it.
She eventually cried herself to sleep, thinking of Keihl and wee little Wyllim playing in open fields. She thought of Fionn and all his mischief, and of all one hundred and fifty-seven sheep of her flock. She remembered her father�s proud and loving smile and her mother�s kind words after horrid late-night dreams. At some point before the dark and soothing blanket of the dreamscape covered her, she felt a newfound feeling of hope buried somewhere within her memories.
- - - -
When Akorsa woke the next day, it was already morning. She knew that the meeting of the Proctors had already started, but she did not feel entirely so inclined as to join them, so she lingered alone within her quarters for the next several hours, performing menial tasks. She took the time to sharpen her axe and to polish her boots. She neither ate nor drank a single thing, for she was still feeling rather ill from the great upset and anger she had burst out with the previous night. Instead, she sat at her grand window and looked towards Arimythia, which she could see as a small speck in the distance.
The sky was clouded and it was raining quite heavily. It was long past midday and it had still not let up, but Akorsa still sat there and stared at the window in the direction of home. She thought it ironic that the heavens would choose to cry on this day, after all she was feeling. Akorsa�s long periods of gazing out the window were suddenly interrupted when there was a hesitant knock at the door. Turning abruptly in her chair, Akorsa glared at the door. The knock came again, and then it was followed by a familiar voice.
�My lady, forgive me for interrupting you, but it is Durward. I come bearing a letter for you,� said the guard. Akorsa emitted a low growl of annoyance, getting up out of the chair and heading towards the door. When she opened it she did in fact find Durward standing there with a folded piece of parchment in hand.
�Would you happen to know who is it from, Durward?� she asked, extending her hand for the letter.
�I know not from whence it came, my lady. The Captain-General ordered me to bring it here, as he knew figured you to still be in an ill mood and did not much care to do it himself,� explained the guard. He handed her the letter. �I do hope your mood brightens, my lady. Have a lovely day.�
�Thank you, Durward,� she said, closing the door and heading back to her armchair in front of the window. She sat and stared at the letter in her hand, turning it this way and that. It was after turning it several times that she took note of the small wax seal on the front, which after much handling, had become smeared. She looked at it carefully for several moments before realizing that there was no actual seal present on the wax; the wax was simply there to keep the letter sealed. This meant that the letter was from Arimythia, as they had no seals and were wont to do such a thing from time to time.
Feeling her heart skip a beat at the realization that she now held a letter from home, Akorsa dug her fingernail under the wax and picked the letter open, flattening out the folded piece of parchment. She gazed at the familiar handwriting with a smile; her father had been the one to write this letter. It read as follows:
To Our Dearest Akorsa,
Let me begin this correspondence, daughter, by telling you that I am not a man of eloquence or of very many words, as you most assuredly are already aware. It will have to suffice to say that everyone here in Arimythia misses you dreadfully and wishes that you could return to us with the utmost haste. We were quite worried when you had not returned to us and when no message was received from you. This letter appeased most of our fears, though some of the things you have told us that have come to pass worry us greatly.
I never would have thought, in all my days, that any child of mine, nor any Arimythian, would manage to become one of the Proctors. Though, knowing you, I cannot say that I am highly astonished, for you were always a child of many accomplishments. Despite this great triumph of yours, we all must honestly tell you we wish it were not so. As your father, I know that a life inside those walls will cause you great pain, if it has not already. You are a shepherdess, not a politician, but I know that whatever you do accomplish while you are within those walls will benefit us all, somehow.
I have no advice to give you other than to tell you to listen to what your heart says, to mind your temper, and to show the goodness of the Arimythian people in all of your actions. Your life is undergoing a great and drastic change, Akorsa, but you can still guide that change and have an effect on the person you become. Do not forget us, your loving family, who think of you and miss you ceaselessly. Keihl misses you and wee little Wyllim cries for his aunt. Fionn is taking wonderful care of your sheep while you are away. I am certain that the flock misses you as well.
I am certain you must be having a terrible time trying to attain whatever help it is you seek from the Proctors. Do not give up hope! While you are away, we here in Arimythia fear a growing danger from the Maseriff. Their shadow is falling over us, and we know that they soon shall return. Do not fear for us, but please do all within your power. We shall persevere whatever happens, always remember that.
With all our love,
Your Family.
Akorsa folded the letter slowly, and then pressed it tightly to her heart with a bit of a sniffle. Her father had always been terribly bad at letter writing, but that was not the true cause of her sadness. She desperately wanted to go home; all the time she spent dwelling so far away from home was all for naught. The letter foretold of another strike by the ferocious hand of the Maseriff, yet she knew the Proctors would ignore it. They always would for as long as the ten of them sat at their table in the Hall.
The thing was, Akorsa realized, that her only way of succeeding would be to actually take matters into her own hands. The only way she could possibly gain the aide she needed to defeat the Maseriff would be to get the Proctorial Army on her side, willing to fight for this cause. That would mean that she would need to have the illustrious and rather arrogant Captain-General on her side. Seeing she and the Captain-General were sort of at odds, Akorsa did not reckon it would be an easy feat, but she had to try. Rising with a newfound determination, she headed out the door and into the city. Today she was going to pay the Captain-General a wee bit of a visit.
