Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers: A Retelling of Cinderella

by Brittany Fichter

  Elaina pulled a piece of stray hair out of her eyes and gave Matilda her sweetest smile. “Yes, Stepmother.”

  “And you will lose that sarcastic tone and act like a decent daughter. Or I’ll make you pay tonight.”

  Elaina rolled her eyes at the mixing bowl. As soon as Matilda had gone down the hall, Elaina turned to the dog curled up at her feet. “Every time a guest comes, it’s the same thing. ‘Yes, Stepmother! I love you, too, Stepmother!’ ‘I apologize for my poor choice of dress today, Stepmother. I really must remember to dress properly.’” She mixed harder. “As though anyone unfortunate enough to witness the spectacle is actually fooled. At least she usually leaves the switch in the stalls where it belongs when others are here, though. I’m not sure if I’ve finally begun to measure up to her expectations, or if she’s simply tired of using the switch. Hitting someone is a lot of work, you know.”

  Dog didn’t answer, just gazed at her trustingly with a hint of begging in his big brown eyes.

  Laughing, Elaina dropped a piece of dough on the floor. Though she’d never had the chance to own a pet before, as a life at sea allowed only enough room for cats, which made Elaina sneeze, she had discovered the manor’s animals invaluable once all the other slaves had fled. The days grew long and lonely, with only a tired Cynthia at their beginning and end. And talking to the stars was out of the question more than ever, since Matilda, Ivor, and Felix only had watchful eyes for her now.

  Particularly Matilda. Though the beatings had indeed grown fewer, and Elaina had somehow found a way to keep the household running, there was something dreadful in the mistress’s silence that made Elaina look twice over her shoulder, a gleam in Matilda’s eyes that made her shiver. Matilda still intended to try and break her. Elaina was sure of it. The only question was when.

  After breakfast had been prepared and served, Elaina grabbed her basket and set out for the market. She looked back at Dog. “Well, are you coming?”

  Dog took a leisurely stretch before hopping up and trotting after her through the door.

  Elaina smiled to herself as she pushed the gate open and heard a second set of little feet clopping after her. Well, hooves, actually. She held the gate open for the dog and the goat, and once the three of them were out in the street, she let it slam shut.

  “Today,” she said to the animals, ignoring Felix as he set out behind them, “we have several tasks ahead of us that we absolutely must accomplish or Stepmother will be quite angry.” She held up her basket and gave it a thump. “First, we need to find a few ripe strawberries at the market. Barker,” she looked at the goat, “perhaps you can be of assistance with helping me sniff them out. Just don’t eat them like you did last time.”

  She looked at Dog. “I suppose I should give you an assignment as well, but we both know that you’ll just sleep through the whole errand anyway.” She smiled down at the dog. “Anyhow, after we visit the market, we need to go to the jeweler.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure what the girls think they need new cloak clasps for right now when they can hardly afford the strawberries, but I suppose I must try anyway.” She looked down and grinned at the two animals following her. “Can’t have the two young mistresses suffering without new brooches now, can we?” Such suffering would most assuredly result in punishment of some sort, and Alison’s fingernails had been particularly sharp as of late.

  Pickings at the market were sparse, and it showed on the pinched faces of the merchants, but Elaina did her best anyway to wave and smile at those she recognized as she passed. She hardly even noticed that Felix was following her anymore. Despite her attempted escape, he had stopped intervening every time she stopped to converse with strangers. Perhaps it was because he felt sorry for her. Or, the more likely possibility, he had grown bored with his duties and was considering following Penelope’s lead and looking for new employment. Trailing a slave girl, a lazy dog, and a mischievous goat seemed hardly the ideal position for anyone with Felix’s size or talents. Particularly when one’s pay came later and later with each passing week.

  After managing to secure five whole strawberries at the market, Elaina moved on to the jeweler’s shop where she had to leave her faithful friends outside. After ensuring that Dog wasn’t lying where he would be trampled, and then warning Barker not to eat the trouser legs or shoes off any unsuspecting passersby, Elaina went inside to browse the meager selection of brooches.

