Part 1: The Royals

Chapter 1: Dreams of the Past

The Twenty-third of May

-0-

Rain tapped against my window as I slipped into bed. I laid still for a moment, listening to the rain. I pulled up my blanket, trying to get comfortable. My eyes closed. I found the sound of rain to be soothing after a long day in the bakery. It was a simple sound that I looked forward to every time the sky above the kingdom of Spelika turned gray with dark clouds.

The pitter-patter turned into a lullaby, gently lulling me to sleep. My last thought before sleep claimed me was: "I wish I could listen to it rain like this every night."

-0-

I was five years old, sitting in the shade of a tree. A girl one year younger than me was also sharing the shady spot. I looked over to the girl. She was breathing loudly and smiling, as was I. The two of us had just finished a hard game of tag.

Pushing a bit of my auburn hair out of my face, I panted to the girl, "Ratana, I'm gonna ask Mommy for hair ribbons. Wanna come?"

Unable to say anything at the moment, my best friend just nodded. We stood up and left the small park we had been playing in and began our short walk to my home and a little bit later, I pushed open the door to The Rose, my mother's dress shop. My mother and I lived above the shop, just like Ratana and her family lived above the bakery next door. We walked in, and I saw that there were no customers in the shop.

"Mommy?" I called out. My mother, Feya, poked her head out from a back room, where she was probably working on a dress for some noblewoman. She smiled at us.

"Hello darlings!" she said, walking out of the room with two cups of water. She motioned for us to sit down on a couch that customers usually sat on. We did so and while we drank the cool water, Mother asked, "So how can I help you two lovely girls?"

I put down my cup on a table in front of us. "It's hot out. Can we have hair ribbons? Please?"

Mother smiled. "Of course you can. I'll go get them." With that, she left Ratana and I alone in the shop. She went into the back room.

"I keep forgettin' how diff'nt you an' your mommy are," Ratana said. She was right in that my mother looked very different than I did. She had blonde hair and blue eyes while I had auburn hair and brown eyes. Our facial features were so different that I couldn't even claim the same eye or nose shape as my mother.

"Yup," I mumbled as Mother walked back into the room.

"Here we go! Green for Miss Catharine and blue for Miss Ratana!" Mother quickly pulled up my hair into a ponytail and tied the green ribbon into a bow. Before I knew it, Mother had moved on to Ratana and tied a ribbon the same blue as Ratana's eyes into her brown hair.

Ratana and I giggled. Mother knew what colors we were going to ask for before we even said anything! Then again, we were pretty predictable; green was my favorite color and blue was Ratana's.

"Thank you Mommy!" I exclaimed as Ratana said, "Thank you Ms. Derose!" We both stood up.

"Any time girls," Mother said with a large smile. "And please, Ratana, call me Feya.

"Now you two go out and play, okay?" We nodded. "And be inside by dinner, Cat," Mother called out to me using my nickname as Ratana and I walked out of the room.

"Your mommy is nice," Ratana told me.

"So is your mommy. And your daddy," I pointed out. My smile slipped for a second as the word "daddy" left my mouth. Truth was, I didn't have a father. I shook my head slightly and then said, "How long have we been friends, Ratana?"

Ratana looked at me for a second before shrugging. "Forever. Why, Cat?"

That wasn't exactly true. I was one year old when she was born, but seeing as I was five, four years might as well have been forever. "I wanna give you a nickname, 'kay?"

My best friend's smile grew larger. "Okey dokey!"

We reached our tree in the park after running the rest of the way there and sat down. It was quiet as I thought of nicknames.

"How about Rat?" I asked.

Ratana wrinkled her nose. "No. Rats are icky!"

I racked my brain for another nickname to call my friend. Ana? No. Rata? No. Blue? No. "How 'bout …" I started and trailed off as I thought. "How 'bout … Mouse!"

"Where?" Ratana shrieked, leaping up.

"No, silly! You! Mouse can be your nickname."

"Me?" she asked and I nodded. "Me … Mouse … I kinda like it." She smiled at me. The look in her eyes told me that she really did like it.

I jumped up and started running, saying, "Yay! Now try to catch me if you can, Mouse!"

"Hey!" Ratana, now Mouse, yelled after me playfully before running after me. "I'm gonna get you, Cat!"

-0-

I popped up in my bed as thunder boomed. "It's only a little bit of thunder," I whispered to myself and lied back down onto my bed, wondering if the thunder woke up anyone else. I turned my head so I could see where Mouse was. She was still sleeping.

