Sing Sweet Nightingale

Part 1

Perhaps the happiest day of young Y/N's life was her birth. A long anticipated event, as is most first babies. Her parents were ecstatic and did everything they could to make Y/N's new life a happy one. Many an afternoon was spent by the fountain in front of the house, telling stories and watching the fish swim.

Y/N's mother did her best to make sure Y/N grew up brave and kind. Gentle enough to love those around her, but strong enough to stand up for what she knew was right. She loved her daughter and husband with all her heart, and they returned her love tenfold. But it was not too last.

Y/N's mother grew ill. Her strength waned and she soon was bedridden. Y/N was confused and scared. Why wouldn't her mother get up? Why wouldn't she play? Did she not love Y/N and Daddy anymore?

Her mother did her best to keep Y/N with her, but the sickroom was no place for a child.

Y/N remembered keenly the day her mother died. No one would talk to her or look at her. Everyone was crying. When her father finally did look at her, he clutched her to his chest as his body shook with sobs.

Y/N didn't like the funeral. She couldn't find mommy and watching them put the big box in the ground was boring. She didn't understand why people kept looking at her like that, why they insisted on hugging her, why no one would look her in the eye when she asked for mommy.

She learned that mommy was "dead" and that meant she wasn't coming back. Y/N didn't like that, but she didn't argue or complain. Mommy had taught her to be good and that is what she would be.

Soon, Daddy brought home a new lady. He said her name was Stepmother. She was going to love you, he assured. Stepmother brought two daughters of her own. Y/N was excited to have sisters, but was disappointed to find the girls wanted nothing to do with her. She didn't let it bother her too much. She was still friends with all the animals in the yard and the people at the market.

One day, her father went on a business trip. He gave Y/N and Stepmother and the stepsisters each a kiss before heading off down the road. He was only supposed to be gone two weeks, but a month passed with no word. Y/N waited everyday at the fountain, looking down the street and hoping to see him. Stepmother and her daughters laughed at Y/N for doing this, but they always looked disappointed when she came back inside without him.

One day, just when they had given up hope of receiving word, a letter arrived. An innkeeper in a village quite far from theirs sent it. He had spent the last two weeks nursing Y/N's father. He had been robbed and horribly wounded on the road by the inn. The man had found him on his doorstep and taken him in. He had done everything possible to try and help Father, but it was not enough. Y/N's father had joined her mother in the afterlife. This time, Y/N knew what dead meant. Dead meant they were never coming back. Ever.

Stepmother fainted when she read the letter. She draped herself over a couch and let her head roll out. Her daughters held tightly to each other. Y/N tried to comfort her stepmother, but the woman screamed and threw a vase at her. "Don't you understand, you insolent child? Your father is dead and we are left destitute." Y/N didn't understand what she meant by that, but she didn't think it was good.

The innkeeper said he had arranged for Father to be buried with his own money. Thankfully, he decided not to charge Stepmother for his good will.

Stepmother soon decided on how things were going to be. With Y/N's father gone, they had no man of the house to bring home money. They were not completely poor, but with no income, they soon would be. Stepmother fired the faithful household staff. Many tears were shed as the women kissed Y/N, who reminded them so much of their deceased mistress, goodbye.

As soon as the last servant walked out the door, Y/N was put to work. Not even ten years old and she had lost both her parents and was now doing the work of three grown women. She didn't complain. Not when her fingers bled with new blisters, when her back ached from carrying trays, nor when she cut her feet on a teapot Stepmother threw at her head.

Y/N did her best to please Stepmother, but her new mistress was cruel. She hoped to find some comfort from her sisters, but the girls took great delight in bossing around Y/N and making her life hard. The younger of the two didn't take the same delight from hurting her though. She could see it in the way she winced when her older sister hit Y/N with a brush for tugging to hard on her tangles. Regardless of this small pity, the younger did nothing to stop the abuse.

Y/N blocked out her disappointment in what was supposed to be her family and threw herself into working. Mommy and Daddy were dead and all she could do was make them proud by working hard and never giving up.

The years passed in a blur. She got lost in her routine. A merry go round of chores until she finally collapsed at night. The only variable was the gossip she would over hear. The lord of a nearby castle was unmarried, but had been adopting children from the streets. The oldest was from a circus! Many in Gotham were outraged at this, but they soon settled down. Many women still looked down on the "peasant" boys in their new finery. Y/N thought it was beautiful that someone born to privilege would look beyond himself at others in need. She didn't say anything, but the thought that a boy her age could be taken in and loved by a member of high society was fantastic. It made her dark life a little better. From then on, she would listen closely to anything that was said about Lord Grayson. Thankfully, her sisters were to busy giggling over the man to notice her interest. Or else they would have teased her mercilessly.

One day, Y/N answered the door to a courtier bearing a bag of envelopes. His eyes softened when he saw her wide eyes framed by her dirty face. He smiled and bowed low over her hand as he handed her an envelope.

Y/N's heart beat fast in her chest as she recognized the seal on the letter.

"Give me that before your filth makes it illegible." Stepmother said as she snatched the paper from Y/N's hands. Her eyes widened as she read what it said. She smiled and turned to her daughters. "Girls, this is your chance to get us out of poverty. A ball is being held in Lord Grayson's honor so that he might choose a bride!"

As the stepsisters shrieked with glee, Y/N harbored her own secret excitement. She had read that every maiden in the land was invited.