by Susan Ee
“Sorry. I forget who I’m talking to sometimes. I guess out here, I can’t help but think of you as just Dante, the boy I can always outrun in a race.”
“Your head is full of fantasies, I see.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t change how I see you…or who you actually are.”
“I sometimes forget who I am too.” His voice was wistful. “Not too often. Mostly when I’m with you.”
“You sound like you actually want to forget that you’re a prince.”
“Even princes can become trapped.”
“I always thought a prince could do whatever he wanted.”
He snorted. “And I always thought a peasant could do whatever she wanted.”
Now it was her turn to snort.
“By royal command, my brother and I are to hunt down our wives. Hunt them down like animals in the forest.” It was clear by his tone that he was disgusted by the idea.
She paused in her washing and looked over at him. “And do what with them?”
“Marry them, of course.”
She barked a laugh. “That’s your courtship? You expect her to fall in love with you as you hunt her down like a rabid dog?”
“Love has nothing to do with it.”
“Obviously. Then what are your criteria? Why not just randomly pick someone and leave the rest of us out of your miserable courtship?”
“First, there’s the entertainment value.”
“For who? Certainly not for the ladies.”
“For my father, the king. It’s not just the ladies who provide entrainment. If Damon were still alive and this had been his time to marry, a hunt would not have been necessary.”
“Why not?”
“My older brother was cruel. He enjoyed the hunt. A courtship like this would have been a treat for him. That would have been far from entertaining to the Dark King.”
“So if Damon had still been alive, the king would have commanded a romantic courtship for him?”
“Without a doubt. That would have been torture for Damon.”
“And for you?”
He sighed. “For me and Gallant, the torture is having our future wives be run down in the forest. We are meant to spend the night knowing we are responsible for all the harm that comes to the ladies of the realm, from the poorest milkmaid to the noblest cousin.”
“Does that torture you?”
He looked into her eyes. “Wouldn’t it torture you?”
She looked back down at her bloody sleeves and tried to squeeze as much of the stain out as possible.
“And how are you expected to find your wife?”
“By finding one in her natural form, devoid of all her glamour, and guarding her until sunrise. My father knew that every woman would enter the castle gates secure in her glamour. She would likely not have bothered with real preparation with neither her appearance nor who they truly were inside as a person. Once the glamour was stripped, she’d have nothing but her true self.”
“Is it so important to find one without her glamour?”
“When my father had Damon’s mother executed, she cursed him and all his heirs to be enslaved by fairy magic. Damon would be the only exception. Whether she yelled her curse as a desperate attempt at bargaining with her king, or as a real curse, no one knows. The story was kept quiet, with only a few members of the court knowing about it. But my father has been afraid of fairy magic ever since. And now with Damon gone, his fear grows every day.”
“That’s why he’s so dedicated about hunting fairies and enslaving them?”
“Yes. He is afraid that one or both of his sons will marry under the spell of a fairy. He’d kill the fairies if he could, but he hasn’t figured out how.”
“He killed the Fairy Queen. That’s how he won the war, right?”
He didn’t answer. But none was needed. Everyone knew that story.
“He thinks he can get around the curse by convincing the brides-to-be to rely on glamour,” she said, “and then stripping them of it in the woods so he knows what he’s really getting?”
“Exactly.”
“But true fairy magic can be stronger than that.”
Cinder looked down at the glass slipper peeking out from her apron pocket. It was clear and clean, as though no blood had ever touched it.
“Which is why my father used trickery. If everyone thinks that cheap glamour is enough, everyone would use it. Why go through the cost and hassle of real magic when easy magic is enough?”
Cinder absent-mindedly squeezed blood out of her hem as she thought about what he’d said.
“My father not only wants us to marry without trickery, he wants strength in his bloodline.”
“Someone who can survive the hunt.”
He nodded. “That, and I suspect it also pleases him to know that we all suffer at least for a few hours. He enjoys it when he can cause pain in the guise of it being good for us.”
They both sat quietly for a moment, washing the blood off themselves.
“You are as trapped as I am,” said Cinder.
“If only we could run away.”
“You’d leave an entire kingdom behind?”
“It’s not my kingdom. My father has seen to it that his will be carried out even after one of us takes the throne.”
“What would you do if you were no longer a prince?”
He shrugged. “Be a scholar? I can write letters for people. Or teach. Be a minstrel? I love music. I’m sure I’m quite talented, too.” He smiled.
“Of course. And I could play the tambourine by your side.”
“And tell fortunes.”
She smiled. “I don’t know anything about telling fortunes.”
“It’s all right. I don’t know anything about being a minstrel.”
“I suppose it wouldn’t matter because everyone in Everness is kind and generous. We would have no troubles getting by.”
“Oh, we’d be going to Everness, now, would we?”
“Where else would we go but to the land of sunshine and laughter?”
They listened to the sound of the stream for a while. They both knew there was no such place. And even if there were, one would have to trek through the forest to get there or to any other kingdom, real or imagined.
