Nixiesocean: Yes, Yes, I know, you're all going "WHY ARE YOU MAKING A NEW FANFIC?" Well, I'll tell you: I fell in love with this idea. You always have a servant/prince(ss) pairing. So, I'm like "Can two servants have a 'happily ever after'?".
Here you are: A new, undiscovered and untainted story for you to read!
Chapter 1: The Death of a Ruler
"Once upon a time a beautiful woman was the pride of a village in the far north. She was to be wed to a man of great power, but lacking in love. She left, running into the wilderness. After a while, the woman was found cold and nearly dead. They took her in and fed her like a pub. Eventually woman ran with wolves. She knew them as they knew her. She was free. But without love.
As she ran with the wolves, she passed a destroyed village. She entered though her fine-tuned animal instincts told her to leave, that there was too much death for an animal like her to be here. She entered a building. There, a man lay dying on the cold floor. The ashes of a fire were all around him. She told her wolves to stay outside. She poked him, intrigued that he looked like her. These five years without wolves like her had changed her. She rolled him over and motioned the Alpha Male to come and lick his wounds. The wolf would not come. The man opened his eyes to see the woman leaning over him.
"Who are you?" He asked. The woman couldn't remember how to speak with her mouth, except to make wolf noises. She smiled and kept working. He told her to take cloth and wrap his wounds, it was in an unreachable spot for him.
"I am Kalan, the son of the village leader." He said to her. She smiled and kept working. "What is your name?"
She nodded, and kept working. The Alpha Male whimpered outside. She left and went outside. There, the other wolves were keeping a man at bay from entering the building. Finally, she found the ability to speak. "Who are you, to enter my house?"
"I am the god of the north." He said to her. "I am Furian," Then he grabbed her hand. "You must return home, to me and to your parents."
"I cannot, Furian. I belong here, to the land, to this man." I said. "I am one with the wilderness. You cannot hold me to you!" Kalan sat up.
"Is this the thing that binds you to this land? This man you found not a day ago? This man is nothing! You are a goddess, come back!
"Never!" Furian struck out and threw a flash of lightning at the pair. Kalan, being mortal, died. Sheya, being a goddess, did not. She lived out her grief until the day that she saw Kalan walking in a field, she ran to him. He embraced her, but they both knew it could not last. When Kalan was forced to return to the Dead, Sheya took his place and made him live. She suffered his penance.
Many years later, Kalan died again. He rejoined her and they rejoice there still." I finished my tale to the child on my lap. I am a scullery maid to the Lord Calné. He had heard about my ability to tell tales, so he employed me to tell my tales to his child. She seemed to like them enough.
"Ais, why did she die for Kalan? She could've just fell in love with another dying man." The child, of nine or ten, asked me.
"Some say," I told her like it was a secret. "That true love overtook her. Even gods cannot defy love."
"True love? That's junk. Daddy said so."
I smiled; even little Rose couldn't resist the urge to ask about it. "Did Daddy tell you what's for dinner if you're good?"
"No…" She said. "What do I get if I'm good?" Rose's blond hair whipped around to face me.
"If you're good," I mused. "I'll make you a special, Rose-only cake!" I said. "A miniature cake just for you!"
She grinned. "Yay! Ais, you're the best. I want another story while you make my cake after dinner." I smiled and left her to her toys. I had to go help with cooking. As I walked along the halls, my mind reviewed the story. I committed it to memory and daydreamed about being free of Lord Calné. I never once thought about little Rose. About how she might be crushed that I would leave.
"Aisling, get to work! Lord Calné has guests coming!" The head cook, Sherri, told me. "Luckily, Lord Ice-cube hired a new servant." I scooted to help Sherri, my friend. I kneaded the dough for the scones. She turned to see a man walking by. Sherri left the worktable to bring him over."Aisling, this is Nolen, a scullery helper." She said, shoving him next to me to whip the frosting. Nolen had chocolate-brown hair and hazel eyes. I would've been entranced by them if they didn't contain such harsh reality.
"Hello, Nolen." I said cheerfully. Though I was tired, I knew that I had to nice to new servants. "I'm Aisling, as Sherri already told you. No, no, get the middle!" I said to him. "Beat it too hard and it'll turn to liquid. Now, see those stiff tips, which means it's done. Hand that to Sherri and take some of this dough to knead. See how I'm doing it?" I showed him, holding his hands to knead. "See?"
"Well, aren't you such a little cook." He said sourly.
