The Celestial Princess

Chapter 2, The Kingdom Beyond the Clouds

(3.6K words — roughly 15 min. read)
Chapter Two
THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE CLOUDS

I.

All Ashley saw was a blinding flash of green—then darkness. Her ears rang with a cacophony of gasps all around.

"Cloud Cast!" a female voice squeaked.

Ashley opened her eyes and saw nothing but a dark wall of cloth—a sack over her head. She tried moving around, but her arms and legs scratched against something cold and metallic, keeping her in place. The sounds of chains went softly with her shifting.

"Silence!"

The gasping died down in a second. Ashley gave up trying to break free from her restraints and looked up at the source of the voice instead, dead worried in the silence.

After a while, the same voice went on. "State who you are."

The orphan pursed her lips. She dared not break her empty gaze as she opened her cold mouth to speak.

"Ashley."

"Ashley," the voice repeated. "And who might you be?"

The orphan frowned. "I-I'm Ashley—"

"I'm quite sure we all heard you alright," the voice snapped. A series of grunts from all over the place followed. "Who might you be?"

Ashley cleared her throat. She wished she could at least look at her converser face-to-face. Regardless...

"I'm an orphan who has nowhere to go," she said.

"Is that why we found you wandering the clouds so aimlessly?"

"Yes. I climbed a magic ladder and found my way here. I simply followed the golden—"

"Shush!"

Ashley cut her words to a halt. She rolled her eyes and wished no one had seen it.

"Little girl, you're mistaken if you think we can be so easily fooled," the voice continued. "Now I'm not exactly sure on what we're going to do with you—"

"Why don't you take this stupid sack off and see for yourself?"

She felt the weight of her words wash all over wherever she was, with the room falling even more silent. In a wild thought, she expected the voice to order her immediate execution.

Instead, all she got was: "Very well. Take it off."

Ashley took a few moments to realize that no one was going to take it off for her. She rose her steady arms over her head and slid the sack off her messy hair.

The view of the hall blinded her with its vivid coloration. Massive chandeliers festooned with sparkling crystals of various colors hung far above their heads, their reflections washing the walls in a gracious dance. By her sides loomed tall platforms of silver and brass, where there sat multiple rows of people of varying heights and ages—her spectators, she thought. Ahead, a single pillar, intricately designed with cravings of gold and platinum, housed a throne taken by a slender lady who looked down at her with light eyes. A single circular window above her showed a view of the night sky outside, with the stars ever closer.