The Kingdom of Eternal Winter (Divergent Fourtris Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

On their first day in Amity, time passed fast. Beatrice and Christina accompanied Johanna to the farms and helped her work in the fields all day. Most of Amity seemed to be outside with them, working the hard soil. The visitors were easy to make out even from afar by their different clothes, but also because they often had to pause to ask what to do to help grow the crops despite the cold.

The work was hard and repetitive, and while Christina sighed heavily from time to time and took breaks that were longer than necessary, Beatrice kept going without complaints. The monotonous movements distracted her from the path she'd have to go to complete the tasks and took her worries away for a while. Some Amity occasionally stroke up a song that more and more people then joined in singing, simple songs about love and peace and the beauty of nature. Digging up the hard earth and cutting furrows was easier accompanied by a tune that that provided a rhythm for their work.

Beatrice had never given much thought to how the Amity were still growing crops despite the cold, but she learned from Johanna how they had changed their methods. There was a tank of water that was heated by a fire and then pumped manually through subterranean pipes under some of the fields. Other crops were now grown in houses made of glass that could keep an even temperature. Some of their people had specialized in pollinating the plants, as there were too little bees around to produce enough fruit.

Beatrice couldn't help but feel stupid about her prior ignorance and remembered the times she had secretly complained about the low quality and variety of food available these days. Now she realized she could be thankful that there was enough food to keep the people of the kingdom alive and prevent them from starving to death at all. Never again would she forget to appreciate the Amity's work. It was her last thought before she fell into a deep sleep after this long day.

On their second day in Amity, time passed just as fast. They helped to patch the fences surrounding the farms that were supposed to keep animals away from the orchards and fields. It was less monotonous, but still difficult with the makeshift equipment they had to use for lack of proper construction material.

Christina used their lunch break to ask around about the first contestant's visit to the fairies the day before, but she came back to Beatrice with little to no information. All she had found out was that two of the girls, both from Dauntless, had just run off after breakfast instead of helping in the fields, as they'd been asked to do by their hosts. Beatrice shook her head at such disrespectful behavior. What did they think who they were?

They stayed outside until the sun started to set, and when they returned to Johanna's house, all they wanted to do was eat and go to bed early.

But, however, Johanna had other plans for the night.

"Once every week, we all meet at the municipal hall to hold a weather ceremony. We haven't given up hope that one day the sun will return to warm these grounds we call our home. Even if there's little we can do, at least we continue to do this," Johanna explained. "You will join us tonight as we perform the old rituals handed down through the centuries. And remember it's an honor to partake in this ceremony, so please act accordingly. Do what you are invited to do and don't decline what's offered to you."

Beatrice felt the deep importance Johanna gave to this ceremony, so she gave her approval immediately, ignoring her aching bones and sore muscles. Additional training definitely wasn't needed while staying in Amity.

And that is how it came that they found themselves in the middle of the gathered crowd in front of the province's municipal hall, a warped wooden building with crumbling yellow paint. A secret signal must have been given, at which people formed a huge circle with rows and rows of people standing behind each other around a heap of piled up firewood. Copying the Amity, Beatrice and Christina hurried to find a place in the inner circle, where they'd have a good view.