“It wasn’t us, the tailor has done something, they made a mistake or had an accident,” Mother said, trying to calm the girl down.
“You did this,” Cinderella pointed directly at Mother, making it clear who she was accusing. “You didn’t want me to go to the ball and take the attention away from your little ugly princesses. Now I can’t even go! How could you do this to me?”
“I didn’t, I-”
She was cut off as Cinderella stormed for the door. “I hate you all. I hope you all die in a nasty and horrible way.”
The door slammed closed behind her. I felt bad about her dress, but she didn’t have to overreact like that. “She can have my dress, Mother,” I offered. “I’m sure she’ll have a better time than I will.”
“Nonsense, you will do no such thing. There are a hundred dresses in her wardrobe that her father bought for her. She can wear any of them if she chooses.”
“Should I go calm her down?” Zelly asked.
“No, let her cool off.”
With a shadow now cast over our preparations, we continued to put the finishing touches on our outfits. Mother put a jewel in my hair, which I thought was completely unnecessary.
“It will distract people from your face,” she reasoned. I couldn’t argue with her.
Finally, we were ready for the ball. Well, physically anyway, I still didn’t particularly want to go. I counted twenty-nine times that my mother had reminded me to find a husband. Zelly got thirty-one reminders.
We bustled down to the waiting coach. “What about Cinderella?” I asked as Zelly and I climbed in. “Should we tell her we’re leaving?”
“I called up to her but she didn’t reply,” Mother said. “Just go and I’ll send her when she’s ready. Unless she’s changed her mind and is continuing to sulk in her room, anyway.”
“Ready, ladies?” Angus, the coachman asked.
“Certainly,” Zelly replied. He flicked the reigns and the horses started their trot up to the palace.
The road was bumpy and seemingly too long. I felt like jumping out and fleeing into the woods, at least I could have a few moments of freedom before Mother sent out the hounds to search for me.
The lecture and punishment probably wouldn’t be worth those few moments though. So I stayed put and only exited when we reached the palace and the entrance to the ball.
I had to admit, it did look amazing. The king certainly knew how to put on a party. Fairy lights were strung everywhere, creating even more stars than in the sky. Flowers tied with ribbons were everywhere, their delicious scent filling the air with magic.
Zelly and I walked up the stairs that were draped with red carpeting. Lord Fenley greeted us at the door, bowing low. We both curtsied back and stepped inside.
The grand ballroom was even nicer than outside. The chandeliers twinkled with the light of a thousand suns and the orchestra played a song that could only make feet feel like dancing.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad, I was actually glad to be there. Unfortunately, it only lasted for a mere second.
“Anna? You really think the prince will even look at you?” The voice belonged to Lady Lilybeth, a girl I had known nearly my entire life.
“I’m just here to dance,” I replied, finding it difficult to look her in the eyes. I knew she would be smirking at my gall for believing I was good enough to be in the presence of Prince Charming.
“As if he’d want to dance with you,” she giggled as if it was the funniest thing in the world. It wasn’t, but I never expected anything else from her.
I turned away, trying not to let her get to me. All the girls around her – Lilybeth’s gaggle of girls – were laughing so hard it was difficult. I knew that would happen, I tried to tell Mother they teased me so but she never listened to me.
Unfortunately, I walked directly into Tesslyn Montgomery – the one most expected to capture the Prince’s heart. “Anna Trevane?”
“My apologies, Tesslyn, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” I wanted to sink into the stone floor under her scrutiny. She was looking at me from head to foot. Any prettiness I felt before was long gone, left in its place was a deep feeling of inadequacy.
“You should be more careful, you know you scare people if you suddenly appear before them. We all need to see someone like you coming so we can turn away.”
I didn’t reply, I didn’t have anything to say to her. Instead, I curtsied and started walking. The giggling was still louder than the music, or perhaps it was just echoing in my head, I wasn’t sure.
