All the girls wrapped head to toe rushed from the courtyard to the kitchen with their baskets.
You would think the soldiers would deliver the daily ration to the cloister, but Isabella insisted that the remaining girls (the healthiest ones were all that remained) got daily exercise by bringing in all the portions of the daily ration.
Lady Isabella seemed to originally have a constant stoic expression on her face, not really showing much emotion. But as time went by she seemed to soften as she listened to the prattling of the younger girls. When Wendy came into the kitchen, she saw Lady Isabella next to Lissa, Wendy's roommate, receiving her basket. Four other Nuns were in the kitchen quickly combining ingredients. Two were filling a pot to make a large amount of porridge, one was preparing ingredients to make bread and the last one was taking the baskets from Lady Isabella to distribute.
At the moment Wendy approached her Holiness, the distant sounds of gunfire rang across the valley. She glanced at the heavy window toward the north, and absent-mindedly took Wendy's basket.
"Good work Gretchen." she said calmly. Wendy's face twisted into an aggrieved frown, but she didn't dare say anything, simply handing over her basket and leaving quickly towards an inner doorway after Lissa. Wendy quickly overtook Lissa in the hallway and whined to her.
"Her Holiness called me Gretchen again..."
Lissa laughed and turned to her. "You can't blame her Holiness, its amazing enough she even remembers half our names."
"But... but I'm Wendy now..." she mourned. Lissa shook her head. "Until you accomplish something grand, or unless you correct her every time, You wont be able to change who you are."
"I could NEVER correct her holiness." Wendy blanched, Wouldn't that be heresy?"
Lissa shook her head thoughtfully, "I don't think so. It seems our teachings are moving away from that kind of thing."
Lissa pulled back her grey shawl revealing brown hair braided into two tails, her brown eyes vibrant, and her skin smooth. Wendy however left her shawl on, still hunched over making herself seem small. Lissa reached out and playfully pulled at her shawl which Wendy quickly pulled tightly to secure.
"Hey lighten up! Things are better now." Lissa cajoled.
Wendy seemed to have a momentary inner conflict, before she hesitantly pulled off her shawl as well letting her silky black hair pour out. If she had dared show her hair a year ago she would have been selected for the "choir" and never be seen again. After passing rows of doors they opened one on the left side. As with all the rooms there were no windows, only a dim Chrystal embedded in the ceiling. Both walls were lined with bunks previously occupied with many thin and starving girls.
Now empty but for the two of them it felt lonely in a way. Lissa hurried to the right side of the room and quickly built a fire in the fireplace with the kindling and wood piled in the corner. Slowly the heat began to spread into the room. Lissa and Wendy had picked the two bottom bunks closest to the fireplace and liberated most of the quilts from the other beds to make themselves comfortable. In front of each bed were several stools for studying. Wendy sat in one near Lissa and fidgeted. Partly from the cold and partly because she wished she had some sewing to work on. When Lissa was finished setting up the fire she eagerly grabbed a brush from her bed and hurried behind Wendy. A look of joy filled her eyes as she brushed the silky hair. Not a single strand would catch on another simply coming loose and straightening with the others.
"Your hair never falls out..." Lissa said amazed.
"Why should it?" Wendy responded.
Lissa shook her head and changed the subject. "One of the old ladies I work with said there's some new merchants on the east side of the city. They said the king from the kingdom of dawn, the one that tried to invade at the end of autumn, has been deposed, and the kingdom there is allied with Greycastle."
Wendy nodded thoughtfully. "In that case the city might start to get merchants again once the winter is over. How many merchants were stuck here this year?"
Lissa shook her head, "I'm not sure but the new hotels near the east gate are busy again, now that they've been rebuilt."
"I'll check there tomorrow then." Wendy said eager for some new business. "How was the nannying today?" she asked Lissa.
"Oh it was wonderful!" Lissa gushed "That little boy from the blacksmiths house called me auntie!"
Wendy listened carefully to Lissa's adventures with the blacksmiths' child, as all she'd done today was mend, and rush around in the snow. In no time it seemed the bell was rung for dinner and they both sat up and left the room. Joining the other 30 or so remaining girls and nuns to gather in the hall. The large room with long tables and benches had once been crowded with one or two hundred girls, each waiting for a small bowl with watered down soup and hard bread. Now only four tables were in use, with only 10 to fifteen people per table, there was plenty of elbow room. Each of the four tables had large bowls of steaming hot bread and smaller bowls of vegetables. The huge fireplace in the north wall of the room was crackling actively to warm the great room. Once people sat down a few nuns brought bowls of warm porridge to set before them. Shortly after everyone had arrived, her Holiness Isabella came in and sat at the main table. Sister Qui then offered a prayer on the food, then everyone dug in and socialized.
In the old days the meal would be in complete silence followed by evening studies and prayers. Now only the younger children would be learning and writing in the daytime, while the older girls went about the city using their skills. Isabella said this would be more useful for them to learn, as everyone in Neverwinter would be working to pay their own way. After eating Isabella stood up to leave, everyone else stood up gazing at her with adoring eyes. Her face twitched and she quickly left the room. The girls then resumed their seats and conversations. After they were done eating, each girl took her wooden bowls to the kitchen and washed them, then carefully dried them and placed them in the cupboards.
Wendy went to a certain nun (the one in charge of her hallway) and let her know her plans for tomorrow. "I plan to go to the east gate and see if there is mending to be done."
The old woman nodded and looked to Lissa behind her.
"More childcare at the blacksmiths shop." she said cheerfully.
After another nod the nun looked back at Wendy with concern and warned, "If the snows fall take shelter in the western cloister, the west gate is far from here. You must never underestimate the blizzards."
"Yes Sister." Wendy nodded familiar with the unpredictable storms of the high mountains.
She and Lissa returned to their room now toasty warm from the coals in the fireplace and got ready for bed.
"Wendy?" Lissa asked.
"Yes?" Wendy responded from beneath four quilts.
"Will anymore demon beasts get in the city?" Lissa's tone sounded uncertain.
"Not likely." Wendy said. "And even if they do, there are four soldiers garrisoned in the courtyard with the new 'rifles' from Neverwinter."
"Yes.. but the other two cloisters are empty... and the west cloister...." she trailed off her voice full of concern.
"That was a rare case... flying demonic beasts rarely get over the high wall in the new city. Bedsides the cloister was empty at the time and the city guard killed the beast before it could cause any harm."
"Alright but... I think its going to snow tomorrow," Lissa mumbled.
"Silly girl, it always snows here, everyday." Wendy calmed her.
"Not like that, I mean... I feel like its gonna be bad."
"On what basis?" Wendy quizzed, "Just because we haven't had a bad one for a while?"
"I... I can't explain it.. Just a feeling." Lissa almost whispered.
After a few moments of silence Lissa's breathing became even and silent, Wendy knew she was asleep. For a few moments she considered calling off her trip but instead she made a mental note to take her pack with all the dried fruit and jerky in it, in case she was stranded in a blizzard on the west side.