Not So Noble

== CHAPTER ONE ==
“Asher! Guess what today is!” I run up to my best friend, strangling him in a tight hug.
“Cora, let go. People are watching,” he whispers in my ear, but I can hear the smile in his deep voice. He gently puts me down, and says quietly, “Remember, things are different now that we have turned 13. People will think we’re courting.”
“You’re no fun!” I giggle.
“I’m excited too, though,” He smiles down at me. For a peasant who can barely scrape any money together, he has some pearly white teeth. It’s one of the many anomalies about him I have never been able to figure out since we met as kids.
“Excited? I’m elated! The lottery is today!” I twirled around in a circle then my face fell, “Do you think I have a chance of winning the scholarship?”
“You’ve put your name into that bowl for 5 years. You have a pretty good chance. Not many people want to get the scholarship,” he says, putting his hands on my shoulders.
“I guess so. Are you going to put your name in?” I raise my eyes to his ice-blue-long-eyelash bordered eyes. I try to hide my hope; he’s never been interested in the scholarship.
“Not this year, Cora,” He says, releasing me and we start walking down the busy street. Today makes everyone in the marketplace rowdy and talkative. I can see them exchanging varying amounts of copper pieces.
“Please? If I get the girl’s slot for a scholarship, then I won’t know anyone there! Everyone will all be stuffy nobles,” I say, scrunching up my nose and making Asher laugh. It’s been a while since I’ve heard the ringing of his laugh. Times have been hard recently, but nobody talks about it. This lottery event brings everyone’s attention away from all of their troubles.
== CHAPTER TWO ==
“Oh,” My mother gasps as I walk up to the only mirror in our house. I’m wearing a full gown, with a sweetheart neckline, and best of all, when I move the dress changes from silver to gold. I’ve never seen anything like it. The skirt is full, and the sleeves hang off my shoulders.
“You look like a princess.” My 6 year old sister says, hugging her dirty old bunny stuffed animal. I smile down at her and say, “I might look like one, Lea, but I will never, ever act like one.”
“Eh, you look okay.” My older brother says, shrugging. When mother was first making the gown, he had said that I would look terrible in it. Like a bony skeleton dressed up in sparkles. He hates to admit when he’s wrong.
I twirl around, and stop in front of my mother. She’s holding her hands behind her back.
“What’ve you got there?” I ask, trying to look behind her back, while she just spins in a circle.
Then she pulls out the perfect shoes to go with this dress. They were diamond slippers. I gasp when I realize how rare these are.
“Where did you get these?” I ask, eyes wide in wonder.
“I wore them at my wedding. We weren’t always peasants. Your father was a Duke before the twins became Kings. King James and King Charles wanted all of the land for themselves, so they took it out from under your father. We had enough money for a while, then the taxes went up also. Now we’re here,” she says, indicating to our small hut.
“I can’t take these.”
“You can, and you will. They’re just collecting dust in the box, “ she says, forcing them into my hands. They were perfect shoes, with a not too high heel, but just high enough. I slip them onto my feet, and they surprisingly fit.
A knock on our creaky door pulls me out of my admiring trance. I walk carefully to the door. My face lights up when I see who it is. I open the door. He just stands there, staring.
== CHAPTER THREE ==
“What’s wrong? I don’t have chocolate on my face, do I?” Cora asked, feeling around her face.
“No. You just surprised me.” Asher snapped out of his stare-trance-thing and smiled.
“With what? I’m just wearing a shiny dress,” Cora said, smiling back.
“It’s just...different, that’s all.” She looked up with her pale grey-blue eyes at him. She noticed something...new in his eyes. Did they always sparkle like that?
Someone cleared their throat, and Asher and Cora both jumped.
