Crown of Smoke

Chapter 4

            Her parents sat waiting for them in the kitchen, an open envelope on the table which they were looking at as though it was an explosive about to go off. Rose’s hand was gripped tightly on Elliot’s, her knuckles white.

            Blaine, Gwen and Hayden all appeared in a clump, tumbling through the door one after the other. Gwen saw her parents’ grave expressions and her heart sunk. She had hoped that Blaine was simply being overly dramatic about the situation, but the look her mother was giving her told her that his panic was justified. Gwen reached down and took the envelope from the table, reading it aloud.

            “This is a notice to tell you that our kingdom of Colvine is now at war with the kingdom of Ander. All men within the Eldun region from the age of 17 to 30 will be drafted within the next two months. Any refusal to do so will be treated as desertion and will be faced with a trial. More news will be announced in the next few days, but know that Colvine will win this war and expand our empire, presenting us with new oppurtunities for the future. Signed, your royal highness King Kaleb Yates I.”

Gwen turned to Blaine, who despite only just having turned 17, was likely to be one of the first people to be drafted. She tried to picture him in battle, the brother whom she always turned to whenever she felt lost, but it was like trying to imagine a horse learning to sing. It wasn’t in his nature. Anger coursed through her veins at the thought of other young boys, all of a lower class, that would be drafted. There must be more villages exactly like Eldun, all through Colvine who would be receiving the same telegram. She thought of the already depleting supplies that their kingdom had been facing and how this could only worsen the situation.

            She looked at Hayden who was already staring at her. Their eyes met. She saw the same fire behind his eyes as she felt behind her own and she knew that there was no longer time for her to learn grace and etiquette. She had to step up more quickly than they had thought. It frightened her a little, but the adrenaline of being ready to take the King on, the ability to save lives, overshadowed her fear by a mile.

            Blaine watched the pair. The way that they were silently communicating. He saw his parents watching them too. The matching determined looks on each of their faces. He sighed.

            “So when do you leave?” He asked them.

            “Not yet,” Gwen said. “Not quite.”

            “We should start local,” Hayden replied. “We’ll go out to the village tomorrow, people will be in chaos and desperate for someone to take charge. We’ll move on from there.”

            Her parents nodded.

            “Will we need proof of her heritage?” Her mother asked.

            “Do you have any?” Hayden replied.

            Gwen’s father nodded, standing up and leaving the table. They could hear his footsteps above them followed by the clanking of a ladder. Gwen now realized why it was that she was never allowed into the attic. He came back downstairs with a pale pink blanket, the royal crest printed into it.

            “It’s been washed,” her mother said, taking it in her own hands, “but it was the blanket that you had as a baby in the palace. It was covered in soot when we left but it washed ever so nicely. We should have gotten rid of it with everything else, but I just didn’t have the heart.” She smiled sadly. Gwen watched as her mother lifted it up to her, going through and making sure there was no damage. Her name, Guinevere, had been embroidered next to the crest in a deep purple color. She handed it to Gwen who let the soft material drape her fingers with its feeling of warmth.

            “Do you think it will be enough?” Blaine asked. Hayden shrugged.

            “People will be pretty desperate after today. I think they’ll take what they can get.” He said. “We should get you looking like a princess if this is going to be fully convincing though.”

            Gwen sighed and nodded, leading Hayden wordlessly out of the kitchen and upstairs to her bedroom. Hayden walked straight over to her wardrobe whilst Gwen plopped down on the bed, the blanket still in her hands, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the sound of Hayden chucking her clothes on the floor with dissatisfied grunts.

            Gwen’s surprised yelp was muffled as a dress landed on her face, followed by another two. She wrestled free of the fabric, looking at each of the candidates that Hayden deemed worthy of being presented into the kingdom, or at least to the village. None of them were her usual dulled rust color that she wore almost every day, these were the light pastel colors that were saved for special occasions like weddings or dances in the village square.

            Hayden sat down on the bed next to her, holding the sleeves of each one up against her cheek. There was one that was a soft blushing pink, one that was a pale violet, and one that was a deep green. Gwen had loved wearing every one of them, but she had never thought any of them were particularly ‘royal’. Her portrait would never be painted wearing one of these.

            After a few moments of careful deliberation, Hayden pulled the blush gown out from the pile and thrust it into Gwen’s arms.

