My past shadow

Chapter 1 Old faces

The trot of horses behind him always made him uneasy. Even now with his own men, his mind twisted to times past. Much of it stained the crimson source of life. But all his memories had one thing in common, they twisted and turned with unrest. Some would say he had been touched by war, others would describe him as a man good for nothing but war but he, he, himself would say that this mind made him the war himself. For it raged on while he sat still. Maybe that is why he had never left. Because at least in the grief and sickness of war his mind was at home.

                                                                                            --- 

Grace woke up from her sleep to the cold chills of January. Slight rays of light poked over the tops of tall pine trees that were visible from her castle window. This window was not fancy nor big on the servant's floor but she was lucky to have one at all. Her hand traveled to her shawl as she slid from a warm cozy bed to the icy chill of the brick room.

She was always the first to wake, due to her being in charge of getting the Twin Princesses their food. Graces slept in a room with seven other maids. All worked in the castle in the wing belonging to the king's younger children. She had not always been a maid, but that life seemed to be further from her than a fleeting dream. Shaking her head, she pulled on her long underskirt. After layers of skirts, a corset, a bodice, and an apron she looked at herself in the small broken looking-glass. The long grey dress covered her ankles. Her long sleeves kept the biting chill at bay, with a simple circle neckline. Her sun-kissed blond hair was longer than most, and her hair had to be pinned up into a bun. This made the task of keeping a bun all day quite an accomplishment.

Grace heard the stirring of the other girls and quickly left the small room. She walked down a narrow hall and came to some servant stairs. Narrow and steep, they were used by the working class. She hadn't even known they existed long before she became a servant. So many things had changed. So many opinions have been smashed in the last six years. Her father had been put to death following the new reign of King Roman. Roman had taken the country from the old king for the sake of his nephew. The old King had been a tyrant who had tried to kill his son. His brother seeing this, took the throne vowing to make Prince Terrian the King at his coming of age. That was today, his nineteenth birthday. He was the only one she had known before the dark turn of events before her father was killed and her mother went missing. Before her own death was faked by the family Vicar, and she lived now as his daughter. She reached the ground floor and slightly down a maze of hallways. The sweet savoury smell of the baker's cooking already filled the air. By the time she reached the kitchen, she had to stop and catch her breath.

''You alright Miss?'' It was Brent the chief baker's apprentice. He was well-built and had broad shoulders. His brown eyes and hair, along with his kind nature, landed him as a favorite among the maids of the castle.

''Ahah, thank you, yes.'' If there had to be one change she enjoyed, it was how freely the lower class talked to each other, topics of humor and social abnormality seemed to be normal. With all ease and politeness, they lived peacefully enough, something the royals and court had never achieved.

The kitchen was filled with five chiefs and four bakers. The feast for the evening was already being prepared.

''All right, gather around,'' called the kitchen head, Barton. He was in charge of getting food to the royals, on time and hot. ''I'll say it once. Charlotte, you are on bringing the twins their food today.'' Charlotte was a short brunet, a blacksmith's daughter, and was one of the few servants who didn't have any royal connections: lots of the servants looked down on Charlotte, and her too for that matter, and chose to exclude them for their bloodlines. If only they knew mine: but Grace's thoughts were cut off by Barton, ''Meredith, knowing the west wing so well you can take His Majesty Prince Terrian his breakfast when called for. Grace opened her mouth to protest, but Barton was already listing the other servant's jobs. She walked to the back of the kitchen to help wash the looming pile of dishes. She rolled up her sleeves dunking her hands into the ice-cold water making her fingers go stiff and red with cold.