The Wronged Princess - Book I (35 page)

"
Cease your prattling,
dear
child
. 
It is not as dire as all that
. 
Worry naught
. 
I shall handle matters from here
. 
Do you think you can manage your way back?"
Cinderella did not think so, but she could not seem to form a coherent sentence to convey the information
. 

“
Run along, dear.
”

“But, I need to tell Essie
. 
He…she…they…” Cinderella flung out her hand unable to put sound to the word ‘betrothed.’

“
Let us
not mention this little incident further, hmm?”

"
But—“
she choked at Fairy Godmother’s stern gaze
. 
“
No…no, of course not
.
"
S
he stammered
while
heat burned her face
. 
She swung on her heel
. 
Then stopped, and asked over her shoulder, "Prince? Arnald?"

"Not to worry, child
. 
These spells never last long
. 
You handled things magnificently, if I must say."

Pressing her luck was not an option
. 
She ran for the cover of darkness—never mind the
lack of
ladylike
etiquette
, or the fact that she had no inclination, whatsoever, on how to find her way back
. 
Or the many questions she’d had for her elusive Fairy Godmother, once she’d set eyes on her again
. 

Perhaps another time
, she promised herself
. 
And
fled for safety.

Chapter
30

Something very strange was going on, Hilda decided
. 
She could not quite put her finger on
the what
, but
’t
was there all the same
. 
Her first inklings were prior to the picnic
. 
She trailed the three girls to the parlor, studying Pricilla in particular
. 
She was quite pleased with
her
soft rose gown
. 
The maid had dressed her hair in fabulously high curls leaving wispy tendrils to frame her face
. 
Hilda had to restrain from clapping her hands in glee
. 

Alessandro
de
Lecce would be fighting for her favors this evening, and Hilda looked forward to guiding his efforts
. 
With Esmeralda all but married off,
’t
was downright miraculous this opportunity for Pricilla had
been
afforded
. 
And she had every intention of grappling the advantage
. 
A mother had a duty to her children's future, after all
. 
Not to mention the side effect of securing her own
. 

She pondered Cinderella
through narrowed eyes
. 
That child
remained every bit the nuisance
she had
since the day
Hilda had been forced to marry
Charles
. 
Somehow
, the chit had manipulated her way into the queen's generous affections
, no matter how erroneous
. 
Short of death, there did not seem much
Hilda
could do
to alter the situation
.

Hmm, death
. 
Alas,
’t
was a dilemma
. 
But
if Cinderella should somehow manage to get herself locked up somewhere with no one the wiser…well, that would be most convenient, would it not?

Hilda ushered her daughters through the door snagging Cinderella's arm before she could slip by
. 
One small squeeze served to remind
the child
of her
precarious
position. After all,
she did
seem to have difficulty remembering her place in the family hierarchy
. 
The fear in Cinderella’s eyes assured her point had been well and truly received.

The opportunity to back her threat with words was circumvented by Queen Thomasine’s pointed address, unfortunately.

“Hilda, my dear, would you care for sherry or claret this evening?” Queen Thomasine
’s tone was mild, her gaze innocent
.

Slowly, she released her grip, and cleared her throat.
“Claret would make a divine diversion, your highness.”
Hilda
nudged Cinderella’s precedence into the drawing room
. 
Cinderella
might
have mad
e her escape now
but the night was young
. 
Other o
pportunities
were sure to emerge
. 

Her eyes followed Cinderella
’s gait
to the settee before the windows where she lowered herself with an anomalous air
. 
The frock she wore in a misty moss was downright infuriating
. 
Hilda was not fooled in the least
. 
The soft green should have made her appear washed out, but somehow managed the reverse
. 
The soft tone enhanced her olive complexion
,
upstaging Esmeralda’s pale skin and flickering eyes
. 

If they were not more cautious, Prince might see fit to retract his promised betrothal
. 
Non
, he would dare no such a thing
. 
The scandal would make him a laughingstock
. 
He would lose all respect
. 
Regardless, Hilda
refused to
chance that happening
. 
She trusted no one.