            “What do you think of this one?”

            “Are you asking for my opinion?” Gwen quipped. “I thought I was here to take orders only.”      

            He sighed, shaking his head but smiling a little as Gwen strode off to the bathroom to put the dress on. She had forgotten how wonderful it was to wear a dress that had real silk bits in it rather than scratchy wool that would irritate her for the whole day. The sun coming through the window caught her hair and as she looked in the looking glass above the basin, she could not help but think that she did actually look quite pretty. She couldn’t remember what occasion the dress had originally been bought for, but it must have been special. The sleeves came down just below her elbow and were trimmed with a little bit of white lace. The neckline was wide which showcased her collarbones which usually were not even the tiniest bit prominent. She remembered the pose which Hayden had taught her that afternoon and pushed her shoulders back some more. Not a queen just yet, she thought, but definitely better than before. It was a good feeling, only ruined by the fact that it was growing more annoying every time Hayden turned out to be right.

            “Guinevere!” Hayden shouted through the door, making Gwen jump. “Bring a brush out with you as well. Where do you keep your hair ribbons?”

            “In the top drawer of my dresser.” She replied, turning back to her reflection once more. She looked herself in the eyes, tired and in need of sleep probably, but she doubted she would get much of that now. This was just going to have to do, whether Hayden and everyone else liked it or not.

            She entered back into her bedroom and stood in the door, waiting for Hayden to stop fiddling around in her drawer and notice her. She stood for a minute but was growing increasingly impatient and decided to cough. Hayden turned to look at her. Gwen had been hoping that he would suddenly see her as the queen he wanted her to become but the only response she got was that his head tilted to the side and his brow furrowed a little.

            “Better, but it’s still missing a lot,” he proclaimed. Gwen slumped back down and waited for him to pick a ribbon. He ended up picking two, one pink and one white. He gestured for her to sit down but when she did he pushed his hand between her shoulder blades to make her sit up straight again. He took the brush from her hand and began to comb her hair out. Gwen used to love it when her mother did her hair as a child, the rhythmic smoothing of her tangles with the combination of fingers and the brush. She closed her eyes and pretended, just for a second, that time had turned back and things were simple once more.

            She felt Hayden’s fingers in her hair, beginning right at the front of her forehead and slowly making their ways down the back of her head towards her neck.

            “How did you learn to do this?” Gwen asked him.

            “I have a sister. A younger sister.” He murmured, still concentrating on her hair. “You would have known that if you had bothered to have asked.”

            “I’m sorry I got rather caught up with my entire life changing before my eyes, but please, do go on and tell me your life story whilst brushing my hair so it can balance a tiara.” She snapped back. Gwen had no idea what was wrong with her, why she was suddenly so aggravated with him. Obviously, he had driven her mad with his stuck-up attitude but she had thought that she was getting used to that.

            “You know I wouldn’t say no to anyone who enjoyed the sound of my voice as much as I do,” Hayden replied, “but I think you should examine your hair and make sure it’s satisfactory first.”

            “You mean you actually want to know what I think?” She asked again, still surprised.

            “You told me not to make you into something which you are not and I heard you loud and clear. I can polish what’s there but what’s underneath will be the same. How you look will reflect that so, yes. I would like your approval.” He said, kneeling in front of her for a moment, pulling two single strands of hair from behind her ears. “There, you can go look now.”

            Gwen moved silently past the bathroom door to her parents’ room where the only full-length mirror stood. She hated to admit that Hayden had done a good job. Her chestnut hair was mostly falling down her back but the part that usually flapped in front of her face was pulled back and tied in a combination of pink and white ribbons. Hayden had artfully pulled two strands to frame her face, giving her the illusion of cheekbones. Without it all covering her face, she realized that her eyes looked so much wider, the dark circles eliminated. She turned a little in the light and smiled, satisfied with what was in front of her for the first time in a long while.

            She saw Hayden in the mirror behind her, a satisfied smirk on his face that.

            “I’m rather pleased with my handy work,” he smiled.

            “Naturally you get all the credit.”

            “Naturally,” he said coming in closer, fussing a little with her skirts. “All that’s missing is a crown.”

            “Well I highly doubt we can get one of those on such late notice,” she said. “I’ll just have to do.”

            Hayden raised a singular brow, the hint of a smile refusing to leave his lips.

            “The people will love it.”