¹Royal Cries, p. jackson

006.

ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter six

━━ THE TOUR OF the cabins was a blur. Zoë refused to let Castor and Pollux near the cabin, she insisted that she would give Elisa the tour of Artemis's cabin for them. It was a silver building with silver curtains. The walls inside were decorated with silver outlines of animals sacred to the goddess of the Hunt; deer, bears, and guinea fowls. The bunks were occupied for once ( Elisa assumed, anyway ).

Elisa had tried to talk to Bianca but she didn't seem to want to talk to Elisa. It was basically a one-sided conversation. Elisa picked up on the obvious hints easily, frowning, and making her exit from Cabin Eight.

She was led to Cabin Six, the cabin for Athena. It was a grey building with plain white curtains and a design of an owl over the door. The interior had a workshop and a library. The library was filled with thousands of books and old scrolls, as well as tables and chairs for the inhabitants to study or read. The workshop was crammed with tables and workbenches, and the cupboards were filled with materials to build things. There were also several 3D models of buildings, blueprints, old war maps, and armor. All the bunks shoved together against one wall, as if sleeping was the last thing on their mind.

There were some people inside, and they all greeted Elisa with warm smiles, but none seemed up to a conversation. They all went back to what they were doing, and Elisa got the hint that they had better things to do.

"Cabin Four! Demeter's cabin!" said Pollux happily. "We train with them often, Demeter and Dad both have powers over plants, it makes sense."

Elisa hummed, looking at Cabin Four with interest. It was covered in flowers; window sills, the rooftop, planted around the edge of the cabin. Tomato plants grow on the walls and doorway. Wildflowers and roses were growing on the porch. It has a real grass roof. The cabin is colored a light shade of brown.

The inside has a grass floor and an oak tree in the center to hold up the ceiling. A girl with straw-brown hair and with cedar brown eyes was smiling at them.

"Hey, Castor, Pollux! Who's this?" she asked. She slid off her top bunk, holding out her hand to Elisa. "I'm Katie Gardner! Head counselor for Cabin Four."

Elisa slowly shook Katie's hand, nodding. "Elisa. Uh, Dionysus just claimed me."

Katie looked at Castor and Pollux. "Are you giving her a tour?"

Castor nodded. "Yeah, we'll see the rest of the cabins. Then probably try and see the amphitheater or training area; archery field, you know."

Katie shook Elisa's hand one last time, patting her on the shoulder. "Are you here for the break, or are you gonna stay here year-round?"

"Um ..." said Elisa, blinking, "year-round, I guess."

"Well," said Katie, "I'm excited to get to know you better!"

Elisa nodded awkwardly, following the twins out of Cabin Four.  The next cabin, Cabin Two, was for Hera. Castor said it would never be used, but it was there to appease the goddess. Cabin Two was a marble, formal-looking building, with slim columns covered with pomegranates and flowers growing up them. The walls also have images of peacocks carved on them, as well as the doors.

Cabin One, the cabin for Zeus, was designed similarly to Cabin Two. It was a marble building looking like a mausoleum, with heavy columns. The big bronze double doors are polished in such a way to provide a holographic ( Elisa didn't know if that was the right word ) effect of lightning bolts passing across.