Section 8
FALL FROM GRACE
8
Cinderella kept to the edge of the village square, enjoying the delicious food that had been set out after the competition. The other competitors reveled in the attention, but she felt self-conscious. Worse, the risk of attention from the wrong people was too high. Her stepmother and stepsisters might be lurking anywhere.
The beauty pageant crowd had also spilled into the courtyard, but from the few conversations she’d overheard, most of those girls had forgone eating and headed straight for the palace to get bathed and dressed for the ball.
She still hadn’t spotted Ty. He must have gone to the palace already, probably to help set up.
“Cinderella, I finally found you.”
She cringed at hearing her name, but looked up to see none other than the royal wizard headed toward her. She glanced around nervously, worried that his arrival might draw unwanted attention.
“I can’t wait to train you,” he said.
She shifted so that his dark gray robe shielded her from the rest of the crowd. “Really?” She had to admit she felt proud. Even though she’d done well, all she could remember right now were her mistakes.
“Not two events in,” the royal wizard continued, “I decided I wanted to train you, regardless of the outcome of the competition. Your innate magic abilities are very strong. Who has been guiding your training?”
“No one, Sir.”
“Well, that’s even more impressive.” He put his hands on his hips and a wind swirled around him, picking up some dust that sparkled in the sunshine. “You are a very special young lady.”
Special? Her? She blushed and wondered if she dared mention the entrapment spells now. His powers were vast, but so were her stepmother’s. Imagine if the royal wizard turned to stone, right here, because of her.
“I need to ask you something,” she said. As dangerous as it was, if she didn’t ask, if she didn’t find some way past the entrapment spells, she couldn’t take the lessons. She realized she’d been silly to think her stepmother would let her go out of fear that someone would find out about her black magic. That woman feared nothing.
“Certainly,” the royal wizard said.
“Hal!” a woman’s voice rang out.“I’m ready to go. You might not need time to prepare for the ball, but I do.”
The royal wizard leaned forward, a conspiratorial grin on his lips. “My wife,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “She won’t let me use magic to get her ready, but demands that I snap to her schedule.”
He rested his hands on Cinderella’s shoulders. “Why don’t we save your question until our first lesson?” Then he spun away so quickly that she lost the chance.
Her heart sank. Unless the royal wizard could break her stepmother’s entrapment spells, she wouldn’t get the opportunity to take his lessons.
Cinderella let herself get lost in the crowd of contestants and spectators heading from the square to the palace, and scanned the group as best she could for Ty on the off chance he hadn’t already gone to the palace. Although she tried not to stand out, every couple of minutes someone congratulated her on her performance in the competition—even her spectacular failures.
Nearing the gates to the castle, disappointed she still hadn’t found Ty, she jumped onto the wall lining the path to get a better look at the crowd. Even if he had to work during the ball, he might have time to chat on the walk over.
She shielded her eyes with her hand, but instead of spotting Ty she spotted her stepsisters, not ten feet away on the opposite side of the cobblestone road.
Worse, Agatha spotted her, a questioning look and shock in her eyes. Cinderella dipped her head and crouched down, wishing she could disappear, but when she peeked back up, Agatha had turned away and was pulling Gwendolyn down the path.
Her heart pounding, Cinderella waited for an opening in the flow of pedestrians below her so she could jump back down and once again stay hidden among the crowd.
Keeping her head down, she passed through the gates into the castle’s entry hall. She lifted her gaze up to the high-vaulted ceilings and spun with wonder at the glass skylights capturing the spring sunshine. Stone carvings that looked like vines wound their way around the ceiling, encircling each skylight. Portraits of the royal family’s ancestors, all dressed in fine furs and rich velvets, were hung throughout the room.
Cinderella froze. One of the portraits—which, based on the style of the subject’s clothing, seemed to have been painted at least a century ago—looked very much like Ty. What an interesting coincidence.
