It started like any other day, the castle was a hive buzzing with activity, and in a chamber of one of the visiting Lords, a young girl quietly hummed to herself as she carried out her tasks. Making the bed with clean sheets, she cast her eyes to the gilded mirror in the corner of the room and stared intently at her reflection. She was of average height, a little on the small side with a slim build but not soft, she had a hardness about her that came from years of working within the castle as a servant. Her long blond hair was in a bun as the standard dress code for servants required, although traitorous strands had fallen lose as she was cleaning. Her brown eyes, flecked with gold, were sad and she wondered if she would ever escape the cold stone walls that had kept her captive since she was given to the palace so long ago, after her parents had perished from a particularly harsh winter. She wanted to go on an adventure. She had read books that she had borrowed from the vast library in the castle and wished to visit foreign lands, meet all the people in the stories, epic warriors and beautiful courtesans. Everything that seemed scandalous only enticed her more. She sighed and got back to her task of making Lord Carlisles' bed. The mattress looked soft and inviting and not for the first time that morning Eleanor wished that she had gone to bed earlier, instead of reading by candle light into the small hours of the morning. The servants of the castle were up before dawn to ensure the daily tasks were performed as the Lords and Ladies broke their fast in the great hall. The food itself required hours of preparation and there was no room for error when it came to the royal family and their guests. It was important to His Majesty that his servants were seldom seen. This meant they had only a small window of time to have the chambers prepared and the new fires set, as well as any other requirements the castles guests desired. After she was satisfied with her work she closed the large wooden door and made her way through the seemingly endless servants corridors that ran parrallel to the main hallways and back to the kitchen where she knew she would be needed to help prepare luncheon for their majestys. The King, Queen and their two sons were dining together for the first time since the heir had returned from his travels. He had been away for almost a year, visiting neighbouring dignitaries and solidating his position as heir. As Eleanor had been a servant for almost ten years she knew what to expect when the prince returned, her majesty the Queen was beside herself with joy and wished for a feast to rejoice in the return of her eldest child. She was a good woman, and fair to those beneath her, she was loved by all who met her and all the servants within the grounds held a deep respect for her. Eleanor was to be one of the servants who was to serve the luncheon and her palms were sweating with nerves. She was capable of serving, she had done so plenty of times before, what she was not prepared for was seeing him again. She had hoped to have gained the courage to leave the castle before he returned from his travels but every morning she got up and continued about her tasks, part of her too afraid to leave the only real home she had ever known, the other part desperate to see him again.
One year ago
She had came across a young man in the stables of the castle. The stable master had taken a bad fall the day before and Eleanor had gone to see him to bring him some food and see if he needed any help since her chores for the day had been completed. The stable master had been kind to her when she had first came to the castle, six summer's old and terrified of the huge stone walls that surrounded her, he had been the only father figure she had ever known. He had let her help out in the stables and taught her everything he knew about horses and how to care for them. As she called out to Old Jack she had noticed the young man trying to lead Prince Calebs horse out his stall, he was a magnificent black stallion and was extremely temperamental, especially today as he had not been let out into the paddock yet and was restless. The man was pulling on Able's rope that tied him to his stall and the stallion was refusing to move.
"Leave Able be sir! He will not come out until he is ready and there isn't a force on earth that can make that stubborn old mule do anything it doesn't want to" she informed the stranger in a tone that brooked no argument. He was startled, so intent on his task, that he whirled round to face her and at the same time Able decided to nudge him in the side so that he fell in an ungainly heap at her feet.