  “Is this really all you have?” Elaina heard a young woman ask the shop owner.

  “It’s the same thing as I told you last time,” an exasperated woman replied. “The king’s embargo is letting nothing through but the barest of supplies to keep us fed. It seems the king does not consider jewels as essential as flour, unfortunate for me as it is.”

  “But I heard that the king’s son had a second meeting with a number of our magistrates less than a fortnight ago!” the girl protested.

  Elaina tapped her lips with her thumb as she pretended to study the three brooches on the shelf, but she really couldn’t have cared less what they looked like.

  “Even after all that talk about fealty to the Shadow?” an older customer gasped nearby.

  Elaina dared a peek over her shoulder to see the girl shrug. “My father says that many of the magistrates never pledged loyalty to the Shadow in the first place. They only kept silence while he had power. My father thinks they’re a bunch of little—”

  “Hush now, child!” The owner, a thin woman with graying hair, glanced around her shop. “Someone will hear you. The Shadow still has enough followers that life could be difficult for you and your family if he ever heard such talk.”

  “But the bailiffs have already returned!” the older customer said. “Surely they will put to rest all this rebellion nonsense soon enough.”

  The shop owner sent Elaina a direct look, and Elaina turned back to browsing the brooches.

  “Unfortunately,” the owner said in a softer voice, “I fear that it shall be more than a little longer that some must suffer the repercussions of this rebellion.”

  Felix cleared his throat loudly. The women quickly moved to discussing an inane piece of gossip, and Elaina felt her cheeks burn. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t considered going to a bailiff and reporting her kidnapping. She’d spent hours dreaming up such a daring act of defiance. But the bailiffs were still few compared to what they had once been, and Felix never let her walk within twenty feet of one.

  And there was still Cynthia.

  “I think I will take these,” Elaina called in a loud voice.

  The shop owner came over and lifted the two brooches Elaina had pointed to. They were both small, hardly larger than her thumb, and an ugly shade of orange, but they looked closest to what Elaina thought her mistress could actually afford.

  “I don’t suppose that Mrs. Winters has actually sent you with real coin this time?”

  Elaina gave her an apologetic smile and shook her head.

  The shop owner sighed and looked back at the pins. “I would have cut Mrs Winters off a long time ago, but I know how difficult that would make things for you.” She sent a scathing look up at Felix who was frowning down at them. “But let her know that this is the last time I can extend their credit.”

  Elaina threw her her deepest look of thanks. As soon as she could, she accepted the two small packages and scurried out the door.

  It was the same story everywhere she went. The merchants had long ago begun denying Matilda Winters any credit. Now there was no way to replace the rugs with holes or the girls’ fading gowns or the manor’s broken windowpanes. And no matter how little Matilda liked the situation, even she knew Elaina couldn’t fully restore their manor as it began to fall apart at the seams.

  Of course, that didn’t mean she had any scruples about bullying Elaina into trying anyway.

  The bright blue of the skies, or perhaps it was the lessening of their brown haze, helped bolster Elaina’s spirits as she started home. Yes, she was still a slave, but the air s
melled sweeter and the sun was clearer than it had been since she’d first come to Solwhind. Studying the faces around her, she realized that despite the pathetic market there was an air of hope that floated among the people as well.

  It had only dawned on Elaina after the bailiffs had returned just how little of Solwhind’s citizenry seemed to have ever really wanted the rebellion.

  Still, questions niggled at her, poking holes in her hope. What kind of power had managed to take control so quickly in the first place? And why was it pulling back now? Yes, Nicholas’s war efforts had been successful. She had gleaned that from listening to gossip in the marketplace. But where was the Shadow? And why had he declared himself the leader in the first place if only to hide from the people he claimed to rule?

