by Susan Ee
“What about you?” asked Gallant.
“I’ve already danced with them. I can’t dance with any of them again without setting expectations.”
“I’m not sure I like letting this one go to dance with you. You have a way of wanting what I have.”
“Gallant.” Dante’s annoyance showed through his civility. “Who else in the room could cut in on your dance? I’m doing you a favor, brother.”
Gallant took a deep breath. “All right. Take care of her for me.”
Gallant lifted Cinder’s hand and kissed it before he walked away to select another dance partner.
“Shall we?” Dante put his arms out for a dance.
Dante had never seen her in this much light. Cinder desperately wished she had more than a makeup mask to hide behind. She wanted to run and hide.
Instead, she stepped into his arms and began to dance. Everyone was staring at her, curious about the girl who had managed to get both princes’ attention.
It was one thing to be near Dante on a dirt road when she thought he was a nobleman’s son. It was another thing altogether to be in his arms knowing he was a prince.
How could she have missed it? Now that she saw him in his element, she couldn’t see him as anything other than a prince. His bearing, his confidence, his wish to be free of political agendas—it all made sense now.
Chapter 35
“Well,” said Dante as he led her through the dance, “my brother will certainly think you’re the most intriguing of all the women here now that he can’t have you for this dance. I’ll wager that he’ll watch you like a hawk and won’t let you get away tonight.”
Cinder’s stomach clenched.
“Not that you need anything else beyond your lovely self and that mysterious mask,” he said.
He sounded somehow more princely than he did before. It was as if he had donned a mask himself.
This was a version of Dante that was different from the one she’d seen before. This Dante was in command of the room. He could deftly nudge another prince and literally dance his way through a political quagmire.
“You’re not one for conversation, are you, Lady…Thorn, was it?”
She nodded, keeping her eyes downcast. She would have danced with her head all the way down if she could so that he wouldn’t see her face. She was sure he could read lies in her eyes.
“Well, Lady Thorn, I assure you that I’m not a monster. You can relax into the dance without worry that I’ll throw you into the dungeons if you step on my feet.”
That did not make her feel better. His hand was warm in hers, and his other hand on the small of her back felt strangely comforting. Nevertheless, the dance felt interminably long.
“I’m as curious as my brother about the Thorns. Do tell me about your family. I don’t think I’ve met them.”
She swallowed. She had no choice but to respond to a direct command from the prince.
“My father was…is…a good man.” She tried to make her voice breathless so that he wouldn’t give her that scrutinizing look again.
“Go on.”
“He loves to laugh and read stories to…my little sister. He takes her on pony rides and sometimes, if she’s really good, he’ll let her ride on his shoulders. My sister doesn’t have any children her age to play with, so he races with her down to the pond, although most of the time, they end up in a tickle fight on the grass.”
She had to clear her throat of the tears that began to fill it. It had been years since she’d spoken of her father.
“He sounds amazing. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to play with one’s father. Just the thought of riding on the Dark King’s shoulders is enough to give a little boy nightmares.” His voice was casual, but she could catch a hint of wistfulness.
“Although,” he said, “I must admit that it would have been worth it just to see the faces of the nobles if the Dark King had pranced around with one of us on his shoulders. Now, tickling—that’s unimaginable. Your little sister is a very fortunate girl.”
“She is, your majesty.”
He grinned and whispered, “That title is only for the king. Most people just call me ‘my prince,’ but you can call me Dante.”
“I couldn’t, my prince.”
“You don’t have to tonight if you don’t want to. But eventually, I’ll get you to call me by my name even if I have to kick mud at you to do it.”
She stared into his eyes like a rabbit frozen in fear.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already told you that you’re safe with me.”
“How did you know?”
“Your voice. I think some part of me knew even before that. I saw you as you came down the stairs. There you were, just one of many in a sea of ladies in their finest dresses, but there was something about you that caught my eye. Maybe your mask, maybe a familiar gesture, I don’t know. But some part of me knew right then that I had to talk to you.”
“But you waited.”
He swept her in a circle in time with the music. Cinder’s dress swept out along with all the other ladies’ dresses on the dance floor around them.
“I was telling the truth to Gallant. I had to dance with the daughters of certain influential noblemen. I knew that if I got duty out of the way first, then I could be free to choose whomever I wanted to dance with, however many times in a row I wanted. If I had known that the mysterious girl who’d caught my eye had been you, well, I would have come to you sooner.”
“Before your brother?”
“Before anybody.”
The music ended. Although Cinder had earlier wished that the dance would end, she now felt reluctant to walk away from Dante.
The other women curtsied, and people shuffled about, finding their next dance partners.
But Prince Dante kept a hold of Cinder’s hand as he bowed. As the music began again, he pulled her closer.
Cinder’s eyes widened as she fell into step with him for the next dance.
“My prince,” she said, “everyone is watching.”
