All Chapters of The choices we make: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

As the weeks passed by into months, Mary’s life followed a steady pattern. She worked in the kitchen, learning new things and impressing Mrs. Karrots with how fast she developed her skills. Her days off she mostly spent alone. As Zerden grew older and started to officially train to become a soldier, he didn’t have as much time for Mary. On days that he was free, there were other things that would take up his time, such as hanging out with the other trainees. But he still made sure to spend time with her once in a while. They would explore the castle together, and soon Mary knew her way around the impressive building almost as well as Zerden. On nice days they would walk in the gardens. Zerden’s parents regularly invited Mary to dinner, and Mary and Zerden’s mother grew close. Sometimes in her free time Mary would go and drink tea with Anna. The evenings with the castellan household were some of Mary’s favourite times. As Mary grew older her feelings for Zerden changed. The feeling of

When Mary the next day was learning how to make a new sauce from one of the chefs, Jossi taped her on the shoulder.“The soldier is here to see you,” she said to Mary, and Mary knew she meant Zerden.“Thanks, can you ask him to wait? I can’t get away at the moment,” Mary said with a pang of bad conscience for keeping him waiting. As soon as she could get away, Mary headed for the door and to her relief Zerden was still waiting at the well.“Hi, sorry to keep you waiting,” she said.“No problem, it won’t take long,” he said. “How long do you usually spend in church on Sundays?” he asked.“Well, the service is about an hour and then time to get there and home, so if I go straight there and home, two hours.”“Can I ask Lady Sarah to meet us at the second guard change after lunch? You should be back from church then, right?” he asked Mary. Mary didn’t want to go with him to meet Lady Sarah, but she had promised, kind of.“Yeah, that should be fine,” she said with a small sigh Zerden didn’

“I know it must take time away from Zerden and you, and I know what good friends you are,” Anna therefore said. Mary shrugged.“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” she told Anna. Yes, Anna thought, but it was supposed to happen with you.“Is there something else on your mind?” she asked Mary, going back to her first instinct.“Yes, I think I need your advice on something,” Mary confessed.“I would be honoured to help you.”“For the last couple of weeks my friend Erik has been going to church with me. It has been really nice not being alone,” Mary started. “But the other day Zerden told me I shouldn’t do that anymore, it isn’t proper for me to spend time alone with a man. Now I don’t know what to do. I do want to keep seeing Erik; he’s my oldest friend. But I don’t think I want to marry him, and I definitely don’t want to get a bad reputation,” she continued, and Anna could see she was close to tears. Anna realised this was probably the angriest she had ever been with her son. Fir

It was Wednesday afternoon, Mary was hiding away in the church, appreciating the silence and that she didn’t have to worry about being recruited to another secret meeting. Mary saw Father Link come walking towards her. He sometimes stopped by where she sat when she was there, just to exchange a couple of words.“Good afternoon, Mary,” he said in a low voice. “May I join you?”“Good afternoon, Father. Please do.”“Here alone today?” he asked.“Yes, Erik and Ida can only come along on Sundays.”“I have enjoyed seeing you with your friends,” the priest said.“I’m lucky to have them.”“Has something happened since you are coming by more frequently of late? Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but I just want to make sure there isn’t something on your mind.”“Thank you, Father,” Mary said and wondered if she should tell him about Zerden. But that didn’t seem appropriate. She chose to go with a half-truth. “The sickness has been on my mind a lot lately.”“As it has for most of us, my child,”

After lunch Mary headed up to visit Anna, as it was her free afternoon. Anna brewed the tea and then they sat down to enjoy it and talk.“Zerden finally told us about Lady Sarah,” Anna told Mary, both women knowing Anna had known about the lady for almost a year.“Yes, he told me you had her over for dinner the other night,” Mary said, trying not to let her jealousy show. Anna couldn’t hide the expression of dissatisfaction that showed on her face.“Yes, that was … interesting,” she said to Mary, who raised her eyebrow questioningly.“Lady Sarah didn’t seem to enjoy her surroundings while visiting, and I think she didn’t really understand Ken’s position or rank. She didn’t offer him any respect or indication of his rank. You know how cranky my Ken can become,” Anna said, frowning. Mary looked at her with horror. Not giving the castellan the respect he deserved was unheard of, and Mary didn’t want to think about being at the wrong end of him being cranky. On the other hand, she was sec