Machine of Fire and Blood

FOURTEEN

As it turned out, Carrow and Adithreel could be quite mean and quite funny when they wanted to be. They had spent the morning going back and forth, trying to get a reaction out of Calaithe and Elden. Most of the time, Calaithe had failed at holding her neutral expression in place, but she'd been starting to improve by the time they decided to stop for lunch. Now all she needed was several more hours of training over the course of many days, and then maybe she could start to scratch the surface of controlling herself on the same level that Adithreel and Carrow both seemed able to.

When they'd arrived at the dining room, Kit already had a beautiful lunch set out for them on the table. It consisted of roasted pig and salad and bread rolls and sliced apples. There was a variety of jams and butters spread out to go with the rolls. Calaithe had never had someone make so much food for her in her life.

"I figured since we didn't really get to have a welcoming feast yesterday, now would be a good time to do it," Kit had explained.

It had taken a lot of restraint for Calaithe not to gorge herself on food. Not only was she aware that they were planning to continue with physical training after lunch, her stomach was also still weak from years of eating nothing but gruel and stale bread. She was used to eating small amounts twice a day, to rationing, and being fed only enough to keep her working. She had discovered after eating the fresh, rich pastry from the bakery that although she wanted to eat everything she had never gotten a chance to eat before, her stomach wasn't able to handle it. So, she'd been trying to introduce new foods and flavours slowly, trying hard not to eat too much and make herself sick.

For the most part, they had eaten in silence. Some of the things Adithreel and Carrow had said to try to get a rise out of her still boiled beneath her skin, even if they had only said them for training purposes. The comments that had gotten to her most were ones about Chaon Danson. It had been hard to keep the hatred and anger from bubbling through.

"So, Calaithe," Carrow began as they were finishing up their meal. "What experience do you have with a sword?"

Calaithe shook her head. "None. The first time I ever even held a sword was a few days ago in the Datsune."

Carrow sighed. "Alright. We have our work cut out for us then. What is your history? Where did you come from? What kind of life have you lived? Have you ever hold or worked with anything similar to a sword?"

Calaithe glanced at Elden and Adithreel. She shouldn't be embarrassed to tell her story. They already knew it, and Carrow and Kit were friends of Adithreel, they likely wouldn't think less of her, but she also didn't want them to look at her differently. She didn't want to be looked at with pity. Still, she knew that it was better to just be honest about herself. There was no hiding who she had been.

"I grew up as a slave in the Manor. I worked for Chaon Danson in the furnace chamber. The closest thing to a sword I've ever used is a pickax or a shovel," she replied.

Kit frowned across the table at her before turning his gaze to look at Elden. He was checking to see if Elden already knew this information. Elden was staring down at his lap. For however much Calaithe was ashamed of the information, Elden was equally if not more ashamed than her.

"Neither of you should feel shame over that information," Adithreel said quietly. "Neither of you are the ones at fault. Calaithe, you were forced into that situation and you did the hard work you had to in order to survive. And Elden, you grew up with a great deal of privilege that you had no reason to question before now. You took action as soon as you found out what your father was truly up to and that is what matters."

Calaithe nodded. It was hard not to feel shame. She felt shame that she'd lived such a lowly life, she felt shame know that she knew that the furnace she had helped keep running all these years was actually a tool in Chaon Danson's plan, and she felt shame knowing that she had left so many people behind to continue suffering in that chamber.