The Voice of Ash

Chapter 1

The castle spent the next few days in hasty preparation. Normally, I enjoyed this; the servants left me alone, as did my siblings. But this time, I hated it. Because this time, they weren't preparing for a ball, or a party, or a royal visit. No, not this time.

They were preparing for my father's funeral.

My mother had died when I was seven. But that had been different. I had my siblings and my father with me. It was before my father had gone mad, only caring about his heirs, and since I was fourth in line for the throne, I wasn't a priority. My father no longer had time for my sisters and I.  My brothers at least remained unchanged. Well, Ealdo and my youngest brother Syran did. Darian became different. He acted like I was suddenly no longer good enough, and all because I was a girl. He still was nice to me and all, but I never think he realized that I noticed that change.

I got used to my father’s lack of attention. That is, till seven years after my mother’s death. On my fourteenth birthday, my father called me into his study to talk about my marriage. As the eldest daughter of a well off kingdom, my hand was well sought for. But I wasn’t ready for marriage then.

And two years later, I still don’t think I am.

However, the main reason my father’s death is different from my mother’s is the fact that something happens with my father’s death that didn’t happen with my mother’s. My life is changed, possible forever. Things will never be the same because of something that has now happened.

My brother, Crown Prince Ealdo, is king.

That’s what made the house even busier. The servants not only had to plan for a funeral, which was to take place later this afternoon, but also for my brother’s coronation. He was no longer going to be his royal highness, Crown Prince Ealdo, no instead he was to go down in history as his majesty, King Ealdo the second.

I lay on my bed, crying into my pillow, when there was a loud knock at my door. I quickly dried my eyes and tried to erase all evidence that I had been crying, before I said, “Come in!”

My beloved maid, Renn, entered. When she saw my still tear stained face, she quickly pulled me into her arms. “It’s all right, you don’t have to act like a princess right now,” she said, stroking my hair like she always did when I was upset.

I hugged Renn until the tears had stopped. Then, I broke free of her grasp, dried my tears, and said, “I’m ready to be a princess.”

Renn smiled gently. “Good. Your brother sent me to help you get ready for the funeral.”

“Which brother?” I asked, eyebrows raised. It seemed odd that Ealdo would send someone.

“Darian.” Lowering her voice Renn said, “If you ask me, he has more control than Ealdo does right now.”

I sighed, but was not surprised. Darian, though he never told Ealdo this, was clearly jealous of Ealdo’s rank of him. He thought he would be a better fit to be king. I had a feeling most of Ealdo’s decisions were to be made by Darian instead.

Renn had left the room for a moment and had come back carrying my fanciest mourning gown. Mourning gowns are very fancy, but this was the one I was to wear during public mourning. It was made of thick black velvet, and was trimmed with black lace. It also had a full skirt, compared to the simple skirt of my other mourning gowns.

Renn helped me put it on quickly. It took me quite some time to get used to it, as the lace caused my legs to itch. The corset I wore always caused me some discomfort. Normally Renn didn’t pull the corset all that tight, but during public events, she had to.

After the dress, Renn helped me put on a ruby red necklace, the only splash of color on my dreary outfit. It had been a gift from my father and I was wearing it to honor him. The ruby felt cold against my bear skin, since public dresses always seemed to have a lower neckline then private ones.

Lastly, Renn had to style my hair. Out of all my siblings, I was the odd one. I was the only one to inherit my mother’s Lavian black hair. All my other siblings had the generic blonde or brown hair that most Auvidans share.  I always, unlike my sister’s, loved to keep my hair long. Currently, it reached to the middle of my back. I loved wearing it down and feeling it swish against my back, but I was never allowed to do that during a public outing.

Renn, for my hair today, entered up twisting it into a million –or so it seemed- braided buns. This process took the longest out of everything, and I was forced to sit still for long periods of time, something I absolutely hated.

“Hold still your highness!” Renn cried, after I moved for the millionth time. I could tell she was upset since she only called me your highness when she was. Like everyone else in the palace, she often called me Ash.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Renn was done. “And for the final touch,” she said, setting my tiara on my head. My tiara was a bit fancier than my younger sisters since, as the eldest princess, I had the title princess royal. Out of my three younger sisters, fifteen year old Circe seemed to be the most jealous. She and Darian were alike in that way.

Directly after the tiara had been secured in its place, there was a knock at the door. “Princess Ashlyna, it’s time to go.”