The Caged Princess(Book 1)

Chapter - 3

The archipelago consisted of three major islands.

Nadia often wondered if people in the past had put any effort into naming these islands. In any case, the names had stuck around all these years and no one raised any objections now.

The island in the South direction was named South Kua, which was where Nadia lived in. While it had a school of its own. They were public schools mostly run by the Church and it operated through donations. Since there was never enough funding or enough faculty to properly manage the place, it was a place youngsters went to dilly-dally and play around.

Parents who saw no merit in educating their children and only wanted to send them someplace so that they themselves could work in peace, usually preferred this kind of schooling. On the other hand, parents who wanted their kids to get proper education were sent to the West island.

The main occupation of the people living in South Kua was agriculture. It had the most fertile land of them all. It also had a lot of hills. Farmers grew vegetables and fruits and sold them to the other islands.

So, naturally, this was also the poorest island of the three.

Nadia's mother too earned in the same way. They had an orchard and a tea garden. While Nadia worked on the orchard, her mother tended to the tea gardens. They weren't rich enough to have all the luxuries but they were still blessed with surplus yields of fruits and top quality tea leaves. So they never had any shortcomings either. She was grateful for that.

The island on the west side , West Wells island, was an industrial island. All the factory and the manufacturing was primary done there. It was also called as the 'land that never slept'. No matter what time of day it was, the rumbling of the machines never died down. Raw material was provided by the South and it was processed in the west. Majority of the schools were located there as well. It was the most populated and bustling island.

The most popular school in the West Wells was Redbridge High. Nadia snickered at the name, it was directly situated near a red colored bridge, hence the name. No originality whatsoever.

Her mother had expressed displeasure at Nadia going so far for something as insignificant as school. She suspected her mother was betting on Nadia not being smart enough to crack the entrance exam for a famed high school. Nadia couldn't blame her. It surprised her as well.

The island on the east side, East Ido , was the affluent one. All the influential people like singers , actors , doctors , scientists and businessmen lived there in huge lavish homes. The governor, in name only, of their archipelago lived there as well.

It was a dream for everyone to someday see that island. But the common folk were not allowed there without special permission from someone from the inside. It is said that when the islands were newly formed, people first settled on the east and slowly expanded to other lands. It is also said that all the mines of coal and precious elements are situated in the East and that there is a webbing of tunnels beneath the surface that are open for mining till this day. Centuries have passed by and the only reason the east is so flourished is because of the tunnels.

Nadia wondered what kind of treasure was inside the tunnels for it to be so invaluable and yet so inexhaustible. But again how much worth can you place on rumors.

The islands were connected by bridges the went between them. The red bridge, worn down from time and its usage but sturdy nonetheless, connected the south and the west . Silver bridge that always seemed spotless lay between the east and west islands.

There was no bridge between south and and east. They did not want to do anything with the peasants. All the business that they had was concluded with the west. They never saw a need to interact with the people from the South.