Disclaimer- (I am only doing this once) I do NOT own Deltora Quest. If I did, would I write fanfiction for it?? I think not.

A/N- skulblaka222 (who is my good friend if you haven't figured it out yet) said I 'needed to come out of my shell' so, she dared me to post this!! Agh, scary. Anyway...

This is the only multi-chaptered Deltora fanfiction I have ever written that has a plot and makes some sort of sense. And even if it is a totally pointless and rather melodramatic, fluffy fic, I loved writing it.

This is not an action/adventure fic, so don't hang out for any major fights or anything. No Shadow Lord at all! Shocking. This is mainly an emotional kind of fic, jumping between the past and present a lot. In later chapters there will be some romance. Also, I am incredibly mean to Lief in this, as in he is injured very… well… permanently.

Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames please. I have been working on the fanfic for over a year. It has grown from a few random excerpts that made no sense to an actual story, and it is my baby.

ALL IS ASHES

By Ama E. Cinoskham

Chapter 1- Breakfast/Mirrors and Dreams

January 6

The day started normally enough. Lief woke, dressed, and studied himself worriedly in the mirror for a few minutes. Then he began to short walk up to the palace, hands in pockets, head low, dawdling and scuffing his feet. The sun was only just appearing on the horizon, and Lief lifted his head to watch it come up, sighing. Another day was beginning, and he felt just as tired as he had when the last one had ended.

Far too soon, he had reached the palace. The guards at the door greeted him as he climbed the stairs, and he gave half-hearted replies to their questions. Besides them, there was no one yet at the palace. The entrance hall was deserted. Glad to avoid any more unnecessary conversation, Lief made his way towards the kitchens, and pulled open the door.

Besides a few lone cooks lighting the gas ovens, and Kira the dog, lying on a faded rug, it too was empty. Lief sidled around the edge of the room, grabbing some toast and a glass of water on the way, and made his way through a door to the side, the door that led into the small dining area where he and his friends ate all their meals.

There was only one person at the big wooden table that morning, sipping at a glass of orange juice. "Lief!"

He smiled at the familiar bearded face. "Hello, Barda,"

Barda frowned. "Did you sleep well?" he asked abruptly.

"Yes," Lief lied quickly. He tried to ignore Barda's scrutinising eyes on his face. "I'm fine," he said, emphasizing the last word. He fell into a chair. "Is Jazz still asleep?"

Barda nodded.

Lief's face fell even further. He could not hide that he was disappointed. But, he supposed, the crack of dawn was frankly a ridiculous time to be awake. He certainly felt so, right at the moment. But he had so wanted to see her. When he saw her, and the reassuring sight of the ring on her finger, he always felt better.

Barda was quiet. Lief avoided his eyes, picking at some healing scabs on his palms. But he knew the older man was watching him in concern. And he knew why. He had seen the evidence in the mirror that morning- the dark rims under his eyes, and pale, sunken cheeks. It was not his fault he could not get any sleep at the moment, though. It was these dreams he had been having so often recently. They were relentless. Since Dragon Night he had suffered from them, and in this last week they had woken him up to ten times a night.

It was hard for him to remember what the dreams had been about exactly. All he knew was that they frightened and disturbed him like nothing else. They made him wake up screaming.

Shaking away unpleasant thoughts, Lief pushed away his barely eaten meal "Let's go," he muttered. "I need to talk to you about that guard roster,"

Barda nodded, and the two men left the kitchens. The entrance hall was gradually filling up with people now, though it was not nearly as busy as it would become later that day.

For as the day progressed, more and more would enter the huge palace doors. More and more would descend the stairs from their bedchambers on the second floor. The palace would become busier and busier.

In other words, it would become the perfect place for a little chaos.

By midday, Lief and Barda had finally sorted out a long stretch of problems with rosters and duties. Relieved and satisfied, they joined the now large crowd in the entrance hall.

The hall was large- wide and long, stretching along until it reached the congested grand staircase. Portraits and sculptures lined the gaps between the doors and archways, clusters of people surrounding each. Up above, even more people could be seen, on the railed balconies of the floor above, their voices echoing and mingling with those below. And, hovering above everything, high above the staircase, was the chandelier- a metal and glass structure that was occasionally lowered and filled with lighted candles.

People parted to let Lief and Barda through, but Lief barely noticed them. He was looking forward to lunch, and finally seeing Jasmine…

It was because of these thoughts that, for a while, he did not even notice anything was wrong.

Creak…

In the clamour of the crowd, the sound had been mainly unnoticed. But still some sharp-eared women on the stairs heard it, and fell silent.

Creak…

This time, more heard the noise. The crowd's own noise lessened as neighbours nudged each other, ears strained to distinguish the source of the sound. Barda caught Lief's arm, and the boy stopped, and listened.

Creak…

Now the sound was so loud, it could not be ignored. The crowd was hushed. No one moved.

Creeeeak…

Lief frowned. "What is that?" he asked to no one in particular.

"The chandelier!" came a sudden scream.

Startled, Lief looked up. The massive structure was swaying dangerously…and then it was…it was….falling!

"Run!" Barda roared.

And then, suddenly, there was mass pandemonium, people shrieking, running away from under the collapsing chandelier. Pushing, shoving, trying to escape…

The chandelier was getting ever nearer to the ground…it was far too close…

"GET DOWN!" someone screamed.

It hit the ground with a massive crash, folding into itself, the glass shattering and flying in all directions. The crowd shrieked and fell to the ground, covering their heads. The sounds of falling glass filled the air.

And then, there was silence.

Lief raised his head cautiously.

"Are you okay?" asked Barda anxiously, getting up beside him.

"Yes," Lief said. He looked down at his hands and saw that the scabs on his palms had been knocked off when he had fallen. The newly opened wounds were bleeding slightly. He swore under his breath, turning around. "But-" his sentence broke off. He stared.

The stairs and entrance hall were covered in little pieces of glass, covering the people who lay, shaking and shocked, on the ground. Above, people were shouting and calling from the top of the stairs and the balconies. More were coming, after hearing the commotion. All were staring at the twisted wreckage of the chandelier, lying on the stairs, the rope that had once held it up coiled beside it like a long, dead snake.

Lief felt himself pale as he looked at that rope. "It's not broken," he whispered. "It must have been untied…" he stood up shakily, following the path the rope had once taken with his eyes, from the roof, through the pulleys, and across the roof in a tight line, to the place where it had once been firmly tied. Up on the balconies, tucked away in the corner.

There was someone there. He was in guard uniform.

Lief nudged Barda, and pointed silently. The big man looked up, and his eyes narrowed. The boy saw them, started, then turned and ran.

"Thorn," Barda growled.