by Sky Sommers
‘Can she keep a secret, though?’ Belle asked.
‘If her being royal and having the life of her dreams and a happy marriage depended on it, then yes, I’m pretty sure Ella can keep a secret,’ I say praying this is true.
Belle nods and sighs, ‘He has to chase her, you see. Otherwise, the Beast in him will never be conquered. Trust me, I would know.’
I nod, ‘Ever considered having Beast enjoy catching you once in a while?’ I suggest as she gapes. ‘It’s not too late to…’ I cradle an imaginary baby in my arms. Well, what’s a few liberties between future in-laws…
‘Pff, and have my grandchild have an uncle who is younger than him? No, thanks.’ She rolls her eyes and rises. ‘So, we are in agreement then, Grace?’
‘Yes, Your Majesty, we have an accord,’ I say and thank the heavens that Ella’s future mother-in-law is now also in on it. The only one who remains clueless is the prince and hopefully, that will forever remain so.
Ella
Still, June 12th
Queen Belle knows.
Too many people do. Grace, the king, Mellie, now the queen. With me, that makes five people.
The queen showed up in our kitchen and enhanced Grace’s original plan. I have to hand it to my future mother-in-law, she is inventive. To avoid a long courtship, Belle added a few things to grab not just Nick’s, but everyone’s attention. I’m going to be the most sought-after lady in the whole kingdom. She said we would have to orchestrate it so that I would be a mystery princess, someone Nick hasn’t seen before and someone he would long for and chase. Belle plans for Nick to search for me for three days and marry me within a week after he ‘rescues me from Grace’s clutches’.
Oh my goodness…
They both kept telling me Nick needs the chase and ‘rescuing me’ will solidify his affections. But I will still be lying to him, won’t I? Just like Mellie lied to me and John did, too. To get what they wanted. I will be lying to get what I want - my happily ever after.
I just don’t know.
I’m not sure I can do that to Grace either. Even though she was all for it.
If it all works, everyone will hate her for a while. I will need to rectify that later. I don’t know how, but I will simply have to.
Maybe it’s a good thing after all that one of my step-parents and ALL my future in-laws are in on the plan. And if I tell Nick, he will be as well. So, when sometime in the future, after having a little bit too much wine at a family dinner someone will let things slip, we can all have a laugh about how Nick wooed me.
Chapter 29. The Cavalry
Grace
As it happens, I was wrong about the attitude.
‘This is your cavalry?’ Ella asks, looking a thirty-something blond hunk and a sultry goth goddess up and down.
‘These are your miracle workers? Your hair and make-up guy is not even fru-fru!’
The man in a white tee and blue jeans raises an eyebrow.
‘And if I’m going to be styled by her, then no thanks!’ Ella points at the entire length of the woman in goth attire with purple streaks in her hair.
The woman wiggles her pointy purple nails and tap-taps one of her knee-high laced boots.
‘I can hardly dare believe she is an elocution teacher,’ Ella spat. ‘Or if, then she’s a very mute one.’
I see a dangerous glint in Loretta’s eyes.
Trying to prevent the famous pixie vindictiveness (pixus vendetta) - as if that can be helped - I try to save the unsaveable. ‘Erm, Ella, this is exactly the kind of behaviour and comments we are going to be downscaling and these are your best teachers, believe me.’
‘Who are they anyway? Where is Madame Pompadour, the kingdom’s foremost coquette? I bet she could teach me what I need to know.’
Oh, darling, considering her history with the prince, I doubt it.
‘You did want a new godmother, didn’t you?’ Loretta asks tartly.
‘Meet mine,’ I tell Ella.
‘Really? If yours is the kind of happily ever afters she dispenses, I am doomed! Oh, gods, I don’t want to end up slaving away in your kitchen!’ Ella wails at me.
‘You’ll definitely feel closer to god once I’m done with my mothering, you spoilt brat,’ I hear Loretta mutter.
‘They are nobodies!’ Ella hisses.
