Chapter One
It began like any other trip to the market. Grace was wearing her usual work dress. This was navy blue with a shoulder to shoulder neckline. The sleeves were three quarter length and she was wearing a plain black corset on top of her dress. The skirt was full length and she was wearing a white apron that was slightly shorter than the skirt and was tied in a neat bow just below her back. There was a pocket on this apron. Her hair was tied up in a bun on the top of her head and was covered by a dark purple piece of material. This was folded into a triangle shape with the long edge at the top of her forehead and the two ends tied under her hair.
On this day the market was full of people shouting, advertising their wares. There were shops and stalls all over the area. Grace was walking around the market place seeing what was for sale after finishing the Fairfax's shopping. She caught the odour of fresh fish as she walked past a fish stall. She quickly walked past it, hoping to find a sweeter scent. Next she stopped a confectionary stall to smell them. Sadly she couldn't purchase any as she didn't have any money. She then passed a stall selling fresh fruit next to one selling fresh vegetables. She caught the scent of freshly baked bread that was coming from nearby. She stopped for a moment. The chorus of buyers and sellers was sounding everywhere, rising up like a leaf caught in a summer's breeze, surrounding Grace wherever she went. She wandered over to the brad stall which had a light brown cover. The seller was a coloured man named Graham wearing a baggy and old white shirt as well as a small cap on the back of his head. He had a long, dark brown curly beard and a full head of hair the same colour and equally curly. He was a friend of Grace's.
She walked up to the stall and greeted him.
"Good morning" She said.
"Good morning Grace, it's lovely to see you out and about on such a fine day." He said.
"It's lovely to see you too. How are your family doing?" she asked him.
"They are fine. It was my son's birthday yesterday, he's five now. Do they need any bread today?" Graham asked her.
"No, not today" she said while shaking her head, "but I'd like a slice for myself" she continued as she reached into her apron pocket for the money.
"Here" he said as he was cutting her a slice, "don't worry about the money, you deserve this after the kindness you have shown my family for years".
"Are you sure?" she asked him.
"Of course I am" he replied as he handed her the bread.
"Well, if you're sure, thank you" she said as she took the bread from him and put it in her basket.
"Now I need to get going, I've been gone too long. The ballroom needs cleaning for the young mistress's dancing lesson this evening" she explained.
"And you will probably get dragged in as well" he said.
Grace smiled widely and nodded, knowing that the instructor would be quiet likely to ask her to join in with the lessons. What she hadn't told anyone was that secretly she enjoyed having lessons with Esmeralda and Geraldeen.
"Farewell for now" she said and then she started making her way back to the Fairfax's mansion.
Whilst walking away, she noticed a young dark haired boy walking shiftily around like a fox about to pounce on its prey. Suddenly he grabbed a loaf of freshly baked bread and ran for it. Two big and beefy guards were on patrol in the vicinity when they heard the cry of the stall owner.
"What's the problem sir?" enquired one of the guards.
"That kid stole a loaf of bread from me" Graham cried while pointing to the thief. They ran after the kid, who took a sharp turn down and alleyway, but the guards kept running in the same direction. Grace stood where she was, curiously wondering who they were chasing after as the thief had vanished. After a minute she shrugged off her curiosity, turned around and started heading back to the mansion. All of a sudden someone viciously grabbed Grace's arms, she turned; suddenly her heart skipped a beat as she saw that the person who had grabbed her arm was one of the guards who had been chasing the thief.
"Stay where you are thief, you're under arrest" said the guard holding her arm.
"I'm not a thief" Grace exclaimed. She slapped the guard's hand which made him let go and she ran off.
She ran as fast as she could while dodging people, stalls and other objects. She heard screams as she was running. She dodged people wearing different coloured clothes and stalls that had a variety of coloured tops. She looked back for just a second to see if the guards were following her. All of a sudden she bumped into something; a man. He was wearing a long black cloak so Grace couldn't see his face. Underneath this she saw a plain shirt with the top two buttons undone and the long sleeves rolled up. He was also wearing a pair of plain black trousers that were dirty and torn. Grace looked back again and saw that the guards had caught up. One of the guards grabbed hold of her arms and started dragging her away.
"Hey" yelled the stranger. The other guard pushed the stranger but then suddenly stopped for some reason. The guard that was holding on to Grace let go and the guards walked off while apologising. Grace stood where she was, completely confused by what had just happened.
"What was that all about?" quizzed Grace.
"Nothing, it's not important" replied the stranger.
