by Casey Lane
The prince leaned toward him.
Maybe the sloppy drunk is right.
He pushed his drink away. “Okay. Okay, I'll say something to her."
Falstone finished the rest of his drink. “There's a good egg. And after all, choosing a woman is like choosing just one type of ale. At some point you're going to get bored, so you may as well drink as much of that first drink as you can, until the inevitable moment comes.” He took another drink in his hands. “When the next drink is available."
Braedon rubbed at his left temple. “Great advice as always, Falstone."
The old drunk smiled a toothy grin. “I really should charge for it, shouldn't I?” He stared off across the room. “I've changed more people's lives than I can think of."
The prince pushed his drink in front of Falstone. “Indeed you have, my friend. Indeed you have."
The sound of a throat clearing caused the prince to turn around. The Queen's messenger looked as out of place as Falstone would at a fancy tea party.
"I have an important message for you, Your Highness."
Before the prince could say a word, Falstone moved with more agility than Braedon thought possible and snatched the note from the messenger's hand.
Falstone tore off the royal seal. “My good man, I'll be reading this correspondence to the future king. But first, can you tell me if it is good news or bad news? I like to make sure I'm in character."
The messenger shrunk in discomfort. “I'm afraid it's bad news. Very bad."
The prince felt his pulse quicken. “Has there been another attack?” He chewed his cheek. “I knew I shouldn't have come here. I should have been out in the city protecting people–"
"It's your mother.” Falstone fumbled with the paper and handed it to Braedon. “Maybe you should read it after all."
The prince's eyes scanned the message and his shoulders slumped even more. He looked at the messenger. “Where is she?"
"In her chambers. I can take you to her right now."
The prince stepped off his chair and stood up straight. “Okay."
As the two of them made to leave, Falstone called after them. “Braedon!"
Braedon turned back.
"Are you sure you don't want one for the road?"
The prince sighed. “My mother is dying, Falstone. I think I should be sober for this."
Chapter 27
Cinderella let a calm settle over her body and mind as she considered the approaching guards in the cave. She thought back to all the lessons the Godmother had taught her over the last decade. She'd use the wise words of her mentor to take down groups of three, like the men who lingered on the ground, and angry mobs of up to seven in her time. But a dozen was a new story. A dozen in a dimly lit cave might be even more of a challenge.
She let the Godmother's voice play in her head as the world slowed down around her. “It's the vanity of men that makes them weak. They always feel the need to show themselves as stronger than their compatriots. When a fight presents incredible odds, exploiting this weakness is your only path to victory."
Cinderella internalized the wisdom and let her cloak fall to the ground, leaving just her light leather tunic and pants. Her long blonde hair untucked itself and fell down upon her shoulders. The charging group of men stopped in their tracks. The lead guard, who sported one of the most disgusting smiles the thief had ever seen, put his teeth on display.
His yellowed grin contrasted against the glow of the bird. “Hello, pretty thing. Wander in from the whorehouse, did you?"
Cinderella stepped into the middle of the cavern, the area with the most space possible.
Please, please, fight me one at a time.
She raised the pitch of her voice to sound more feminine. “Maybe I did. But it looks like you're not enough of a man to take me on by yourself."
The unpolished smile turned into a growl. He put one arm up and gestured for the other men to back away. “This one thinks she's funny. I think I'm gonna be the one to teach her a lesson."
She crouched down and readied herself, keeping the smile that wanted to form upon her face internal. “I'm ready when you are."
The man with the ugly smile came running, his sword held high. As he came to thrust it down at her, she easily sidestepped his lumbering swing. She kicked him hard in the midsection, and his unpadded tunic wasn't nearly strong enough to withstand the blow. She let her leg fly unencumbered straight into his crotch. The man crumpled to the ground in pain as the thief finished the contest with a leaping punch in the back of his head.
She stood up and tried to look more winded than she actually was. “Who's next?"
Another solo competitor, this one with two daggers instead of a sword, circled around her. He was quicker than his disgusting companion, but he relied too much on his weapons. Two expertly placed kicks to his wrists sent the knives scraping across the ground. When he tried to recover them, Cinderella used his momentum to carry him head-first into the unforgiving wall of the cave.
She heard a squawk from behind her as one of the other guards nearly got a hold of the golden bird. The thief took one of the daggers and intentionally whizzed it by the man's head. As he turned to avoid it, he left himself wide open for a blazingly fast kick to the side. The cracking sound made Cinderella know that she'd broken at least one rib. As she stepped back to the middle of the room, she was down to nine guards remaining, but it appeared as though they had learned their lesson.
Three guards approached, attempting to flank her on either side.
Cinderella thought back to the day the Godmother had given her the lesson on male vanity.
As precocious as she always was, Cinderella had asked more than a few questions.
"And what if they start teaming up anyway?"
The Godmother's neutral face was burned into her memory. “Then you divide and conquer."
