Ascension (22 page)

"Of course!" Her face literally lit
up, while I, on the other hand, suddenly felt uneasy. This is what
I get for being a nice person. I ended in a lavender gown with
ruffled sleeves that cut open at the elbows, draping fabric down my
arms and creating an admittedly nice effect. I convinced Lydia to
let me wear my hair down, but she insisted that I borrow her silver
hair clip, pinning the sweep of my hair to the side over my
shoulder. She finished just as the sun began to climb in the sky,
so I thanked her and quickly made my way to the main
room.

As I entered, I found Mathelda at
her usual table, her fingers rapping against the desk in an
impatient manner. Inwardly, I flinched, knowing that she was
probably upset at me for being a few minutes late. And I'm sure she
hasn't forgotten about the conversation we had earlier.

When I made it to the table,
Mathelda offered me an apple, which I politely declined, instead
deciding to drink some water in attempt to calm my nerves. Every
time I thought about having to follow the royal couple around, my
stomach twisted further into a knot.

“
I
’
ve organized for Bentley to come
and pick you up. He will take you to the garden, where the royal
couple is going to be enjoying their breakfast. I want you to find
a way to join them. I assume that, having come from underground,
you haven't the slightest amount of social skills, but somehow you
have been able to hold your own with the Prince, so that means that
he must genuinely appreciate your company. So, use the little charm
that you seem to possess and remind Prince Erik what he has been
missing out on these past few days."

"What if they refuse my company," I
voiced my worries, knowing that Lena would almost assuredly not
welcome my intrusion.

"Failure is not
an option. I expect you
’
ll do your best if you
don
’
t want to
experience what we had talked about this morning.
”
Mathelda said, standing up and nodding to
someone across the room. I turned around and saw that it was the
guard, who I assumed to be Bentley. My stomach in knots, I rose and
approached him. He nodded a greeting and indicated for me to
follow. On the way out, I looked back to see Jean entering the
room. We caught each other's eyes, but only for a brief moment, as
she quickly turned her head around to face someone else, acting as
if she hadn't seen me.

Now I had to deal with the guilt of
betraying Jean on top of everything else. Somehow I had managed to
get myself completely reversed. Instead of helping free those stuck
in the colonies, as well as all the Nethers enslaved up above, I
was working with Mathelda. Instead of trying to plan the mission
with the Prince, I was being used to try and interrupt his
engagement in order to bring Mathelda more wealth.

Walking down the hallways, I
realized that I had become a tool of the palace, succumbing to the
same jealousies and intrigues that all the other Ahrenian nobles
revel in. If I didn't watch myself, I would soon continue down the
same path and become no better that the rest of the Ahrenians.
Actually, I would be even worse, because I would always be given
the dirtiest jobs, the least respect, the lowest standards. No
matter how hard I worked, to them, I would always be a
Nether.

That's right, I
thought to myself, I would always be a Nether! In spite of
everything that I
’
ve done and may do, my family and friends will always be
there, supporting me with what little they have to provide. That
will forever be more than anything the court could ever offer me.
And since when is being a Nether such a bad thing? If anything,
it's made me a better survivor than the Ahrenians. With this
revelation, a sudden idea formed in my head, the sure way to make
the King listen to us.

Nethers supply the kingdom with most
of their materials. Without us, Ahrenians wouldn't have half of the
necessities, not to mention luxuries, that they use day to day. If
we we're to create an embargo, just for a few weeks, then people
would have to admit to our importance, and eventually the King
would have to see us! I mused over this idea for the rest of our
trip. When Bentley and I enter the garden, I was so excited to tell
Prince Erik my plan that I had forgotten my anxiety. That is, until
the moment Bentley exited, leaving me standing awkwardly in the
middle of the clearing, picking the edges of my sleeves as I made
my way to the royal couples' table.

Prince Erik gave
me a strange look, his eyes asking, or more like accusing,
“
what are you doing here?" I returned his gaze
with an
“I
’
m
sorry" as I cleared my throat to introduce
myself.

"Good morning, Prince Erik, Princess
Lena." I bowed, feeling my face flame, raising it only after the
Prince's dismissal.

"Good morning,
Fara. Lena, this is Fara, a
…”
he
hesitated briefly, then went on "servant who often comes to help
me. What do you need?"

Servant.

I'm just a servant.

The words sunk in, biting and deep.
Suddenly, my pep-talk seemed irrelevant. All of the plans I came up
with, as well as the confidence that came with it, disappeared. But
I hid it, tucking the hurt away for another time, making sure to
keep my mask of politeness on.

"Pleased to meet you, Princess Lena.
My lady advised me to come and offer my services to you today. She
would want nothing more than for you to have a comfortable welcome
to the palace."

Lena took a few moments to respond,
giving me a full appraisal, as if considering whether or not I was
worth addressing. I must have passed the test, because she
eventually flicked her hand dismissively and said "Well then, make
yourself useful. Fetch me a drink."

I bowed again and
walked to the table, where a delicious array of food had been
spread out. Plates of cheeses, breads, and some dried fruits were
laid out, surrounded by an assortment of fine wines. Picking one at
random, I poured her a glass as I wondered internally about the
similarities between Princess Lena, Mathelda, and Lacy. They were
all undeniably attractive, but their personalities had about as
much appeal as a venomous snake. I wondered if this was the norm in
Ahrenia. If so, I
’
m glad that Cethin was kept out of it all. I would much
rather be surrounded by beautiful souls than beautiful
people.

