My Fair Godmother (27 page)

and two wicked stepsisters from the Cinderella fairy tale.

Chapter 23

I stood behind them, hardly breathing in hopes that if I was quiet they wouldn’t turn around and notice me. The fairy tale said Cinderella’s stepfamily didn’t recognize her, but things had never gone exactly like they had in the real fairy tales and perhaps this would be one of those differences. I’d never read a version of the story where Cinderella went and stood right by her family.

Hildegard grasped at her skirt and tapped one foot nervously. “No one will even look at us. Every noblewoman and princess within riding distance will be here.” WSM swatted Hildegard’s hands. “True, but so will every nobleman and prince. Perhaps there will be some left over for us.”

Matilda leaned toward her sister and snorted. “Perhaps Prince Hubert will take a liking to you.” Hildegard giggled but WSM sent her a cold-eyed stare that silenced her. “A prince is still a prince. I’d give either of your hands to him quickly enough.” Hildegard looked away from her mother and noticed me. Her gaze traveled over me and stopped on my face.

She stared at me for a moment and then turned back to her mother.

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I waited for her to tell WSM who I was, but instead she whispered, “It isn’t fair, Mamá. No one will notice me at all!”

I let out a sigh of relief. A few minutes later a servant introduced me as Lady Savannah of Herndon, and I walked into the ballroom. I don’t think a single person heard him. Between the musicians that played in the loft, the dancers that swept across the floor, and the crowds chatting by the food table, no one was paying attention to latecomers. I stood for a few moments trying to catch sight of Tristan’s blond hair. I didn’t see him, although I caught sight of Prince Edmond dancing with a young woman in the center of the room.

He looked exactly as I remembered from when I was Cinderella—tall and broad shouldered with glossy brown hair and chiseled features—straight out of a Hollywood leading-man catalog. He moved gracefully across the floor dressed in a purple tunic with gold trim.

We looked like we’d coordinated our outfits, and I supposed Chrissy had.

I moved past him, glad he hadn’t seen me, and looked for Tristan. Princess Margaret danced in the middle of the floor with some nameless nobleman. She wore a cranberry velvet gown and it gave me a guilty sense of pleasure that my dress was nicer.

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I walked around the edges of the room, still searching.

Every once in a while I noticed men staring at me with smiles on their lips, but I didn’t recognize anyone. The thing that struck me the most as I walked through the crowd was how good everyone smelled. It wasn’t just the perfume, the smell of the rich was the absence of stink.

I caught sight of Jane talking to Prince Hugh in one corner. She looked out of place in my Snow White dress—it was nicer than the clothes the peasants and servants wore—clearly a lady’s dress, but not fancy enough for a ball.

As I walked up to her, she shook her head at Prince Hugh apologetically. I wondered where Hunter was.

“Jane?”

She turned and her mouth opened with surprise. “Savannah, how did you get here?”

“Compliments of Chrissy. The inn is now short twelve mice and a turnip, and don’t ask what happened to the innkeeper’s dog.” I gave a quick curtsy to Prince Hugh, then turned my attention back to Jane. “Where’s Tristan?”

But Prince Hugh wasn’t about to let me ignore him.

“You’re Savannah?” he asked incredulously. “The lady I spoke to on the stairs?”

“Yes,” I said.

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Jane gave an “oh!” of understanding, then turned to Prince Hugh. “You thought I was my sister—that’s why I didn’t know what you were talking about.” The prince’s gaze ricocheted between us for a moment longer, adding up our similarities and differences, then he held out his hand to me with a smile. “Your sister tells me that she prefers not to join in the festivities, but I can see you came to dance. Would you do me the honor?”

He wasn’t really giving me a choice, but I didn’t take his hand. “I’d be happy to dance as soon as I find my friend. I’m afraid it’s urgent.” A flash of annoyance went across the prince’s face.

“Sir Tristan is outside with his friend waiting to see if the Black Knight will answer his challenge. I doubt he’ll come. It’s bad form to fight during a ball. Any knight of worth is inside dancing.”

He raised his hand to me again and this time I took it.