"Well, whatever it was, you just saved me, thank you" she said.
"It was nothing, really, sometimes guards arrest the wrong person" he explained. They stood in silence for a minute looking in the direction the guards had walked in. The stranger turned to face Grace.
"So, what's your name?" he asked. Grace turned to look at him.
"I'm not really sure I should talk to you, I've only just met you and I can't see your face" Grace said uncertain of his reaction. He looked around where he was stood and she could see he was worried about something.
"What are you worried about, it doesn't matter who you are, people here don't care. You could be a member of the royal family and no one would know" Grace explained. She heard him sigh and then he slowly lowered his hood. When it had been fully lowered Grace looked at his facial features. She could see his eyes were hazel with green flecks and he had dark brown hair that reminded her of chocolate that was short. His skin was fair and he looked about her age apart from him being a few inches taller than her but then she was tall for a woman at five foot ten inches. She guessed that he must have been six foot two in height.
"See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" she said to him. He shook his head and looked at her. The first thing he noticed about her was that her face was covered in soot but this seemed to make her eyes glow and were beautiful. They were neither blue nor green but a mix between the two. He couldn't see her hair because it was covered by dark purple fabric.
"Well," he said a couple of minutes later, "now that you can see my face would you be willing to tell me your?"
"It's Grace and yours is?" she asked.
"Richard" he replied while he held his hand out for her to shake. She took his and shook it.
"It was nice meeting you, but I really hope to get going" Grace said.
"I could walk you home if you wanted" Richard suggested.
"Are you sure? I don't want to be a nuisance" Grace said.
"Yeah, I'm sure, it's not like I'm in a rush to get anywhere" Richard explained. Grace contemplated this for a moment.
"Okay, sure, you can walk me home" Grace said, "It's this way" she continued pointing towards the woods. The two of them walked out of the and into the forest that separated the town from the Fairfax's mansion.
As they walked into the forest the warmth of the sunshine was blocked by the canopy of the trees surrounding them as they walked. There was a warm breeze flowing around that was the carrying the sweet scent of the flowers with it as the two people followed a narrow path through the greenery. Silence surrounded them as they continued their journey. This continued for several minutes during which Richard wondered if he should tell her. He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear her speak.
"Excuse me? Did you say something?" he asked her.
"I asked if you were ok" she replied.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking" Richard replied.
"Was it anything important?" Grace asked him, a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"No, not really" he answered absentmindedly. A few moments of silence followed.
"So what happened back there?" he asked her.
"I don't really know, one minute the guards were chasing a thief, the next they were chasing me" Grace explained. Richard didn't know what to say to Grace afterwards and so remained silent.
"Thinking again?" Grace asked a few minutes later.
"No, just enjoying the silence" he replied.
"Oh, okay" Grace said, deciding to not talk so she could hear what he heard. After a few minutes she started hearing the chirping of birds flying in the canopy above her. There was also the sound of rustling leaves caused by the movements of small mammals scuttling around. Grace stopped for a moment when she saw a small patch of undergrowth moving a few feet in front of her. She wondered what was causing this and continued to loom at the movement whilst slowly moving towards it. A few moments later a squirrel emerged from the bushes, its nose twitching to smell its surroundings. The squirrel's fur was a vibrant mix of red and brown. Grace crouched and held her arm out, inviting the squirrel to move closer, which the squirrel did, although tentatively. As the moments passed the squirrel became braver and eventually sat on the palm of her hand.
"You're a friendly little fellow aren't you" she said whilst stroking the squirrel's fur with her finger. She continued doing this for several minutes.
"You must be new here" Grace said. She stopped stroking the squirrel's fur and stood up.
"You can all come out now, he's not going to hurt you" Grace told the bushes surrounding them. This baffled Richard, he was sure they were alone. Then there was more rustling around them in the undergrowth around them.
"I'm going to assume that they know you" he said, looking at the rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and other small mammals that were approaching Grace.
"Well, I always go through here when travelling between the mansion and town, I'm normally alone though" she answered. Grace put her basket down, sat down and then all the animals surrounded her. Richard leant against a tree to watch. Every so often he'd hear her say things like "really, that's interesting" and "So that's what happened". If Richard wasn't seeing it he wouldn't have believed it, Grace was talking to the animals. He had never heard of anyone being able to do that. He was going to think on this some more but then he saw movement and a short while later a fox emerged. Richard remained still but prepared to jump in and help if needed. However this would not be necessary. The fox walked up to Grace and simply sat down next to her. Surprisingly none of the animals fled from the fox or even looked nervous even though it is well known that foxes prey upon some of the animals present. A moment later Grace realised the fox was there and began scratching its head.