“Do you know the way out of Midnight?” she asked.
“No. My father is afraid that his sons will conspire against him with his enemies if they could go in and out of the kingdom at will. Only the new king will find out.”
Cinder nodded, unsurprised. The night was getting chilly and they couldn’t sit by the stream forever, but neither of them were in a rush to end the moment of peace.
Cinder leaned over to pull her dress out of the way so it would not drag in the water. When she did, a glass slipper fell out of her apron pocket.
“What’s that?” The prince was looking intently at the shoe.
Cinder collected it. “It was for my ball gown. I figured I didn’t need it once the clock tower began ringing.”
“May I see it?” Dante reached over.
Cinder put the shoe in his hand. He seemed wary, as if it was far more than a shoe.
Behind them, the troll hissed. “Fairy gifts.”
Cinder glanced at the troll. How long had he been there?
The prince looked up at the troll and lifted his sword.
“It’s all right,” said Cinder. “He’s a friend. Sort of.”
Dante took a moment before lowering his sword. He studied the shoe with a frown.
“Gallant is looking for the lady who fits this shoe.”
Cinder cocked her head. “Why would your brother be doing that?”
“He thinks he’s found his wife. He declares that he’s madly in love and has claimed her for himself. I’ve promised to stay away from her.”
“What does that have to do with the shoes?”
“He’s not sure what she looks like without her glamour. He found one in the woods and swears she had been wearing it at the ball. So
he’s looking for the girl who fits in the shoe.”
Cinder patted her pockets for the other shoe and found them as empty as her stomach. Her cheeks burned and she had trouble meeting the prince’s gaze.
“Are these yours?” There was tension in his voice.
“Well, not exactly.”
His shoulders relaxed.
“I mean, I wore them to the ball, but they’re borrowed.”
The prince’s nostrils flared.
“They’re the fairy’s,” the troll said.
The prince’s brow furrowed. “Fairy?”
“What will your brother do if he finds the person who fits the shoe?” Cinder asked.
Dante stared into her eyes. “Marry her.”
Cinder’s mind spun. She stood up abruptly.
“We must find him before the fairy does. She fits the shoe.”
Chapter 41
They ran from the stream in the direction Dante last saw his brother.
Along the way, they met up with two groups of hunters. The prince protected Cinder and fended off the other hunters.
Cinder was happy to let him. She was still shaken up by the viciousness with which she had fought earlier. Everyone knew the full moon made people do strange and violent things, but she didn’t want to experience that again.
The hunters didn’t put up a fight. They were more interested in finding their own quarry than stealing the prince’s.
Nobles had learned that royalty had a way of remembering all the insults that happened to them, no matter how many years passed. So although the Dark King had commanded the hunters to steal the women that the princes protected, the hunters were timid in their approach and happy to avoid confrontation with one of the two possible future kings.
By the time Cinder, Dante and the troll found Gallant, it was almost dawn.
He stood by the edge of the forest with a charmed smile on his face. He looked enchanted with the lady in front of him. It seemed impossible to get his attention away from her, no matter how much Dante called his name as they ran toward him.
“Enchanted,” huffed Dante as they ran.
“Not by magic,” said the troll.
“In love?” asked Cinder as she scampered over a fallen tree.
The first ray of light hit the couple before the three could reach them. Gallant and the lady stepped over the boundary of the forest and into the pink and gold dawn.
Outside the forest, a crowd of people cheered. They stood among colorful flags that flapped in the wind. A line of heralds dressed in royal crimson provided much fanfare as the sound of their trumpets filled the air. The king himself stepped forward to embrace the couple in his ample arms.
Cinder, Dante and the troll watched from the edge of the still-dark forest. The morning light took longer to penetrate the woods, and none of them were inclined to walk out into the crowd.
Gallant looked so happy as he embraced his father and looked at his beloved. It was as if he had finally gotten everything he had dreamt of.
It was a fairytale picture of love and royalty. A handsome prince, his newfound love and his approving father, the king. They would tell tales of this happy moment for generations to come.
Cinder’s heart went out to him. It was all a lie.
She yelled a warning out to him, but no one heard her over the cheers of the crowd. The new heir to the throne kissed his betrothed.
Cinder watched the woman beside Gallant. Her skin was smooth and her eyes sparkled like jewels. Her long hair shone like gold in the dawn light, and her lips were as red as an apple in season.
Cinder had never seen Lalyn so beautiful and glowing. She looked genuinely happy.
“Now, she will be queen of both the forest and the kingdom,” said the troll.
He sounded sad. The poor creature looked tortured as he watched the handsome prince kiss the beautiful Lalyn.
Cinder glanced at the prince beside her. He had lost his chance at inheriting the kingdom. But he looked more concerned about the trickery than about not being heir. If anything, she guessed he might have felt some relief.
“We could go and demand their attention.” She brought out her glass slipper. “We could prove that Lalyn is a fairy who planned all this. She must have used me to lure Gallant.”