Over my shoulder to Jane I said, “Tell Tristan I need to talk to him. Make him promise not to eat or drink anything. Someone may be trying to poison him.” She looked as though she wanted to ask more questions, but the prince had already pulled me away from her. She turned and disappeared into the crowd.

I was out on the dance floor and in Prince Hugh’s arms before it hit me that I didn’t know how to dance 348/431

any medieval dances. It wasn’t like modern times where slow dancing consisted of huglike swaying to the music.

This dance actually had steps. I opened my mouth to tell him I didn’t know how to dance, but as I formed the words I realized my feet were moving. I was dancing already.

I looked down at my feet and remembered what Chrissy had said about the shoes—they were dancing slippers—and apparently magic. Cinderella must not have known how to dance either, so her fairy godmother had to give her special shoes to help her out. No wonder the glass slippers didn’t disappear when everything else did at midnight. Really, these fairy tales made a lot more sense now that I’d been here.

“You fear that someone is trying to poison your friend?” Prince Hugh asked. The smile on his face told me he found the idea amusing.

“Yes.”

“Who?”

I couldn’t very well tell him I suspected his sister and yet I couldn’t lie. The Black Knight could be in this room. Prince Hugh had just said that any knight of worth was inside dancing. If he heard me lie, if I even did it in his presence, would my tongue burn? I looked around the room even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to recognize him.

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“You don’t know?” Prince Hugh prompted.

“I don’t want to discuss it.”

His eyes searched my face and he nodded. “Every lady has her secrets.” He leaned a bit closer and added, “I imagine you have several.”

“I have my secrets,” I answered.

He smiled at me and two perfect dimples formed in his already perfect face. He surveyed me another moment and said, “You look remarkably like your sister.”

“And you look very much like your brother.” A bit of cynicism twisted his smile. “Yes, except he is more handsome.”

“That’s not true at all.”

“As long as Edmond wears the crown, he will always be more handsome.”

I hadn’t thought of that. Prince Edmond would inherit the entire kingdom. What did the second sons of kings do in the Middle Ages? I’m not sure history class had ever covered this topic but apparently whatever it was, Hugh wasn’t pleased with it. I felt a pang of sympathy for him.

“Jane is my older sister. She’s always done everything better than me. She’s a straight-A student.” I realized that didn’t mean anything to him so I added, “She’s the smart one.”

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He looked at me as though he didn’t believe it, which made me smile.

The song ended, and although Prince Hugh released me from his arms, he didn’t move from the dance floor.

I supposed that since we hadn’t danced long, he wanted to dance a second song as well. As we waited, Prince Edmond appeared at his brother’s side.

He nodded in my direction then turned to Prince Hugh. “I’m afraid I must ask to cut in.” Prince Edmond’s attention turned back to me and he sent me a dazzling smile. “I find I can’t go another moment without meeting this enchanting woman.”

Hugh glared at him, which Edmond didn’t see as he was busy staring at me. Then Hugh said curtly, “Edmond, may I present Lady Savannah to you.” I curtsied, and when I looked up again Hugh was gone, making his way through the crowd.

The music started and Edmond took my hand and pulled me into dance position. I looked over his shoulder at Hugh’s retreating back until I couldn’t see it anymore.

I could feel Prince Edmond’s gaze on me. He leaned toward me and spoke softly. “I’m quite pleased to make such a fine lady’s acquaintance.”

“Thank you.”

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We danced, and I was glad for the shoes that effortlessly moved me across the floor.

“From what part of the country do you hail?” he asked. “Do I know your parents?”

“You don’t know them, your highness. I come from a land very far away.”

I waited for him to ask me more questions about myself, dreaded it actually, since most of them I wouldn’t be able to answer. But he seemed content to hold me in his arms and watch me dance. Another minute passed.

“I daresay I’ve never seen the likes of your grace or beauty in my kingdom.”

Right. He’d looked right at me over eight months ago and called me “serving wench.” It made me wonder how much of beauty is in fact wealth or fashion or mystery.

“Thank you,” I said.

He smiled and his face took on a stunning glow.

“You’ll think this is foolishness, but last night I dreamed a fairy stood beside my bed and told me that tonight I would meet the woman who was meant to be my wife.

