Ashes to Ashes

by M. J. Padgett

I decided to just dive in and see where it left him. If he already knew what we were, perhaps it wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of his imagination to believe where we came from.

  “We are the children of Aline, Cinderella’s step-sister, and the rightful heirs to the throne in... what’s that place again?”

  “Goldene Stadt,” Heidi offered.

  “Yes, Goldene Stadt. We must return to, um... to help our people overthrow Cinderella, break our curse and... oh, screw it. Brian, I don’t know what to tell you, either get on-board or out. We’ll just have to figure it out as we go.”

  “Get on board? Sierra, you realize what you’re saying is insane, right?” Brian asked, inching closer to my sister.

  “More insane than humans turning into wolves?” Brody asked. “Because I promise, if you don’t wrap your head around this and fast, you’ll be sorry.”

  “You say that like it’s an easy thing to believe. This is certifiably insane,” Brian argued.

  “Hey, I get it,” Brody said, leaning forward on the sofa. “I went to my best friend’s house one night to confess my feelings for her, and I saw a bunch of wolves in her backyard. I should mention, they all wanted to rip me apart, so trust me when I say I get it. But the stakes are high here, and if you don’t just dive in head first, you’ll get left behind. I don’t think that’s what you want, is it?”

  Brian looked at Cecily whose eyes begged him not to leave her, though her words said something else altogether. “I won’t ask you to do this, Brian. You have dreams, and I’m not—”

  “Look, I love you, but this is crazy. When you’ve all decided to end this ridiculous prank, call me. Until then, I’ve got studying to do.” With that, he rose from his place beside Cecily and headed toward the door.

  “Brian?” Cecily began to cry again.

  I was surprised by his reaction, not to our revelation, but surprised by the way he handled Cecily’s pain. He’d been a wonderful boyfriend to her, and now that I knew that he knew of her condition and loved her despite it, it made no sense for him to be so harsh.

  He sighed. “I’m sorry, this is just getting too much, Cec. I love you, but this...” He motioned around the room at all the people he’d never met before. “This is just too much. I can’t do this. I just can’t.”

  And that was that. Brian destroyed my sister’s heart in front of everyone in the room. She’d given him a choice, and he chose to leave. I couldn’t exactly be angry with him for wanting something different, but I was mad that he didn’t give her the respect of a private break-up, a conversation to end their long-term relationship in a somewhat mutual fashion. I, however, was not the only person in the room annoyed by his actions.

  “What kind of man are you?” Felix asked Brian

  “Excuse me?” Brian stopped a few feet short of the door, sizing up the Royal Guardsman. I had no doubt Felix could easily make mincemeat of Brian.

  “Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough in my question, so I’ll say this instead. You’re a terrible man and an even worse friend.”

  “I’m... I was her boyfriend, I’ll have you know. I care about her very much, but this is crazy. I’m applying for med school in six months. I can’t deal with this kind of drama.” The way he said it proved he didn’t believe a word of what I’d said.

  “I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. I don’t know what a boyfriend is. Regardless, I can see you are certainly a boy. Clearly, you are no man, and you must take friendship very lightly all things considered.”

  “Felix, let him leave,” Heidi argued. She was tense, and when a witch is tense one can only assume bad things could happen.

  “I think—” I began, but Felix wasn’t finished.

  “He claims to be her friend, yet he’s making her cry like a newborn baby,” he argued with Heidi.

  Cecily sobbed uncontrollably, so I went to her and prayed I didn’t light my sister on fire when I took her in my arms. She fell into me, her cries ripping my heart apart. It was exactly what I didn’t want to see happen—my sister in pain.

  “I am her friend! I was more than that! I was a faithful boyfriend for a long time. What are you to her?”

  “I’m a lieutenant in The Salien Royal Guard, personally responsible for the safety and well-being of Miss Monroe. What are you to her?”

  “For the third time, I was Cecily’s boyfriend. Now, I’m... well, I’m...”

  “Exactly, you’re nothing, which makes me outrank you by leaps and bounds.” Felix’s face contorted further, showing increased frustration. “You’re nothing more than a common scoundrel with ill fantasies of this woman. An honorable man would never treat his beloved in such a way.”