“Cora, you need to change. The drawing will start in an hour, and you still need to get your hair done! Asher, sweetheart, we will see you at the drawing ceremony.” Cora’s mother says, shooing Asher out the door. Cora waved goodbye to Asher, and went to her room to take off her dress. She needed to save it for the ball when she was accepted into the academy for the sons and daughters of the nobility. She knew it was foolish to count her eggs before they hatched, but there was only one other girl that she knew of that was going to put her name in the bowl. The little girl was only 8, so this would be her first year. It was my fifth year, so the odds were in my favor. Not many people were interested in putting their names in the raffle. None of them want to have to deal with the stuffy nobles, and all children are needed more at home than at a school. Cora herself dropped out of school when she was twelve, so that she could perform her duties at home, such as taking care of the family. She needed training for when she got married and had kids. All of the girls in the Lower Level had to leave school at that age.
“Ugh, it’s going to take so long to wash your hair and get the knots out. Why can’t you brush your hair more often?” Cora’s mother scolds her, walking into the kitchen with Cora, heading to the basin filled with hot water. They couldn’t afford a real bathroom.
“I prefer to let it hang loose. Let the wind mold it to whatever it wants.” Cora replies. She dips her long black hair into the basin, letting her mother lather it with the precious soap they had. It was a very special occasion, and she didn’t want to be teased about her smell on top of all the other things she couldn’t fix.
45 minutes later, Cora’s hair was in a simple braided updo and she was wearing her best tunic. She never wore this tunic when working because it was supposed to be saved for special events. Her mother had embroidered delicate black flowers on the white fabric, incorporating Cora’s favorite color.
== CHAPTER FOUR ==
They stepped outside onto the bustling street. Everyone in the kingdom was required to attend the event, no matter how little people were interested. Nobody even thought of staying home, other than the sick. The twin kings had developed a certain punishment system. Everybody is scared of what will happen if they step out of line, so there haven’t been any laws broken in a while, other than by the Renegades. The Renegades were plunderers. They had broken each and every law 100 times over.
I saw Asher walking through the moving crowd with his family, with a bright white tunic and black pants on. Everyone was required to wear these garments. You could only make tiny changes to your ‘uniform’, so my mother had sewn the flowers on my tunic to match my skin-tight black pants.
I told my mother and brothers that I would go walk with Asher. It was required anyways. All 13 years up to 16 years had to be accompanied by a boy around her age. Asher and I had decided it would be best for him to be mine, since none of the boys liked me and they all hated even the idea of being my accompaniment. I had a certain…personality that made me different from all of the other girls. I was more carefree, while they all wore tight buns on top of their heads and wore their skirts long, mimicking their mothers. I, however, kept my long hair loose and had never cut it. I also wore pants and tunics, because the layered dresses were too hard to run in. I’ve never cut my hair, because my father had loved it long. He had always wanted me to be free to be myself, instead of like the clones.
I run up to Asher, weaving in between people of all ages. Most of them gave me judging looks, but Asher smiled at me. He had been the only person in the entire Lower Level that actually got me. My favorite part about him, was that he was so understanding. He was with me when my father died a few years ago, and he never ridiculed me for grieving, unlike everyone else in the Lower Level. He had actually comforted me, and was there for anything I needed. He was the best friend a weirdo could ask for.
Asher and I couldn’t talk in the crowd, because the din resonating from the family was too loud to hear anything. We just walked silently through the main street. The crowd stopped in front of a pair of enormous golden gates, and they presently opened to reveal the Upper Level. This was the only time anyone from the Lower Level was allowed to see the Upper Level, unless they got a job for someone there. Our escorts flanked our group on all sides, to make sure none of us made a run for it into the city. The escorts had been added last year, after my father had made a break for it into the city. The Kings didn’t want anybody roaming the streets. About a week afterwards, there was a notice on everybody’s door, stating that he had been found and had been given proper punishment for the laws broken. We never saw him again.
== CHAPTER FIVE ==
After walking through the main street, still flanked by the guards, we reached the coliseum where the drawing would occur. Asher and I broke off from the large group, so that we could finally talk without being interrupted.
“Please tell me you’re going to put your name in!” I whisper loudly.