The thief faked toward one of the men and sprinted at full speed toward one of the others. She caught him completely off-guard and ducked under a halfhearted swipe of his sword. She tucked her arm under his and tossed him across the room and into his two partners. Under the weight of their friend, they stumbled backward and slammed hard into the remaining men who were there to fight her. She took the momentary respite to gesture at the bird to run in the direction the guards had come from. Somehow, the golden creature took the hint and Cinderella followed.
The thief smiled as she ran. “Time to thin out the herd."
As soon as she felt one of the guards approaching, Cinderella darted right and ran with incredible speed up the side of one of the caves. She just avoided his grasp and performed a sideways flip in the air before scissor-kicking him in the neck. The moment she landed, she continued running. When another guard got close, she split-kicked backward right between the man's eyes without stopping her stride. He grunted as his body slammed to the ground.
Four to go.
Cinderella felt strong. She knew that after all this running and fighting, it should have taken some kind of toll on her body. Instead, she felt ready for anything. As two additional guards approached her from the rear, she lifted her sword sideways and with one fluid motion spun and cracked both of them across the face with it. The two of them were out on their feet as Cinderella took their helmets and bashed them into one another, sending them reeling to the ground.
The thief felt electric as she saw a familiar glimmering light in the direction she was heading. She noticed the bird fly faster, and she did everything she could to catch up. When she finally reached the end of the tunnel, Cinderella's jaw dropped. There, in a cage of bone, was an exact replica of the bird who had led her here. It glimmered in the same gold as the bird that now circled its cage overhead. The two creatures began to chirp at one another.
Cinderella pursed her lips. “If this was all just to get you and your best friend back together, I might be pissed."
Her observation of the friendly bird moment allowed one of the two remaining guards to swing at her. She ducked
the blow by less than an inch and then turned to face one of the largest men she'd ever seen. At least, until his slightly bigger compatriot reached his side.
They were out of breath, but she had a feeling their lungs weren't the reason they'd been recruited. Cinderella snapped her leg toward one of the hulking giants and kicked him in the midsection. The man didn't even stumble. She was so surprised at his lack of backward motion that she wasn't prepared for him to swing his fist and strike her in the side of the jaw. Pain cracked through her face as her head whipped back. She rubbed at the forming bruise as the two guards approached.
One of them spoke with a deep, rumbling voice. “You won't be taking her prize. And you won't be leaving here alive."
The thief tasted blood as she let her tongue play against her teeth. “You may not know this about me, but I'm not so good at following the rules."
She waited until the two guards were in perfect position next to one another before she pretended to swing her sword toward their faces. As they reached for the large hammers they concealed behind their backs, Cinderella made her real move. She sliced her blade downward, targeting the ankles of the ridiculously large guards. She truly appreciated how close the two were standing together when the sword met its targets of one guard's right ankle and the other guard's left. The weapon cut deep enough on both to penetrate armor and skin. The guards' deep screams rumbled through the cave.
One of them dropped his weapon and leaned forward. Cinderella threw three quick body blows followed by an uppercut so powerful, she surprised even herself. The punch hit the beast of a man right under the chin and sent him to the ground. The remaining bleeder swung off-balance with his hammer, which sent him spinning away from her as the weapon hit the ground.
The thief took the opportunity to leap upon his back and lock her hands around his neck in what the Godmother had always called an unbreakable chokehold. The guard swung his body wildly, which only put more pressure on his sliced ankle. He stumbled to the ground chest-first and landed with a stone-cracking fall.
Cinderella tightened her grip as the man attempted to reach backwards, but his muscles were far too big, giving him the flexibility of a rock.
She could feel the man starting to slow down in her grasp. “The bigger they are, the harder and dumber they fall."
The guard's limbs slackened until the man was completely unconscious. She relinquished his grasp and wiped the sweat from his neck off on her tunic. She grinned. “If only the old mare could've seen me in action."
She heard the squawking of two very real birds back at the cage. She stepped toward them. Cinderella was amazed that such a magical creature, which she assumed was completely unique, had its own duplicate right before her.
"You better back up, bird #2. I'm gonna get you out of there. And hope this all wasn't just a waste of my time."
The new bird seemed to have the same level of comprehension as the first, and it politely moved backward away from the side of the cage. With a well-placed blow, Cinderella smashed through the bone cage and provided an opening just large enough for the bird to fly out of. She expected the birds to fly around and chirp like crazy. Instead, they calmly perched atop the cage and embraced each other as if they were hugging.
She rubbed at one of her eyes. “Maybe Braedon is right. Maybe I have gone crazy. Bird crazy. The worst kind."
When the two flying friends had finished their reunion, one of them chirped to get the thief's attention. As it did, it held up one of its feet, and Cinderella noticed for the first time there was some kind of binding around its leg. The other bird displayed its appendage as well, which had the exact same shackle upon it.
Without hearing a single word, Cinderella knew exactly what she had to do. She took out her sword and slowly but surely snipped the bindings on each of the birds. In unison, they let out a gleeful squawk as they fluttered to the ground together. With a noise that was almost musical, the birds began to transform. Cinderella stepped backward as she watched the two shimmering creatures turn into young girls with golden hair and dresses.
