The Ascension (Book One): Toss the Dice

Chapter Twenty Six

Stepping into the large mansion was like stepping into another world. Just the foyer of the building was massive. It rose above me about seventy five feet tall, the ceiling was arched and decorated with hundreds of little paintings that together drew a picture of a woman, half naked, lounging on a couch. The walls had pillars half set in them to make the room seem even more grand. The walls and floors were all made of the same gray stone as the walls. From the entry all the way to a door across the foyer there was a red carpet that led the way through the foyer in a straight line. Along the walls there were mirrors of all shapes and sizes and different kinds of antique couches. The whole room had the smell of someone rich. The butler was the one who had opened the door for us when his master had knocked. He had a pressed white shirt black vest, perfectly white hair and pressed black slacks. He led us through the expansive foyer and through the hall at the end of the red carpet.

I half expected to step into a large outer room with spiral stairs and halls that led to other parts of the house but instead we stepped into an enclosed garden. The garden itself was expansive. The door we exited was set at the top of another grand staircase and from the exit you could see the garden in it's entirety. Directly down from the stairs were a few small flower beds filled with everything from tulips to sunflowers to chrysanthemums. Just beyond the flower beds was a garden. Compared to the rest of the garden it would be considered small. It was twelve rows of beds that were four feet by thirty feet. I recognized some of the food in the gardens such as squash and potatoes and carrots but there were other things that I didn't recognize. After the vegetable garden was an orchard. The tall towering trees with their just blossoming flowers indicated to me that here, in this place that I've been sold to, it was spring. Just beyond the orchard was a massive maze of hedges. All throughout the maze there were small little open clearings with small gardens, fountains or statues. Benches lined the edges of the open clearings. Beyond the maze, I could just see another small orchard similar to the one on this side. The walls that rose above the gardened area rose just enough to be imposing but low enough that sunlight still entered the garden through the open sky above it.

"Girl!" I heard yelled at me.

I looked down the stairs to see that the Grand Duke and the butler had reached the beginning of the orchard and they were calling me to come and join them. The Grand Duke looked impatient and the butler looked bored. I bobbed my head, indicating that I recognized them calling to me. I began running down the uneven steps, eyes down, watching my feet to make sure that I didn't trip in my long dress. My loose hair flew backwards behind me as I ran. Within in a minute I had caught up to the Grand Duke and the butler and we continued on.

Underneath the trees that were just in bloom the world seemed to be tinted in pink. I looked up at the blossoms on the trees above us and I smiled. They were the most beautiful thing I had seen since I had been taken. The flowery scent underneath the trees was beautiful and reminded me of Carmine's perfume when it filled a room. I looked back down at the path and realized that I had stopped. I caught back up to the Grand Duke and made sure to follow the two of them down the path, through the maze and up to a door on the other side without getting distracted again.

As we stepped through the large door on the other side and stepped into the next part of the large mansion my mouth fell open. This was the kind of hall that I had imagined to be where the garden had been. It was large, the vaulted ceiling was two floors tall. A large entrance opened up before us. On the right there was a long wide hallway that seemed to twist away into infinity it was so long. To the left there were two different paths. The closest to the door that we had come out of was a staircase covered in a green carpet that led all the way up the stairs and into the hall at the top. The farthest path was another hallway that led away just like the one on the right. Directly across from the door to the garden that we were standing by was another large door that I didn't see the point in. It was ajar and inside I could see a large throne room, almost like how I'd imagined a King would have in his palace. The Grand Duke led me out farther into the room, shoes echoing in the emptiness, and positioned himself so that he was standing with his back to the throne room and his face to the stairs so that he seemed to be ready to yell up them.

"Darling!" Called the Grand Duke, his voice echoing through the large hall. "I've brought you a new present dear!"

The sound of a high pitched shriek was heard, echoing down the hallways dramatically. The sound of small feet padded across the carpet above. A small little figure in a small pink gown came streaking down the hallway, down the stairs and right into the Grand Duke. He shuffled backwards a few steps as he got used to her sudden weight.

"Daddy!" She yelled, gripping both of his legs with her tiny, pink-gloved hands.

"Hello darling." Said the Grand Duke, the first smile I'd ever seen twinkling on his face.

A flash of color on the stairs caught my attention and I turned to see a slew of maids following their small mistress to the ground floor. They were all different and all extremely unique. On top of that, their outfits were all strange. The first maid to reach the floor wore a red and orange dress. It had long, flowing sleeves and her bodice had the image of a dragon sewed on in red and orange jewels. The dress below the waist was cut into four strips that flapped around her white, fabric clad legs. Her skin was dark, not as dark as the girl behind her, but definitely darker than my own. She had black, perfectly straight hair that hung about her round face. She was beautiful and definitely exotic.

The girl behind her had skin so dark that it appeared to be as black as the shadows in the night. Her clothing and hair matched that. She wore her black hair, curly and as long as her waist, in a tight braid with a few pieces escaping here and there. Her black clothing was not a dress much like all the other girls. She wore a loose fitting black shirt and tight black leggings. The leggings were so tight that the only way I could tell it was clothing and not her skin was because there was a red stripe down the outside of her legs.

One of the other girls behind her was the exact opposite of the dark girl. She was like a bright ray of sunshine. Her hair was shoulder length, brushing against a white peasant dress that dropped to her knees. This time what struck me was not the style of her clothes but the color of her hair. It was gold! It shone like the gold coins that Captain got for a load of cargo.

And every single one of the twenty four maids that followed the little girl was strange and unique. One girl had strange tattoos across her face and hands, another had white scars lacing up and down her legs, and yet another had one blue eye and another red. As I took in all these strange details I felt the Grand Duke's great hand, clap me on the shoulder.

"Darling." He said. "This is your new present. She comes from the free city island of Hebera. She may be hard to deal with because of that but she is strange. You can put her in whatever clothing you see fit. The red in her hair should suffice for the mark of the house."

The little girl, I didn't know her name yet so maybe her name was darling, looked up at me with a strange look in her eyes.

"Thank you Daddy." She said. "Can I take her now? Will you call me for dinner?"

"Yes Darling." The Grand Duke said. "You can take her upstairs. Daddy has more work to do. I might not be able to see you at dinner. I'll send Corselane to bring you down when the meal has been prepared. Now have fun."

"Yes Daddy." She said, performing a little curtsy for her father.

The Grand Duke nodded and walked away, his butler falling behind. The butler glanced over his shoulder at me with a look that I recognized. I'd seen that look so many times on the streets of any city I'd been on.

It was pity.