“You convinced me. I’m going to put my name in.” He replied, looking down at me and smiling. Ugh I’m so short.
I squealed, and practically skipped beside him to the table. We both gave the check-in woman our names, and she wrote them each on one slip of paper. She folded mine and dropped it in the small glass bowl, among my other papers and that one girl’s paper. She did the same with Asher’s, but in the boy’s bowl. I got excited when I saw that Asher was the only boy interested the drawing. One single slip. Now all I needed to do was get in. Should be easy enough. The little girl’s chance of winning was slim.
I hug him, and he peels me off of him after a couple of seconds. The check-in lady’s eyebrows had almost disappeared into her white hair.
“You can’t do that outside the Lower Level. People will think we have been betrothed.” He whispers, holding out his arm for me to fold mine through. We walk off to our seats. Our families had already sat down next to each other, saving two spots for Asher and I. We sat down just as the royal trumpets sounded off.
“WELCOME LORD CATISH, ROYAL ADVISOR.” A loud voice booms throughout the coliseum. The twin kings’ advisor, also known as their uncle, comes through the royal entrance waving to everyone clapping.
“WELCOME KING JAMES AND KING CHARLES!” The voice booms again, introducing the royal twins. I hesitantly clapped. Yet another rule that was created by Lord Catish was that everyone had to clap or bow to the kings when in their presence.
King James took his place by the boy’s bowl, and King Charles by the girl’s bowl, both looking disappointed in the turnout of the number of slips.
“Welcome everyone to the yearly drawing! You all know that this is for children who are looking for a proper education. Children who wish to become proper ladies and gentlemen. Today could be your dream come true,” the host of the drawing says, winking.
“Now, the drawing will…” He pauses for effect, “BEGIN!”
“My hands are shaking right now. I’m too nervous.” I whisper to Asher as King James and King Charles reach their hands simultaneously into their bowls. Asher softly picks up my hands, the look in his eyes calming me down. I lean into him, taking deep breaths as the chosen slips are brought up to the host to announce.
“Ohh, you finally got yourself a boyfriend then?” A sickeningly teasing voice whispers evilly into my ear from the seat above me. I groan and twist in my seat.
“Hi Lia, how are you?” I say, trying to be nice to her, even though even the idea of being nice to someone so conceited makes me want to barf. I smile sweetly at her, while Asher grumbles something. He hates her, just for being mean to me. He really is the best friend.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE HAVE OUR RESULTS!” Halli Yaya, the host, booms. He holds up the blue piece of paper, and reads the name off. “Asher Hallings! Please come up to the stage!”
I scream, hugging Asher hard when he gets up. He hugs me back quickly, then makes his way down the steps to the stage, where he’s going to meet the twin Kings and their Advisor. Halli Yaya unfolds the pink slip dramatically slow, and reads aloud the name written on the fateful bit of paper.
== CHAPTER SIX ==
My heart is racing at the speed of light as Halli Yaya draws out the suspense.
“CORA LORISTER!” My entire family erupts in cheers and screams as I walk shakily down the steep stone steps, trying not to fall. I look back at my mother and she’s crying. I smile at her as if to tell her ‘it's ok’, then I resume descending to my fabulous fate. Asher is beaming on the stage, waiting for me. I run the last few feet to him, jumping into his arms and squealing. This time, he picks me up and swings me around instead of pushing me away. I can see the twins raise their eyebrows and exchange glances. Asher sets me down gently only inches from him. It’s the closest we’ve been in a while. We stare in each other’s eyes for a few prolonged seconds, until someone in the audience clears their throat. We both flush and step away. We face the crowd, smiling and pretending nothing happened. Both Kings in turn shake our hands. I hope they didn’t notice how sweaty mine were. I look over at Asher, and he’s smiling coolly. The twins’ advisor then congratulates us on getting a scholarship with a bright smile.
After the event is over, Asher and I are escorted back to the Lower Level and we are given one day to pack and say goodbye to our family and friends, which shouldn’t be too hard considering my only friend is Asher.
