Section 2
CRYSTAL CLARITY
2
Cinderella tapped her foot on the foyer’s inlaid wood floor, anxious to go into the village for the first time in over a decade and feeling as if she’d entered some kind of parallel universe. One where she was allowed to leave the house anytime she wanted, one where her stepmother was more like an actual mother, one where Cinderella was free.
Such a universe was not likely to exist. In this universe, she’d proceed with caution.
Her stepsisters had argued vehemently with their mother about the fabric selection, and their mother finally gave in to her daughters’ wishes. Then her stepmother acted as though it had all been her own idea: if Cinderella selected the fabrics, Gwendolyn and Agatha would have a much greater chance of outshining the other girls and snagging the prince.
If one of her daughters married Prince Tiberius—although her stepmother hadn’t admitted it—it was clear she believed that, as the mother of a princess and future queen, she’d gain more power.
“Gold? You can’t wear gold with your red hair.” Gwendolyn and Agatha bickered as they scrambled down the main stairs.
“You’re just saying that because you want to wear gold.” Halfway down, Agatha leaned over the landing’s oak banister. “Cinderella, I look better than Gwenny in gold, right?”
Anxious to leave before permission was withdrawn, Cinderella said, “Both of you will look beautiful no matter what color you wear. The prince will have a terrible time deciding which sister to marry.”
The two sisters giggled together for a moment and then descended the remainder of the staircase with more decorum. And it was about time they showed more decorum. Now Cinderella needed them to get into their cloaks so they could get out the door. She was still hoping her stepmother wasn’t coming.
“What color do you plan to wear to the ball, Cinderella?” Agatha asked as Cinderella helped her put on her bright blue woolen cloak.
“Oh, I haven’t decided.” Cinderella brushed a piece of lint off her stepsister’s shoulder and then turned to help Gwendolyn with her cloak. She still didn’t believe her stepmother would actually let her go.“I’m just happy to get the opportunity to attend.”
“I guess,” Gwendolyn said, not bothering to bend down as Cinderella reached up on her toes to place the cloak on her much taller stepsister’s shoulders. “I mean, it’s not like you stand a chance at getting a dance with the prince. There will be hundreds of girls at the ball, and maybe only fifteen or twenty open slots on his dance card.”
“He’ll have a dance card?” Cinderella asked. She had no idea how balls worked and realized that she should have paid more attention to her stepsisters’ chatter over the years.
“No, silly,” Agatha said as she extended a foot so that Cinderella could stoop to lace up her boot. “It’s just a figure of speech. I’m sure he’ll have some kind of servant or attendant who’ll notify the girls he’s chosen.”
“Sounds somewhat impersonal.” Cinderella turned to lace up Gwendolyn’s boots.
“Impersonal?” her stepmother said as she entered the room.
Cinderella’s excitement blew up the chimney. Her stepmother had decided to join them, after all.
“We were discussing the ball, Mother.” Agatha grinned.
“What about it?” Her stepmother’s voice dripped with suspicion.
“How the prince might select girls to dance.” Agatha’s grin started to waver, as if leery of her mother’s mood.
Her stepmother turned toward a blood-red cloak hanging on a wooden peg high on the wall, and Cinderella rushed to take it down and put it over her stepmother’s shoulders.
“Agatha and Gwendolyn, for shame. It’s cruel to tease your sister with thoughts of dances with the prince.”
Cinderella sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes for a second. Of course she wasn’t really going to the ball. Of course it had been an elaborate tease. Even though she’d assumed as much, it stung anyway. She likely wasn’t going to the village today, either.
Her stepmother turned and took Cinderella’s chin between her black-gloved fingers, pushing the flesh against her teeth and pulling her face up so high that Cinderella had to lift up on her toes.
“Look at her.” Her stepmother kept her eyes on her daughters, and not on the stepdaughter’s face she was pinching so hard that she’d probably leave bruises. “Her plain features are so pale and freckled, her drab hair the color of straw—as straight as straw, too—and she possesses no figure to speak of.” She barked out a sharp laugh.“Poor thing looks more like a ten-year-old boy than an eighteen-year-old girl. It’s cruel to get her hopes up.”
“You’re so right, Mother,” said Gwendolyn, turning up her nose. “It’s ridiculous for Cinderella to worry about how the prince will choose dancing partners. No chance will he even notice she’s there.”
