Cinderella Undone

by Nicole Snow

  “Erin helped with the trade ministers from the EU,” he says, eyeballing me while he sips from his cup. “They were very impressed with her candor and beauty when we rolled in to meet them at the foot of the bridge.”

  Oh, God. He's referring back to the day I came in front of half the capital, clenching his hand, squirming in my seat.

  I smile delicately at Queen Marina, trying to pretend nothing unusual happened. I can't believe he's teasing me like this. If he's hoping I won't go anywhere near his dick tonight, he's doing a great job.

  “Yes, I believe the media is taking a slow, but steady liking to our new lady,” she says, looking at me. “Of course, she won't be fully in their eye until the wedding and the ceremony where she's crowned. We're moving to the right place for this kingdom and our family. It just takes time.”

  I watch her too perfect false teeth take a huge bite from a flaky croissant. My stomach growls, and I'm mustering up the courage to eat in front of the Queen when the door behind us flies open.

  My appetite goes completely cold when I turn around and see who's there. Silas bolts from his chair, whipping around so hard it tips over, hitting the floor.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Serena?” he growls.

  My heart skips several beats. I don't know if the rage boiling in his eyes is more directed at her, or the guard who let her nose her way in.

  So much for picture perfect. The bitch smiles, staring at me, slowly coming closer.

  “It's really a shame I have to do this. You were all doing so well on your way in. Heeding my advice about tea today, no doubt.”

  “I'm not asking again,” Silas rumbles, his eyes shifting nervously to his grandmother.

  I'm quietly praying he won't go nuclear. Jesus, he can't.

  Queen Marina doesn't need this stress right now, especially with more bodyguards rushing in, surrounding Serena before she can totally reach our table.

  “You thought you could get rid of me. You did what you had to because the American girl decided she didn't like my attitude. I get that, Silas. This isn't about us anymore. I'm here today to protect the kingdom and Her Majesty's honor. Just another patriotic, helpful subject, hoping for the best.”

  “Your Majesty?” Patricia looks angrily across the room, gesturing to the guards, making them form a wall between the intruder and the rest of us.

  “Let her come forward. Pat her down first. I want to know the meaning of this.”

  Silas does a slow, maddening pivot. His face says it all. You can't be fucking serious.

  I have to stop the mushroom cloud that's about to turn this room to ashes. I bolt up, wrap my arms around him, and hold him tight. I can feel his huge muscles bulging, trembling ever-so-slightly, his caveman instinct to kill and protect on overdrive.

  No, I mouth to him, as soon as his eyes swing to me. You can't.

  I'm worried he's going to fling me aside and go for Serena's throat. The guards have finished their pat down, and she's walking past, straight through us, taking a seat at the fucking table like she's part of our group.

  “Your Majesty, I hope you'll forgive me. You know I've served you to the best of my abilities for years. That's the only thing I want to do here today, one last time, before I'm on my way out and –“

  “Enough. Why are you here?” Queen Marina's royal blue eyes are blazing now. I think she's a second or two away from having the guards haul the bitch out after all.

  I hope. Just like I hope it happens before her health takes a hit.

  “I've been doing some research before Silas came to me last night and told me I'd never serve the royal family in any capacity again. Lots of research, before he called me a cunt to my face, and swore he'd have me locked up if I dared defy his royal orders.”

  My jaw clenches until it feels like my teeth are about to pop. If she's looking for sympathy, it isn't going to work, no matter what Silas did or didn't say.

  It's a miracle he's staying quiet. He feels like granite in my arms, a statue ready to come to life and throw Serena out the nearest window if she makes one more wrong move.

  “Now, you've all seen the op eds in the papers. The ones that wonder if this wedding is illegal or not, according to the kingdom's laws and traditions. I've talked to several lawyers, and I'm certain it is, but I won't bother going into that because there's still a shred of doubt.” She pauses, reaches for my glass, and takes a long, agonizing pull.

