The King & the Brother

Chapter 3

    Cessair didn't come into Jabez's room to wake him, he simply met him at the table where he already had his plate of slosh, but he hadn't touched it much. When Jabez sat down, Cecilia and another staff member bumped into him on their way to discipline another orphan, making him drop his fork. He let a sign out, thankful he at least had a napkin to wipe it off.
    Cecilia had been interjecting into other children's conversations at the tables more often, even throwing strong glares in Cessair and Jabez's direction. She was regularly a force in the mornings, but today she seemed more aggressive and intrusive than usual.
     "Are you going to eat?" Jabez asked as he stuffed a spoonful of thick grey slosh into his mouth; causing him to cough as it made its way slowly down his throat. 
     "You can't even stand the food, why would I think it's any better?" He joked, deflecting from his lack of appetite. 
     "You and me both know it's not about taste, it's about filling that hole in your gut so we can get through another day." Jabez tolerated the food better than others since this was all he ever knew but him and Cessair have gone into great length about their desire to try a meal that looked like it came from a sewage pipe. Jabez would get looks of disbelief and horror when he ate sometimes, most of the new orphans couldn't stomach the food. He didn't like the food but this was the one time he enjoyed the glances he got, the boys had to contain their laughter when a newbie caught sight of him. Cessair was surprised by how stern Jabez had sounded. He grumbled for a moment before finally picking up his spoon. Other boys began finishing their meals and heading out of the hall when Cessair was finally convinced to eat his meal.
As Cessair was taking his first bite, Cecilia would practically manifest in front of them, 
     "It's time to clean now, ya brats." Her nasally voice rang through their ears like grinding metal, causing.   
      Cessair to snap back, "We haven't even finished eating!" This was not well received by Cecilia who continued her berating of the boys. 
     "Can it, I know yer just takin it slow to avoid yer kitchen duty. Now get up and take ya bowls with ya." They rose and walked to the kitchen, Cecilia breathing down their necks the whole way. It was only a few doors down from the dining hall but it felt like miles with Cecilia behind them. 
    The kitchen was in rough shape, but it wasn't any worse than the day prior at least. "Get going, ya don’t got all day. -- And Cessair, I don't wanna hear no back talk today, or ever again. Keep quiet ya worthless orphan." Cessair kept his back turned to her and started gathering everything he needed to clean as she left the room.
    The boys really seemed to hit their beat today and managed to finish their work just before kitchen staff began arriving to cook dinner. It was a small crew of only three people but sometimes the head cook's sister would come in to lend a hand. Their presence and hurried pace filled the room with a sweaty anxiety that everyone now shared. Cecilia came in behind the kitchen staff, she didn't say anything and the boys couldn't read exactly what her face was saying, but it certainly wasn't pleasant and it sent a chill down their spines.
   They were sent off to dinner without much being said by their cruel examiner. Breakfast was uneasily similar to last night's dinner, the biggest difference being what cut of cheap meat ended up being thrown in. Cessair was back to his usual funk, not wanting to eat his food. Despite Jabez's usual persistence, he wasn't able to convince his friend to eat, not even a bite this time.
    The next morning Cessair felt sick to his stomach, his body was beyond hungry. He felt like he practically had to drag himself to the dining hall, which he felt was pointless in the first place. He didn't have the appetite to eat much, let alone the garbage they called food at Huxley, but the pain was beginning to grow so he promised himself he'd try to get a few bites down.
    The atmosphere in the dining hall was the same as the day prior, so he knew he'd have to get those bites in before Cecilia abducted them. Jabez had been carrying the conversation, cheerfully talking about a nightmare. Cessair didn't catch all the details but this one seemed to be about him having little tears all over his skin and a whole different cast of monsters.      
      "How can you talk so cheerfully about your nightmares? Especially such a painful one?" 