"For your information, that's why I'm a scullery maid, Nolen." I turned back to reciting my favorite tale, Cinderella. I wasn't anything like her, but I loved the fairy tales regardless.
"Why do you recite those? Everyone knows they're not true." He said.
"I know they aren't." I lashed back. "I like them regardless."
"Why? Why waste time on things that never happen?" He asked, kneading the dough a little too hard.
"Knead slower." I said, diverting him. "I 'waste my time' because it gives me other things to think on. What do you do for fun? To escape reality?" I said, slowly working the bubbles out of scone dough.
"I don't. I don't escape reality. It's called reality for a reason, Aisling." He said sourly.
"How do you keep yourself from going insane? How do you have fun?" She asked. "The other place you worked must've been a real damper on you if you're like this!" I handed the dough off to Sherri and went over to grab jam. I handed one to Nolen. How he irritated me! "Take this and put a bit on jam in the center." I showed him how, then we returned to our conversation.
"I don't have fun. I live as best I can. I deal with the fact that no princess will waltz right in here and take me for a husband. I deal with the fact that I'm not going to go slay a dragon to rescue a princess. I was born a commoner and I'll die a commoner."
"Why not be uncommon? Why not be a dreamer?" I asked.
"Dreamers get no where in life. Beggars dream. I won't dream hopeless dreams because they're dreams. Dreams don't come true." I took his plate of filled scones and told Sherri I'd take them to the table. I entered and walked to Lord Calné. "I trust the scones are to my lord's taste?"
I held out the plate to Lord Calné and waited for him to take one. "Eat one, Aisling. I won't be poisoned by you servants trying to kill me off." I took one; the one Nolen had made first, the one that would make me look bad. I placed it in my mouth and slowly chewed and swallowed. Satisfied, Lord Calné took a scone and ate it. "Pass them out, Aisling." I went around the table, Rose was last. I placed the remaining two scones on her plate and quickly left. There was obvious delight that she had two of my scones.
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Oh how this Aisling irritated me. Why couldn't she see that dreaming wasn't practical? Why did she have to go on about escapes from reality? Reality was reality and that was that. She just came back. I tried to look busy. I didn't need scalding words to tell me to work, correctly. She stood next to me, brushing honey on the ham as she turned it on the spit. I followed her lead with my own spit. She was reciting a fairy tale.
"Once upon a time in a land far from the reaches of humanity, a human child had been found by a woodcutter. He took her in and raised her as his own. When she reached a marriageable age, the girl went out into the world carrying the love of a father and her clothes. She met a beggar on the way. He begged her for two socks so that this winter his Daughter wouldn't freeze. The woodcutter had told her about beggars. He said that they were not what they appeared to be. The woman took this to mean they were other, more important people, in disguise. She gave up her socks to the beggar. He promised that one day he would repay her," I interrupted her. The story didn't intrigue me; I was just setting her straight.
"Aisling. If he was a beggar, how could he repay the woman?" I asked casually.
"I thought you didn't believe in fairy tales." She said sweetly. "I mean, they're so unreal."
"I was merely setting you straight. A beggar cannot repay someone, he's a beggar!"
She shrugged and continued her story. "The day after the woman had given her socks away, she met another beggar. She, the beggar, said that she needed a shirt for her son. That way he wouldn't get sick when winter rolled around. Being kind-hearted, the woman gave the beggar her spare shirt. The beggar woman promised to repay her, anyway she could. The woodcutter's Daughter smiled kindly and moved on. The next day, the Daughter came upon yet another beggar. This young man needed a cloak so that when the rain poured down his food wouldn't spoil. The Daughter could not refuse him, being so nice. She gave him the cloak on her back. She kept walking, determined to get to the capital.
She came upon a clearing in the woods. There, men waited for her. Just as the men were about to kill her, the beggar came into the clearing. Then, the other two came into it as well. The bandits kneeled. "My King, my Queen, my Prince." They echoed.
"It is well. Lady, we ask that you join us in the capital." The king said. "We had heard a beautiful, kind lady was coming. We decided to test you." He said. "If there is anything you desire, speak."
"My Lord, I request only that my father be able to join me in the capital." She responded.
"No riches, fame or glory?" The Queen asked.
"None, my lady." She said.
"A noble title at the very least?" The Prince asked.
"No thank you. I am fine as I am." The Daughter said.
"I would be honored if you would be my wife, lady." The prince said to her. "You are kind, gracious and selfless. Please, be my wife."