“The ballroom is through these large doors to your right,” a man in a dark gray and burgundy uniform said from the top of a high staircase above her. “And the dressing rooms are through the smaller doors to the left and right of those doors. Left for the men, right for the women.”
The crowd tittered in excitement and the man continued,“If you sent it ahead, each of you will find your gowns and suits inside and a dresser to help you freshen up.” He bowed slightly. “If you have questions, any one of the castle staff will be most happy to assist you.”
But where was the rest of the castle staff? If Ty were working as a dresser, helping the men press their suits and shine their shoes, she might not see him until the ball started. Her best bet was to hope he was on ballroom setup duty, or perhaps preparing refreshments.
As the rest of the girls skipped and ran into the dressing room, Cinderella opened the huge door to the ballroom and slipped inside. Her breath caught in her chest. “Wow!” she said, and quickly raised her hand to her lips, embarrassed she’d spoken aloud.
But no one seemed to notice. Servants buzzed about the room draping silk covers over chairs and lighting hundreds of candles in huge crystal chandeliers. A team was hoisting an already-lit chandelier up to the ceiling, using thick ropes and pulleys. Another group was adjusting and placing huge arrangements of white, pink, and red flowers on tables covered in splendid damask cloths.
Cinderella pulled her eyes from the splendor to concentrate on her search for Ty. On a high balcony at the far end of the room, a man leaned onto the stone railing. At this distance, she couldn’t make out much detail, but his clothes seemed especially fine and his hair was tied back from his face. Could it be the prince?
She shielded her eyes against an illuminated chandelier as it passed between them, but before the man came into focus, he stepped away from the railing and into the shadows.
Oh well. She wasn’t here on a prince-spotting mission anyway.
“Where’s your uniform?” asked a woman dressed neatly in a servant’s uniform. She had silvery-gray hair, pink cheeks, and a warm smile. “Go get into it, girl.” The woman nodded toward the wall of the ballroom, where one of the panels between the mirrors turned to let a line of servants holding fresh candles enter the room.
Cinderella made a beeline toward the panel, and it nearly hit her as it swung into the room.
“Watch it!” A maid in a blue-and-silver-striped apron nearly crashed into her. “It’s a one-way entrance. Weren’t you here for the briefing?”
“Sorry.” Cinderella nodded and then saw a waiter in a black tunic with white gloves exiting the ballroom through another panel. Realizing some were for entering and some for exiting, she followed the waiter and pressed the panel open.
Behind it lay an arched corridor lit by gas lamps, constructed entirely of blocks of stone. At intervals, paths led off to the right, while smaller arches along the left marked the entrances in and out of the ballroom. From this side, they were clearly marked “In” and “Out.”
Cinderella stepped out of the path of a waiter carrying a huge tray of crystal goblets and decided to head forward, keeping her eyes on everyone she passed, hoping to find Ty.
“Excuse me.” She pressed herself against the stone wall to avoid four large men carrying an ice sculpture of a swan. Then, as soon as she moved again, an even larger block of ice, carved to look like a fountain and being rolled on wheels, came barreling toward her. She glanced over her shoulder. Everyone had vanished. Was she supposed to outrun it?
She turned and ran, but someone grabbed her arm from the side and pulled her into a tunnel.
The ice rumbled by.
“That was close. Thanks.” She smiled at the slight woman who’d saved her, but the woman only scowled.
“Didn’t you hear the signal?” she asked.
“I’m sorry,” Cinderella said instead of answering the woman’s question. She had heard a bell ring, but hadn’t thought much of it since the corridors were so filled with sound.
“I’ve not seen you before.” The woman put her hands on her slim hips. “Who did your training sessions?”
“I didn’t hear the bell,” Cinderella said, hoping that had, in fact, been the signal. “I was distracted. I’ll be more careful.”
The woman shook her head. “Where is your uniform?”
“I was just headed to get changed right now.” She hated to lie, but she also didn’t want to get kicked out of the palace before she found Ty.