Loretta giggles and casts a glance at the blond gentleman with a sword hilt only Loretta and I can see peeking out from between his shoulder blades.
‘What use can YOUR godmother and some random dude be to me?’ Ella clenches her fists, trying to stop the tears.
I turn to the ‘random dude’. ‘Care to do the introductions, Gabriel?’
The man nods. With one shrug his comfy attire morphs into battle armour. In complete silence he unfolds iridescent wings that somehow seem to obliterate the sun.
Ella ‘oi’-s and slides downward. She would have sat onto a bush of strawberries, if I hadn’t propped her up.
‘Are you sure you’re not related?’ the angel asks me. ‘I mean the knee-buckling...’
‘I’m positive,’ I say. ‘Your wings always have that knee-buckling effect on human and not so human females or haven’t you noticed?’ I retort, propping Ella up on the parapet.
Ella stares at Gabriel. ‘You’re a…It’s a... He’s an...’
‘An angel, yes,’ I say.
‘A guardian angel. Gabriel. At your service,’ the man bows, retracting his wings. ‘Although, I don’t think we registered a plea for help from you,’ he tells Ella.
‘A plea? What plea?’ Ella asks.
‘You’ve assigned Grace to help Ella, remember?’ Loretta says. ‘Plea or no plea, Ella is a charge and always has been. Besides, I’ve already agreed to extra godmothering.’ Loretta winks at me.
‘While we are doing the introductions, Loretta, at ease,’ I say.
The pixie downsizes to her normal tiny self and sprouts purple wings, while one of her green eyes turns purple. She flutters to my shoulder and sighs, ‘Ahhh, much better.’
‘You’re a...’ Ella’s mouth hangs open.
‘Fairy godmother, stress on the fairy,’ Loretta says. ‘If I produce a cane out of thin air and promise to whip you until you can’t sit down so you’ll have to stand up straight, will you believe I’m your etiquette and elocution teacher?’ she asks, smiling beatifically.
Loretta never smiles.
Ever.
I knew I was right to trust her with Ella’s apparel. They’ll get along splendidly.
‘Loretta, stop fibbing, you’re not a fairy, you’re a pixie.’
‘Yes, and you’ll be wise to remember that, girly. Because pixies are sharp-tongued, spiteful and very very vindictive,’ Loretta says and pinches Ella who winces.
‘You see, sometimes things are not exactly how they seem and sometimes they are exactly how they seem,’ I say to Ella.
‘Sometimes humans pretend to be fairy godmothers and other times real fairies pretend to be human,’ Loretta adds.
‘And sometimes not all stepmothers are evil,’ Gabriel adds as Ella hunhs.
* * *
The night before the second ball we have a breakthrough.
‘I don’t want you to muck this up. It would be so much better if I could go, but only eligible maidens are invited. If only I had…’ a walkie-talkie, a mobile phone, a spy-thing, ‘a magic mirror or something as a way to keep in touch with you during the ball to chaperon and guide you…’ I say.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be alright,’ Ella says.
‘How will you be alright?’ I ask, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing half of the time. How will you know how to do things right this time?’
Ella says, ‘I… I …. Nevermind. I can just pretend I’m talking to you in my head.’
I look straight at her.
She doesn’t even blink.
Out loud I ask, ‘How would you know what I’m thinking or what I would do?’
Ella mumbles, ‘More than you know.’
That’s the closest thing she has come to confessing.
Her eyes widen.
I smile at her reaction.
Ella looks down. Trying to look like she’s all sweet and innocent.
She is neither sweet nor innocent.
‘Hey, that was uncalled for!’ she says and I smile again.
‘Gotcha, though. So…you can read minds,’ I say and shrug. So can Gabriel. It gets old after awhile.
Luckily, the Beast’s lineage is already kooky, so if your kid develops any special powers, they’ll just attribute it to mutation.
Ella looks startled.
‘Since when have you been able to read my mind?’
