Oaks, Pines And Willows

Chapter 2
A Grey Sky

Sky was sitting on a stool, canvas in front if her, trying to paint the landscape around her. Her art teacher was sitting next to her, doing an excellent job, rolling hills, winding rivers, looming forests. Her canvas was a couple of different coloured splats. She'd rather outside than painting it. This was hopeless. She turned to her art teacher for help.
"I can't do it!" she wailed.
"A princess needs to be able to paint." replied Orion.
"Why?" whined Sky. "What use will it be?"
Orion looked to absorbed in his art to answer, but Sjy knew otherwise.
"Tell me !" She commanded.
"Well, that's the end of your art lesson!" he said cheerily, packing away the paints. "See you on Thursday!"
Sky huffed, and watched sulkily as he left.
She had an hour before lunch, then she had an hour for lunch, then she had politics. Egh.
She sat in her room, flicked through a book, listened to her personal band, watched the servants, watched the people at work in the garden, went down to the library, but everything seemed really boring.
When at long last lunch came, she made polite chat with her step-mother, her step-mother's chief adviser, and her father, before he went to a meeting.
Her mother had died when she was seven. Only about four or five years ago. She had died giving birth to Adara-Katrina, her youngest sibling who was only three. She was the oldest, then Tynan who was eight, then Alarick and Byard, who were twins, and were both five. Then came little Adara-Katrina.
Her new step-mother was cruel, strict, and sharp. Everything her loving mother wasn't.
She made her brothers shout, she made her sister scream and she made her father sigh. She made Sky want to find her mother and snuggle up to her, her mother striking her hair, telling her everything would be fine. She wish it was fine. But life was unfair, so she had to get on with it.
She looked in her mirror after lunch. She had pale, pale blonde hair, almost white, with bright dazzling blue eyes. Her full name was Reskyra Olivia Ulavia. That's where Sky came from. Reskyra. Her Grandma had said she had eyes the colour of the sky.
She decided to go for a walk around the grounds. She greeted all the workers, curtsied at the gentlemen, and nodded to the ladies. She wandered into the forest. A colony of ants marched up a stick, a pair of sparrows flew overhead, and a rabbit or two poked its furry little head out of its hole. A tree to the left of her caught Sky's fancy. She climbed right to the top of the tree. The breeze cooled her down, but the grey sky was slightly unsettling. She lay back in the tree, and imagined staying there forever. She lay back, and fell fast asleep...