Cinders and Ashes

A Little Help From Familiar Faces

Cinders and Ashes

A/N: Well, you guys have been wanting me to update this story for a while now. And I've been kind of eager to work on this story again as well. I really didn't like writing a certain part here, but what came after made it worth it. So here it is, a pretty long chapter as your reward for your patience. Here we go, with Chapter 4! Roll it!

Chapter 4

A Little Help From Familiar Faces

The first day of the festival had arrived, and from sunrise to sunset, Ash was being ordered left from right to do so many odd jobs all around the manor, on top of his regular chores. Polishing all of their fancy shoes and all of the girls' jewelry for the twelfth time, and then washing and mending any and all of the fancy clothes, no matter if Giovanni and his stepsisters were going to wear them to the festival or not. Ash hardly had a chance to even make it to his room in the attic all day.

It felt like such a short time with all of the running around, with only a short lunch break given to him by his friends in the forest, but the next time that Ash even looked out the window clearly, it was already sunset, leaking into early evening. Luckily, by then, the whirlwind of chores died down and everyone was busy getting ready for the first night of the festival.

Ash then saw a nice-looking carriage arrive at the front of the manor, and solemnly went over to Giovanni's room. He knocked on the door, and his master opened it.

"Yes?" He asked him.

"Your carriage is here and ready, Your Grace." Ash replied to him, before beginning to take his leave.

"Ash, my boy." Giovanni called out to him, stopping him. "You're not ready, lad."

The raven-haired boy bit his lip, not wanting to face the Grand Duke, for he feared that he would lose his composure if he looked back at him.

"I'm not going tonight." He answered.

"Not going?" Giovanni asked him. Ash could almost feel the smirk forming on his face as the Grand Duke did his best to hide it.

"Well, that's unfortunate. But of course, you'll have another chance to go tomorrow night."

"Yes, I suppose." Ash said quickly. "Have a nice evening out with your daughters, Your Grace." With that, Ash left the hallway to head to the attic.

From their door, Serena and Miette watched Ash briskly walk to the stairs. While the latter was smirking cruelly behind his back, the former could feel the tenseness in his form, as if he was trying to hurry without making it look like he was rushing to escape. Somehow, she started to feel a tightness in their chest. But why? Yes, he was very easy on the eyes, but he was a servant; nothing more. Why should she feel sorry for him?

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Within a couple of long minutes, Ash was walking up the many stairs that led up to his sanctuary of a room in the cold, dark attic. But he felt pretty disappointed that he wouldn't be able to go to the festival on the first night. He sighed as he finally made it to the door.

"I guess I'll work on that suit tonight and then go tomorrow night to see Dawn." He said to himself, before he sighed again, this time in defeat.

"Who am I kidding?" He asked aloud. "Me, go to a festival at the castle? Yeah, right. Plus, I'm pretty sure it won't even be that great. All the singing, the dancing, the lights, and the music."

Ash grabbed the handle of the door before sighing a third time in hopelessness. "That would really be fun." He muttered sadly. Then, he twisted the handle and entered the attic.