  “Felix.” Heidi took him by the arm and pulled him away before it became physical between the two men.

  Cecily trembled in my arms, and her continued crying pushed that big sister button that had been danced on all day. I released her from my grip and stood.

  “Felix, stand down. Brian, get out of my house.”

  “Sierra, please,” Brian begged.

  “Brian, I liked you, and while I don’t necessarily dislike you now, you are not my favorite person. Please go. We have things to do, and if you’re not staying by my sister’s side, then I need you to leave so we can get on with our business.”

  Ely opened the door with a smirk on his face. Brian lumbered out, defeated. Ely slammed the door behind him, and I couldn’t help but feel like it was slamming on my life, dividing the before and after with a definitive bang. Felix, Brody, and Heidi relaxed and began speaking amongst themselves, which sounded a lot like Heidi and Brody scolding Felix.

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll call Calla, and we’ll make arrangements to travel to Schwarzwald as early as tomorrow,” Ely said, and I didn’t argue.

  He started to leave the room, I assumed to change, though I wasn’t sure where he thought he’d find clothing that would fit him in my bedroom. As I watched him go, a thought entered my head. Cecily and I had been named by someone we barely knew before she gave us up for adoption. I doubted our names had been the same over the centuries, and I wondered what my name really was, the first one. What on earth had my official, royal name been? Who did Ely know before? Now is not the time, Sierra.

  “Not the time for what?” Ely asked, pausing midway down the hall.

  He was right. I needed to find a way to control speaking my thoughts aloud.

  “What’s my real name?” I asked, and Cecily lit up. She wanted to know, too, and if it made her happy in her moment of sadness, then I would insist he tell us.

  Ely’s grin widened. “It’s quite long, can you manage?”

  “I think I can manage to remember my own name, thank you very much.”

  “You had trouble with mine, Sierra, I’m not so sure you’ll—”

  “It’s a name, for goodness’ sake. Just tell me!” I shouted at him, knowing full well he was only trying to pick at me.

  “Cecily, your name is Princess Corinna Viktoria Vogel of Goldene Stadt.”

  He told her first just to annoy me, making me wonder if that was how our relationship was before, from the time he remembered. Her eyes widened, and she looked at the others.

  “I can’t believe I’m a princess,” she said.

  “You can’t believe you’re a princess? You turn into a wolf, and this you have trouble with?” Brody teased.

  “Okay now me. Come on, Ely!” I fussed.

  “Chill out, Sierra. Your name is... oh, look at that, I’m totally naked except for this blanket. Better go find something to wear!”

  He disappeared down the hall, but I wasn’t letting him get away that easily. I chased him down until we ended up in my bedroom, which was his dastardly plan all along.

  “Now, I’ve got you all to myself again,” he said, slamming the door behind us.

  “Oh, no. No more kissing until you put some clothes on and tell me what my name was!” I fussed.

  “I don’t have clothes. Well, I do, but they’re in
the car. Would you settle for your name and a promise to send Brody for my clothing?” he asked.

  “Fine, out with it.” I sighed, feigning annoyance, but it was difficult since I found I did want to kiss him again.

  “Her Serene Highness, Crown Princess Saskia Oksana Vogel of Goldene Stadt.”

  “It’s barely longer than Cecily’s. Why were you teasing me, that wasn’t nice Ely,” I fussed.

  “I’m not done. You were betrothed, soon to be married, and once you were you’d have been crowned queen,” he said.

  “I see, and what was my title to be after we married?”

  Sadness came over his face, his eyes darkened and fell to stare at the tan carpet.

  “It wasn’t me you were to marry, Sierra.”

  “But you said... I thought you said we were married in secret? I just assumed.”

  “I said we were in love, I never said you were betrothed to me or that it would last.”

  “I don’t understand. You said we got married in secret and... oh... oh, Ely...” My voice was barely a whisper. I suddenly understood why he felt the need to stake his claim early on, having no desire to lose me to another person if we were to succeed in ridding my village of Cinderella’s rule.

