Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
The next day, Ashley learned the important distinction between being on her brother’s good side and being on his bad side.
Mainly, she learned she should make she was never, ever on his bad side again.
Being on his bad side came with a whole slew of consequences.
Consequences that included her being locked away in a bedchamber, barely allowed to gaze out at the sunlight, and being told that it was for her own good.
It was, of course, hard to believe that it was for her own good when she just so happened to be bound in what was a fucking stone cage with little to no explanation.
Still, Ashley decided to humor her brother, if only because last night, there had been something in his eyes as he looked at her, something that she still wondered about.
Something that made her stop in her tracks entirely.
Val made sure she was tucked into her bed the night before, and left with a scowl, but he did look back once. For a moment, just one, she believed that he might be frightened of her, that stunned her.
She wondered now if that was the real reason she was locked up in this room. Her brother was afraid of her and what she might, or rather could, do. And he needed to protect himself from her.
That opened Ashley up to a whole new world of questions.
Questions that she wasn’t exactly sure anyone could answer.
She certainly didn’t know who to ask. But if she had to guess who would have the answers to those questions, it would likely be the witch in the woods.
The same one that was so bitter about his rejection and who was, undoubtedly, still in love with him.
And Ashley had to admit to herself that Val wouldn’t want her to visit Jasmine anyway.
And that made her the woman that she wanted to see the most.
But all she had was Emma. Every morning since her appointment as Ashley’s lady-in-waiting, Emma entered Ashley’s bedchamber, helped her change her clothing, brought her breakfast, and gave her a summary of the news cycle for the day.
As it turned out, the news cycle was never really interesting when you were in the middle of an apocalypse.
The Dragons sabotaging many forms of communication that humans had so enjoyed led to a lull in the news cycle, and things were slowly going back to the way they had been in the past. Meaning people had to relearn how to write letters to each other.
Emma didn’t complain about this, largely because the village she was from didn’t have Internet or anything wireless to begin with, not before the apocalypse and not after it, which irritated Ashley just a bit.
What sort of man was her father not letting people have the Internet?
Why, the Internet was a great resource for everyone.
But that was beside the point because Ashley was quickly learning that news moved slowly when there was no Internet or electricity to aid it. Interestingly enough, however, that morning brought fresh news.
“The Ruby King has said yes!” Emma shouted, throwing Ashley’s door wide open, running into the room, and collapsing, stunned by the news.
Most people knew who Jack truly was, so it must have been quite a shock when Val had taken Jack into his household, employing him even though he had abandoned his position as the Ruby King.
“The Ruby King said yes to what, Emma? You can’t just barge in here and expect to be excited over a tidbit of information.” Ashley huffed at the other woman, frowning at her doubtfully. “For all I know, he said yes to grapefruit rather than oranges for breakfast.”
Emma grabbed Ashley’s hands and looked into her eyes with wide pupils, her whole face appearing stunned.
“He’s going to compete for your hand,” Emma said.
There was something about the way that she said it that made sense to Ashley.
“Oh great, another man that wants me as their bargaining chip. I don’t know even know who the Ruby King is.
Nobody’s bothered to give me that information either.
“Whatever happened to the Diamond King, anyway? Did Val send him packing after he failed to come to the banquet?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Elliot’s instructed me to pull you from this room so that you may talk to Jack,” Emma said, and there was far too much familiarity in her voice as she said that.
Almost as much familiarity as there was in her hands as she pulled Ashley up onto her feet, leaving the Princess in something of a daze as Emma moved towards the closet with relentless abandon.
“We have to find you pants and quick,” Emma declared as she filtered through her wardrobe, pulling skirts and dresses off the hooks.
“I haven’t got a pair of pants, and you know that,” Ashley accused, but Emma only shook her head, seeming more determined than she had been in the past as she turned around and charged towards the doorway, yelling at the top of her lungs.
“Pants,” she screamed, her voice echoing off the walls. “The Princess requires a pair of pants.”