“Either of the princes would have sufficed,” said the troll. “She knew you were her best bet, since you had caught the attention of both the princes.” He shrugged. “She did make other bets, though. Lalyn doesn’t like to lose.”
Dante shook his head as he watched his brother. “Now that the betrothal is public, there is nothing we can do.”
“You could tell Gallant the truth.”
They both watched Gallant. He looked happy and in love.
“He’d never listen to me. He’d accuse me of being jealous, of trying to wrestle the throne away from him.”
“What about your father?”
Dante thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.
“He’s announced his heir. To rescind it, the king would have to admit that not only was Gallant fooled, but that he himself was fooled as well. He cannot do that without losing control of his kingdom and having his enemies call him an old, doddering man.”
“Maybe he’d assassinate Lalyn or imprison her and just tell the world that she died in an accident?”
The troll snorted. “Never happen. ‘Accidents’ don’t happen to Lalyn.”
They all watched the crowd, which cheered on as the surviving nobles stiffly congratulated the royal couple. No one seemed to remember that there was another prince still somewhere in the forest.
“So what happens now?” asked Cinder.
Dante turned to look at her. In his eyes was a fire that almost frightened her in its intensity.
“Come with me. Let’s run away from all this. After what happened last night and this morning, no one will notice that we’re gone. Even if they did, no one would care. We could go and start a new life in a new place.”
“Where?”
Excitement built in Cinder’s chest. She knew she’d say yes regardless of the answer.
The prince glanced into the woods. He didn’t know either.
“I know of a place,” said the troll.
“Why haven’t you gone there?” asked Cinder.
“Because I was commanded to watch you.”
“By whom?” asked Dante.
“Lalyn.”
“Why?” asked Dante.
“She owes the girl. She commanded me to watch over her, and when Lalyn won this game by being selected by the prince, I was to give the girl safe passage through the forest.”
“To go where?”
“Wherever she wants.”
“How do we know this isn’t a trick?” asked Dante.
“Lalyn doesn’t want to owe debts to anyone. If you’ll agree,” said the troll to Cinder, “then I shall guide you through the woods, and you shall have safe passage. No beast or wild fairy will harm you. Do you agree to accept this payment for all the debt she owes you?”
“What debts are these?” asked Cinder.
“Freeing her from the barn in which she was imprisoned when she was bonded to a wraith horse, giving her food and clothes and all the other little favors you foisted onto her whether she wanted them or not.”
Cinder and Dante looked at each other with the wonder in their eyes. The troll knew the way through the forest. Out into the wide world.
Freedom.
Chapter 42
“Where—” Cinder began to ask. But she knew the answer before she finished her question.
“Everness,” both she and Dante said at the same time.
“Can you take us to Everness?” Cinder asked the troll.
The troll wrinkled his nose but nodded.
Cinder gave a small gasp. Goosebumps prickled along her arms.
“It’s real, then?” she asked.
The troll sneered but nodded.
Cinder and Dante exchanged another g
lance full of cautious wonder. Dante had more caution than wonder in his eyes, but it was there nevertheless.
“Is it full of sunshine and laughter, like they say?” she asked.
“Don’t know,” grumbled the troll. “I don’t go near it, but I know where it is. I can take you as far as I can, then point you in the right direction.”
That by itself told Cinder and Dante enough to decide.
“What about Lalyn?” asked Dante.
The troll shrugged. “Someone will kill her for her betrayal to her kind. Most fairies are disgusted by a joining with humans. Or they may enslave her and sell her to her own precious humans. Cut her up and feed her to her half-breed children. It matters not.”
Cinder was surprised at the coldness of the troll’s words. The prince, who perhaps was no longer a prince, seemed unsurprised, though. She supposed he was used to such cold talk of war.
“Will you give up the throne so easily?” she asked Dante.
“There is nothing I can do short of attacking with an army. Since I have no army, I either find a different occupation or build up an army.”
“Both can be found in the new land if you’re clever enough,” said the troll.
The prince nodded. He reached up and took the crown off his head.
Beyond the forest’s edge, the cheering crowd began to move away from the woods as the happy couple headed to the castle.
On the fringes of the crowd, Cinder caught sight of Helene and the stepsisters. They were all wearing the tattered, patched-up dresses that used to be Cinder and Lalyn’s. Cinder had forgotten that those old dresses had been the starting point for the enchanted ball gowns.
Helene and the stepsisters did not fare well during the hunt, although they survived. They tried to back up and scamper off into the alleys of Midnight, never to be seen again, but found they couldn’t.
They had built up quite a debt with Lalyn, and she wasn’t the kind of fairy to forget her debts. So Cinder’s fake stepfamily found themselves the Fairy Queen’s servants.
Cinder and her own prince watched her stepfamily be dragged behind the royal couple’s procession as they all walked up to the castle.
“Shall we set off to our new home, Cinder?”