  “It’s okay, Sierra. We... we were—,” he cut himself short, hesitating for my benefit.

  “Go on. I want to know. I need to know.”

  “We did marry in secret with the hope your father might one day accept our love, but things happened that tore us apart before we could see him. We’ll worry about that later. Besides, when you remember everything, you may not even want anything to do with me anymore, so let’s take this one step at a time,” he said, sitting on the edge of my bed.

  Someone knocked on the door, but before I could answer it cracked open and clothing came flying in, then it slammed shut again.

  “Thanks, Brody!” Ely shouted at the closed door.

  “How did he know to get your clothes? Never mind, I get the feeling you do this often,” I said, chuckling.

  “Maybe,” he teased, then said, “Unless you want to see me naked again, I suggest you turn around.”

  I did as instructed and took the opportunity to question him further.

  “You said I was supposed to marry someone else but did I? I mean, if we got married in secret, what happened later?”

  “I’m sorry,” he grumbled. “I don’t know what happened after my curse started. I have no idea where he is or what happened. All I know is I love you, and I’ll do everything I can to prove it to you.”

  I sensed the fear in his voice, but I didn’t want him to worry so much.

  “Ely, I don’t know what to think or say right now. I can hardly believe I’ve lived other lives, so wrapping my head around being married before is well beyond my ability right now. But I will tell you this, I am my own person, and I won’t marry anyone simply because it’s expected. If I ever marry or remarry I guess, it will be for love, and that is all. If I loved you, then... then maybe I will again? I can’t say for sure, but I guess I just wanted you to know that.”

  “You say that now, but you haven’t met the guy you were supposed to marry. Seriously, he makes me feel like a hideous monster,” he joked, but I heard the honesty hidden beneath.

  “You’re not so bad,” I teased. “I mean, if you were, I probably wouldn’t keep kissing you.”

  “Is that so? I’m dressed, by the way. You can turn around.”

  I turned around and reached for him. It was a crazy connection, the most outlandish of situations to find myself in, yet I couldn’t deny that there was something between us. Yesterday I thought he was a crazy person, but now... well, I still believed he was crazy, but it was growing on me.

  His eyes darted up just in time to see the smile on my face, seconds before I was melting again. The warmth invaded my senses, and the euphoria fell over me once more. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like in my former life, feeling this much with him yet betrothed to another person. I would have kept kissing him, lost in the moment forever, if it hadn’t been for Cinderella and her stupid curse.

  He leaped away from me, flapping his arms. Tiny embers smoldered on his shirt, burning small holes through it. It was enough for us to know we were pushing our luck if we kept kissing.

  “Maybe we keep with the original plan to shelf this thing we have, at least until we figure out how to stop lighting me on fire?”

  “Agreed, besides, I think we could use something to eat and—”

  “Uh, Sierra, I think you better get in here!” Cecily shouted, and another ruckus erupted in my living room. Wonderful, just wonderful.

  Chapter Five

  “Um...”

  “I see where you get it from now. This is the best friend I take it?” Ely asked as he stared at Jack, who could only utter the same single-syllable word I had.

  “One of them, yes,” I replied.

  What was once a stressful situation all around quickly became so much more. I never wanted anyone to know about our condition, curse as it were, but it seemed everyone in the world discover the truth before we escaped to Schwarzwald. My best friend stared at me, confusion clouding his eyes. Heidi and Brody stood in the middle of the room, Felix between them and Jack as if prepared to defend them against the greatest evil that ever lived.

  “Jack, why don’t you have a seat in the kitchen. I’ll be right there,” I said as calmly as I could.

  Jack stumbled over his own shoelaces but managed to make it into the kitchen without falling on his face. He was in a daze, or perhaps dumbfounded. Either way, he’d seen something that shocked him into silence—a feat to accomplish when it came to Jack. Ely watched him go. I didn’t care much for the look on Ely’s face, something like fear or regret.

  “What did he see?” I asked.

