Grimm Fantasies: Cinder Princess

Funeral

  Ashley's mother's funeral was met with grave anticipation; she'd been teetering on the edge for months. All had hoped she'd hang on for longer but over the four years of Ashley's life, her mother's health had declined dramatically.

  Finally, one day she didn't wake up.

  It hurt to loose someone you've loved so dearly for your whole life. Ashley didn't know exactly what was going on, she just knew her father was more sad and distant then he usually is and everyone was wearing black.

  Ashley didn't know what to make of it,

  Everyone was so sad and everything seemed so dreary. She watched as the servants placed black cloth over all the mirrors in the house. They said it was so she didn't get confused by her reflection and get lost on her way to Heaven.

  Ashley didn't understand.

  "How can someone get lost because they looked into a mirror?" She spoke up about her confusion. Two maids shared a look before the younger one kneeled down and touched Ashley's shoulder while the other continued on with her work.

  "Spirits look different from you and I little one and if they see how different they look they'll get confused and won't follow the path that they need to." Ashley frowned at that and looked down at her neatly polished black buckle shoes.

  "...Shouldn't someone be there to help them, so that they don't get lost?"

  "Everyone must take that journey on their own. But by covering the mirrors we can at least help out a little bit." The maid smiled lightly. "Do you want to help?" Ashley peeked up at her with her bright blue eyes and nodded slowly. The maid stood up and handed Ashley a few swatches of black cloth and told her to head up stairs and cover the mirrors in the rooms. Ashley took the cloth and nodded again before heading upstairs.

  She headed to her room first and went up to her vanity. She moved to cover it up when her reflection caught her attention. Her eyes were void of her usual bright blue and white, instead they were black.

  Just black, void of color and soulless.

  Ashley gasped and stepped back, blinking a few times the black went away and her eyes returned to normal. She frowned at her reflection that frowned back. She slowly stepped closer after regaining her courage. Her eyes looked normal again, so she blinked a few times and turned her head away before quickly looking back.

  Nothing happened.

  She frowned again before covering the mirror and moving on.

  The guests arrived then to give their condolences and talk about Ashley's mother, speaking about her as if she were a saint that made miracles by simply smiling. Ashley listened quietly and thought about how her mother was always lying in bed and coughing up blood. What these people were saying about her mother didn't sound right; Ashley couldn't remember her mother ever smiling. She couldn't remember the sound of her laugh or even remember her walking on her own, let alone dance like a ballerina as these people around her said she did with the grace of a gazelle.

  After a little while of thinking about her mother and finding very different pictures of her from each and every person she listened to Ashley noticed her father was nowhere to be seen among the crowd of people dressed in black.

  So, she went to go look for him.

  She looked high and low and in every room she could think to look. Finally she stepped outside to the back yard and found him with a woman in the gazebo that had crawling vines winding up and down the poles that held up the roof and crated a privacy curtain of sorts as it reached back down to the ground.

  Ashley walked over quietly and opened her mouth to make her presence known when she heard her father laugh. It wasn't a full belly laugh but sort of a light chuckle. This sound made Ashley stop in her tracks and snap her mouth shut, cutting off anything she was going to say.

  Instead she crept over to the gazebo and peeked through the vines. Her father stood close to a woman wearing an elegant and flowing black dress with her back exposed. Her bright red hair was done up in a neat bun and her face was half hidden with a fascinator. She was beautiful, as she smiled at Ashley's father with a charming smile that could light up a room. Her pale skin and brightly colored hair stood out against the darkness of her outfit and it as simply mesmerizing.

  Her father laughed again as they spoke of things Ashley didn't understand something about a seller's market and stock exchanges. She didn't know what any of it meant but apparently they'd made it big.

  "Mummy!" The shrill voice made Ashley jump and spin around to see two older girls walking towards the gazebo. Both wearing black dresses that were almost identical, one had the same bright red hair as the woman with her father and the other, taller one had bright brown hair that was borderline blond. "Mummy! This is boring can we go home yet!?" The older one asked as the two stepped into the gazebo. Neither noticed Ashley, or paid her no mind, as they walked right by her.

  "Ella, Annie." The woman greeted them as she and Ashley's father stepped away from each other. "Come meet Mr. Eric Tremaine." The girls, Ella and Annie curtsied politely.

  "Hello, Mr. Tremaine." The older girl greeted in a polite voice Ashley's father smiled lightly and nodded towards them.

  "Hello girls." He glanced over to the woman with a look Ashley didn't understand. There was a lot about the whole scene that Ashley didn't understand or very much like for that matter. But she continued to watch as the girls complained about the boring event and ask to go while her father and that woman got nice and close again.

  Ashley watched in silence as the group in the gazebo began to look like a happy family.

  She didn't like it.
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Another chapter up for your enjoyment. Anyone got any guesses as to what fairy tale I'm using as inspiration? Their are a tons of little hints in this chapter, such as the characters names and the setting as well as how Ashley reacts to seeing the woman and two girls with her father. So yeah Comment and vote you know I love it. <3