The Daughter agreed. The woodcutter came to see his Daughter off. The kingdom prospered under the Daughter's careful and kind rule. The Prince and the Daughter lived happily ever after."
"That would never happen." I scoffed. "No royalty would dress as beggars to test a nameless child." Aisling looked at me with her blue eyes. They always had a dreamy look to them.
"It doesn't matter if it would never happen." She explained. "Fairy tales give people hope. Scullery maids can wish a prince to come rescue them or nameless children offered gold and riches."
"If wishes were horses, beggars could ride." I quoted. "It would never happen."
"Nolen, if you want to criticize my method of living my life, go back seventeen years into my past and tell me I cannot have my hope. Tell me that my fairy tales have not helped me keep my sanity." Aisling said quietly.
"I do not believe in fairy tales, fairy godmothers or anything of the such. I believe in what I can see. For instance, I know meat browns when cooked because I have seen it, not because someone told me it browns when cooked." I told her, as a way of reasoning.
"Are you saying then, that you do believe there is a monarch because you have not seen them? Are you saying that my past does not exist because you were not part of it?" She asked. I cursed internally. I knew her past existed because everyone has a past. Yet, how could I explain that to her? For now, I knew she had won. "Are you so ignorant of the world?"
"I am not ignorant." I snapped. For all I knew, she was ignorant.
"Careful, Nolen. That spit might break because you didn't see the blacksmith make it." She lashed out. She stood and went over to talk to the cook that had introduced me to this dreamer. Sherri. Sherri, after speaking to Aisling, came over to sit by me and turn Aisling's neglected spit. She left the kitchens, walking out a small servant's door.
"Where is she going?" I asked Sherri.
"If you're dying to see her, go find out yourself." She said. "I can turn two spits." I took the hint and left. My arms ached and the cool night breeze felt wonderful. I saw Aisling turn the corner; I followed silently. When she stopped in front of two small headstones I realized what she was doing.
"Mom, Dad." She whispered, tears falling to the earth. "Why did the sickness have to claim you? Why couldn't you stay, at least one, to help me? I'm stuck with a jerk named Nolen. He doesn't believe in fairy tales. I try to inspire that sense of hope, but he can't grasp it." She laid two flowers, one on each grave, on the ground. I saw that hopelessness in her that had cowed me into realism. "I try to have my own hopes and dreams like you would've wanted, Mom. But, it's just so hard! Why can't I be like one of those fairy tale princesses that gains true love? Why am I so different? Can't I have a happy ending?" She lay on the ground now, tears soaking the grass. "Dad, I've really tried to be kind to Nolen. But, he's just- just- so hopeless. Literally and figuratively. He has no sense of fun or jokes, only practicality." My heart sank. I didn't hate her, just her silly ideas of true love and happy endings. I moved out to the graves, careful not to step on the other flowers placed, or planted, there. I sat down next to her. "Kill me now." I heard her whisper. "Nolen, I don't want any consolation. That was my past seventeen years."
"I wasn't planning on it, Aisling." I had reverted to my normal indifference.
"Then why are you here? The spits need turning else wise the meat will burn."
"Sherri said she could turn two spits." I told her. "Do you come out here every night?"
"Yes." She said.
"Aisling!" I heard Sherri call. "Rose is sick!" She jumped up.
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I jumped up and ran inside, praying she would be okay. Rose had been a little sister to me. She didn't mind our station differences. I ran up the wooden stairs, I heard Nolen following. I ran into her room and stopped. Rose was sickly pale with Lord Calné over her. I took a seat on the other side of her.
"What happened?" I asked. "How did she get sick?"
"We don't know. Maybe it's been a while since she got the sickness." The local midwife/doctor said. "But, after dinner she just fell out of her seat and grew pale."
"Was she near anything that might've given her the disease?"
"No." Lord Calné said. "She's been fine, happy-go-lucky, this whole time. She hasn't been outside since-"
"The rainstorm." I interrupted. Neither of us cared that I had just cut in. "I was there with her… what did she do that I didn't?" I pulled the memory, only one week old, from my mind. The rain had been pouring all day and Rose had snuck out to play in the rain. I was told to watch her. I had found her… "She ate some of the honeysuckle near my mother's grave, Lord Calné. I bet those honeysuckle carried the disease my mother died of."
"So, you are saying that your parent's diseases were in a honeysuckle plant she ate?" I nodded. He would want them moved.
"But, almost everyone goes out there to eat some, they say it's the best in the kingdom!"