“Well, off you go then.” The woman took her by the shoulders, pointed her down the same side tunnel she’d pulled her into, and gave her a tiny push. “Spit-spot. No time to waste. The first guests will be arriving in the ballroom any moment.”
Cinderella turned to give a short curtsy and then continued down the narrow, dark hallway. She had to assume the corridor led to where the servant uniforms were stored. Perhaps she’d find something to put on that would help her blend in. Maybe she’d even help out. It wasn’t as if she lacked experience in serving.
She crossed under a gaslight into a dim section of the tunnel and focused on the dark floor, blinking, hoping to coax her eyes into adjusting to the darkness more quickly.
“Hello there.”
She stopped short at the male voice and looked up. “Ty!” Reaching up, she threw her arms around his neck.
He laughed and one of his hands brushed her waist.
Suddenly embarrassed, she backed away.
He adjusted the buttons on his waiter’s uniform, as if he’d just finished dressing. “Where are you headed?” he asked.
“I was looking for you.”
“That’s quite a coincidence.” His bright smile caught the glow from a gaslight. “Because I was looking for you.”
“You were?” Her grin spread down to her toes. “You must be busy. I don’t want to bother you, but I wanted to thank you for your all your help and . . .” She paused, then continued, “. . . I wanted to see you again.” Her cheeks burned and she was thankful for the dim lighting.
“I wanted to see you, too.” He brushed a hair back from her face. “I have a message for you from the royal wizard.”
“You know the royal wizard?” Ty did get around.
“I heard him tell the prince he was impressed with your performance today, and wants to train you.”
“Oh, I saw him back at the courtyard.”
Ty ran a hand through his curls. “Fabulous. I knew you’d do well.”
She tried to keep her feet on the ground, but they wanted to leap and skip and dance. As for her arms, they wanted to throw themselves around Ty again, so she pressed them into her sides. “I’d give anything to take his lessons.”
“Cinderella, you don’t need to give anything. You just need to show up. He wants you—on full scholarship.”
She looked down and brushed one of her shoes along the stone floor. She couldn’t tell him about the huge obstacle still standing between her and the royal wizard’s lessons.
He put his hand softly on her arm, just below her elbow. “You’re in. What’s the problem?”
She lifted her head. “My stepmother. She’s very strict. I’m not sure she’ll let me.”
His hand slid lightly down her arm until he was holding her hand, and her entire body tingled. Even if her stepmother turned her to stone tonight, she’d die happy.
No, she told herself. She didn’t want to die. Not if it meant never feeling this way again. It was greedy, but now that she’d had a taste of whatever was buzzing inside her, all she wanted was more.
“I’m sure she’ll let you go.” The calm, reassuring sound of Ty’s soft, deep voice made it easy to believe him, so she decided not to argue. She couldn’t explain why he was wrong without endangering his life.
“Once you’re a trained wizard,” he said, “what will you do? What are your dreams for your life?”
“Dreams?” She hadn’t allowed herself the luxury.
“Close your eyes,” Ty said softly and moved closer toward her. So close she could feel his heartbeat. “Imagine yourself doing anything you want. What would make you most happy?”
Cinderella tried to slow down her galloping heart to allow herself to think clearly, but his thumb rubbed her hand softly, and the tiny gesture gave her a rush of adrenaline. Banishing the tension and fear perpetually stored in her shoulders, she took a moment and dreamed.
Eyes closed and with the comforting warmth from Ty, she exhaled a long, slow breath. “First, I’d like to sleep in one day, just to see what it feels like.” She smiled. “And I’d like to travel around the kingdom, see faraway places.” She’d been so sheltered to this point, the freedom of travel was beyond appealing. Happiness trickled up inside her. “And I’d like to be a great wizard and use my magic to help others and be a real ninja warrior so I could save people from thieves and make sure no one in the kingdom ever practices black magic or is forced into doing anything they don’t want to do.” She had to stop to catch her breath.