‘Since that awful day you were so upset you were nastier than usual to me, yelled at Henry so much so that I had to take him away,’ Ella mumbles.
I remember that day. Not one of my finest moments.
I sigh, ‘Not an excuse, an explanation. I wasn’t upset at Henry. I was upset at all of you for not helping and not being there on time and having to do everything myself.
‘You didn’t need to take it out on us, you know,’ she says.
‘I know. I’m sorry. Thank you for taking Henry away from me that day.’
Ella nods.
After a moment of silence, I can’t help it, ‘What’s your range?’
Ella blinks, ‘I usually have to be near the person. You? At the masque, in the ballroom…I could hear you all the way from the palace kitchens.’
A few hundred yards maybe?
The palace is two miles away.
‘If I could hear you from the palace kitchens two weeks ago, maybe my range has improved since then?’
‘Do you think you could hear me from the palace?’ I ask.
Ella shrugs, ‘There is only one way to find out. We’ll have to test it.’
Great, one more thing on my to do list. But it would be neat, if you could hear me all the way from the palace.
‘We’ll figure it out,’ Ella says.
I brighten, ‘Now that you’ve fessed up, it’ll be much easier.’
For me to help you.
Ella
Thursday, June 13th
I think I have a personal Fairy Godmother. Stress on the fairy.
Her name is Loretta and she’s actually a pixie. Apparently, they are sharp-tongued, spiteful and very very vindictive. As tough as nails. Or so she would like everyone to believe...
When Grace told me that I needed to change my appearance, I thought she was going to take me to a nice salon to get my hair, make-up and nails done. That kind of thing. Instead, she dragged me to our roof-top where a strange man and a youngish woman were waiting. They looked more like warriors than beauticians.
Well, the guy was kinda hot, but way too old, like thirty.
The girl was not much older than me. She had weird purple streaks in her soot-black hair, pointy purple nails, strange knee-high laced boots. At first glance, I did not peg Loretta for a paragon of beauty with fine taste. I mean, she looked like a far cry from someone who knew how nobility dresses. I thought Grace was joking. THESE people were going to help me prepare for the ball?!? If that girl remade me in her image, I was doomed!
There were no mirrors, no hair brushes, no make-up kits, no nothing. I was so disappointed, I think I hissed at Grace.
Next thing I know the dude is encased in armour and has sprouted wings!
WINGS!!!
My knees buckled and I might have sat down onto Grace’s patch of strawberries, if Grace hadn’t yanked me up, the pain shackling me firmly to reality.
The man was an angel.
Gabriel.
Who bowed and said he was at my service.
I knew I had prayed for our endeavour to succeed, but I didn’t think the gods would send an angel… I have no idea why I would need one…
The peculiar woman downsized to a tiny fairy with purple wings. Even one of her green eyes turned purple.
When Grace thought she trusted this woman’s judgment in apparel, I thought I would faint!
I will never ever ever judge anyone based on appearances alone. Loretta is comfortable wearing…whatever she is wearing, which, apparently is called Gothic chic or Steampunk or whatever. When I asked about a dress to wear for the ball, the pixie took out her wand, whipped up an amazing light blue ballgown and asked if that would do. I was sad when the design disappeared into thin air afterwards, but she promised she would get me something even better, now that she knew what kind of dress I wanted. I have my suspicions that underneath her prickly exterior she is just a sweetheart. Otherwise, why would she ever volunteer to be a Fairy Godmother?
Sometimes things are not how they seem. Sometimes humans pretend to be fairy godmothers - like Mellie. It’s easy for real fairies to pretend to be human. If a fairy hadn’t pretended to be a beggar, the Beast wouldn’t have had that awful curse cast on him that Belle had to save him from.
Ok, since we are dealing with magical beings, maybe the ‘make-over’ they keep referring to will also be magical…maybe even temporary? After all, Nick did like my honey-caramel hair…
Friday, June 14th
Wow! I definitely look different.