“
Merci
,” Hilda said, accepting
the
claret
from the servant’s tray
. 
Her eyes narrowed on Alessandro’s understated maneuvering toward
her errant stepchild
. 
He lowered himself next to her—shamefully close
. 
Why, the little vagrant was out to
cull
Pricilla's prize. Heated rage roiled through her.

Her
heart stepped into an erratic rhythm that had her wanting to clutch her chest, breaths coming short and rapid
. 
She made a concerted effort to calm her agitated facilities
. 
Enough was enough
. 
She vowed
adamantly to achieve
that
one-on-one tête-à-tête this very eve.

Hilda sauntered her way closer to the settee
. 
The noble
Conte de Lecce's son stood quickly to offer her his place, heels clicking with his formal bow
. 
"Ah,
merci
, young man.
”
With a pat of her hand, Hilda gave Cinderella a bright smile
. 
Hilda’s pleasure
grew
tenfold at Cinderella’s
undisguised
blanch
. 
"Cinderella, my dear, you look absolutely
stunning
," she said
. 

Cinderella dropped her eyes to her lap with a soft, almost indistinguishable reply
. 
"
Merci
,
Stepmamá
."

"Your daughter, she is lovely, no,
Signora
?" Alessandro smiled.

"
Oui
, your compliments are well received, sir.
”
The erratic tempo soared once more through Hilda, leaving her
almost
faint.

Hilda glanced up
quickly
and caught a silent communiqué between Pricilla and Esmeralda
. 
Mayhap she would have a word with Pricilla as well.
As the favorite of her two girls, Pricilla
could always be depended upon to further the family's edict
. 
I
t would have to wait
, however
. 
The risk was too great to permit Cinderella’s attendance with Alessandro
de Lecce
so close
at
hand with his unpredictable infatuation.

Chapter
31

Cinderella tried her best
. 
Honest, she did
. 
She sa
nk deeper in the coverlets pulled to her chin
. 
It did little to dispel the chill in her grand chamber
, t
hough she was so tired
. 
S
leep
felt
hours away
.

’
Twas
a miracle she’d
managed
through supper
. 
The little bites of food she'd
barely wielded
on her fork somehow made it past her lips
. 
But the fear of choking, or worse, was too great to struggle much more than one or two attempts at best
. 
Even though she hadn't really seen her, she knew
Stepmamá
had kept a very close eye on her
. 
Suddenly, she'd wanted nothing more than to be ensconced in her own little corner, in her own little chair back in the cottage where her imagination let her be whatever she wanted to be
. 
Invisible,
and at times,
obscure.

Enduring the painful supper had seemed infinitely preferable than what waited her beyond
. 
Stepmamá
had plans, of that she was certain
. 
She could not have
administered
even one
more
swallow had
Stepmamá
been seated within her sights.

And
when Pricilla leaned over
, she thought she would die
. 
“What did you do with the magic stick?”
Pricilla
demanded
.

A nervous start jerked Cinderella
. 
She caught Essie’s frown from across the massive table
. 
It was obvious
Essie
could not comprehend their low tones.

“Well?” Pricilla whispered.

“I-it
broke,” Cinderella whispered back
, stuttering
.

“Broke!”
Pricilla’s high pitched muffled squeal had Cinderella wincing and s
everal heads
shifting
in their direction
. 
The one bright spot were the flags of red spotting
Pricilla’s cheeks.

Cinderella’s burned too
. 
Pricilla
shoveled
a mouthful of food to hide her embarrassment, while Cinderella knew trying to eat would only draw more attention
once
she started to asphyxiate
. 
She settled for a sip of water
instead
.

Pricilla lifted
a
glass to her lips to hide her mouth
. 
“You
knew
I did not want to
return that stick
, yet.”

Stubborn resolve set Cinderella’s jaw
. 
“
There was no choice
. 
It wasn’t ours
,” she
snapped behind her own glass.

“How did
you
know who it belonged to?
”

Cinderella had no answer for that, but found herself saved by Essie.”

“Pssst.”

Cinderella’s
head came up quickly
. 
Essie cocked her head indicating the end of the table.