Secrets and Ashes: Prologue & Chapter 1

Prologue

         When I returned to this city on my fourteenth birthday, I remembered something my mother once told me.  “We are meant to be the voice of the people but it is impossible to hear them if you don’t even try.”  Even if I convinced myself that I had moved on from my horrible past, I knew I would only shame my mother’s memory if I returned home then.  So I walked deep into the city to live hidden among the people, listening silently until the day I would be needed again.



Chapter 1

         “Eons ago, twenty men came together to over throw their tyrant ruler.  A long battle between the tyrant and the men took place and the men left victorious.  After the tyrant’s defeat, the men rescued the tyrant’s captive princess.  The princess revealed herself to be a Goddess in disguise.  To thank them, the Goddess granted each man a specific gift of magic with which they could use to protect the country.  The men then renamed the country and freed all the people.  When the country was stable enough to start a new, a young girl entered the capital city.  She said she was the daughter of the Goddess the men had freed.  She had come as a gift to the whole country.  She was there to oversee the future of the country.  Since she was unbiased, an agreement was made.  The twenty men would become the senators to rule the country and the Goddess’s daughter would preside over the senate.  The twenty men were the ancestors of the noble families in the aristocracy.  The daughter of the Goddess is now known as The Judge.  She has, and always will, live in the House. 

         Today, the House is where the senate convenes to discuss and vote on matters of the country.  The Judge is the one who decides on issues that get discussed and voted on.  Only the senators, the head of the noble families, can vote.  To pass, a vote must pass with at least a fourteen majority.  The Judge also has another role in the House which is to hear, review, and determine an outcome for legal matters.  This can range from small property matters to crimes against the country or severe crimes against man such as murder.”

         The gathered circle of children of various ages slowly processed what had just been told to them.  The group was in the courtyard of one of the many housing complexes in the area.  This particular one was a five story square building with an open center for the common area courtyard on the ground level.  A large fire pit was in the middle of the courtyard.  “You sure do know a lot about the nobles, Miss. Krista,” many of them complimented in awe.

         The woman smiled politely at the children.  Her mahogany hair was braided and twisted over the back of her head.  Her dark blue eyes were surrounded by thick lashes.  A small scar cut through her eyebrow above her left eye.  “It is the duty of every citizen to know how the country is run and by whom.  Does anyone have any questions?”

         Many little hands shot into the air waving back and forth with excitement.  One boy blurted out, “How old do you have to be to be a senator?”

         “Raise your hand and wait your turn till you are called on and then I’ll answer your question,” Krista scolded.

         The boy lowered his head.  “I’m sorry, Miss. Krista.”

         She sighed, “I will answer your question though.  For someone born as a successor to a noble family, they can’t become the head until they are twenty years old.”

         The girl on her right leaned forward in desperation to be called on next.

         “Go ahead, Emma.”

         The girl sat back and put down her arm.  “But isn’t it true that Lady Johanna von Himmelreich became a senator when she was sixteen?”  Krista started to answer but Emma continued.  “And isn’t Lord Dale von Eisenberg still a senator when his son is already twenty?”

         Krista cut the girl off from asking anymore.  “Yes, these are all true.  There are sometimes special occasions for this.  In the case of Lady von Himmelreich, her father, the previous head of the family, died and her mother was unfit to act as a stand in.  Lady von Himmelreich’s family challenged her for the position as head and senator but Lady von Himmelreich proved that she was capable of the position and The Judge confirmed her position.  The matter regarding Lord Dale von Eisenberg and his son, Kiefer, is actually common.  If the current head of a noble family does not think that the successor is ready to take over the position at age twenty can postpone their retirement for a few years.  I think the longest time for postponing the change in position was about five years.  I believe Lord Dale von Eisenberg is waiting until Kiefer gets married, which should be in three months right after Kiefer’s twenty-first birthday.”

         Another boy raised his hand and asked, “Is it true they get married when they are our age?”

         Krista smiled to hold back a chuckle.  “No, they don’t get married.  They become engaged which means they promise to marry when they get older.  One of the noble families will host an engagement party every five years.  All the children who are at least five years old get together and pick who they want to be engaged to.  The children get to pick but their parents have to approve it.”  The younger children made disgusted faces.  Krista giggled.  “You’ll understand when you grow up.”