“
My lady,
”
I said, offering the glass to the princess. She
accepted it without so much as a glance my way, so I stood off to
the side as her and the Prince politely conversed over trivial
things like the weather and the latest ball.

Eventually, Princess Lena grew bored
of the back and forth, so she asked to be shown around the garden.
At that same moment, Bentley returned to summon Prince Erik,
handing him a scroll. After reading it, the Prince looked up and
asked if I could show Princess Lena around instead.

“
Fara is familiar with
the garden, perhaps she could show you around while I attend to
this matter," he said as he rebound the message and followed
Bentley out of the garden, leaving us alone.

The Princess and I looked at each
other, neither of us excited with the proposition. In the end, her
boredom must have exceeded any disgust she held for me, because
eventually she sighed and replied, "Alright, show me
around."

I took her
through the garden, stopping at fountains and other monuments along
the way. I could tell she wasn't thrilled to have me as an escort.
Honestly, I probably knew little more about the garden than she
did. I was in the middle of telling her about a yellow rose bush,
with little more detail other than it was yellow and had thorns,
when she suddenly declared,
“
Im
tired,
”
and sat down at a bench on the
side of the path. After wiping her forehead and fanning herself a
little bit, she asked me,
”
So what exactly
is there to do around here? So far I have only been taken to the
garden or to dinner parties. Honestly, it
’
s all getting quite dull. I
would expect the royal capital of Ahrenia to have more luxury. If I
had wanted to walk around gardens all day, I would have stayed back
in my home country.
”
She checked to see
if I was still listening, so I assembled my face into an empathetic
expression, which she took as encouragement to go on. "The Prince
is disappointing as well. Sure, he is polite enough, but I thought
he was supposed to be charming and spontaneous.
”
She pulled a rose off of the bush next to her, yanking it
roughly so that the bush recoiled back, which caused some petals to
fall off the other flowers. I lamented those that fell, making note
to collect them and bring them back to my room so they
wouldn
’
t go to
waste.

“
1 guess a good
thing is that the guards here are all fairly handsome.
I
’
d say your
King knew what he was doing when he sent all the poor, ugly sods to
live underground, didn't he? And I will admit, there are a few
guards here that have taken my fancy. Especially that one
guard
…
What was his name? Bentley? Perhaps
he will show me a better time than the Prince." She grinned
deviously as she picked the flower petals off the roses one by one,
pausing when she got through the last of them, after which she
threw the stem carelessly over her shoulder.

I held my tongue, aching to
reprimand her for her destruction of the garden, as well as for a
few other, more personal, things. Instead, I simply replied "yes,
my lady", hoping that my face appeared as impassive as my voice
sounded. Inside, I however, I was quickly growing tired of this
spoiled noblewoman. I almost lost it when she decidedly stated, "I
think I'll play a little with Bentely. He seems willing, don't you
think?" Before I could tell her what was really on my mind, I heard
the Prince and Bentley making their way towards us.

"Erik!" She
squealed, running up to him once he came into view, gripping his
arm.
”
I missed you! Next time, I want you
to show me around the garden!" I fumed, turning around so that they
couldn't see my face.

Once I felt the fire in me cool down
a little, I turned around and asked Prince Erik and Princess Lena
if I could have their leave, stopping the Prince when he motioned
for Bentley to walk me back.

"That is okay, I can find my way
back on my own, thank you."

I walked through the garden, finding
it much more enjoyable now that I didn't have to worry about
entertaining an unwelcoming audience. I didn't realize where my
legs were taking me until I was halfway to the stables. I wouldn't
mind seeing Heath again, along with Elana and Sir Thunder. And who
could forget Sam. I thought about picking up some carrots, but I
didn't have any money nor anything to trade, so I picked wild
alfalfa along the road to give them instead.

When I came to the barn, I didn't
see any of the horses outside in the arena. There was a pile of hay
stacked up against the front wall, so I picked up a barrel as I
entered through the door.

"Heath?" I called
out. I waited for a response, then tried again, but to no avail. I
set the barrel of hay down and looked around, dusting my hands off
on my the front of my gown, inwardly cringing when I saw the trail
of dirt they left behind on the pale fabric. "Hello?" I
couldn
’
t think
of a time when Heath wasn't at the barn. Maybe he's outside, I
thought, but before I made it to the door to go and check, a large
man emerged around the corner.

"What're you doin' in here?" He
asked me, and I noticed he was holding some large branding tools,
still red from the heat. I cautiously took a step back and
answered,

"I'm looking for
Heath.
”
The man must of noticed me
backing away because he put the brands in the nearest bucket,
speaking over the hiss of the heated metal on
water.

"Heath ain't here no more. The bank
took this here barn away from him and sent him packin."

I couldn't believe my ears. "What?
Why?"

"Don't ask me, Miss. Must
‘
a made the wrong person angry." Instantly, my
mind shot to the merchant. That slimy rat!

"Do you know where Heath would
be?"

"Last I heard,
him and his daughter lived down in the southern edge of the city.
It isn
’
t too
hard to find.
”
He peered at me through
squinted green eyes set in a dark brown wrinkled face.
“
I 'spect that you're gonna go lookin?" I gave a
small nod in affirmation, and the large man continued.
”
Heath's a good friend of mine. When I heard
they was selling the barn, I bought it up before any halfwit could
get their grubby hands on it. He runs a good place here. Let 'im
know I
’
ll take
good care of it. I'm Brussel, by the way." He offered a large,
calloused hand, which engulfed mine as we shook.