Tuesdays at the Castle: Chapters 21–25

by Jessica Day George
Once a week, Castle Glower magically expands. When her parents disappear, Princess Celie must use her knowledge of the castle's ever-changing layout to find them.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–20, Chapters 21–25
30 words 18 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. treacherous
    dangerously unstable and unpredictable
    The roof looked a long way down, and the rounded red tiles were probably very treacherous to walk on, but they had no choice.
  2. winch
    pull or lift up with or as if with a lifting device
    “Wait! Loop the rope around the leg of the table, and use it to sort of...winch me.”
    “Winch you?”
    “Like a mountain climber,” Celie said, trying to remember the book she’d read about mountain climbing once.
  3. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    But the rope yanked taut as Lilah struggled with it, shrieking inarticulately all the while, and Celie decided it was better to let go than hang there all day.
  4. inarticulate
    without or deprived of the use of speech or words
    But the rope yanked taut as Lilah struggled with it, shrieking inarticulately all the while, and Celie decided it was better to let go than hang there all day.
  5. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    Her face pressed into the woman’s formidable bosom, Celie patted Cook on the hip, the only thing she could reach.
  6. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    “He didn’t kill you!” Cook’s stoic voice broke on the words.
  7. quail
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    “We’ll still be here,” Celie said, quailing a little. “We have to find a way to stop Khelsh.”
  8. serrated
    notched like a saw with teeth pointing toward the apex
    She held up the long serrated bread knife, and Celie gulped.
  9. hamper
    a basket usually with a cover
    They filled hamper after hamper, and layered their clothes and personal things around huge cheeses, hams, and loaves of bread.
  10. writ
    a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer
    “I have not signed the succession agreement, nor will I ever. Should I die, Castle Glower and the rule of Sleyne will pass to my sister Cecelia. The Bishop of Sleyne witnessed the writ of succession this morning, and the document is in his keeping.”
  11. niche
    an enclosure that is set back or indented
    Out in the corridor, she took the nearest oil lamp from its niche and carried it with her, not knowing whether the lamps farther along would still be lit.
  12. unwieldy
    difficult to use or handle because of size or weight
    Her heart beat harder than it had so far, as she made her unwieldy way through the passages toward the Spyglass Tower.
  13. wane
    grow smaller
    It seemed like hours before they finally staggered out of a small door near the midden and stood there blinking in the waning sunlight.
  14. encumbered
    loaded to excess or impeded by a heavy load
    Thus encumbered, and with her knees shaking from tiredness and everything else she had done that day, she clumsily made her way to the balcony railing, then from that onto the edge of the roof.
  15. ward off
    repel or turn away
    “Don’t even give me that look,” Lilah said. “I mean it.” She held up a hand as though warding off Celie’s expression.
  16. repentant
    feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds
    Then the pity was replaced by anger: How dare he look repentant! No, not when he had just stood there watching as Prince Khelsh admitted to trying to have her parents killed and threatened Rolf.
  17. condemnation
    an expression of strong disapproval
    “In fact, Your Highness, your condemnation is correct in all things: we are traitors, and we should leave the Castle.”
  18. venerable
    profoundly honored
    No matter what he had done, Lord Feen was the most venerable member of what had once been her father’s trusted Council.
  19. dank
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    And from the royal bedchamber, there was a dank little tunnel under the floor that went straight under the outer wall of the Castle.
  20. sconce
    a decorative wall bracket for holding candles or lights
    Once their eyes had adjusted, they went to the fireplace, and Celie took hold of the unlit torch from the sconce by the mantel and turned it around twice.
  21. interminable
    tiresomely long; seemingly without end
    They crawled with interminable slowness, and all the while, Celie could not get the image of the crown sitting there, abandoned, out of her head.
  22. headlong
    at breakneck speed
    Soon he was moving so quickly that he tumbled headlong into the little stream that fed the moat as their tunnel met the larger one.
  23. offhand
    casually thoughtless or inconsiderate
    “Rolf and I have done it a couple of times,” Celie said in an offhand way. She was still thinking about the crown.
  24. portcullis
    an iron or wooden grating hanging in the entry to a castle
    There were more Vhervhish soldiers there, and the portcullis was down, the drawbridge up.
  25. parapet
    a low wall along the edge of a roof or balcony
    He lifted her up so that she was standing on the parapet, and there was a roar from the army below.
  26. concede
    admit or acknowledge, often reluctantly
    “A good fight,” Khelsh conceded, though his voice still sounded strained.
  27. indulgent
    tolerant or lenient
    “Boys, stop that,” the queen said indulgently.
  28. dispatch
    kill without delay
    There were assassins still looking for us; we were attacked again on our way here, but fortunately Sergeant Avery’s men were able to dispatch them.
  29. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
    “We ran into King Kharth and his men, and Father was certain that the story of Khelsh being exiled was all a ruse. It took days of talk for us all to get to trusting one another.”
  30. affront
    treat, mention, or speak to rudely
    “Excuse me?” Rolf looked affronted. “I think I did a rather good job at being a king!”
Created on Tue Aug 10 12:52:38 EDT 2021 (updated Wed Aug 11 13:12:41 EDT 2021)

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