         An older boy of sixteen standing in the back folded his arms across his chest.  “Aren’t your numbers wrong about the senators voting?  Isn’t the passing vote only thirteen now because of the von Ritter incident?”

         Krista cleared her throat.  “Yes, you are right about that.  The death of the von Ritter’s made the Judge change the total votes from fourteen to thirteen.”

         The boy smirked, “And Wendell von Ritter hasn’t woken up since then but even if he did he can’t claim the position of head and senator since he was only Isolde von Ritter’s step brother.  Can you believe some people think that the von Ritter’s are still alive?  The bodies were found.  But they still think that little Kristin von Ritter escaped and she will come back one day.  It’s been twelve years.  Kristin von Ritter is dead and not coming back.”

          “That’s enough, Kyler.”  A middle aged woman with a round face came up behind him.  “It’s time for you kids to be off to school.  Thank Miss. Krista and be on your way.”

         The children unanimously gave a “Thank you, Miss Krista” and ran off in several directions.

         The woman glared at Kyler who never moved.  He sighed and shuffled off as well.  She smiled warmly at Krista.  “You really are good with the children.  It helps us older women out a lot.  We’ll be making bread soon.  You will be joining us, won’t you?”

         Krista returned the smile.  “Of course, Mrs. Dixon.  I’ll go change and get Lora to help as well.”  She walked hurriedly to the stairs and climbed up to the third floor.  She kept her pace down the hallway and stopped at the door numbered three-seven.  She called as she opened the door, “Lorelei, its bread day and Mrs. Dixon does not understand the meaning of ‘no’.  We need to change and be down there in fifteen minutes”.  She looked around the apartment.  She was standing in the common room.  There were two doors in the back.  One that led to an eating and food storage area and the other door was to the bedroom she shared with Lorelei. All of the rooms were just large enough to comfortably fit the necessary furniture.  The kitchen and lavatory were communal areas.

         The door to the bedroom cracked open and whined with overuse.  A woman walked out backward, her hands busy rearranging her silky black hair.  She turned around to display the ribbon hanging from her mouth.  She held her hair with one hand and grabbed the ribbon out of her mouth with the other.  “I was listening to your story and conversation just now.”  She finished tying her hair back in a pony tail.  “Are you alright, Kristin?  Even I can’t truly let go of that night your family died.”  Kristin nodded and gave a weak smile.  Lorelei snorted, “Although I would love to see that Kyler’s face if he found out that the Krista he has been living with for the past five years is really Kristin von Ritter.”

         Kristin smirked, “I think he would be more interested to know that he’s also been living with the notorious moon demon, Lorelei, who has been living as the loving older sister of Krista, Lora.”

         Lorelei pouted, “I still don’t like that you didn’t spell my new name the common way of ‘L-a-u-r-a’.”  She sighed, “You have no idea how complicated it is for when I have to find work.  Again.”  Lorelei had just recently lost her temporary employment.  She never found a permanent employment but kept going from temporary job to temporary job.  Kristin had been fortunate enough to have worked for her current employer for the past two years.

          “I know you’ll find another job for sure.  You have limitless talents.”  Kristin reached just inside the door to the bedroom to grab an apron off its hook.  “I’ll offer again to put in a good word for you with my employer.”

         Lorelei tied her apron on as well.  “I haven’t reached the point where I’m that desperate yet and I don’t plan on being.”  She paused.  “But I will let you know if I do need your help.”

         Kristin removed a letter from her pocket and handed it to Lorelei.  “I need you to take this to Johanna after baking bread.  Can you do that?”

          “Of course,” Lorelei nodded and accepted the letter hiding it in her clothes. 

         The two hurried downstairs leaving their real identities locked in their room.  The rest of the afternoon was spent making bread for the entire house complex.  The cost for the ingredients was added to the rent and then allowed for all the residents to at least have a loaf of bread once a week.  After the last of the bread was baked, the kitchen was cleaned. 

