The period of time that Akorsa spent waiting for some sort of correspondence from Arimythia went by with a painful slowness. She had been in the city for nearly three weeks now and she was certain that madness was most assuredly coming to claim her. She was having a difficult time in making the last of her adjustments to her knew life; some things that even Meada and Daysha could not help her with.
One of the things, aside from holding council within the Hall, which the Proctors did together was eat their supper in another of the building�s great halls. This proved to be a most trying time for the young shepherdess, but not only because of the people she was forced to dine with. The people of Ilyana and Uljaya were what could be considered as more sophisticated than the Arimythians. Akorsa found it difficult to eat with the Proctors because the things they served for supper were not what she truly considered to be food.
She had grown on bread and cheese, her mother�s stew, or warm soup during the cold winter nights, but not these extravagant dishes that she was now faced with. She was a shepherdess, thus her main form of sustenance was something that could be packed and taken out to pasture and that would last for several days. She lived off of freshly grown vegetables and fruits, like any simple person would. These people of the city could not possibly ever survive in such a manner; they were far too needy and even more wasteful than what she considered to be naturally healthy.
Life was not as it was in Arimythia when confined within the stone walls that protected the two great cities. Akorsa found it difficult to adjust to this, for she was frowned upon by her peers for not eating, and she was appalled by the wastrels that the Proctors were. All of her life had she been told of the differences between her people and those she now stayed with, only now she truly saw what she had been told for all those years long past, and it disturbed her greatly.
One day, after being confronted with an excessive amount the Proctor�s nonsense, she could take no more. Having put up with their mockery for far too long, and having felt a great surge of loneliness, Akorsa threw all thoughts of her appearance away. She approached the guards that held the door to the great hall as the Proctors adjourned from it.
�Good morning to you, my good sirs,� she said, giving both of the guards a slight bow. The two soldiers looked genuinely perplexed at her actions. They had held and guarded those doors for years, and not once had a Proctor ever so much as acknowledged either of them.
�G-good morning, Lady Akorsa,� stammered the one, and then attempting to make a clumsy bow for her.
�Why do you bow before me, sir?� she queried, curious to hear the man�s response. She knew very well what the answer would be, but she was trying to determine the manner in which the commonest of the city-folk looked upon their rulers.
�My lady, such is the way of things. It is a sign of respect and reverence,� he explained to her as if that fact were as clear as the day.
�It that so? Gentlemen, I would ask you both your names,� she said. The two guards looked at one another with dread in their eyes, obviously thinking they had committed some grave wrong.
�I am Werner,� said the light haired one, bowing nervously.
�My lady, I am called Durward,� said the other.
�Durward and Werner, from whence do you hail?� she asked.
�We are both from Ilyana, my lady,� said Durward hesitantly; taking a great care to look at her feet the entire time he spoke.
�Then, Durward and Werner of Ilyana, I would tell you in all honesty, that not a single one of the eleven souls that move in and out of this door on a daily basis are worthy of your bows. Tell me, truly, have they ever done a single thing for either one of you that would give you cause to personally revere them?� she asked, and both men responded with a sheepish shake of their heads. �I know for it to be a certain fact that I have not, and thus, not a single one of us is deserving of your respect or your admiration.�
They did not seem to understand here as clearly as she had hoped. �My lady,� said Durward, �we need no proof of your worth, or any other Proctor�s. The position you hold shows every citizen of both Ilyana and Uljaya you are worthy of our reverence!�
�And were a visibly horrid and immoral man to come into a position of power as I hold here, would you still think in a like manner?� Neither of the guards answered. �In the end, position means naught, for I know men of greater character who till the soil. Do not so idly give away your bows away to those who rule you, gentlemen,� said Akorsa.
�I am certain, my lady, that your words have a great truth to them, though the depth of them is still beyond my feeble comprehension,� said Werner.
�Feeble comprehension, you say? There is nothing feeble about your comprehension, good Werner. Humility is a wonderful and powerful tool in making yourself a better person. I do speak this from personal experience, mind you. Do not dare to lower yourself from that humility to self-deprecation. None here is quite as low as higher powers might make them out to be,� she said with a kind smile. �Good day to you!�
�A wonderful day to you, fair lady!� called both Durward and Werner, as Akorsa turned and walked away. When she was gone, the looked at each other with wide eyes and broad grins and laughed.
