Reining Red

Chapter One

"Oh, Amelia, you shall become the most beautiful queen I could ever imagine!"

She smiled with joy at her mother's words. She believed that she would be queen, but her mother could not. Living- no - existing in the small shack the two of them called home, there was no room for hope or dreams. Four plain, wooden walls and a pot belly stove in the corner, the rest of the room was taken up by a single bed with a straw filled burlap sack to serve as a mattress, which the two of them shared at night time. Amelia was blissfully unaware of the terrible life she was doomed to, the purity of her young brain clouding the harsh reality she and her mother shared.

They lived in the darkest city in Wonderland, where the sun never shined. The sky's constant grey was the reminder to the villagers that they will never go anywhere, and shall remain under that great grey sky until death comes for them like sweet release. Her mother would gaze at the sky, hoping to see a break in the clouds to reveal that gorgeous blue colour she dreamed of, the colour of Amelia's eyes, the colour of her lost husband's.

A taunting palace stood in the middle of the dark city. It was shining white, like a crystal lost in the dirt. So bright compared to the rest of the city, it was said that one would go blind if they stared at it for too long. Pearly white turrets spiralled up towards the grey clouds; great glass windows with golden frames looked down upon the city; soldiers in pristine uniforms marched before the diamond encrusted gates. It was the city's sun.

She wanted something so much better for Amelia. Something more than a roof over her head and cold soup for dinner. They would both be better off apart. She could pay the bills and Amelia could make her own way in the world. These thoughts had terrorised her for years, and now, Amelia was old enough, and she had to take action.

"Amelia," her mother said. "I know how you could become a queen."

Amelia turned her big blue eyes on to her. They often played this game. Her mother would ask how she would have her palace, and Amelia would elaborate and describe the fine dinners and soft chairs in the sitting room, where she would read and paint, but never had her mother told her how to achieve this luxury, and now she was going to; she was desperate to hear."How, mother?"

She knelt down next to her, wrapping Amelia's lush, red hair between her fingers. "We just need some more money," she whispered, smiling at her beautiful daughter. "A little bit more, then we may dine with kings and handsome princes, dance until the sun rises in golden ball rooms, we can have it all, my dear Amelia, my beautiful girl."

By now, Amelia's eyes were as wide as plates. "How can we get some more money?"

Her mother tucked the red strand of Amelia's hair behind her tiny ear. "I have found you a job," Amelia's shoulders dropped. "Here, no queen ever got her place without a little work! And it's in the palace, my dear."

***

Amelia was dressed in her best white frock. Her mother had hastily sewn lace to the edges to hide the frays, and it was her hand she held as the pair made their way to the palace. It was not that of the king and queen, who lived miles away in the sun, but that of the Duchess'.

At the marble steps of the castle, her mother straightened Amelia's dress, and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good luck. I will see you for dinner."

"I'm scared, mother." Amelia replied.

"Don't be," she knelt down in front of her. "You were born to be a queen."

This, of course, was a lie, but it was the only happiness she could fashion for her daughter, what with their little wealth. Amelia was born, like the rest of the locals, to work. She was born to work, pay the bills, and survive.