I closed my eyes, listening to the rain. How long had it been since I last called Mouse by her first name and not her nickname? I opened my eyes again and looked over at Mouse's sleeping form. It had been a long time since I called her Ratana casually to her face, I realized. She was sixteen. Twelve long years … The last time was in the park on the same day I first started calling her Mouse. Twelve long years …

I began to fall asleep again.

-0-

Now I was about ten, sitting on my bed in my bedroom above the dress shop. A large book was open in front of me. Mother always made sure that I had an educational book to read about the history of some kingdom or a biography about some person and similar things. (Not that I ever argued; I loved to read whatever book I could get my hands on.) I shut the book closed as Mother walked into my room. "Hello, Mom!"

"Hello." Mother sat next to me on my bed. She glanced at the book on the nightstand and commented, "Interesting choice, Cat."

"I knew you'd say that." I grinned at my mother. She smiled back.

"You are growing up so quickly," Mother whispered.

I hugged her and whispered, "Because I really want to grow up and be like you!"

Mother hugged my tighter before letting go. "I love you, my little princess. But worry abut growing up less. Enjoy life."

"Of course, Mom. I love you too."

Silence fell between us for a short moment. Then Mother said, "It's time to go to bed now." She stood up to let me get under the blanket. As soon as I was comfortable, she bent down to give me a kiss.

"Mom?" I asked as she turned around to leave my room.

"Yes?" She didn't turn around, but at least she didn't keep walking towards the door.

I asked, "Can you tell me about Dad?" I could tell she was going to tell me no, so I quickly added, "Please, Mommy? I promise not to interrupt."

She turned around and sat on my bed before beginning her story. Slowly, she said, "I met your father for the first time when I was eighteen. We were both invited to the same party, and there he accidentally bumped into me. After he apologized we began to talk. I learned his name was Dastan Derose and that he was a merchant visiting from another kingdom.

"So we talked and danced and ended up having a lovely time. As the party drew to a finish, he asked me if he could see me again. I told him he could and where he could find me.

"Two months went by after the party before he visited me for the first time. And after that, it took yet another two months before the next visit. But by then, I believe we were falling in love so his visits became more and more frequent. I enjoyed every single one of those visits.

"When I was twenty he proposed. We were married within a year. I became Mrs. Feya Derose." Mother paused and looked down at her hands. The small smile she had was suddenly lost to a small frown.

"Mom?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

She blinked and then looked at me. "Yes, thank you." She sighed and continued her story. "Dastan left me in our little house to go on a business trip one day a few years later." Mother paused for a moment again. "Unfortunately, he never returned because he ran into a group of thieves and bandits. Your father tried to fight them, but he was outnumbered. They … They ki–" She just couldn't say it. So, instead she said, "Your father went to a better place that day." Mother pointed up. I nodded and then couldn't help but to look up. All I saw was the ceiling and not the mystical place beyond, but I didn't really care. My father was up there, in the sky somewhere.

"He never got to see his baby girl," Mother said, causing me to look at her again. "You were born after he died. A more beautiful baby I had never seen. Even as a baby you looked just like him, Cat. You still do.

"So I sold everything, and within a few months, we moved here. I moved us here to the kingdom of Spelika for a new start. I opened my dress shop and make and sell many pretty dresses here." Mother stood up and kissed my forehead. "Not one of those dresses could ever be called more beautiful than you, my little princess," she whispered. "I love you. Sweet dreams."

She walked out of my room, closing the door behind her. I closed my eyes.

-0-

Thunder woke me yet again. Checking on Mouse once more, I noted that she was still sleeping. That girl could sleep through the end of the world.

I sighed softly. Two dreams of memories in one night. Did I really want to g to sleep and dream of another memory?

Yes; maybe it would be of a happy memory. No; I have had worse. Yes. No. Yes but no.

Lightning flashed and the entire room was filled with light for a quick moment. Thunder followed quickly. I jumped a little. How much longer would it storm? And without really thinking, I reached over to my nightstand, where I felt a familiar wooden box. My box. My beautiful little box. I moved my hand away from the box to my pillow and fell asleep. A regular dream came to me.

Author's Note: Congrats on making it through this first chapter. It's a lot of blah background stuff. Trust me, the story gets better.

Many thanks to: Ilikemutemath and Rosaline Redd for reviewing this chapter!

Thanks for reading! -Lauren