The Story of Udonia

Chapter Three: Surprise

King Eric was about the same age as my father. He had more hair and it was a much darker brown color. He also had brown eyes. Queen Alyssa was different from my mother in personality. She was much kinder. She had brown hair, blue eyes, and a very petite figure. She was short and small. Mrs. Covington probably barely weighted 100 lbs, but Mr. Covington was taller. He was over six feet with broad shoulders. They were complete opposites in body type, but were the same in personality except Mr. Covington was a little quieter than his outgoing wife.
Ashley was the same size as her mother, but she was slightly taller. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and a wonderful smile. I was jealous of her smile.
They arrived around noon.
I caught Lacey in the hall before. "It's close to lunch...do the cooks have something planned for lunch?" I asked in a slight bit of panic as we made our way to the front door.
"Yes." Lacey replied. "I informed them and they are preparing something special."
"Okay." I nodded as we reached the door and sighed.
It was nice to have something else to focus on. I was concerned that when the Covingtons arrived they would talk about my family. It was the last thing I wanted.
"Don't worry...everything will be alright." Lacey placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
Her touch, while short lived, was comforting.
She opened the door just at the right time. The black limo came up our large semi-circle driveway. The limo had a black car in front and behind it. They were there for protection.
The limo driver exited his car and moved back to open the door for it's passengers. He was wearing an all black suit with a white shirt and black tie. Ashley was first out of the door. She had on her perfect smile and ran up the stair to me. She grabbed me and hugged me in a warm embrace. When she pulled away, I could get a better look at her. She was wearing a pale pink t-shirt dress and her hair was up in a ponytail. She had her typical brown smokey eye look with a nude lip.
The King and Queen of Hikaru ascended up the stairs arm-in-arm. Mrs. Covington smiled at me. She gave me a quick hug. Then Mr. Covington grabbed my hand and placed a light peck on it.
The afternoon went alright. It was better than I thought at least. Every time they brought up my family, I would change the subject. They got the hint and stayed away from the topic although I could tell they desperately wanted to discuss it. After they left the dining room, Lacey walked them out. I would've done it myself, but I was too exhausted. It was the most social interaction I had had in a long time. As soon as they left, I finished off the rest of my wine. I went around to the other glasses and finished it too.
That's when I heard a shuffle in the archway. I turned like a deer in headlight. I was shocked to see Ashley.
She cleared her throat. "Umm..." Then she smiled. "This might actually be good. I wanted to ask you something and this is something I can use." Ashley grabbed my hand and sat me down.
I didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't this.
"I want you to move into our castle." She smiled. "I think that it would really do you some good to get out of this place and get your mind off everything. We can hang out, talk, and have fun. We can go shopping!" She was obviously excited about this plan.
I was a surprised by her offer, but I instantly knew that I wanted to go.
"Okay." I replied.
"You know this really could be great for you and I think you should consider it." Ashley trailed on, but then stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what? Did you say okay?!"
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Yay!" She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close; she then quickly retracted. "Now are you going to tell me why you were drinking all that wine or do I need to hound Lacey for some answers?"
Ashley stayed over that night. She already had an overnight bag packed and ready in the limo. We began to packed up some of my things to take to their castle. We decided on a month visit. I packed more that enough clothes for a month, some make-up, too many shoes, and other essentials. I also spilled about my visits to the bottle. I had consumed more alcohol in one mont than Ashley had done she turned 21, which had almost been two years at this point.
That night I had the most peaceful sleep that I had in a long time.