�My friend, I do believe I sense some great change coming in this direction,� said Durward, nudging his friend roughly and nodding in the direction of the Hall of the Proctors. Werner nodded and clasped his friend and comrade-in-arms� shoulder.
�I do believe you are right, Durward, indeed you may just be right!�
- - - -
After the intriguing conversation she had with Durward and Werner, Akorsa headed towards the upper floors of the building for her quarters. She was quite glad that she had gotten through to the two of those guards; that she had been able to make Werner and Durward see what was so dreadfully wrong with their society, if not only allow them a slight insight into the real world. The two guards of the door to the Hall of the Proctors were just the beginning of what Akorsa was truly planning.
In all honesty, the shepherdess had been devising a plan, or scheming, as some might prefer to call it. She did not want to overthrow the government; she wanted to reform it and return it to the just and legitimate way in which it was meant to be. The only way she knew to successfully accomplish her goal was to go out and gain the support of the people. She did not want to be famous or revered, but to be acknowledged because of the moral differences Akorsa had from the other Proctors. Therefore, when she arrived at her quarters and found Meada and Daysha about, she was much relieved to have someone to talk to about these matters.
�My, Lady Akorsa, you have returned here rather late. Did you run into trouble after the meeting?� asked Meada from where she sat on a large and padded green armchair.
�Trouble is not how I would choose to word it, Meada. I had more than my fill of the Proctor�s badgering about my tendencies as an Arimythian. I am in desperate need of some reasonable human conversation. Though, I must tell you both, I had a wonderful chat with the two guards outside the door to the Hall,� Akorsa said, putting the big axe in a corner against the wall and taking a seat near her two companions.
�Oh, how lovely,� commented Daysha. �Who were they?�
�Their names were Durward and Werner. They were quite nice fellows, or so I believed them to be, at least while I was speaking with them. I do indeed feel as though I got some point across to them about the Proctors. The people need to realize that these people that they idolize so terribly are no better than they are!� said Akorsa.
�Well, so long as you do not go about deliberately making great masses of trouble, your little crusade shall prove well worth it,� confirmed Meada with a nod. �Perhaps people will come to their senses and act upon them.�
Akorsa nodded silently, and then stared at the floor in a deep sort of contemplation for a great manner of minutes, before raising her head to stare at her companions. �Would either of you know some secret way for me to sneak out of this dreadful place?�
Daysha gaped at her. �You know full and well that you are not to go about the cities without an escort! Something dreadful might happen to you!�
�Daysha, you know as well as I that I can very well care for myself. I need to be around normal people, such as you two! I need to associate with more every-day folk before I waste away under this heaving blanket of political restrictions. Allow me this chance to breathe the open air on my own, what say?� Akorsa practically begged.
The two maids looked at the younger woman with a great indecision. They desperately wanted to help Akorsa in her attempt to get away from it all, and though they greatly feared for her safety, they also feared for whatever could possibly happen to themselves for assisting such a radical course of action. Deciding that nothing would ever be achieved through their fear of risks, they agreed.
There was in fact a secret passage out of the great building. It had been put there ages ago, just in case anything had ever happened that would give the inhabitants of the building a means of escape. Daysha and Meada led Akorsa down a series of halls which she had been through many times before, then through some of the small servant�s quarters. The passage was behind a great tapestry within the servant�s wing, which was easily pushed aside to reveal a secret wooden door.
�Take this passage all the way to its very bottom. You will run into a small door on the other end, which when you go through it, will lead you into the city of Ilyana. You wear your Proctor�s robes and carry that gigantic axe of yours, so we will try not to fear too terribly for you. Not a soul within these walls would dare to do you harm,� said Meada.
�I thank you from the bottom of my heart, both of you!� said Akorsa, embracing both of them tightly before turning towards the door. �I should be gone for no longer than but a short while. If anyone asks you where I am, tell them you know not, that you have not seen me!�
�We shall do as you ask. Good luck to you, and be safe!� said Daysha as Akorsa disappeared down the secret passage as they moved the tapestry back in place. Daysha looked at Meada with a skeptical expression. �I swear that girl is mad!�
�Not mad, Daysha. Just overenthusiastic and idealistic, I believe. I also do believe she has a rational point to her words. She may yet accomplish something grand in her time here,� said Meada as they carefully headed back to their own rooms in hopes of completing some work they had yet to have finished.
