From The Ashes

Prologue - Peace Unto Thee

Talk of peace, the possibility of ending a long war, it almost seemed too good to be true. Princess Aula watched from her bedroom window as a carriage rolled up to the front gate before being allowed access, the door opening slowly behind her as her servant entered. She was a very large woman with gentle forest green eyes and a plump face.

"Good morning, your highness. I see that you're already up, I've brought you breakfast." She said with a kind voice.

"Thank you, Verincia, could you set it beside my bed, please?" Aula looked at her and smiled, Verincia nodded as she walked over to the princess' bed and set the breakfast tray over the bedside table.

"So, I take it that you've seen that Lufalia has come to make peace with us?" The princess nodded, looking out the window. "Do you think it's truly peaceful talk? You don't seem all convinced, milady."

"My father fought against them for so many years, so many lives were lost and so much blood has been shed, it just feels so unreal. Almost, dreamlike, don't you think?"

"I suppose." Verincia answered hesitantly. "Who knows, perhaps people can have a change of heart. I'll leave you to it, milady." She bowed to the princess who bowed back and left, Aula walked over to the table where her breakfast was and looked at it, taking a bite of the eggs.

∆

Down by the village roads, villagers gathered around as the carriage rolled in, heading towards the castle. Many were silent while others cheered. A young peasant boy named Kloro stood in the middle of the crowd, barely able to see through the wave of people shuffling about. He cut through them, making his way into a nearby alleyway. It was dark, a bit gloomywith only a few faintly lit lanterns that hung over the narrow pathway. By a trash can, right beside the back door of a pub, a group of three stood nearby, a girl leaned against the mossy wall while a boy sat on top of the trash lid while a much younger boy was crouched beside the older boy. "You kept us waiting Kloro, what took you so long?" the girl asked as stepped away from the wall, arms crossed.

"Sorry for the wait, Elia, a lot is going on with this whole 'peace' thing going on right now. Perfect time to do some thievery, wouldn't you agree?"

"Of course, we need to, otherwise we're all gonna starve. Lulo? You got something to tell us?" Lulo looked over to Elia and nodded.

"There's going to be a grand feast over at the castle tonight with lots of drinks, food, everything you can think of. The plan is that we're going to sneak in, blend in with the party folk, grab some food and maybe even something that could sell at a good price and then bail."

"Sounds like a plan," Kloro said. "So how are we getting in exactly, the front gates to the castle are gonna be guarded." Elia smirked at Kloro's response.

"Don't worry about that," she said, "I know a way, we'll meet up by the Eastern castle wall at sundown."

∆

Aula was being dressed in a gown for the feast, the tailors were making final adjustments while Verincia was brushing Aula's hair. "It's almost time now, are you nervous?"

"No, I just wish peace didn't involve me getting married to the prince of Lufalia." Aula sighed.

"You don't want to get married, do you?" Verincia asked. Aula looked at her with a surprised look.

"How did you know that?"

"Oh, it's so obvious, believe me. I've seen it all before, I've been here long enough to know that feeling. None of the princesses before you seemed too eager but they married anyway, I think the only one who seemed genuinely happy was your mother. Gods rest her soul, she was a keeper that one."