"What are you doing here? Sunset isn't for another few hours" she asked the fox. The fox growled gently.
"Awe, that's so sweet, you wanted to see me. Are you sure you're a fox? You act like a cat to me sometimes" she asked, thinking about Geraldeen's cat Felicia who's favourite thing was having behind her ears scratched. One of the things Grace liked was that when she was at home Geraldeen cared for her and when she wasn't the servants took turns looking after Felicia. Just then she noticed the position of the sun and realised that she had dawdled too long and needed to get back to the mansion as soon as possible.
"I'm sorry my friends, it seems I've tallied too long, it's time I left" Grace said, standing up. A few moments later the animals disappeared into the bushes and Grace picked up her basket again.
"Shall we?" Grace asked. Richard nodded and the two of them continued on their journey. Half an hour later they came out of the forest and arrived at the entrance to a huge mansion. The two of them stopped and turned to face each other.
"Thank you" Grace said,
"You're welcome" Richard replied. Then he kissed her cheek, making Grace blush. Then she walked into the mansion to begin her chores. Richard didn't know why he had kissed her cheek. What Grace didn't know was that the reason Richard had had his face hidden was that he was afraid of being recognised. After all most of the nobles would find him strange if they found he preferred talking to peasants instead of the nobility. Grace had been right about the royal family, no one had recognised him and he was the prince.
Suddenly someone popped out from behind a nearby tree. Richard felt his heart skip a beat as he turned around until he realised who it was. It was John, his older and wiser best friend. John was a tall, well built man with golden blonde hair and sea blue eyes. His skin was fair. He was twenty one years old, three years older than Richard.
"John, were you following me?" Richard questioned his friend.
"Of course I was, remember? Your mother did charge me with keeping an eye on you" John explained.
"Oh yeah, I forgot" Richard said. He leant against a nearby tree and sighed. John looked at his friend and frowned.
"You like her, don't you?" he asked Richard.
"I can't really say for sure, I barely know her" Richard replied.
"You kissed her that says it all. Your mother is NOT going to like this" John said.
"She's a peasant and I'm a prince, it wouldn't be allowed. When the time comes my parents would want me to marry a princess or a lady of nobility" he said and then he groaned. There were a few moments of silence.
"Richard, the carriage is parked nearby. We'd better get back before your mother gets really mad at us for being gone so long" said John. They walked the short distance to the carriage. The carriage was dark brown with gold around the edges. The doors on either side were rectangle with a square gap for a window in each door. Underneath the window in each door there was a royal crest, which told people who saw it that this was a royal coach. Pulling the carriage was a single brown horse. Richard glanced back at the mansion before opening the door and getting into the carriage. John got in after him and shut the door behind him. The driver snapped the reins and the carriage began the journey back to the castle.
First the carriage drove through the woods separating the mansion from the town. Afterwards it drove through the town, passing by the market. Then it drove through the thick woods that separated the town from the castle. After an hour the carriage arrived at the castle. It drove through the enormous brown, wooden gates that marked the entrance to the palace. The carriage drove up the pathway to the palace, around the central water fountain and pulled up by the stairs that led to the main entrance doors to the palace. The staircase was white as well as being wider at the bottom than at the top. At the top of the stairs were a set of large majestic pale blue doors John and Richard emerged from the carriage, walked up the stairs and through the doors after they were opened for them. The doors were shut behind them. Inside the there was a long corridor with navy blue carpet and deep red wallpaper. There curtains were a deep purple that matched the wallpaper and carpet perfectly. There were several doors coming off this corridor. All along the corridor there were paintings of the royal family, past and present. There were paintings that showed the prince growing up. In between these paintings there were candles on the wall. At this moment in time they were not lit as it was daytime.
A small fat man who worked in the palace walked up to John and Richard as they walked down the corridor. He was wearing a white shirt that was fully buttoned up and a pair of long black trousers.
"Yours highness, the king and queen wish to see you. They are in the Library" he said. He then walked away. John and Richard walked along the corridor and went through the last door on the left. In this room the carpet, wallpaper and curtains were all the same colours as in the corridor. All the curtains were drawn back at this time as it was still daylight. There was a chandelier hanging from the centre of the ceiling that would be lit when the sunset later. There were also two staircases with a landing separating them that led to the second floor. The two men walked up the stairs and through the door at the top of them. Beyond the door there was another corridor identical to the one below. They walked straight across the hall and through another door.
