Free The Autumn Palace by Ebony McKenna Page A

My brothers and sisters were all born here too. I have two older brothers and one older sister. My sister does the accounts for a toy factory in Norange and my brothers are at Venzelemma University.’
    Ms Kyryl interrupted them. ‘Hetty, I know you’re excited, but it’s class time now. Everyone, please stand for the national anthem.’
    Scraping chair noises echoed around the room as they all stood, hands on heart as the teacher pressed a button on the portable CD player. The opening strains of
Oh Brugel, My Heart
rang out. 44
    Everyone sang, even Ms Kyryl (who sounded off-key). Despite the stirring words and rampant patriotism of a people whose spirit yearns to be free, whenever Ondine sang the words ‘my heart’, she thought of Hamish rather than her country. When she sang about the ‘young and the strong’ she also thought of Hamish. When she sang about ‘hallowed fields’ and ‘wealth for toil’ she had no idea what they meant, so she thought about Hamish for good measure. 45
    Once the anthem finished, they recited the
Pledge of Brugel
. Ondine ran the words together in a light drone: ‘I love God and Brugel. I honour the flag. I serve the Duke. I cheerfully obey my parents, teachers and the law.’
    Ms Kyryl said, ‘Thank you, children. Once they fix the roof we’ll move back to our old rooms, but this willdo for now. This is always a lovely time of year, because we have the Harvest Festival to look forward to. Once again the Duke has asked us to stage a pageant in the ballroom, to entertain the visiting dignitaries. The great and the good of Brugel will all be there, so I know you will do your very best on the night.’
    Ms Kyryl handed out sheets of paper with a list of characters, including Farmer One, Farmer Two, Cabbage, Turnip, Apple, setting Sun and Harvest Moon.
    Ms Kyryl continued, ‘It’s traditional for the festival to follow the full moon, which this year will begin on Thursday the twenty-ninth of October. The Harvest Ball and pageant will be on the Saturday. Now, children, who would like to play the role of Harvest Moon?’
    Ondine worked out the dates. The Saturday would fall on October the thirty-first, Halloween. 46
    Several hands shot up in the air. Ms Kyryl’s eyes alighted on Hetty and she gave her the role. Hetty looked delighted and beamed with pride. Ondine felt a bit silly that she hadn’t raised her hand fast enough.
    Ms Kyryl cast more speaking roles. Each time, Ondine shot her hand up, only to miss out. Until it came to Cabbage. Nobody wanted to be Cabbage. 47 Ondine sighed, raised her hand and felt the sting of defeat. ‘I’ll be Cabbage if you like,’ she said.
    The boys giggled.
    â€˜Hush, class. Thank you, Ondine, you are very gracious.’
    They read through the play. Each time Ondine came to do her lines the boys sitting on the other side of the classroom made squelching noises withtheir hands in their armpits.
    Hetty murmured, ‘Don’t let them get to you. They are just snotty boys.’
    â€˜Thanks.’ Ondine hadn’t known Hetty for long, but already she began to feel she had an ally in this strange palace.
    Miss Kyryl said, ‘Very good everyone. OK, put your scripts away and we’ll have a history lesson.’
    Ondine and Hetty took out their notebooks.
    Ms Kyryl smiled to the class. ‘Now, children, who can tell me when Brugel was founded?’
    Everyone’s hands went up. Not to be overlooked, Ondine shot hers in the air too because she knew the answer.
    The teacher’s eyes alighted on Ondine and she answered with satisfaction, ‘Brugel was declared an independent state in twelve sixty-four.’ 48
    Giggles rippled through the classroom.
    What? How could the answer be wrong?
    â€˜Not to worry,’ Ms Kyryl said. ‘Who can tell us the real answer?’
    Looking bright and perky, Hetty responded with, ‘Brugel was the first land