I headed for the food, at least I could have something to eat without criticism. I was famished after all, Mother hadn’t let me eat all day lest I wouldn’t fit into my gown. I did – just.
I had to pass a line of boys to get to the food. I slowed slightly, just in case a miracle occurred and one would ask me to dance. How I wanted that so badly, more than anything in the world. I wanted to twirl on the dance floor, a gentleman glad to be on my arm, and prove to everyone I wasn’t just Ugly Anna.
But silence only greeted me. I placed some food on a plate and found a wall to stand with my back to. Nobody could sneak up on me that way, and I was out of everyone else’s way. Nobody would have to be confronted with my ugliness.
Zelly joined me, having the same idea. “It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?”
“Yes, very.”
We stood in silent comfort for each other, both of us knowing how the other was feeling without even having to voice it.
“Oh my gosh, look, it’s Cinderella,” Zelly pointed to the door as she entered. Our step-sister had found another dress, this one a brilliant light blue. Her blonde hair was perfectly tied up in a bun, surrounded by a tiara covered with diamonds. I had never seen her more stunning.
And apparently neither did she. Spotting us in the crowd, she gave us both a look that could kill. She knew how beautiful she was and wanted to make sure we knew it too. I don’t know how one look could convey so much, but it sure did. I felt like a pile of mud compared to her.
I suddenly didn’t want to be a wallflower any longer. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was good enough to be there – even if I was only bluffing.
“Hold my plate,” I said as I shoved the piece of ceramic into Zelly’s hands. Her mouth was too full of food to warn me to stop whatever I was planning.
CHAPTER 4
I barged through the crowd, making a beeline for Prince Charming. I may have no interest in the guy, but everyone else did. The king promised he would consider every lady in the kingdom. And wasn’t I one of those ladies?
I stood before him, in all my green glory, trying to pretend I was confident and desirable. I was beyond caring what others thought by then.
“My prince.” I curtsied low, making sure he could see all my assets and not focus on my face.
“Lady Anna,” Charming replied. “Glad you could make it.” His words were kind but his eyes were not. I quickly realized he was humoring me. Perhaps he would have preferred it if I had slunk away from him then and there, fearing I wasn’t good enough to be his betrothed. But I wasn’t going to, not when I had a hundred eyes on me.
“It’s a fine ball tonight, my compliments to the king.”
“It will do, I’m sure his heart was in the right place when he thought up such a tripe scheme.”
He had a way of making everything seem so trivial and stupid, with just a few words and a scathing look around the room. I felt silly for believing I could be good enough, or even wanted, by the prince. I yearned to shrink away more than ever.
I glanced to my left and saw Cinderella. She was watching us with a smirk across her face, waiting for me to fail. I wanted so badly to prove her, and everyone else, wrong. I took a deep breath.
“Shall we dance, my prince?” I put out my hand, waiting for him to take it. A gentleman accepted a lady’s request, no matter what.
But apparently Prince Charming was no gentleman. Instead of taking my hand, he laughed at me, keeping h
is own firmly by his side. “I’m not dancing with you.”
My face burned with the humiliation. My life was practically over. To be turned down by the prince in front of everyone in the kingdom? I would never be able to recover from that – never ever.
“I’m dancing with her,” Prince Charming muttered as he pushed me aside. I turned around to see who he was talking about, already knowing deep inside my heart.
I watched as he went directly to Cinderella. He bowed low and asked her to dance. The look of happiness that washed over her face was sickening. A part of me wanted to tear them apart and tell my step-sister what a fiend he was. But would she listen to me? Absolutely not. More likely she would blame me for trying to ruin her life.
“What were you thinking?” At first I thought the voice might have been inside my head, but it was worse. Tesslyn was nudging me, amusement in her eyes. At least she found the humor in my annihilation.
I could feel the tears starting to well in my eyes. I couldn’t stay there a moment longer, I was a laughing stock. For a moment I wondered what Mother would say when she found out. Someone would tell her everything, I knew that was a certainty.