  As she walked, Dog and Barker following her, it struck Elaina that the Shadow’s sudden disappearance reminded her greatly of her mistress’s silence. Scheming. Patient. Furtive. And she liked none of it.

  Elaina put the goat back in his pen when they arrived home, although they both knew that he wouldn’t stay there. Then Elaina carried her basket of brooches and strawberries back into the kitchen.

  “He’s more of a dog than you are, you know,” she said to Dog as he curled up at her feet again. “At least Sir Reginald pulls the carriage like a proper horse, and Mrs. McDougal lays eggs like a good chicken should. Sheba chases mice, and Martin steals food and avoids her. But you, Dog, are a terrible excuse for a dog.”

  Dog just panted and gave Elaina a hopeful doggy grin.

  Laughing to herself, Elaina had reached down to rub his head when a familiar voice wafted through the closed door between the kitchen and the hall.

  “Who was that?”

  “Just my slave girl returning from her errands. Now, do you have my money or not?” Matilda sounded impatient, but Elaina had to remind herself to breathe. For the voice that had spoken first could only belong to one man.

  * * *

  Elaina had to restrain herself from running in and throwing her arms around Alastair. The king’s spy was here. In Matilda’s manor. Elaina was so close to freedom that she could nearly push the door open and touch it.

  Still, if Alastair was here, that meant he must be undercover, and it would be of little use for her to ruin his disguise. So Elaina contented herself with leaning against the wall beside the door and straining to hear everything that was spoken in the hall. To prevent herself from doing anything rash, she rubbed her chipped wooden bracelet between her fingers.

  “You said you would have my money paid back with interest by last autumn. Last autumn!” Matilda snapped. “And now you’re asking for more?”

  “The prince has been more aggressive than I thought. I never expected his father to give him so much power to interfere. But war is like that.”

  “I practically paid you to take half the city! And then I convinced my wealthiest friends to do the same. How, with a third of the combined wealth of Solwhind, are you losing your grasp to a prince hardly old enough to be wed?”

  Elaina frowned. If Alastair was undercover, who did Matilda think he was?

  “I can’t keep control over the military.”

  “And why not?”

  “The gifts I’ve collected to keep them in line are running low.”

  Matilda scoffed. “You promised me these gifts were strong. That if I gave you the money for that . . . that liquid darkness or whatever it is, you would be strong enough to control the hired swords.”

  “The gifts are strong! But they only last a little while before they begin to run dry. Besides,” he sighed, “I’m having to use more of the Sorthileige on myself now. And Sorthileige is expensive.”

  Sorthileige? Elaina shivered. She prayed he wasn’t telling the truth, that he truly was posing as someone else.

  “Well, get more gifted people then, so you can take their . . . whatever you call them . . . gifts and end the war once and for all! Then we can try to recover at least some of the money I’ve lost.”

  There was a long silence. Finally, he said, “I’m running out of gifted citizens. I’ve killed too many.”

  Elaina pressed herself against the wall for support.

  “The money the recipients paid was good,” he continued, “but the naturally gifted need to be replenished. And don’t even suggest using children. Their powers don’t solidify for harvesting until they’re grown.”

  Elaina barely suppressed a gag.

  “I need more money to pay the hired ships so we can end this war and allow new gifted travelers to come to the city like they used to. People have stopped coming since the prince launched the offensive.”

  “I still don’t understand why these gifted people are so important to you,” Matilda said. “You’d be better off simply forgetting about them and being content with the taxes of the people you already have under your control. I only supported your attempt to harvest the gifts because you said selling the gifts would make good money. I thought it was a means to an end, not some ongoing obsession!”

  “Taxes haven’t been very lucrative as of late, if you haven’t noticed. And the gifts did make a good profit. But I need to purchase more Sorthileige to continue the process, and I need more gifted citizens to harvest. I told you when we began this arrangement that finding the gifted was my objective the whole time. It was your idea to put the city under my control.”