  Yeah, the bitch is drinking my tea like a hummingbird. I'm about to ask Silas to restrain me for my own good.

  “We have our own lawyers, the very best in the nation. Whoever you've spoken to, they can't possibly be better,” the Queen snaps. “If you have nothing more important than this nonsense, I'll ask you to find your way out, this instant.”

  “Oh, Your Majesty, I wouldn't be here if that were the case.” She sets the teacup down loudly. “I've been talking to some doctors in Mexico about Miss Warwick's father.”

  My face goes dark. I'm afraid to check my own pulse and discover proof my blood just froze.

  “As we know, he's very been very sick, but he's on the mend. What's very interesting is the funding.” She turns away from the Queen, staring up at us, tucking her blonde hair back in that almost flirty and completely antagonizing way. “You see, Silas, I know you didn't pull the money out of that little trust stipend you like to use on liquor, parties, and gifts for you women.”

  “I don't have a fucking clue what you're talking about, woman, but you're going to be sued for every word you say. I'm keeping track, starting now.”

  “Sued? Ha!” Her shitty grin only gets bigger. “The only one who's going to be suing anybody will be Suzie Q. Public. Probably led by the Republic Firsters. For all their flaws, they've got some powerful legal contacts. Seriously, Your Highness, what were you thinking? Using a public account on this medical bribe for your whore of a wife?”

  She shakes her head slowly, mockingly sad. I want to slap her stupid face until it's spinning like a merry-go-round.

  “Did you really think you could just snap your fingers and Victor could pull money from wherever, without getting caught? In this case, the royal wildlife fund, which receives several million a year from public tax dollars for wilderness and recreation? It almost worked, I suppose. You probably wouldn't have gotten caught if I hadn't been motivated to follow every single transactions. Thing is, my Prince, I did. And the scandal will kill Her Majesty when I feed it to the press.”

  Silas spins around, turning me with him. He's eyeballing Victor now.

  “Your Highness...I...there wasn't enough in your private account at the time to cover a private, unscheduled trip to Mexico and the extensive treatment Mister Warwick received. Your trust fund wouldn't have disbursed additional money quickly enough when time was of the essence to save his life. For the record, the nature fund in question only receives partial public reimbursement each year. Most of its money comes from admission fees to the parks, and I was certain it wouldn't be a problem. This is, of course, entirely my fault, and I'm deeply sorry.”

  Silas isn't listening anymore. Serena stands up, drifts past us again, looking over her shoulder as she heads for the guards.

  I can't bear to look at the Queen. She's probably as speechless as I am. I'm fucking devastated, hurt and confused, hanging onto him like a helpless monkey.

  “This all could've gone down so differently, once. I really did love working for the palace, just like I used to love you, my Prince. Who knows where life will lead us once you're a pretender to a throne that doesn't exist anymore, but it's a shame we'll never cross paths again. We could've been something beautiful.”

  “Don't let this fucking bitch leave,” Silas growls to the guards.

  I hear several other chairs scrape across the floor. The Queen, Patricia, and Victor are all talking at once. Serena starts screaming the second one of the men in the suits grabs her arm.

  The whole world spins, catapulting my field of vision around and around until I'm
going to be sick.

  I can't do this. I have to get out of here. I need to move my feet out the door beyond all the commotion, before I pass out.

  It's a miracle. I do better than just power walk because something makes me run, without tripping on my heels or my skirt.

  Silas yells after me once. But the guards are too busy with the anarchy all around them to think about catching me, and he never gives the order to chase me down.

  I burst through the doors and run across the hallway. The teahouse is attached to an old hotel, where I crash down on the seats in front of a TV, burying my face to hide my tears.

  Serena has the perfect bait to destroy everything that matters to him.

  And it's all my fault.

  For the first time in weeks, I want to be home. Back in North America, wherever dad is, consoling myself on being a good daughter because I don't know if I can be a good wife.

  I can't be a good Princess.

  God. There's something on TV. I see it through my blurry eyes, a scary scene outside the palace. It's the protests. They're still happening, live.

