Alcingeria

Chapter Thirty Three: The Grand Tour

Chapter Thirty ThreeThe Grand Tour:

Monday June 28th 1690

It was about three in the afternoon. Just as I was wondering what to do, Lawrence turned to me.

"Would you like me to give you a tour of the castle, sir?" He asked.

That could be good. It would give me an idea of the layout of the whole castle without me needing to snoop around.

"That'd be great, thanks Lawrence."

He smiled back at me.

"Very well then. Follow me."

Lawrence led me down the hallway that our rooms as well as a few other unoccupied rooms were located.

"This is the residential wing, where lower class visitors stay. It's on the west side of the castle." Lawrence explained.

I nodded. It was kind of obvious where this was, but I figured it was part of the tour. We came to the twin staircases that led up from the doorway. The huge room smelled of roses, like pretty much every room in the castle.

"This is the grand entryway," Lawrence said with his arms spread out, gesturing to the whole room.

"Impressive." I remarked.

He led me across the walkway that the two staircases met at. We walked down that hallway.

"This is the east side of the castle. This is another residential wing, however it is reserved for upper class visitors."

I noticed that there were fancy paintings on the walls here as well as roses on pedestals. I looked around the hallway for a little longer, then Lawrence walked downstairs. I followed. We crossed the grand entryway's marble flooring and went to the hallway that led to the throne room, where there were many doors on either side of us that lined the hallway. There were roses on pedestals between them, just like before. Lawrence turned left and entered the closest one. Inside I heard the clatter of metal pans, people shouting and the hiss! Of sizzling food.

"This is the Queen's personal kitchen. Open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week." Then he added, "for the Queen, of course."

He quickly led me back out into the hallway so as not to disturb the cooks. We went to the door across the hall. I heard the sound of metal hitting metal. The room was about fifteen square feet. There was a huge skylight open high above. All around me I saw men working away at forges and anvils. They were blacksmiths. Their forges spewed black and grey smoke that floated up and out of the room through the open skylight.

"This is the blacksmith room. These men manufacture weapons for the Queen's army," he said. "They each have a weekly quota to meet. If there is a surplus of their products, we ship them throughout Alcingeria for extra profit."

"What if the weekly quota is not met?" I asked.

Lawrence was silent for a moment.

"Whoever does not meet the weekly quota... Is executed."

"What?! On what charges?" I asked, surprised and scared by his answer.

Lawrence shook his head.

"No charges. If Queen Yuka says that someone is to be executed, they will be executed. No questions asked."

I looked at all the men. Upon closer examination, I saw that not all of them were men. There were boys here too. Some no older than fourteen.