Midnight's Song by Keely Victoria Read Free Book Online Page A

probably already know, but you
might call me Jackoby.”
    We happily shared
the lunch of bread, apples, and cheese as he told me all about his
life and I told him in turn about mine. Jackoby was just a few days
short of 19, but to me he seemed years beyond. I thought that it
might have been because of the life he led, and I was right.
Jackoby’s parents where 12 th caste grain millers who had
sent him to the Devereaux Estate at the age of 9.
    They sent him there
as part of a special program that would allow him a life of safety,
warmth, and a full belly in exchange for service to the
2 nd and 3 rd castes. From his childhood Jackoby had been
working as a servant at the Deveraux Estate, first starting as a
stable boy and later working his way up to a position assisting
Archie and caring for the carriage, horse, and passengers while the
traveled.
    “It also meant that there
was one less mouth to feed and a new pocketful of money each month
to help put bread on the table,” Jackoby dishearteningly told me. I
shuddered at the plain reluctance in his voice – not because I
pitied him – but because his pain was something I knew in
full.
    Archie came back from his
walk, surprised to see Jackoby sharing the same space of the cabin.
The man knew that it was off limits, but he didn’t say anything
about it. Desiring to avoid bringing about any disfavor on my part,
Archie unquestioningly sat back in his seat and cracked his whip to
get the horses moving again. Five hours would pass, and Jackoby
actually did prove to be pleasant company.
    However, he was also very much human
and highly exhausted from his duties. After an hour or two, he
unintentionally drifted off into a much needed sleep. I immediately
knew that the silence would be monotonous, but I still would have
rather been bored than be cruel and selfish enough to force him out
of a sparsely seen rest for my own sake.
    Meanwhile, the scenery was changing.
The salty breezes of my island village disappeared and gave way to
fields of endless, colorful green fields. The further our carriage
went the more colorful and diverse the flora of the countryside
became. Everything that had once appeared so desolate became a
pasture that was green and full of life, masking the fact that
there was still an ongoing draft in our nation.
    Eventually I saw
homes beginning to appear on the pastures, each one the carriage
passed by seeming to grow bigger than the last. One-by-one the
empty fields became rows of stately mansions and regal manors for
all to see. I knew that these homes were too grand to belong to
anyone in my caste or below, so it must not have been much longer
until we reached the land of the 3 rd ’s and
2 nd ’s.
We were certainly in the land of the upper-castes
now.
    The sky paled to its
orange hue, and our carriage began to slow as we reached a stretch
of unending stone pavement. The carriage rocked and bounced around
as we changed surfaces from the soft, uneven ground to a more level
but grittier one. Jackoby woke immediately and prepared to climb
outside of the carriage window as soon as he felt the cobblestone
road jitter the carriage.
    “Thanks for the rest,”
Jackoby winked. “We’re getting close to home now, so I’d better get
out of the cabin before someone sees me and decides to ban me from
the carriage all together!”
    “That’s probably a
good idea,” I responded, scrunching my nose and smiling in order to
mask my nerves. “Seeing a 10 th caste riding in this cabin
alone is probably enough shock for the entire
empire.”
    Jackoby winked at me
again and then came to his feet, opening up the door of the
carriage and climbing up the side masterfully all while its heavy
wheels remained in motion. All the while I stared out of the
windows and bit my lower lip in anxious wonder. Each of the homes
we passed seemed to dwarf the last in comparison. This is it, I told
myself. About to enter into a world of
prestige .
    We pulled to a towering gate. The gate
was