Ash: Shattering Illusions

Chapter 1

She had to run away, she couldn’t take this life anymore. All this pressure and madness was too much. It was all she could do to keep from screaming in frustration. Her parents just wouldn’t listen; they were too busy with ruling the Court. They just kept pressuring her to produce an heir. Pale moon shone, casting a sliver of light across the rug on the floor and the bed. It reminded her of the first time that she went outside with her parents to dance in the moonlight when she turned five.

 When the dancing was over; her mother took her to the throne room. The huge throne that was carved of black wood stood ominously in the centre of the room. It was there that her mother sat her down. Then she spoke the kindest words that Ash had ever heard. Her mother’s emerald eyes were misty with unshed tears.

“Remember my darling, no matter what happens, I love you. Do not ever forget it. You are very special and most precious.” And she kissed her on the forehead. It was the last time that she remembered being happy and loved.

 Everything changed when she was six. Her mother had found her in the library – a place which was strictly forbidden to her. She remembered trying to hide when she heard the door creak, but too late. Her mother’s keen eyes had already picked her out of the shadows by the single dusty shelf. Soon after, she was being dragged back to her room and scolded severely, after which, the door was locked for several years. It was her mother’s way to ensure that she would not come back to that place, or do something that was forbidden to her.

“Do you not understand?” She was shaking with rage “Your future is at stake! You will stay here until you understand that you must not go there ever again!” She left, and locked the door.

 Ash cried for many nights. But there was no sympathy save that of the serving maid. How could her mother change so much in the space of one year? For a child of six, it was impossible to comprehend. Nor was she able to understand why her mother reacted so badly to her being in the library. When the door was opened and she was allowed to venture through the halls of the palace once again, the first thing she did was sneak back into the library. She didn’t go through the main door in case someone would see her. Instead she ducked though a narrow passageway at the intersection. To all but Ash, this passage looked like a dead end, but she knew that a few feet down there was a stone, which, if touched with the correct amount of pressure in certain points, would reveal a hidden doorway into the library.

 The books were still there, all dusty and unkempt. No one bothered to come here to clean. No one was allowed. In fact it was a wonder why the books were kept at all. Ash was always curious about her ancestors, in the palace there were no lessons on History or how they came to be here; only lessons on magic. How to put on glamour, use harmful spells, how to protect oneself from other magic, and things that were dangerous; lessons about various poisons and antidotes. Fighting lessons, with weapons and unarmed. At six, Ash was taught these things as close to perfection as possible. When she was locked up, her lessons did not continue.

 The books in this library contained various information. Mostly it held the plans of the palace and books on advanced magic. Ash imagined that this kind of magic was dangerous to attempt and for this reason they were kept away. Ash also found some books on the Ironsiders; the various details of their cities and way of life. And there was one book on the Seelie, which she found to be the most fascinating of all. While she was locked in her room, Ash contemplated what she would do when she got out. The anger at her parents seethed inside. So she planned the most daring ploy of all – to steal the most important books from the library to study. And this is exactly what she did. Three books, she thought at the time, would hardly be missed, considering that no one came inside the library for years.

 Everything seemed to be going well. She studied the books in her room, when everyone else was sleeping, gleaming facts of the other races and some of the deepest magic. She learned how to shield her magical activity from being detected before experimenting with some of the other spells. Afterwards she returned two books to the library and took some other books on magic; they were smaller than usual and so it would be hard to see which books were missing. She continued going to lessons, quite a few times pretending that she wasn’t good at this spell or that. Her mother often spoke to her over the afternoon tea, grooming her to become a queen. She said quite a few nice words as well, but Ash didn’t believe a single one of them. Surely the person who could lock up their own child for two years, were not capable of love in its true sense.

 At the age of 18 she was sure that someone would come to court her. But months went by and no sound. Surely she wasn’t an ugly princess, and so why didn’t anyone want her? So she went to her mother to ask.

“Why of course you are very attractive dear. Why look at you with these lovely jade eyes and cascading black velvet hair.” She looked Ash up and down.

“Then why doesn’t anyone come to court me?”  Her mother paused a bit over her tea to spare an askew glance at Ash, and then took a small sip as though there was no conversation at all. Ash couldn’t stand the silence, she fidgeted with her hands.

“Don’t fidget.” Her mother deigned to put her tea down before continuing. “As for young men to court you, I assure you, there has been plenty.” She held up a hand before Ash had chance to speak. “And I’m afraid none of them had fit the standard. And so, when a suitable partner will present himself, you will be the first to know. Surely you don’t want to be courted by riff raff do you?” Her mother smirked a little at that.

“No mother, I do not” Ash tried to make her voice sound as cool as possible. “However I would much rather be able to make my own selection.”

 It was the wrong thing to say, because that is when her mother got into a rage. Her face turned scarlet.

“Why you little…” She fumed, trying to regain her composure. “How dare you,” she managed through gritted teeth “doubt my judgement? I who have been the most gracious to you and the most kind! Go to your room, now!” Ash understood that there was no point in continuing, she turned and headed for the door.

“And you can see every single one that would want you!” The sentence reached her ears just as she was passing the threshold. She pondered on the meaning of that as she headed to her room. It was not much later that it became very clear indeed.

 A single tear escaped the corner of her eye. No! No more crying! She paced to and fro between the bed and the window for countless minutes now, trying to strengthen her resolve. After all, this was her home for twenty odd years. Despite everything that transpired here, they were the only thing she really knew. And yet, the fear of what may yet happen in this place scared her so much more. And the nightly visitor, that was surely the worst. She shivered although it was not cold in her room. If I stay, I will surely die - if not from the man then from the shame.

 And so she decided that she would leave the only place she truly knew, to try and make a new life and a new future. But first, she had to find a way to leave the palace. Her room was not locked as they didn’t want to bother locking and unlocking her room every time someone came, but there were two guards that were always nearby, watching from a safe distance as they paced the halls, so as to pretend that they weren’t really guarding her. There were a few handy spells in her arsenal, but if she used them, the escape would be quickly noticed and she needed to buy as much time as she could.

 The pacing wasn’t really helping, so she kneeled next to her bed and retrieved an old box from under it. Putting her hand on the star-shaped locket that she always wore around her neck she whispered a few worlds. There was a light glow as she removed her hand and a small key appeared in her palm. She unlocked the box and removed the travelling satchel that she had prepared weeks ago. If she were to escape, it was now or never. With that thought, she shoved the box back in its place, whispered a few words to hide the key and took a deep breath.

 Biting her lip as she stood next to the door and peered out, she considered her plan one more time. Just because she couldn’t use magic against her guards didn’t mean that she couldn’t use a light spell on herself. She whispered a few words to cast a glamour on herself so that if she stood in a shadow, it would look like she was just a part of it.

****

Please comment and let me know if there are any improvements that should be made.