My feet started running for the door, better to leave them to gossip and stab me in the back rather than watch them with my own eyes. They would hurt me either way.
Outside, the air was cool. It would still be hours before Mother allowed us to leave so I needed to find somewhere to hide out. Unfortunately, the breeze was too chilly to wait in the courtyard. But I couldn’t go back inside either.
Then I saw our coach, awaiting the return of its owners with all the others. I stormed over to it, opening the door and climbing inside.
I was surprised to see I wasn’t alone. Angus, our coachman, was settled inside. Instantly, he was alert. “I’m so sorry M’Lady, I wasn’t expecting you to return so soon. I will leave.”
I placed my hand over his arm to stop him. I didn’t want him waiting outside in the cold, it would be a miserable wait. It was bad enough he had to pass the time in the coach. “No, don’t be silly, Angus. I would be grateful for the company.”
He nodded and allowed himself to relax back into the purple velvet seat. We sat in a comfortable silence for a time, neither of us requiring conversation.
When I wiped away at my tears, Angus noticed. I felt embarrassed all over again. “Sorry,” I apologized, not really knowing why but feeling like I had to.
“A beautiful woman like yourself shouldn’t have a need for tears,” Angus said softly. I turned to look at him, wondering if I had heard correctly.
“I am neither beautiful or a woman, Angus. I am merely an ugly girl.”
He shook his head side to side slowly. “Now you are a liar.”
I couldn’t help but smile, it was the kindest thing anyone had said to me in a long time. “If only everyone inside the ball was as nice as you, there would be no need for tears or lies.”
“It seems to me that if they bring you tears, they are not worthy of your time.” His green eyes sparkled with the glint of the moon high in the sky.
“Try telling my mother that.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dare, she would have my tongue cut out.”
I nodded in agreement, she probably would. I let the moments pass until I was certain my tears had dried up. “Do you really think I’m beautiful?”
“As beautiful as a thousand rosebuds just ready to blossom in the springtime.”
The smile could not be torn from my lips. I settled into the seat and watched glimpses of the ball through the open doors. Without looking at Angus for fear I may die of embarrassment, I mumbled: “You’re pretty wonderful yourself.”
He shuffled in the seat beside me. “Lady Anna, I-”
“What’s going on?” I cut him off, not meaning to be rude as I saw movement on the steps of the palace.
Cinderella ran from the ball, gripping her gown to stop herself falling down the stairs in her haste. She caught her foot on the step and lost her shoe. She looked back for a moment, just as Prince Charming appeared at the doorway to chase after her.
She left her slipper there and started running as fast as she could down the path. I watched as the prince stood there, the clock overhead starting the slow chiming of midnight. He appeared confused, worried even. Good. He deserved to have bad karma thrown back at him.
He walked down the steps and retrieved the shoe, looking at it like it was a precious possession. I had no idea what he wanted with a lady’s slipper, but he took it back inside anyway. It was kind of creepy really.
I didn’t know how Cinderella got to the ball, so I didn’t know how she was going to get home. By the way she was running, she could probably have made it home in less time than the coach.
Suddenly, the door to the coach burst open beside me and I jumped. I was too absorbed in the dramas going on outside that I didn’t notice Mother had found my hiding place.
“Anna, what are doing out here? Get back inside. You’ll never find a husband in the coach,” she scolded, grabbing my arm and leaving me no room to argue.
I was dragged back inside the ball, to relive my idea of hell for the second time that night.
CHAPTER 5
I was dragged from my nightmares by someone shoving at me. For the few precious hours of sleep I managed to get, my mind had swirled with laughing faces of everyone in the town. Their taunts and teasing still echoed in my head, even when I was trying to awaken.
“Anna, get up this minute.” It was Mother, she was standing by my bedside and insisting I follow her commands.
“Mother, what is it?” I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes, trying to make the world un-blur.
“Prince Charming is here, he’s visiting every house in the kingdom.”
“Why would he do that?” Now I knew it was the prince waking me from my slumber, I was even more annoyed by it.