“I know.” He twirled her.
The ladies around the ballroom were talking to each other behind their fans as they watched. Helene and her daughters were throwing dagger stares at Cinder, but there was no sign of recognition.
“But everyone will think that you’re considering me as your choice.”
“Let them.” He brought her back into his arms as she followed his lead.
Gallant glared at them with a scowl as he danced by with a blond confection of a lady in his arms.
“Look, this is not going to make it easy for me to slip out unnoticed at the end of the ball,” whispered Cinder.
“Yes, I know,” Dante whispered back. “I’ve had enough of you slipping out unnoticed at the end of the night. I think it’s time that you let it ride out and see where it leads.”
Cinder swallowed. Nerves of all kinds were jangling inside her. She didn’t know what she was supposed to feel. There was fear, but excitement too, and anxiety along with joy. Could it be possible to feel all those things at once?
Dante spun her again, then bowed along with the rest of the men on the dance floor. He smiled as he rose to look at her. There was mischief in his eyes that she was sure had also been there when they raced on the dirt road. She would have seen it had they been laughing in the sunshine.
She couldn’t help but relax and give a little smile back. She wanted to capture the moment to take out and treasure when she was back scrubbing the floor in the morning.
Chapter 36
Dante and Cinder were still dancing when trumpets blared. Everyone stopped and turned to the dais.
“His majesty the king.”
The announcer took a step back, and the Dark King stepped through a door near the throne into the ballroom. He was a portly man with broad shoulders and a stout build. He had the red nose of someone who drank often, but his eyes were sharp and clear.
Everyone bowed deeply to the king. People glanced at each other ben
eath their eyelashes. The Dark King had a way of unnerving people.
He stood before the crowd in his famous cloak. It was trimmed in luxurious fur, but Cinder could see the seams where the material had been sewn together from large patches of hide. The patches were mostly various shades ranging from light tan to dark leather, but there were a few patches that were a dull blue or green.
People said that it was made of the skin of fairies that he’d slain during the Wild Wars. The elders who’d lived through the wars whispered that only a few of the patches were actually fairy skin. The rest were from his human enemies.
“Welcome,” said the king.
He sounded like he meant it. Cinder had always heard that the king rarely sounded enthusiastic about anything that didn’t involve fresh blood.
“This is a fine group of ladies,” said the king. “And lords, of course.” He nodded to the men. “As you all know, tonight is the full moon. I have a surprise for those of you who are participating in the hunt, as well as for those ladies who are here tonight.”
He smiled. Everyone knew that bad things happened when the Dark King smiled.
“Since there is only so much time in a person’s life—even a king’s—sometimes, we must combine two lovely activities to fit it all in. Tonight, as I have suspected, my sons are having a difficult time getting beyond the fairy glamours. I have told them that the one who chooses wisely will be my heir. Yet how are they to choose wisely when the ladies are so clever?”
He smiled again and looked down on his subjects.
“The solution is this—the great ball and the great hunt shall be combined.”
The crowd looked around in confusion. Everyone already knew that many of the noblemen would leave for the hunt at midnight. Most assumed they would come back in a few hours, especially since neither of the princes had announced their choice.
“All the fairy slaves in the land were secretly commanded to make their glamours last only until midnight.”
The crowd erupted with noise as ladies made shocked sounds. Who knew what they looked like beneath their glamours?
“Then we shall see what the ladies here are truly like,” said the king. “I hope you ladies are wearing sturdy shoes beneath those laces, because I don’t want simpering tricksters in my bloodline. I want warriors. Survivors. Grandchildren who can tear the fairy kingdom out from its very roots.”
The Dark King made a fist and hammered down on his other hand.
“The fine ladies here tonight will be given until midnight to run, to hide, to do whatever it is that fine ladies do in the forest on a full moon.”
The Dark King smiled at his guests.
“Then the hunt shall begin. The princes will choose from the survivors.”
Chapter 37
The ballroom boomed with the sound of closing doors. The doors leading out to the garden slammed shut, all at once. Guards stood in front of each, armed with their swords.
“Ladies, I suggest you exit through that door.” The king gestured to the only open door in the room. “Anyone who is left when the midnight bell tolls will be fair game.”
A collective gasp went through the room.
“Hunters, don your masks. It is, after all, a festive occasion.”
One of the doors opened, and a procession of servants carrying trays laden with golden masks of beasts and monsters began walking toward the king.
The ballroom filled with screams as everyone panicked. A mad rush to the door at the far end of the ballroom began.
Many of the men stood in confusion as the women cried and pushed their way toward the door. More than a few of the men looked dazedly around, looking like they needed someone to guide them and tell them what to do. They were just as surprised as the ladies.
Cinder could see that it would take too long to get all the way over to the far door. That part of the ballroom was quickly being mobbed by panicked people.
