Ashes of Cinder

24

Carefully climbing up the steps to the royal castle, you couldn't take your eyes off of the magnificent building. It was even more intimidatingly powerful up close, with tall, gray towers shooting off in every corner and an area so vast and huge, that it stretched off for miles and miles to no end. The stairs that led to the front of the castle were painted white and the garden that you passed through to get here was just lovely. It was a hundred times larger than Ira's garden and being an explosion of colors, no one would be able to name them all.

By the time you were at the top step, you were breathing heavily. Glancing behind to see the many, many steps, you frowned at the sight of it. How could one bear climbing so many steps daily like this? It totally exhausted you and now you were also sweaty and hot from all that exercise. Goodness. You hoped it didn't show too much on your face.

Pillars and pillars were built in straight rows. Creeping between the two closest to you, you could finally see a large door with a small gap, shining an amber light through the nook of it. Four guards flanked at the doors on either side, standing straight and looking out with stoic faces. The feeling of nervousness spread in your body, but you calmed yourself. This was a ball opened to the citizens of France, was it not? So you should have every right to be here, just as much as everyone else.

With your head held high, you went up to the guards and saw that they had turned their heads toward you when they heard the glass heels clatter against the ground. Anxiously shifting from side to side, you waited for them to cast their judgement on you.

Their eyes took you in for a few moments. After such pure silence, one of the guards opened the door and gestured you to come into the castle. Thrilled and excited, you bowed in thanks to each of them and picked up your skirts to hurry in.

The first thing you saw was a huge, luxurious hallway that extended horizontal from you. Marbled floors lined up in patterned diamonds of black and white, it was pretty, but also strange. A pattern as this would usually match well at a carnival, but somehow in this castle, it was made it to be elegant. The chandeliers over your head were huge, twinkling of thousand of crystals and lightbulbs that were casting the amber light seen from earlier. Portraits hung on the walls of pictures of what you assumed to be past ancestors of the royal family.

Unsure of where to go, you hesitantly went down the hallway. So... where was the ballroom? You didn't expect to come here only to get lost. What an embarrassing start to this night.

As you peered at around a corner, your mind began to feel a little foggy and woozy. Grasping at your head, you groaned at the pain and steadily grew unconscious. Panicking mentally, you couldn't do anything as your mind was malfunctioning in itself. What? Why was this happening to you? And why now of all times?

It grew dark. You had blacked out.

You didn't know how long you were out for, but it felt like it was only for a second. The thing was, when you had opened your eyes again, you were no longer standing in the hallways and being lost like a fool. Instead, you were in a ballroom. At the one ballroom you've dreamt about for so long, to be exact.

Arched high, the ceiling was painted flawlessly of the ancients and myths. Baby angels flew around in their clouds as magical creatures roamed fearlessly. Humans and gods were painted too, wearing tunics and chitons. More chandeliers dropped down from the ceiling, bigger than the ones in the hallway. The floors expanded in a soft golden pink, it was filled of hundreds of people, dancing and twirling around with their partner. Tables of food were at the ends of each side of the space, and plates and bowls of any delicacy you could ever imagine were on them. Tables were also laid out for those to eat their food or sit at if they would rather not dance.