Cinderella's mouth gaped open. “By the gods."
One of the girls put her hands together and smiled. “You asked if she was my best friend. Actually, she's my sister."
Chapter 28
Prince Braedon hopped every second step in the castle on the way up to his mother's bedroom. As he ran, his heart clattering around in his chest, he couldn't help but let a thousand thoughts go through his head at once.
She can't be dying. I won't allow it. If she dies….
Braedon tried to shake the fear from his mind. He'd just seen her and she was perfectly fine. If the demon had something to do with this, he would paint the village with blood to find and destroy it.
He continued leaping over steps until he reached the main corridor.
If I become king, there'll be no more bars. No more friendships. Maybe even no more Cinderella.
He fought against the pain that last thought brought him as he sprinted down the hallway and toward his mother's room.
I can't bear to see her dying. After Father, I just–
He yanked the door open with a grunt. He bounded across the room to his mother's bedside. But she wasn't there. The bed looked as if it had been freshly made. His breath left him for a moment as he feared the worst.
"Was I too late?"
The prince looked left and right and tried to collect himself. Braedon ran into the hall and started calling out for a servant. For anybody. Eventually, he heard voices coming from his own room. In his frenzy, he couldn't recognize them. Did they belong to a doctor and a coroner? Were they starting to make funeral arrangements?
The prince felt mad as he ran back down the hallway and into his chambers.
As he attempted to catch his breath in the doorway, the first thing he noticed in the room was his mother. Not only was she standing, but she also appeared to be in perfect health.
Her cheeks glowed with pink. “Ah, there you are my son. So nice of you to be on time for your fitting."
Sure enough, the queen wasn't alone. Standing next to her was a tailor getting ready to take his measurements.
Fear changed to rage within. “I thought you were dying. I thought you were dead."
The queen nodded slightly. “And I'm touched that you didn't stay for three or four more drinks before you returned home, but I'm afraid there was no other way to get you to rush home with the speed you needed unless I lied to you."
The prince punched the wall with such ferocity that he made it all the way through the plaster.
He gripped his hair with both hands. “I can't believe you did that to me.” He tried to burn fire through his eyes toward his mother, but she met him with a smile.
He shook his head. “That's it. I'm not going to the ball. It's official."
As he turned to walk away, he noticed five royal guards standing between him and the exit.
He felt a hand upon his shoulder.
The queen's fingers massaged at the muscle. “I'm sorry, Braedon. But if my impending death was the only way to get you in, then my army has to be the only thing to keep you here."
Braedon wished he could be anywhere but here. The place he most wanted to be, for the first time in a long while, wasn't the bar. He wished he could be trying to land just one more blow on the unsuspecting Cinderella.
He put up his hands. “Fine, I'll stay. But whatever it is that's attacking your soldiers, it isn't human."
He pulled back his sleeve to reveal bloodstained cloth that protected his wound. “Something is out there, Mother.” He gestured to the claw marks. “And I barely escaped it with my life."
She looked up at him, as if trying to determine his level of trustworthiness. “And how do I know you didn't get these marks fighting against a rabid animal while drunk?"
Braedon pounded at the wall again and began to pace the length of the room. “First, you get me here under false pretenses. Then you call me a liar. Why is that fair?"
>
The queen crossed her arms. “For the last year, this was the only night I actually needed you to be a part of. You begged and negotiated away so many of the moments we could've spent together, but this was the day you promised you would be here.” If she felt any contrition for her lie, she certainly wasn't showing it. “This is not the time for stories, Braedon. It's the time to start living the responsibility of a boy who will be a king. It's time to become a man."
Braedon wanted to scream, but instead he sat down on the edge of his mattress. “I'll go to the ball."
The queen smirked. “What was that? I couldn't hear you, it was so quiet and meek."
"I'll go to the damn ball! But I'm not lying about the creature. I think we're all in great danger."
The queen nodded. “Then it's good that we've doubled the guards to keep you from escaping. They'll do the duty of looking out for any figments of your imagination as well."
The prince wanted to send a messenger to Cinderella right then. But he knew the words of a thief, especially one who stole a jewel from the queen's possession, would not do much to improve his chances of proving himself.
"Just make sure everybody is on watch. I'm not interested in letting somebody die just because you don't trust me."
His mother seemed taken aback by his tone. “I'll tell them. Now, why don't you let yourself get measured and get that cut taken care of so it doesn't bleed into your suit?"
The prince nodded. “Yes, Mother."
The queen stepped out of the room, and the five guards she placed to watch him took her place.
Braedon walked up to the tailor and held his arms out, feeling very much like he had no control whatsoever.
He looked out the window in the direction of the village. “Be careful out there, Elle."
Chapter 29
Cinderella marveled at the young identical girls standing in front of her. They sparkled with gold, as they did in their bird form. She had no earthly idea what to say.