       "I've always found nightmares to be more interesting, they're usually more vivid too. I know it's weird but I think I'm just glad to have remembered a dream." Cessair noticed Jabez didn't actually refer to it as a nightmare, but didn't comment. He wondered if Jabez still considered his nightmares to be an escape from Huxley, even if they were gruesome most of the time. 
    Cessair managed to get a few bites down before his stomach began to rage from a different pain, he set his food aside and adjusted his position. Once his food began to settle, the pain started to lessen as well. The boys spotted Cecilia making her way over to them, Cessair collected his things and Jabez took a few more quick bites before doing the same thing. She was abrasive as usual with her collection, the boys looked forward to her leaving them alone for the day.
    The boys immediately got to work once in the kitchen, setting their bowls on the counter and not waiting for Cecilia to speak. 
     "This is all you're good for. Cleaning up the mess of others who deserve more." She spat, knocking over the bowls and few other pots of burnt breakfast grunge that the kitchen staff must have failed making today. Cessair could feel his face getting hot with anger, she was so spitefully mean, he couldn't stand it. Regardless of how he felt, the job was even larger now so he tried to use his anger to fuel his determination.
    The boys were on a streak, they had already been cleaning the kitchen for the last few days and had begun to create a pretty efficient routine. Kitchen staff had begun to arrive as the two were finishing respective tasks, Cecilia followed behind them. She almost jumped when she walked in and seemed shocked the boys were finishing up, she wasn't pleased despite the good work they had accomplished.
   She walked over to Jabez, who was cleaning up a mess on the floor across the room. As he was standing up, she shoved him back down with her knee, "Yer not done yet, yer both missin dinner! Keep cleanin, you brat." The kitchen staff looked over at the scene but had nothing to say, most went back to their work. Jabez picked himself back up to his knees and continued cleaning the empty floor, tears welling in his eyes but he was determined to not let Cecilia see. 
     Cessair couldn't believe his eyes and he absolutely lost it, "We were finishing up as you were walking in! We'd already be eating dinner if you hadn't fucking shoved him!" He screamed, approaching the caretaker, his hate taking over his expression. 
      "Be quiet, you wort--" Cessair interrupts.
      "You make life so miserable and it's all just because you hate yourself so much!" He grabbed Cecilia's arm and squeezed tightly. 
      "Let go of me brat!" She began to yell for help but would trail off as Cessair kept screaming.
      "You literally beat us! If you only had to deal with a fraction of what you put us through!" He continued yelling as kitchen staff began to separate them. It wasn't until Cessair noticed that Cecilia wasn't trying to pull away anymore and her skin began turning colorless, that he stopped his ranting. He panicked and released her arm, backing away into a large kitchen staff member who restrained him. Cecilia lost her footing and her color returned to her soon after standing; her face went bright red. She seemed shaken but her anger was quick to show through, she suddenly brandished her iron rod and wracked Cessair across the face. This was the first time she had used it on a child's face and she did so without hesitation. 
     Her voice was shaky as she spoke, "Get them out of here! Lock them in their rooms." The kitchen staff looked confused with Cecilia's demands but before they could process further, she continued to bark, "Go'n get a caregiver ya waste a space Throw these children away!" She screamed, snapping the staff into action and the two were dragged away while Cecilia regained her composure. Cessair wouldn't even look at his friend the whole way back to the room, he felt horrible that his outburst would likely result in a punishment for Jabez.
    The boys were placed into lockdown, they weren't allowed to leave their rooms except for scheduled work and bathroom breaks if someone was awake to take them. The staff would often take their time coming to take them, especially if it was Cecilia. 
Cessair and Jabez were only given cold breakfast leftovers before they were forced into the kitchen with no dinner afterwards. This bothered Cessair but he didn't have much ground to stand on for arguing as he had barely eaten any of the bowls he received over the two days they had been in lockdown so far anyway. What dug under the boys' skin the most was that Cecilia managed to make Huxley feel even more lonely, a place that constantly reminded them of how alone they were in this world. Kitchen duty was the closest thing they could get to socializing, it was a brief moment of relief; despite the uncomfortable workload.