This was the library. The room was filled with many floor to ceiling bookcases that were filled with books on any subject you could think of. In the middle of the room there was a large table with chairs around it. The king and queen were sat at this table. From the looks on their faces Richard could see that he was in a lot of trouble. The queen was scowling furiously while the king had a look of being absentminded on his. The queen was forty three years old, had brown eyes and hair as well as fair skin. The king was like the queen in looks but was forty four years old not forty three. For a few moments there was silence throughout the room. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the kind of silence that happens before being told off. It was broken by the queen.
"Richard, where have you been? We've been worried sick about you!" yelled the queen. Richard stood where he was, silent, while staring at the floor.
"Well?" demanded the queen.
"I . . . I . . . I was in town, looking around" murmured Richard, afraid of what his parents might say next.
"Richard, we keep telling you, you're a prince, you can't wander around in the open without people noticing. I have noticed your wearing a cloak but that just makes you look more suspicious" she bellowed at him.
"What am I supposed to do? Stay in the palace all day. I can't do that, I would go insane" he shouted back.
"Richard, we didn't ask you to come here to shout at you. There is a question at hand about your birthday so would you sit down and listen to our proposal" he said calmly.
"Alright" he agreed whilst pulling up a chair to the table and he sat down.
"As it's your eighteenth birthday, we are planning a much larger celebration than normal" the king said.
"How much larger?" Richard asked, suspicious that his parents were planning something.
"Several balls over a period of a month" the king answered.
"How many?" Richard asked. The king and Queen looked at each other.
"There will be one every two days" the King replied.
"Isn't that a bit excessive for celebrating a birthday" Richard asked.
"Yes, but remember the kingdom is also celebrating that it's been two hundred years since the end of the war" the queen explained. Richard thought for a few minutes.
"That makes sense. Just don't expect me to make any announcements about engagement at the end of the last ball. I know the traditions but I am only turning eighteen, so I've got a few more years before I need to get married" Richard said. He then left the room followed by John. The king and queen looked at each other and then started planning all the details.
Back at the mansion Grace had walked in by the main entrance. She then leant against a wall and sighed dreamily.
"So who's the lucky man?" said a nearby female voice. The voice snapped Grace out of her daydream and she stood up straight. The woman who spoke was Geraldeen, one of the Baron and Baroness's twin daughters. She was twenty years old with mousy brown hair and brown eyes. She was short in stature as well as being well rounded. Other ladies called her fat but she was not, she was just well built. Ever since Grace and her parents had moved in Geraldeen and Esmeralda had considered and treated Grace as their sister. Grace blushed as she told Geraldeen what had happened earlier.
"His name is Richard and I met him today in town today" Grace said.
"Wow, he must be really special. What was he like?" Geraldeen asked.
"He was really sweet and he didn't laugh at me when I was talking to the animals. And, Ahhh, he was really romantic" grace said.
"It sounds like you're smitten with him" Geraldeen said.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous" Grace said as she came to her senses.
"We'll see" Geraldeen said.
"If you'll excuse me my lady, I have chores to be getting on with" Grace said. She then took her basket and left to put the contents in the kitchen. After this she took her cleaning things and went to the ballroom to scrub the floor. The ballroom was a circular room with a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the centre. The floor was polished marble. There was a second set of doors that led to the gardens and to the left of these there was a piano that was covered with a large piece of material to keep the dust off it. The soap she used had a scent of lavenders and she hummed to herself as she washed the floor. Just after she finished the main doors into the ballroom opened and in walked Geraldeen followed by Esmeralda and then the ladies dance teacher. Esmeralda was the opposite of Geraldeen in stature. Where Geraldeen was short, Esmeralda was tall and slightly less robust than her sister. Her hair was dark brown and her eyes were also brown. In Grace's eyes both the sisters were beautiful in their own way. Grace picked up her bucket after putting the rag in it and left to empty the bucket. Esmeralda pulled the material off the piano and sat down to play. She was a very talented pianist as she had been having lessons since she was quite young. When Grace returned Geraldeen and the tutor were dancing whilst Esmeralda was playing. At this time Grace did not have any chores to do. She sat down and watched. Then the dance finished and the tutor asked her dance. Grace accepted and they dance while Geraldeen watched. An hour passed by like this until Esmeralda and Geraldeen switched places. Another hour passed by and then Grace needed to return to her chores. Later that night Grace looked out of the window in her room at the mountain range and couldn't help thinking that her future lay beyond it on the other side.