== CHAPTER 7 ==
=== New Beginnings ===
Today’s the day. Today I will start my first year at the Academy, alongside my best friend, Asher Hallings.
I take a deep breath, and shimmy into my cleanest tunic. My mother had made it, sewing delicate lavender colored flowers onto the black fabric. I put on my favorite fitted leggings, which were also a pitch black. It was more fitted and fancier than the other tunics I owned, but that’s how the noble girls wore theirs. They didn’t have as much of a need to bend down and run and actually live. Starting when a girl in the nobility turns 13, she starts to wear more flattering clothing, in order to show off for the boys of the nobility. They must rouse up enough attention before they turn 16, when they will choose a boy of the same age to wed her. Now that I have been enrolled into the Academy, I would have to start wearing these kinds of clothes. I put some last minute things into my new trunk, which I had bought with the chunk of money that the Academy gave me to buy better clothing and cleaner things. Asher had gotten the same amount of coins as I had, which was more than either of us had ever seen in one place.
A knock at the door startles me, and I hear my older brother open the door and greet someone. I recognize the person's voice. I slip on my ballet flats, which are terrible to work in by the way, and rush to greet my best friend.
"Are you ready? The coach is outside." He says, eyes sparkling. He was obviously excited, even though he didn't want to show it. I nod solemnly, realizing that I was leaving my family behind. I know that they'll be fine, the boys will take care of my mother and sister, but I'm still worried. What if something happened? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something were to happen while I was away.
Asher starts towards my room, patting me on the shoulder, as if he knew I wanted a private goodbye with my family.
After many hugs, and some tears were shed, I knocked on my bedroom door, letting Asher know he could come out. When he didn't my heart started to beat faster. Did something happen to him? I open the door and find a surprising scene.
== CHAPTER 8 ==
Asher’s eyes were streaming as fast as the raging rivers that lead to Lake Maorah. He was sitting on the end of my bed, just…crying. He doesn’t look up when I sit next to him and wrap my arms around him. He rests his head in the crook of my neck, shaking the both of us with his sobs.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think this would happen. “He tells her, straightening up and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
“You don’t have to be sorry.” I give his hand a reassuring squeeze, even though I was entirely shaken by the scene I had just walked into.
“But I do. I told myself that I would be strong today, and I would be helping you through this, not the other way around.” He says, putting his face into his hands and sighing.
“You don’t have to be strong for me. I am always here if you need to talk.” I say, feeling terrible for inflicting this pressure on Asher. The guilt feels like someone is sitting on my chest.
We sit in silence for a bit, and then my mother pokes her head into the room, “Honey, the footmen say that they can’t wait much longer. They don’t want you to be late.”
“Okay,” Both Asher and I jump off of my bed at the same time.
He picks up my trunk almost effortlessly. Apparently, the bags of flour he has to lug around have paid off. I can’t help but notice how good his muscles look as they flex.
I shake my head, reminding myself that he would never like a dork like me, and pick up the small bag I’m going to have in the carriage with me.
I follow Asher outside, and my breath catches when I see the carriage. I can see Asher smirk at me out of the corner of my eye, but my eyes are fixed on the beautiful carriage before me. Solid gold embellishments delicately swirl all over the white body of the carriage like vines. There are small painted purple flowers dotting throughout the enchanted looking vines.
One of the footmen helps Asher put my trunk on the top next to Asher’s. The other footman strides over to the door and opens it for me. The interior of the moving art piece is as breathtaking as the exterior. The white plush seats were large enough to stretch out on and take a nap, and they looked soft enough to actually do it!
I don’t notice Asher come up behind me until he clears his throat and says, “You know you have to get in the carriage in order to ride in it, right?”
I feel my cheeks color as I clumsily climb up the steps. Asher follows me, and after the footman closes the door behind him, the carriage starts moving. I take a deep breath as I get ready for the biggest change my life has ever seen.