"Children tend to have a weaker immune system, my lord." The midwife said. "They tend to get sick easier."
"Is it deadly?" The lord asked. "Will it kill her?"
"Most likely. We have no cure for it." Tears fell from my eyes. That disease would never leave me alone, would it?
Rose died the next day. We dug her grave next to my parents and put the honeysuckle over her grave. Lord Calné was a ghost. He didn't eat or sleep. He haunted the halls, mourning over his lost daughter. I wasn't any better. Even my fairy tales wouldn't keep away the guilt. Two days after Rose's death, I was called to Lord Calné's bedside. Nolen was there too, along with three servants and a scribe to witness the death wish of Lord Calné.
"Aisling, I'm dying." He told me. "Put me next to my daughter." He whispered; he was barely auditable. "I bequeath my lands to the both of you, Nolen and Aisling." He said. "When I die," He said. "You two will take care of my lands."
I stepped forward. "My lord… you can't be serious! Nolen and I are opposites! We can't agree on anything. How will this benefit your lands?"
"Not my lands, Lady Aisling, your lands. Yours and Nolen's." With that, he closed his eyes and stopped breathing. We buried him next to his daughter. The servants were in a frenzy, who would be their lord now? His heir had died before him. Who would they serve?
I took charge. "Servants of the late Lord Calné's household!" I yelled over the frenzy. "Lord Calné chose an heir before he died!" All commotion stopped. "He said that Nolen and I would be his co-rulers." I heard boos and cheers. "He had three people witness his death wish." The three servants stepped forward. The scribe took the paper and read it.
"Let it be known that I, Lord Calné of Four Field, bequeath all my lands and fortune to the servants Aisling Miller and Nolen Smith who are now of noble blood. They will be your lord and lady. They are to be wed within a week of my death." The scribe ended his reading. "It is sealed with Lord Calné's seal." The servants nodded glumly and continued their work.
I was startled at the last ending. He had us engaged? This was worse that co-ruling! For heaven's sake, I was to be his wife? It was all too much. I quickly left with my "betrothed" on my heels. I left into the garden. I turned to the right, trying to lose him. I turned to the right, seeing my intended spot, a small fountain with a weeping willow overlooking it. I sat down, my servant's garb ripping on the unstained wood and showing nails. I felt Nolen sit quietly next to me.
"Did you know about this?" I asked quietly, attempting not to shiver.
"No." He said.
"Gods!" She hissed. "I'm barely eighteen!"
"Don't think I'm willing, Aisling." He replied, still glum. "I'm nineteen, twenty in a month."
"You know what?" I decided.
"What?"
"I think you are the most glum. Down-hearted and pessimistic person I've ever met!" I accused. "As long as everyone doesn't expect us to hold hands and whisper lovers' words, I think we can be husband and wife in name, not in feeling."
"You are a optimistic person, Aisling." He replied. "We clash at everything."
"As long as you aren't pessimistic-"
"Or you going around whispering your fairy tales-"
"I think we can work together."
"Nope." Nolen decided. "It isn't possible. Two people of direct opposites cannot work together."
"Fine." I said. "You just relinquish your claim on Four Fields and I'll rule it without you and you can run off and teach some lord's son!"
"Lord Calné-"
"Is dead!"
"But his will-"
"Is useless now!"
"No it isn't, Aisling!" Nolen shouted. "That's what I'm trying to say! In his will, he said we were to be wed! Therefore, his will wasn't completed and still the reigning power!"
"God damn it." I cursed. I put my hands to my head. "He said a week?"
Nolen nodded. "'They are to be wed a week after my death'. The direct quote."
I pulled the all-too-fresh memory from my brain. "You are mistaken." I corrected. "'Within a week'."
"God, you're right." Nolen said. "Within a week? Meaning we have one week to get ready…"
"And don't you think I'll be sharing a bed."
"What are you going to do? Sleep on the floor?"
"Nope." I said, grinning evilly. "You are."
Hope this is an intresting twist on the story. Sorry if I'm following the 'hateful fiancée/spouse into true love' cliché-ness, but alas, I cannot think of another way… I may edit this chappy and revise it, et cetera. I was thinking about merely making them co-rulers, but I thought shoving them together might be a better idea… maybe not…
Oh well, maybe this story holds your attention long enough for me to finish this fable… perhaps I'll throw a wrench to mess it up… :checks watch: oh, look at the time!
Bye now,
Nixiesocean.
P.S. Be good little readers and review!