please read this and my other story, castle in the woods. i need help a bit.
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Once upon a time...
There was a Duke, a kind and generous man, who lived in the capital city of Arelde, the famed city that held the great King of the lands. He was the oldest brother of a long line of Dukes, each virtuous and moral nobles, and their legacy was evident in the well-to-do surroundings of the city and villages.
Gentle Roane, for he was a second son, was brought up to be a physician, and trained as such for many years by the most renowned teachers and professors. A promising protogee, the boy grew to a man, and the man into the finest doctor seen for many years. And not only was he pleased with his accomplishments, he was also content and fulfilled by his occupation.
This kind young man married, and produced a daughter in his second year of marriage. But, his life was not to be the fairy tale it began as, for his wife died in childbirth despite his frantic endeavors. He grieved at the loss of his soul mate, and turned to his child as a solace.
Selene was a bright child, with her mother's pale skin and shining gold hair, and proved to be bouncy and attentive from the beginning. As she grew older, the lonely man took her with him on his medical visits, and her ample mind soaked up the knowledge like a sponge.
"Father?" he would hear late at night, when she ought to have been in bed for an hour, "What is this?" Her tiny finger, positioned firmly on a multi-syllable word, would be as inquiring as her innocently long-lashed emerald eyes. And he would laugh, drawing her onto his lap, and explain in great detail the procedure and its outcomes, the symptoms and the diagnosis.
So, the girl was a regular sight in Arelde, always trotting on her father's heels as he went from his office to home to yet another home. By the young age of thirteen, the girl had grown not only in size but in her education, for she was knowledgeable in medicine and experience.
People began to ask her for advice in the streets, when she was walking alone to the market or the variety of small shops, needing advice for a swollen left leg or a throbbing headache. "For you' as smart-like as yourn father is," they gave explaination, proud of their city's fine young girl.
When she was fourteen, the first Duke was suddenly dead with a heart attack, because of his rich eating habits but also the death of his fragile wife. Grieving for his brother, Roane found himself quickly immersed in the city's politics, as the new Duke. Feeling his obligation towards the city, he released his career and became absorbed in his duties.
Politics not only ruined Roane's medical profession, but also his love. After a half-year of being prodded and poked at by society, he grudgingly took a wife, a minor noblewoman who had twin daughters from her other marriage, a year older than his Selene. In his kind nature, he hoped they would prove good company for his growing daughter.
"Selene," he would say, in his mild voice, "You are growing so old now, and even though you are my little girl, you need a woman to talk to, because things are going to change." He patted her gold hair gently as she burst into tears. "Sweet, I will always be there, don't cry now," he reminded her with a smile.
But he did leave her, only a year of marriage to his new wife. Quietly, in his sleep, Roane passed on in his fourtieth year. Selene was left with her two stepsisters and her step-mother Pertia, who was not as kind as she pretended to be.
Morphing the small, pretty castle into a bustling court, Pertia quickly transformed Selene into a servant. "You, there," she commanded. "This is my home, and you have no right." Crushed by her father's death, the poor fifteen year old complied fearfully.
In the tragedy, even the townspeople forgot about their quiet friend, and did not even miss the pretty girl going to and fro from the market place weekly. This was hard to imagine, since Selene, with her clear complexion, shining hair, and gentle emerald eyes had acquired many admirerers. But, she was forgotton, and her slender form was absorbed into the masses ordinary servant girls.
Elesia and Elenia, the twin daughters of Pertia, were Selene's new assigned mistresses. Elenia, the younger twin, was a jealous creature who hated Selene for her beauty, though both sisters were pretty also, with shining auburn hair and clear blue eyes. However, the two lacked the inner radience of Selene, and the haughty expression of the younger, crueler daughter was apalling to even the most desperate of suitor.
Forced by her jealous step-mother, Selene's ankle-length golden hair was constantly bound in an old kerchief. Elesia, the elder of the twins, had been the only obstacle that had prevented the entire thing from being shorn off, for she was kind but easily dominated by her cruel mother and sister.
But rags and bound-hair could not stifle the beauty from Selene's face and form, for she was not only graced with harmonious features but with an innate kindness that she showed to everyone. The step-mother, despite her efforts, could not even prevail in this subject. Instead, she simply piled more and more chores and duties on her young step-daughter, now not called by her true noble name but an alias...Ella-in-the-Cinders.
Thankfully, she thrived enough in this environment (with the help of Elesia), for fate was approaching slowly but steadily.
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copyright sorka robinton 2001