  Two men tangled together in a crowd, fighting. One wears a black shirt with a big, red X through a gold crown held by the double-headed eagle.

  Another man has a purple lapel pin for the Queen, but it's hard to make out. His shirt looks bloody – probably from the broken nose the protester gives him before the police throw him to the ground, jabbing a taser into his side.

  This kingdom is a mess. And it's only going to get worse when Serena drops the bomb, assuming she makes it out of here without being able to sue royal security for assault.

  Everything suddenly feels radioactive. It's killing me, shattering my heart in a way I've never known.

  I don't want to leave him. Really, I fucking don't, more than I've ever wanted to avoid a thing in my entire life.

  Doesn't matter. I can't ignore the sick truth gnawing at me deep in my soul.

  This kingdom, this family, is going to tear itself apart if I stay a day longer. I won't watch that happen, even if it causes my heart to shrivel up and die.

  I can't be his Princess – with benefits, or without. I can't be anywhere on this island anymore.

  14

  Melting Point (Silas)

  She's gone, gone, gone like a fucking ghost, and it's all my fault.

  Nobody knows where she rushed off to. I couldn't go after her when that bitch, Serena, was still standing there throwing barbs, threatening to ignite a new stroke in grandmom's poor brain with every evil word.

  Her Majesty let her say her piece – her load of total bullshit. Then security escorted her out.

  All while I stood there like a chump. Frozen.

  Paralyzed like I haven't been since facing the damned war, except even mortar blasts never turned me to stone.

  I'm back at the palace in my private office, staring at the bottle of scotch laid out on my desk, next to the crystal glass. My fingers shake so much each time I take a good, long look, imagining how good it'll feel to have the familiar heat in my guts. I grab myself by the wrist, clenching my teeth, snarling like a wild beast.

  “No. No, goddamn it. You're going to find her, and you're not falling back on bad habits. She can't be gone.”

  But she is.

  It doesn't matter if security tells me exactly where she's gone over the next few hours. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach, my woman pushed over the edge by forces she can't control. Leaving me here to my tower, just like some dark Prince in a fucking fairy tale.

  Those stories have happy endings, at least. Once she's outside the island's airspace, my power is limited. I'll never be able to bring her home without causing an international incident. I can't anyway, after Serena turned our whole royal world upside down.

  Drinking won't fix this.

  Hell, not even grabbing that traitorous bitch by the throat and squeezing the life out of her will solve anything at this point.

  Nothing besides feeling Erin's perfect, pink lips under mine is going to make it all right again.

  The drug I need isn't here on this desk, taunting me in the face because it used to solve my problems, and doesn't do shit anymore.

  Growling, my arm swings through the air, pushing the scotch and glass onto the floor, along with an antique clock and several paper weights.

  My raging heart won't stop pounding. I have to make sure I'm not hallucinating when I hear the faint rap at the door.

  “It's open,” I say, sitting back in my seat, adjusting my tie.

  Vic slinks in like a scorned cat, pausing when he sees the mess. “Your Highness – is everything all right?”

  “You know the answer,” I growl. “Send in whoever to clean this up when you're finished. I'm done having my temper tantrum, I'm sure.”

  I motion to the seat across from me. Victor takes it, stepping carefully over the shattered glass.

  My arms press against the desk, and I stare at him, the words I want to say burning my tongue. “You know where she is, don't you? Tell me.”

  “She took off in a private jet this evening, sire. Chartered, rather than royal. The plane was heading for Mexico, I'm told, surely so she can join her father at his treatment center. No one thought to freeze her access to the accounts, seeing as we were otherwise preoccupied...”

  “Yeah, with making sure Her Majesty didn't die on the fucking spot after everything that bitch said.”

  “Indeed.” Vic nods, eerily calm, and pulls an envelope from his pocket.

  My eyes shift down, watching as he slides it over to me. My fists and jaw clench simultaneously before I pick it up, rip it open, and pull out the lengthy typed letter. It only takes me thirty seconds to scan it before I've got the gist – and I don't like it.