  “Because fairness and the way gifts are allocated by the Maker are not my concern! My concern is with the fact that we had an arrangement, and now you owe me a great amount of coin. I was supposed to have been made a duchess by now for all my assistance, and you a king!”

  Elaina lowered her head between her knees and drew in deep, even breaths. Dread pooled in her stomach and her mouth tasted bitter.

  Had she been in the presence of the Shadow from the start?

  “Look,” Alastair continued in a tired voice, “if I can find this one gifted citizen, all of our troubles will be over. We needn’t even retake the city! Hang the war and let the prince retake it. If I can get this one gift, I can go off in search of more gifted citizens, harvest them, and sell the gifts privately. We can then split the money, and no one will ever be the wiser. I just have to find this girl.”

  “What girl?” Matilda asked.

  “The one who talks to the stars.”

  Elaina’s breath was coming in and out too fast.

  “Oh please—”

  “No, listen! If I can find her and convince her to join me, she can use the stars to tell me where the gifted citizens are—”

  “And if she won’t?”

  “Then I will take her gift. It wouldn’t be nearly as productive that way, as the gift would eventually run out without her to host it, but either way, I can find many more of the gifted, harvest them, and then immediately sell their gifts to those who would pay handsomely. If I could get her gift to last even a few years, I could locate the most powerful people in the world. Believe me, people want these gifts. I swear, I will make all your investment back, plus interest. You might not be duchess in the end, but you will be very, very rich.”

  Matilda’s voice was petulant. “I’ve heard those who buy your gifts seem to have rather interesting endings.”

  “Their endings wouldn’t be so quick if they would just do as I said and—But really, that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that I find this girl so I can repay you.”

  There was a pause, and Elaina wondered if she might actually faint for the first time in her life.

  “And why haven’t you found her yet? You’ve found enough of the others using my money.”

  “I trailed her for years. Then two and a half years ago, her father practically handed her to me, but the blasted prince kept interfering. And even when I did finally have a way to get her for myself, there was a mix-up in her boats, and I lost her.”

  Elaina knew it would be wise to leave now and hide in the stable, but a sick, desperate curiosity kept her rooted to the spot.

 
“If I find this girl,” Alastair said, his voice slightly less agitated, “there will be gifts enough for everyone. You will be rich, and equality will finally be grasped by all.”

  Matilda snorted and said something about caring for proper food and clothes more than equality, but Elaina didn’t hear. All she could think about was Nicholas.

  Nicholas had followed her like a puppy.

  Nicholas had insisted she keep the guards.

  Nicholas had stayed by her side whenever he thought her in danger.

  You knew, she thought to the Maker. And despite all my objections, you sent him to protect me.

  After angering and pestering and annoying and betraying Elaina from the day they met to the day he exiled her, it was now blatantly clear that Nicholas was the only reason Elaina was still alive at all.

  44

  A Proposal

  “Nicholas, hold on!”

  Nicholas was very tempted to keep running, but better judgment won out. He slowed to a jog and motioned to his guards that their morning exercise was over. Reluctantly he turned and walked back to where his father and some of his advisers stood. He was surprised when he got closer, however, to find his mother there as well.

  “You could have waited for me inside.” Nicholas mopped the sweat off his face with one of his sleeves as he approached them, dropping a quick bow to both of his parents. “I would have finished in ten minutes or so.” You could have given me ten more minutes of peace. But he knew better.

  “You’ve been avoiding us these last few weeks,” his father said. “Your mother and I have tried repeatedly to get your attention for more than five minutes at a time.”

  He had been avoiding his father, to be specific. Nicholas had spent more than enough time meeting with his mother, planning for this very moment. “I thought you wanted me to run the war. That doesn’t leave much time for lounging.” He glanced at his mother, who briefly met his eye and looked at the ground. “Very well, then. You’ve found me. What is it that I must know now?”

  “The war is going well. We’ve practically won,” Lord Stiles said in his high nasally tone.