Reclaiming the North

In the beginning Queen Grace was quite sad. She had all she needed and she had many projects to oversee in both the castle and the village but she quickly felt cut off.

She had never realized it but she had been the center of attention her entire life and now that she had been regulated to one of the fringes of the kingdom she was feeling a bit lonely and unwanted.

For days she only left her bed when her children insisted. She was not eating much and she saw no reason for daily hygiene, or to even caring for her hair.

All of the servants and guards were worried about her, to say the least. Not even Teresa could truly bring her out of this funk. And so, for the first two weeks Grace stayed in her room. She could not disappear like she truly wanted to so she stayed in bed.

She laid there thinking about Gabriel and how she had miscalculated so badly. She had been arrogant and that arrogance clouded her judgment. She should have been a better wife. She should have understood that, since Gabriel was so enthralled with sex, she needed to be enthralled with sex as well.

Then she began to question her education. She wondered if she had focused too much on the people. Couldn't she have helped the kingdom and maintained her marriage at the same time? Did she wait too long to have children? She should have taken up art. Why had she given up music? She had played several instruments rather well in her youth.

Thoughts and questions bombarded her mind day and night and she finally came to the conclusion that she had messed things up terribly and had ruined her marriage.

In that moment she realized how much she loved Gabriel. She realized that she did enjoy her life with him and that he was an important, no vital, part of it.

And she sunk so deep into depression that she slept for three days straight and even when the staff brought her children in to wake her she only slightly woke and spoke with a lethargy that terrified everyone.

That all changed when Ashley arrived. She was Grace's only true royal friend. She was the godmother to all of her children and she was the fourteenth princess of a much lesser kingdom that was under Lystra protection.

She was also Grace's only other advisor-confidant besides Teresa and she had the personality and determination to bring their queen out of her depressed state.

When Ashley arrived she had been annoyed. Firstly that horrid black haired witch detained her for as long as possible demanding that she attend every event planned over those first few weeks. She was still the representative of her small kingdom at the royal high court and she could not do anything to jeopardize her people or her family so she had to endure.

Secondly she saw the state of things in the city and then the castle and she knew that her queen had not been working at her fullest capacity and this was rather concerning. Grace was very hands on and did things with utter efficiency. The repairs may not have been done but they would have been nearing completion or a halfway point to it.

Lastly her God children came running out to her hysterical and without their mother. Ashley frowned as she looked up the broad steps to the castle.

"Children. I must see your mother. I will wake her, get her out of bed, and we will go see the town today okay?"

The children slowly agreed but they all felt it was an impossibility. They had not been able to get their mother out of bed in days they did not know how their godmother would do it.

Ashley looked to Teresa. "Could you please have my things sent to me quarters? I will go straight to her majesty."

"Of course ma'am. I will see to it personally."

Ashley nodded and everyone briskly went up the stairs into the main hall. The look of the castle still made her smile. It had been a favorite retreat to a long dead queen so it had very good bones and hidden amenities that only a few truly knew about. The black haired witch actually made a mistake in sending Grace here. Ashley believed that the king saw the mistake and agreed in sending his wife and children here because they could eventually live happily.

The groups separated into three. One was of the children and their attendants, one was of servants carrying all of Ashley's items to her quarters, and the last one was Ashley herself and Grace's attendants.

Ashley took a deep breath when she finally reached the door to Grace's bedchamber. She quickly released it and smiled broadly as she opened the door without knocking. She frowned, but maintained her smile in her eyes. The room was stale and dark. She began throwing open curtains and the stained glass windows they covered. The attendants followed suit and soon the room was lit brightly and a refreshing breeze was flowing through the room.

She looked back and her smile almost fell. Grace had not even stirred an inch. She pursed her lips and marched to the massive four poster bed and dragged back the layers of linens. She sighed when she saw how small and frail her friend looked in this huge bed.

She looked to the attendants and they gently brought Grace from the bed. The entire time Ashley spoke to her friend about what they needed to do and how the children were waiting for her. Ashley allowed the attendants to wash, dress, and care for Grace and she decided to go tell the kitchens to prepare light foods that were easy on a stomach that had been without for a long while.

By the time the attendants carefully guided Grace out of the chamber's vast baths the food was waiting. Grace smiled weakly as she sat next to Ashley. She quietly cleared her throat a few times before she decided that she could speak.

"So my rescuer has arrived at last. You did take your time about it didn't you?"

Ashley rolled her eyes. "That horrid creature that your husband brought back with him insisted I attend several events and parties.

"Things need to rectify soon or my godson will not have a kingdom to inherit. They are spending money so quickly it is a bit scary."

Grace pursed her lips and looked out the window. The view made her instantly smile, calm, and wake her all at the same time.

"We have a lot to do."

Ashley smiled. "Yes we do"

Grace sighed deeply. "I am forbidden to act in the kingdom. You will have to do this for me. We will begin here and go to other outlying areas. And then I will ensure that my Albert inherits a strong profitable kingdom."

She tucked into her food and began planning with Ashley simultaneously. Ashley's appearance was more than enough motivation for Grace and she was suddenly up and working hard as per usual.

She got ahold of all construction projects and those that were moving too slowly were suddenly on track and buzzing toward successful conclusions.

The city walls and the castle keep were finished at the same time. A very unique light blue limestone was mined and used for both, the locals had known about it but Grace saw its potential as a resource for them.

She realized that this unique building material, two new varieties of fruits, and three new varieties of veggies and she suddenly found herself wondering how the kingdom allowed this area to become like it was. It was essentially a vast and wealthy resource but the kingdom, herself included allowed it to die.

But it was given to her so she decided to run it like a small lesser kingdom. She would pay taxes to the crown in the name of the town not acknowledging herself and then petition the king to allow her to oversee other such areas. She would say it will be to enrich the children's lives and thusly add to their creativity. As long as she stayed away from popular crown properties Ester would have no issue in what they did.

At least this is what she hoped.

Grace smiled. She could still be vital and not worry about going against the crown and king.

The new limestone proved to be even more miraculous than first believed. It was stronger than typical limestone and it was fire retardant. The village began working again, being paid by the castle, and they processed the limestone, cultivated the new produce and maintained the fields and orchards. The village began to come back to life and as word spread villagers began to return to their birthplace and take on offered positions.

The village not only repaired itself it also grew.

Unbeknownst to them all they would soon meet their biggest client and Grace's soon to be greatest advocate.