Servants circulated around the ballroom with their trays. Most of the men refused the masks, but one out of every four or five took one and slid it over his face. The king nodded to each of those men.
Cinder’s eyes met Dante’s. He seemed as surprised as she was, but he recovered fast.
“My father usually takes his entertainment very seriously.”
He looped his arm in hers and spun her toward one of the guarded doors.
“I suggest you come with me,” he said. “You’ll never make it out in time.”
Cinder followed the prince on numb feet.
A part of her noticed that a few of the couples also approached side doors and spoke to the guards. They were firmly turned away. Some ran back into the exiting crowd, but a couple of others made heated demands, declaring how important they were. The rest brought out bags of gold and dangled them in front of the guards.
Dante and Cinder slipped out of one of the side doors without any objection from the guards. Apparently, they didn’t have the nerve to say no to a prince.
Outside, the night was silent. The ladies of the dark kingdom knew instinctively how to behave like prey, and they stayed quiet.
A steady stream of ladies in ball gowns flowed out of the castle and were corralled into the forest. A few tried to escape the woods, but the forest snagged them as they tried to pass the border.
The attempted escapees got tangled in roots and vines. They ran into huge cobwebs that they couldn’t escape. They tripped and got dragged down by something that wouldn’t let go as they struggled against getting sucked all the way down into the soil.
It was as if the forest had joined in the hunt, refusing to let the prey out of its boundaries.
The others saw this and followed the line of guards into the woods. Several of them whispered about enchantments and hugged themselves on the way in.
Many of the women were crying, with dark streaks running down their cheeks. Several of them had taken their wigs off, making their heads look scrawny, like bald chicks.
Cinder saw one twist her ankle on the way into the forest, but the guards shoved her into the thicket anyway.
Dante rushed Cinder into the shadows and skirted the crowd.
“Prince, help us!” yelled a young lady.
But she wasn’t calling to Dante. She had her hands out in supplication to Gallant.
Gallant walked by the crowd of ladies, looking for someone. The girl watched him with hope in her eyes. But her mother beside her seemed to have no delusions about what the princes would and could do against their king.
Gallant looked away from the begging girl. He looked like he was both avoiding looking at the ladies who were being shoved into the woods, and at the same time scanning the crowd for someone.
“My prince,” said a guard trotting up to Dante and Cinder. It was the guard who had let them through the door. “The king commands that the princes be by his side at the start of the hunt.”
The hunt was about to begin.
Cinder could almost smell a change in the air. Everyone seemed to be breathing harder, more labored, including Dante. He squeezed Cinder’s arm and bowed to her.
“My apologies, my lady,” said Dante. “I’m afraid this is as far as I can go to help you.”
He looked deep into her eyes. For a moment, Cinder thought she saw something shift in his eyes. A shadow crossing over him.
People talked about the hunt calling out to the hunters as though it was a living thing. Cinder shivered at the thought.
The moment passed, and he shook his head and turned. He and the guard disappeared back into the shadows toward the castle.
Cinder ran as lightly as she could, hoping to find a hole in the chain of soldiers that trapped both her and the other women. No such luck. At some point, she’d have to run out of the shadow and into the moonlit field between the castle and the woods.
“Hey! What are you doing out of line?” a soldier called out from the field. He was walking toward her.
Cinder froze.
Another soldier walked toward her fro
m another direction. Now that she’d been noticed, several soldiers looked over at her.
She braced for a fight, but she didn’t have much of a chance against the king’s army. So she didn’t resist when a soldier grabbed her arm and shoved her toward the stream of women rushing into the forest.
“Don’t you know your best chance is in the forest?” whispered the soldier. “Don’t try to get out until sunrise. Run and hide in the woods as far away from here as you can.”
He was trying to help. He might even have a sister in the crowd. The ball had been open to all—highborn and common.
Cinder had no choice but to run into the forest along with the rest of the women.
Once there, though, it was as if the air changed. The woods were eerily lit with moonlight filtering into places it shouldn’t.
Cinder began to shiver. She was back in the hunt.
She had to take deep breaths and practice the focusing techniques that Silver had taught her so that she wouldn’t freeze in fear. She felt the cold air filling her lungs and noticed the tightness of her muscles. The mere noticing loosened her muscles enough to let her run through the forest without being clumsy.
The women clustered together and ran in one direction, following each other. Cinder tried to tell them to split up, but no one listened.
“We’ll be easy prey if we stick together,” said Cinder. “We’ll trample a track a mile wide. We’re better off all going our own separate ways.”
“But then we’ll be alone,” said the woman nearest her. Her shimmery gown was already torn and dirty. “They won’t kill all of us, not if we’re all together.”
“Listen. I’ve been through a hunt before.”
The women near Cinder gasped. It was unheard of for a lady of any respectability to be forced to go through a hunt—at least, until now.