         Kristin walked out of the now clean hot kitchen into the courtyard wiping her brow with her arm.

         As the evening bell rang, the children returned from school.  The older kids scuffled their feet and envied the energy of those younger.  As soon as she entered the courtyard, Emma ran up to Kristin with her blonde curls snapping in all directions.

          “I made this for you today, Miss. Krista.”  Emma held out a folded piece of paper.  Kristin took the paper and unfolded it.  She squinted in the fading light at the messy handwriting.  “We had to practice our writing today by writing a letter to someone and I wrote my letter for you.”

          “Thank you very much, Emma.”  She leaned over and hugged the girl.

         Emma pointed at Kristin’s neck, “That is a really pretty ring.  Why is it on a necklace and wher’d you get it?”

         Kristin grabbed the ring dangling at the end of the chain.  She knelt down and leaned in closer to Emma.  “Can you keep a secret?”  The little girl nodded vigorously.  “Pinky swear?”  She held out her right little finger.  The girl nodded again and locked fingers with Kristin.  Kristin sat on the ground and set Emma on her lap.  She looked down at the ring again fondly before she began her story.

          “When I was about your age, I was at a party with many kids my age.  We were told we had to talk with all the other children at the party.  I made a few close friends that day.  We spent a lot of time playing together.  For my seventh birthday, one of my friends came to see me and told me he wanted to marry me when we grew up and he gave me this ring.”

         Emma tipped her head back to look at Kristin.  “What did you say?”

         She smiled, “I told him yes.”

         Emma stuck out her tongue making a sickened face.  “Eww!  Boys are mean and gross.”

          “Boys may seem mean and gross to you now but as you grow up you’ll see that boys can be funny and nice.  Then someday you’ll meet a boy that you really like that you’ll want to marry and spend your life with.”

         Emma dropped her shoulders.  “But then if you liked this boy because he was funny and nice and you wanted to marry him, why aren’t you married to him now?”

         Kristin hugged Emma closer to lessen her own insecurity.  “Right after he gave me the ring, I had to move far away for a long time.  When I moved here, I learned that he had changed and he has a different woman that he is going to marry now.”

          “That’s not nice!” Emma complained.

         Kristin laughed and gave Emma one last big squeeze.  “You’re right but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”  She stood the girl up and stood up herself.  “You have to get home now.  You’re mother will be waiting for you.”  Emma whined in protest but said her good bye.  “Emma, remember,” Kristin put her index finger to her lips as a reminder.  Emma copied her then ran off.

         Lorelei slipped out from the shadows at that moment.  “Johanna sends her well wishes.  She still really wants to see you and not get information through Michael or myself.”

          “Why can’t you call Marcel by his real name?” Kristin complained.

         Lorelei turned her chin up.  “Because I don’t like him.  Same clan, bad relations.  You know how that goes.”

         Kristin was never going to be able to change Lorelei’s mind herself so she dropped the subject.  “Let’s get home.”

         Once their front door locked in place, Lorelei heaved a sigh and let herself relax by changing into her true state.  Her hair was much longer and so fine it glowed silver.  Her eyes switched to a frosty blue.  A crescent moon tattoo adorned the middle of her forehead.  Lastly, her skin paled to a milky white.

         Kristin poured two glasses of water from the pitcher on the center table and sat down on the couch.  Lorelei took the chair, the only other piece of furniture in the room.  Kristin drank half her glass and looked Lorelei over from head to toe.  “I don’t care how many times you tell me your complexion is from being a moon demon.  I still think you look deathly.”

         Lorelei stuck her tongue out at Kristin.  She took a sip from her glass and set it down.  “Why did you decide to tell Emma about your engagement with Alaric?”  She shrugged, “More or less anyway.”

         Kristin gently placed her glass down on the table.  She leaned against the back of the couch and tucked her feet up next to her.  “I feel like I have to remind myself every so often that it all really happened.  Reminding myself about my relationship with Alaric is one way I can do that.  What really happened though was completely different.”  She leaned her face against the arm rest.  “I knew I wanted to be with Alaric von Adler after fifteen minutes of talking with him.”