Ashley was surprised at the demand in Emma’s voice that made it clear to Ashley and just about everyone else that saying no wasn’t exactly an option. Ashley could only gape.
“What the fuck is going on,” Ashley ask, but the moment that she asked the questions, the shy and timid woman that she had previously known as Emma turned around to her, shoving her finger in front of her mouth and making clear the fact that she wasn’t to ask any questions.
That was annoying, considering that it seemed like just about everyone didn’t want Ashley to ask any questions.
She found herself slightly astonished by the action and how her friend had changed.
It was clear that something more was afoot, and while she would like to deny Emma, she sat down on her bed again.
All she could do was play the part. In this case, the part was that of a demanding princess sitting on her bed with her arms crossed, waiting for someone to come and bring her a pair of pants.
Some hiking boots would be nice too, just in case she managed to make her escape when she got to wherever Emma wanted to take her.
Of course, when the butler appeared, Emma placed her hand to her forehead, signaling her stress, and acted like her mistress was out of line and making demands. Ashley thought that was funny, but Ashley decided to play along with it, deciding then and there to sit on her bed, pouting her lips.
“Pants,” she said in a demanding voice, adding to the part by clicking her fingers together. “Now.”
The butler’s eyes widened. It seemed like he wasn’t expecting her to ask for such a thing. Still, he darted out of the room. That was a good sign. Maybe she should have tried it sooner? When he was gone, Emma turned to speak to Ashley again.
“Elliot and Jack need to speak to you.”
“Yes, I gathered that from the little you’ve told me. Strange because considering everything that I saw last night, I’m starting to think that I might need to speak to them as well,” Ashley said with more bitterness than she meant to. None of this was Emma’s fault.
“How long have you known those two?” Ashley asked, hoping to take the sting out of what she’d said before.
Emma busied herself with putting clothes back into Ashley’s wardrobe.
“Not long. The day you made me your lady’s maid.
That is when they first approached me,” Emma answered, which was just the tiniest bit suspicious, but Ashley knew better than to ask too many questions by now.
“They were so nice and wanted only the best for you, you know? I enjoy talking with them.” Emma’s voice was tinged with something else, maybe just a hint of desire, which wasn’t exactly all that surprising, Ashley decided, when one took into account the fact that both of the men were very charming and attractive.
“And what were they saying?” Ashley asked, only to find that her question fell on deaf ears because that was when the butler reappeared, two tailors in tow, with a wide array of fabric sitting in their arms.
Ashley blanched the moment she realized what that meant. This was going to take longer than she wanted. “Aren’t there any pants that can fit me in this entire place? I didn’t ask for someone to come and make me pants.”
But, as usual, what she had to say fell on deaf ears. She looked to Emma to somehow take care of the situation, but of course, the demure maid wasn’t exactly capable of that. She did have a few faults, after all.
It was time for Ashley to step up, raise her voice, and ensure she was heard. She took a deep breath, steadied her shoulders, and willed herself to do what had to be done. The right thing, of course, was to be as big of a bitch as possible.
“You simply can’t expect me to sit here and wait for you to make eight different pairs of pants,” Ashley said, making sure that she said eight because that seemed like a good enough number for the time being.
She would request more in the future, but she made clear that there was an expectation that there would be at least eight. That was the first part of her plan.
“Take my measurements, make one, and then allow me to go about my day. I don’t want to see either of your faces after you take my measurements.
The fact that my wardrobe is devoid of such an essential is insulting to me,” Ashley said, doing her best impersonation of her brother that she could.
The fact that none of them seemed surprised kind of reassured her that she was doing the right thing.
The butler turned to the tailor with wide eyes, making clear that they needed to fulfill this request. To Ashley’s surprise, it seemed that, for once, someone had listened to her.
She might have a hint of power in this place, after all.
She didn’t exactly know how to approach that information, but she’d figure that out later.
Within an hour she had a pair of pants in hand as the tailors scampered out into the hallway.