Good different, actually. Nick DEFINITELY won’t be able to recognise me without the mask. First off, I’m a brunette, which made me cry at first. It took me years and years of bleaching and perfecting the blond hue to be the perfect caramel-honey blond. Similar, yet different from the other girls at school. And they went and dyed it caramel brown, back to my original colour!
At least they didn’t hack it off! They did do something to it, though. Now it curls in waves, which looks good. The effect is shorter hair, although they kept the length.
The dress…is AMAZING! Out of this world!!! Which is where Loretta got it from, apparently. The gown, like the shoes are on loan, she’ll have to take them back. Such a shame.
The shoes are gorgeous! And magical. Once I wear them, they’ll recognise me as their new owner and will fit only me. No one else. And that’s not all they do. They are like seven-league boots, able to transport the one who wears them to wherever they want.
The trick will be to shake one of the shoes loose after telling them to take me home…
Grace KNOWS I can read minds! I think she’s known for a while. I thought it would be more of a shock, but it wasn’t. I was almost relieved that she knows.
Stepmother was worried I might botch things up. She kept wishing she had a magic mirror or some other thing so she could see the ball. I remembered that I did hear her when she was broadcasting loud and clear from the palace kitchens at the masque, but I don’t know if my range has improved or not.
I didn’t want to tell her about my powers, so I told her I would do all as instructed and when in doubt I could just pretend I was talking to her in my head.
You know what she thought next? That I would be able to pick things out of her head. As if she KNEW…
THEN she thought that this was the closest I have come to confessing… and tricked me into admitting it!
Grace KNEW! She didn’t know that it had been since the day when she had almost lost it with Henry. She actually thanked me for taking him away from her!
Grace said it would be neat, if I could hear her all the way from the palace.
We are going to test out the range AND how far the shoes will carry me. Tonight. No rest for the wicked…
Chapter 30. The Ball, Take Two
Grace
I wish I was a fly on the wall.
Oh, wait.
I kind of am. We have a visual. It’s a good thing that Loretta lent me military-grade binoculars. My other option would have been to buy a sniper’s rifle from the Warriors and I’m not quite sure that anybody who passed our house, like paying clients, would understand my intentions correctly. Now I only need to learn how to read lips. Fast.
Ella just whooshed onto the bottom steps of the palace’s winding staircase, scandalously late at 11PM.
Up top, Belle and Beast are looking immaculate, receiving their guests. Nodding heads, shaking hands, kissing ladies…
The prince looks bored, but the way his eyes dart about, I think he is searching for someone. We can only hope.
As soon as Ella appears, everyone is captivated. I think I even see a few dropped jaws. From the ladies, might I add.
I think they are in shock Ella dared to wear white at a ‘Black and white’ ball, where it was made known that white was reserved for members of the royal family. It might also be her general appearance. Hormones plus make-over and she’s radiant. I see courtiers whispering, atwitter in discussion.
Now smile at everyone and nobody in particular like we agreed.
Ella smiles. I don’t think I’ve seen her smile like that at home. Like she means it. Like she’s happy to be there.
Good girl.
Attention - secured.
Well, nearly.
Everyone is looking at her, except the Prince. Which is either good or bad. I don’t know why he is ignoring her. Did we get it wrong and he is ignoring her because she doesn’t fit his type? Or is he ignoring her because he doesn’t recognise her and his heart already belong to someone else?Either way, I think we’ve done a good job to make sure nobody recognises her. But this means Ella needs to work to get his attention.
I see Ella curtsy at the royals and say ‘Your Majesties, it was most kind of you to invite me.’ She enunciates. Good.
Belle gives her a once-over and nods her approval. The Beast kisses Ella’s hand before he hands her over to the Prince and wishes ‘Princess Elizabeth’ to enjoy the ball.
Assumptions. Assumptions are good. Soon enough, she will be a princess.
Ella looks down, all demure, sweet and innocent and misses Nicholas rolling his eyes at Belle.