He laughed. “Those are great dreams.”
She opened her eyes and laughed, too.“I know it’s a lot. I’m not really so greedy.”
“Not greedy at all.” He tipped her chin up with his finger and kissed her. His kiss was gentle and soft, but she felt it right down to her toes, and her knees turned to jelly. He caught her waist.“You are a remarkable girl, Cinderella.”
“Remarkable? No. There’s no one more ordinary than me. I’ve lived my entire life—” She stopped herself. “I’ve been sheltered, a servant. Before I met you I’d barely left the house where I work. But what am I saying?” She shook her head. “You’re a servant, too. You know how it feels not to have choices.”
“No choices?”
Feeling bold, she reached up to his face and closed her eyes at the feel of his strong, warm jaw under her palm, his cheek under her thumb. “I know what I most want to do once I’m a trained wizard.”
He bent his lips close to her ear. “What will you do?”
“I’ll find a way to earn enough money so that neither of us will have to work as servants. I’ll come to find you.”
Leaning down toward her, he said,“You’ll take me away from all this?” His words felt hot against her ear, but his tone was slightly teasing.
She leaned back. “You don’t believe me. You don’t think I can do it.”
He shook his head. “I believe you. I believe you can do anything you set your mind to.”
She raised her hand to touch the locket under her dress, and then tugged on the thin chain to pull it out.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“It was my mother’s. She died when I was born.”
“I’m so sorry.” He touched her cheek. “It’s lovely. Almost as beautiful as you are.”
She blushed all over, feeling as if a hundred tiny lamps had been lit inside her. Running her thumbnail along the thin crack of the heart-shaped locket, she concentrated on her feelings for Ty and the locket snapped open.
“What’s inside?” he asked.
She tipped the locket into his hand to show him.
“It’s a heart.” He studied the small enameled heart as if it were a ruby. “How precious.”
He reached to put it back in the locket, but Cinderella shook her head. “Keep it, so you’ll never forget me.”
“I could never forget you, Cinderella.”
She felt something stir in her belly and heart. Was it love? She wasn’t sure, but it was certainly potent and seemingly magic. “It might be a while before I can see you again.”
“That would break my heart,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll see each other soon, but I will promise to keep this until then.” He wrapped his hand around the small heart, and then bent to kiss her.
Cinderella wondered if it would ever be possible to be happier than she felt this moment.
A loud gong sounded, and they pulled apart.
“I have to go,” Ty said. “The guests are coming into the ballroom. Please promise you’ll dance with me later.”
“You’re going to dance at the ball? Aren’t you working as a waiter?”
“Trust me,” Ty said. “I have a surprise. I don’t have time to explain now, but find me and we’ll dance.”
“I can’t go in there like this.” She ran her hands over the clothes Max had made for her, still dirty from the dust of the arena.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, you’ll be the most beautiful girl in the room.”
“Ty!” She slapped his arm lightly in jest to punish him for the tease, but it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.
“If you’re really worried about your clothes”—he headed back toward the main hall, his hand in hers—“then stay up in the balcony. You can access it through a staircase that’s eleven more alcoves farther down the main corridor.”
“Eleven.”
“Yes. Wait for me up there. I’ll find you and we can dance in the shadows above the party. It’ll be better up there, anyway. More private.”
Cinderella’s body hummed with excitement. “I’ll wait for you there.”
They reached the main corridor and he ran off in the other direction, blowing her a kiss.
Cinderella felt lighter than ever and skipped down the tunnel, avoiding collisions with servants and counting the alcoves. She was going to dance at the ball after all, even if no one would see her. Certainly not the prince.
She nodded to a waiter carrying two trays laden with fruit and strong-smelling cheeses, but she’d have time to eat later. She wanted to get up those stairs to the balcony and wait for Ty. Nothing had ever felt more important.