  “Not much, just this one showing me what she can do,” Cecily said, pointing to Heidi. “But I’m pretty sure Jack isn’t used to seeing things levitate.”

  She said the words with a little chuckle. I was glad to see she was in a better mood, but I had a good idea she was swallowing her feelings for another day, probably the worst possible day to have them erupt in a volcanic eruption of emotional overload. That’s just how Cecily worked, hide everything, then blow up.

  “Of course, he saw magic. Wonderful. It’s like a terrible déjà vu, just like when we found Calla,” Ely said, then hurriedly added, “We need to leave town before anyone else finds out what’s going on here. Tell doofus in there to wipe that weird look off his face and pack a bag. He’s going with us.”

  “I can’t physically force Jack to go on a crazy... mission... whatever this is with us,” I said, stealing a glance at him sitting at the table, his mouth still hanging open. “Maybe we can make something up?”

  “Like what?” Cecily asked. “She almost hit him smack in the face with that vase.”

  I glanced at the floor to find my favorite, and only, crystal flower vase in shards on the floor. Heidi looked mighty guilty with her sheepish smile and a little shrug.

  “Sorry, I can replace it with any number of antique vases your heart desires.”

  I was about to tell her it wouldn’t be necessary, but Cecily interrupted with a not-so-brilliant idea. All things considered, the idea itself wasn’t all that bad, but the delivery was the issue.

  “Oh!” Cecily said. “I know! She’s a magician! That could work, right?”

  She was so proud of herself for coming up with the idea, but we’d all forgotten one key piece of information. Jack was in shock, but he was not deaf. He stood from the kitchen chair and slowly walked back into the living area.

  “Ok,” he said slowly. “So, that was new.” He dropped his hands to his sides and stared blankly at all the new faces in the room, each staring back at him with anticipation. “Maybe we should start with introductions before we discuss the... flying objects? I’m Jack, and you all are?”

  He spoke directly to Cecily, likely because looking at the others w
as beyond intimidating with Felix still standing guard.

  Cecily rolled her eyes, taking everything a little too well. “Jack, you know who—”

  “Not you, silly. I meant these one, two, three... four new faces. Who the heck are you?” Jack asked, pointing directly to Heidi after scanning the room.

  She blushed, and her husband laughed. There were a lot of things I still didn’t understand, and there was so much information yet to be gained. I hardly knew them, but I didn’t fear they would harm Jack in any way, so I let him carry on his interrogation.

  “Well, I suppose the truth is always the best option.” Heidi pushed Felix aside and offered Jack her hand. “I’m Heidi Morrison, better known in history as Heidi Grimm.”

  “Better known, ha! That’s funny. What you mean to say is your brothers are better known, and you, well, you’re just you,” Ely teased.

  I noticed how different he was with me than he was with them. Sure, he played the part of the bantering, pseudo-bad boy but his soft, gooey center showed when he was with me. With them, he was either all business or all banter.

  “Shut it, Ely, or I’ll levitate you right out the front door!” she countered. Brody squeezed her shoulder, a little reminder there was one person in the room who still had no idea what was going on.

  I sighed and sat in the middle of the floor. All eyes were suddenly on me, wondering what I was doing. I came up with a fantastic plan, not unlike Heidi’s—the truth, all of it. I patted the open spot across from me.

  “Jack, have a seat, and I’ll tell you everything.”

  He sat on the floor facing me, and we blocked out the rest of the people in the room. That’s how Jack and I communicated best. Once we were face-to-face on the floor, the rest of the world drifted away, and we were free to share our deepest secrets, greatest fears, anything, and everything. It was our comfortable bubble.

  “This is a lot to take in,” I began, “but... I guess I’ll start by saying I’m different. Cecily and me, we can change into something other than human. For a long time, we sort of believed it was a genetic mutation, but now we know it’s something more.” Jack nodded his understanding, so I went on. “A little quirky DNA can explain a lot, but it doesn’t exactly make this next part make any sense, so I’m just gonna say it. We are the children of Prince Charming and Aline, Cinderella’s step-sister. She cursed us and took over our village, and now she’s probably on her way here to try to kill us.”