The fairy said this woman would have to go suddenly, but she would leave behind a token so that if I searched hard enough, I might find her again.” He looked at my feet, then gazed back into my eyes. “I won’t tell you what she said the woman would leave—it’s so silly—not the type of token a woman normally gives to a man . . .” 352/431

Okay, this was all going a little fast and in a direction I didn’t want. I glanced around the room, more than ever wishing Tristan was somewhere nearby. “Your highness, I’m sure you’ll meet many women tonight. And besides, you can’t trust anything a fairy tells you. They’re constantly getting things wrong.” He laughed and pulled me closer. “Ah, you’re modest too. You’ll do nicely as my bride.” Just like that? He was deciding to marry me after one dance? “You don’t really know me at all,” I said. “What if I’m not . . . smart or punctual?” He twirled me effortlessly, then returned me to his arms. “When you’re a queen, time bends on its knee to serve you, not the other way around. As for intelligence—in my opinion wives shouldn’t be too smart. It only complicates things.”

I laughed, then realized he wasn’t joking. “But you might not like my personality . . .” He leaned closer and flashed a set of perfectly white teeth. “Trust me, your beauty compensates doubly for any deficit in your personality.” At one point—well not too long ago, really—I would have loved to hear this comment. I would have even hoped it was true and not just charming. Now it seemed silly on his lips and altogether insulting. I didn’t want 353/431

someone who had to force himself to overlook my personality.

I glanced out across the room and noticed Tristan standing on the edge of the dance floor somehow managing to look both sleek and rugged—and utterly handsome. He watched me with his arms folded. This is when I realized I was a hypocrite, because suddenly I wanted nothing more in the world than for Tristan to notice how beautiful I was and to overlook all my deficits.

He looked at me not with admiration but with frustration, as though he wasn’t happy to see me.

The dance ended, and I waited for Prince Edmond to walk me off the dance floor. Instead he took hold of my hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed my glove. “I’m afraid I must claim your dances for the rest of the night.

No other partner can tempt me to leave you.” Cinderella and Prince Charming had danced the night away, hadn’t they? Very inconvenient when I needed to warn Tristan that Margaret might be planning to poison him. “That’s so sweet,” I said casting a glance at Tristan.

“But I really need to talk to Sir Tristan for a few minutes.”

Prince Edmond was already pulling me farther away on the dance floor. “Sir Tristan can wait.” 354/431

And Sir Tristan did. As I twirled the floor with Edmond, I saw him standing on the side of the dance floor, talking to one noble and then another, but his gaze kept returning to me, impatience darkening his expression.

The song ended and the next started. Still Edmond wouldn’t hear of me leaving his arms. He told me my eyes were like brilliant jewels, my skin shone like sunlight over the snow, and my lips looked as soft as rose petals. He couldn’t have been more romantic, and I just wanted to leave.

I spotted Jane and Hunter standing at the far end of the room, looking out of place among so many guests with fancy clothes. But Hunter held Jane’s hand and she leaned in close, and both seemed oblivious to everything else going on around them.

I noticed the wizard talking to a group of men and saw Scuppers standing by the food table, gnawing on a cooked chicken leg. So much for obeying my orders to stay outside. Still, there was nothing I could do about it even if I had wanted to shoo him away. Besides, when you came right down to it, his table manners weren’t all that much worse than those of other men I’d seen in the Middle Ages.

Prince Edmond talked to me of the kingdom and the crop predictions for the season. He pointed his father out to me, a middle-aged man who, despite the streaks 355/431

of gray hair on his head, seemed to be made mostly of muscle. I wondered what the king did to stay so fit. As Edmond spoke, I nodded, smiled, and answered him halfheartedly.

My WSM and two stepsisters, as per the fairy tale, watched me sullenly from the side of the room, but showed no sign that they recognized me. It wasn’t worth taking the time to gloat. I kept wondering how I was ever going to get away from Edmond long enough to talk to Tristan.

After another song Tristan apparently grew tired of waiting for me, and disappeared from the edge of the dance floor. When I saw him next he moved past me, towing Margaret in his arms. Margaret. He’d probably have been safer if I’d left him outside.

She smiled at him, but even from a distance I could tell it was a condescending smile. Why in the world he kept smiling back at her, I didn’t know.