“He’s talking something about a shoe. Get up, make yourself presentable, and get downstairs. We can’t leave him waiting.” Mother threw a dress on the bed before leaving me with one last warning look.
As much as I didn’t want to get up, or care about damn Prince Charming, I obeyed my orders. I quickly wriggled into my dress, ran a brush through my hair and took one last look in the mirror. I wasn’t exactly royal family worthy, but I would do. I doubted any more time or effort would have improved my appearance.
I hurried down the stairs to see Mother and Zelly already waiting. The Prince was with his valet and he held a shoe tightly in his hands, like it might slip away from his grasp.
The memories from the previous night came tumbling back at seeing him. Like the events were photographs in my mind, they flashed through it like lightning. The teasing, the prince embarrassing me, the way he pushed me aside to dance with Cinderella, the coach, my step-sister running away, and then the shoe.
I knew immediately the slipper held by Prince Charming belonged to Cinderella. What I didn’t know was why he was standing in our reception hall holding it with such veracity.
“This is all of us now,” Mother prompted. I looked around, Cinderella wasn’t anywhere in sight. I gave Mother a questioning look and she just shrugged. She was probably sulking in her room like she normally did. We couldn’t insult the prince by telling him she wouldn’t come down.
The prince looked around as if just as suspicious as I was. “Okay then. I fell in love with a woman last night, one that I danced with. But at the stroke of midnight she ran from the ball without giving me her name. All I have is this slipper that she dropped. I need to find her so I’m going door to door until I try every maiden’s foot in the kingdom. I must find my love.”
“How romantic,” Zelly swooned. “Perhaps I am your fair maiden?”
I had to suppress a laugh. Zelly was completely wonderful in her own right, but her big foot would never fit inside that little, delicate slipper. Anyone would be able to tell that just by looking at the thing.
“Oh, do try it on Zelly first,” Mother commanded,
trying not to sound too excited. I sat quietly and watched, waiting for the inevitable.
The prince knelt to the floor in front of Zelly. She held her foot out as he slipped her toes into the shoe. Her toes were about all that would fit.
“I’m afraid it does not fit,” the prince muttered. He took the slipper back and turned to me. I momentarily panicked. Cinderella and I had the same sized feet, we had shared shoes on more than one occasion back when we were all one big, happy family.
“Don’t be shy, Anna,” Mother smiled. It wasn’t a reassurance, it was an order. I put my foot out and waited, praying that I was wrong. Perhaps my feet would be swollen from the hours spent in uncomfortable shoes the previous night. I hoped it would be so.
Prince Charming held my leg as he slipped on the shoe. It went on with ease, fitting perfectly. I quickly scrunched my foot, doing everything I could to make it appear like it didn’t fit.
“Looks like it wasn’t me,” I said, taking my foot back before he could truly examine it. The prince stood, probably relieved it was neither of us.
“It looked like it fit to me,” Mother said as she grabbed the shoe from him. Before I knew it, she was bent over my foot and shoving the slipped back onto it.
I wriggled my toes, trying to keep them from going inside the slipper. I writhed and twisted, doing everything to ensure it was obviously not a good fit. Unfortunately, the more I struggled, the more Mother tried.
Suddenly, the fine threads holding the slipper together tore apart. The entire shoe fell into pieces. All she was left holding were rags of material.
“Oh, I am terribly sorry.” Mother stood and handed back the few remnants. “I guess it wasn’t of good quality.”
The prince looked at what was now just a bundle of rags. I looked at my poor foot that was covered in red scratches from the attack. He was momentarily speechless before recovering. Undeterred, he continued like nothing had happened.
“There are no other ladies in the house?” He looked around, like one could just spring out of nowhere.
For just a moment, I was about to tell him about Cinderella. After all, I knew it was her slipper he clutched so tightly. But then I remembered how awful he had been to me and how effortlessly he had humiliated me in front of the entire kingdom.
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