“He’ll be too busy looking at me,” said Agatha.
“No, me.” Gwendolyn pushed her sister, and then the two stuck out their tongues before turning their backs on each other.
Her stepmother released her chin, and Cinderella fought the impulse to rub the throbbing spots.
“Perhaps I’m cruel even to let her go,” her stepmother said as she put her hands on her corseted waist. “She’ll feel out of place.”
Cinderella bit down on her tongue, and wished her stepmother would just admit she’d been playing with her all along and end this charade. And what was with discussing her as if she were invisible? Not to mention the irony of her claiming to care about cruelty. That part chewed away at Cinderella’s stomach, but she refused to respond. On the slim chance that leaving the house was still a possibility, acting out wouldn’t help.
She didn’t really care about the ball as long as she was released from the grounds today. She might be small, but she was strong and fast, and the instant her stepmother’s back was turned, she’d make a run for it and never return. Her stepmother would try to stop her with a spell, but if Cinderella was fast and used her ninja skills to leap out of reach, it was possible she could escape.
Her only regret would be Max, sleeping down in the basement. But he’d understand and perhaps one day he’d find her.
“What are you waiting for?” her stepmother snapped.
Cinderella’s shoulders jumped, her daydream interrupted by her stepmother’s demands.
“Open the door, you stupid girl. Do you think it will open itself?”
Cinderella suppressed a grin as she pulled on the door’s heavy iron handle and it swung back. That spell had been temporarily lifted.
Excitement buzzed through her body, making her feel almost giddy. Today was the day she’d escape.
Cinderella quivered with excitement as she closed the gate behind her and she inhaled the crisp spring air. So this was how freedom smelled.
They started off down the road to the village and Cinderella glanced up at the bright blue sky peeking through the canopy of birch leaves. It had been so many years since she’d looked up to the daytime sky.
“Why are we walking?” Agatha whined. “My feet hurt already.”
“Exercise is good for your complexion, girls,” their mother said.“How can you expect to win the prince’s heart if you don’t look your best?”
Muttering under their breaths, the two sisters continued to trudge along behind their mother. Cinderella took up the rear, surprised that her stepmother wasn’t watching her more closely. Perhaps her stepmother thought Cinderella truly believed she was going to the ball and wouldn’t run for that reason, or believed her stepmother’s claims that she’d never survive on her own.
She scanned the woods to evaluate her options. If she simply took off at a run down the road, her stepmother would have a clear view of her and be able to stop her with magic, for sure. But if she headed into the woods, she might be able to hide high up in the canopy of branches and avoid a spell. The chance of this plot working was slim, but she had no other ideas.
She studied the tree branches. If she could find a group of branches at the right heights, she could use one branch to swing up to another, then another, and be high in the trees before anyone noticed she was gone. Her stepmother would have to cast a spell on the entire forest to stop her, and she’d never risk that. There was just too much chance someone might detect her illegal use of black magic.
“Ouch!” cried Agatha as she stumbled over her long purple gown and landed on her knees in the dirt.
Ignoring her instinct to help, Cinderella exploited the distraction and leaped to the right, barely grabbing onto the lowest branch of a nearby oak. She arched her back and swung, hoping she could build enough momentum to loop herself up to stand so she could leap from that branch to a higher one.
Her palms scraped on the rough bark, but on the second swing she had enough height. She hoped.
She let go, did a somersault in the air, and landed. The branch bounced beneath her, but she controlled the spring and used the momentum to propel herself higher. She reached up and out toward another branch. She was going to make it.
Just as she began to sense freedom, she slammed at full force into something unseen.
The breath rushed out of her chest and pain spread everywhere. It was as if she’d plowed into an invisible wall between the two branches. She slid down the unseen hard surface to land in a crumpled heap on a pile of dead leaves.
“Stupid girl.” Her stepmother strode into the forest and nudged her with her pointed boot. “Do you really think I’d take you off the grounds without taking precautions?”
Dizzy from the impact, Cinderella pulled herself to a sitting position and leaned on her sore arms for support. Her stepmother kicked one of her arms to the side and Cinderella fell back to the ground.
“I think you’ll find it quite impossible to go more than thirty feet from me in any direction. Now get up. We have shopping to do.”