  “You're not quitting on me,” I tell him, slamming it back down on the ivory surface.

  “Your Highness, we both know that's the most reasonable course of action. Perhaps my departure will make things easier for the crown, legally speaking, in the matter Miss Hastings plans to bring forward. My mistake provided her with ample fire to burn the palace to the ground. I can't live with that. I've failed you, my Prince, and I fear I'll never recover from these grotesque missteps.”

  I almost snort. The only thing that looks grotesque right now is how pale and dead his face is. It takes balls to hand in your notice at a job that's your whole reason for living.

  “Sire, if you'll permit, I'll do my very best to find someone worthy of this position so this never, ever happens –“

  “Enough.” Pulling the paper off the desk, I tear it neatly in half, crumple both halves, and throw them in the basket at my feet. “You're not going anywhere, Vic. It was an honest mistake. One I forced on you by setting up this arranged marriage. When I told you to help her old man, it wasn't real between us. Not at first. Believe me, man, it's worth more than my own damned crown now.”

  He looks at me and nods, a faint smile lining his lips. “As you wish, Your Highness. I'll serve you faithfully.”

  “Yeah? Then start by finding Serena and bringing her ass back here for a talk.”

  My valet blinks, surprised, shaking his head.

  “You heard me. I want to set this crap right once and for all. Nothing illegal – we've already done plenty of that.” My fists clench, wishing I hadn't passed on the scotch. “I need to talk to her. Alone. I'm going to find out how much it costs to make a deal with the devil.”

  After a moment, Victor nods. “I'll keep it as quiet as I can, sire. A security detail will be going out shortly to find Miss Hastings and bring her here.”

  “Good. I'll meet you both downstairs. Tell me as soon as she's arrived,” I say, watching as he stands up to leave. “And Victor...I want you to speak more freely now, man to man, instead of reminding me I'm your master all the time. We've known each other too many years, worked under the same roof. It's high time you started calling me Silas.”

  “Of course, if that's your wish...Silas.”

  I wait u
ntil the door closes before I smile. He could barely choke out my name.

  Some things in this world just aren't going to change.

  Doesn't matter. I won't let Erin go without bringing the greatest fight of my life.

  I didn't give up booze and pussy to quit my whole reason for getting off them, and starting to live for the first time in my life. I need my woman, my love, my princess. God willing, I'm bringing her home, whatever it takes.

  Several hours later, I'm pacing slowly on the patio overlooking the royal gardens, one more place where this unlikely love poached my heart like a lion ripping into an antelope.

  I don't look behind me until I hear the door open. Then I whip around and see Vic with several guards, standing in front of the bitch herself.

  “Give us some privacy, boys,” I say, motioning Vic to the corner, to stay outside. “Serena, take a seat.”

  She looks at me haughtily, colder than the icy late summer night. I don't see that man-eating smile on her face until she sits down, relishing in the power she thinks she's got.

  “Well, I didn't think my message had actually sunk in. Have you finally come to your senses, Silas – or will we be seeing each other in front of a royal judge next time?”

  “You've schemed this entire thing, and it's all bullshit,” I say, glaring. “I'm not here to play games. I want your terms, short and sweet, so I can forget about this and work on bringing my girl home.”

  Her face sours. Unmistakable jealousy.

  Christ.

  She still wants me at some level. My guts twist in disgust.

  Sure, I've woken up with that what the hell were you thinking? feeling more mornings than I care to count. When I remember fucking the woman sitting across from me with her evil grin and pointy witch heels, it's visceral.

  “You're going after her? After she's ruined you, and the drama she's brought threatens a fifteen hundred year old dynasty?”

  “Yeah. Already told you, Serena, I'm bringing her home. That's what you don't get. She's mine. All your threats, your nastiness, every damned legal decree on the planet – none of it's going to stop me from going after her. They're nothing in the face of love.”