by Aron Lewes
“Literally,” Terra added. “I know Gaia was dying to fit into your slipper!”
“He is handsome.” Cinderella's compliment for her fiance was laughably weak.
“He is,” her stepsister agreed.
“And I don't dislike him.” Cinda's face was crushed against a pillow, so her words were muffled.
“He hasn't really given you a reason to.”
“He's a bit vain, I guess, but other than that... he's tolerable.”
“Your husband should be more than tolerable, though,” Terra shared her opinion. “You might be with him for the rest of your life!”
“I know, I know,” As Cinderella rolled on her back, Fenix could hear the soft crunch of her mattress. “I feel like such a whiner. If nothing else, my life is infinitely better than it used to be.”
With a grin, Terra noted, “I'm sure you don't miss Mama.”
“Oh, I definitely don't miss her,” Cinda agreed. “But you know who I do miss? Fenix.”
Fenix's ears twitched, his nose wiggled, and his coal black eyes doubled in size. He wasn't expecting to hear his name.
“You and Fenix had a connection,” Terra said. “It was a connection you certainly don't have with Sharman.”
“I liked him, Terra. Is that bad?” Cinderella asked. “I know I have a fiance, but... when Fenix kissed me, it was the most incredible moment of my life. I'd never felt that way before. Ever since that day, I've been replaying that moment in my mind, again and again.”
“But he's with Donnabella...” her stepsister whispered.
“I knowwww!” Cinda whimpered. “And it kills me to think of it. Do you think she has sex with him?”
“Oh, I'm sure she does.”
“Then that's terrible!” Cinderella punched her pillow in a rage. “If she forces him into her bed, it's basically rape. It makes me sick to think of it. There has to be some way we can help him, right?”
Fenix closed his eyes. He was glad to know she cared.
“I doubt it.” Terra expressed her sympathies with a sigh. “Anyway... I was visited by Rank today.”
“Rank?” Cinda gasped. Fenix couldn't see her, but he imagined a sneer on Cinderella's nose.
“Yes. He was running around the garden, acting like a fool. It was typical Rank.”
“That's... interesting.” Cinda chuckled at the thought. “You know, I think he might have a crush on you.”
Terra tried to deflect the attention away from herself. “Really? I always thought Rank had a crush on you.”
“You did?”
“Uh huh.” Terra nodded. “Anyway, I know I brought him up, but I'd rather not speak of him. Let's change the subject.”
A moment later, the conversation got a lot more intimate, so Fenix bolted to the door.
“I hate brassieres!” Terra declared. “They're basically a harness for your breasts.”
“Then stop wearing one!”
“I would, but my breasts are too big. Mama always said I'd be flopping around without it.”
When he reached the hallway, Fenix breathed a sigh of relief. By some miracle, he managed to escape without being spotted.
Fenix had time to kill before nightfall, so he spent it in the kitchen. He hovered by the cooks' legs, waiting for them to drop food. When one accidentally dropped a hunk of cheese, Fenix was so excited, he squeaked. He seized the cheese and darted away with his loot.
“I'm not even a huge fan of cheese,” a squeaking Fenix noted as he nibbled the tangy cube. “But when I'm a mouse, I crave the stuff. That's weird.”
Several hours later, rodent Fenix returned to Sharman's room. Fortunately, the prince was asleep, so he was free to search for the skeleton key. Fenix shifted into bat form and flew to Sharman's desk. When he was sitting on the desk's edge, he could see Prince Sharman in his bed. To Fenix's utter amazement, Sharman was sleeping with Cinderella's glass slipper. He cuddled the shoe against his chest as he slept.
“That's... disturbing,” Fenix screeched, then he clapped a wing to his mouth. In bat form, he was louder than a mouse, so he had to be mindful of the noises he made.
Fenix searched the room as noiselessly as he could. He checked a drawer. Nothing. He checked a box. Nothing. He checked another drawer. It was filled with the prince's knickers, but Fenix rooted through it anyway, thinking he might find the skeleton key buried in the prince's unmentionables. Unfortunately, he found nothing.
On a whim, he decided to check Sharman's discarded breeches. He slipped a winged arm into the pocket and rooted around. When his claw brushed against cold metal, Fenix almost shrieked. He found it. As he extracted the skeleton key, which was shaped like a skull, his beady eyes were glowing.
Fenix briefly shifted into human form—just long enough to tidy the room. As soon as everything was in order, he morphed into a mouse and tied the key around his neck. He used one of the prince's shoelaces to tether the key to his body.
When he was ready, he slipped from Sharman's bedroom and scurried away. As he made his way to the dungeon, the key scraped the palace's marble floors. He almost shifted into human form, but he decided it wasn't necessary. The hallways were mostly empty at night, so he was never noticed.
The dungeon's spiral staircase was a challenge, if only because the skeleton key clunked every time he dropped down a step. When he made it to the bottom, he started his search for Rank.
It was late, so most of the prisoners were asleep, and a few were snoring. Rank was no exception. When Fenix found him, his fellow student was sleeping on the dungeon's filthy floor, and he was snoring thunderously.
Fenix decided not to wake him. He slipped through the bars, pattered to Rank's side, and chewed the lace that held the skeleton key. He left the key next to Rank's face and exited through the bars.
Fenix had no free will. As soon as his mission was complete and Rank was rescued, he expected to be pulled back to Donnabella's side.
But he wasn't. He left the dungeon and returned to the guards' quarters, where he shifted back to human form.
“Why?” Fenix whispered as he sank into bed. “Why am I not being pulled back to Donnabella?” For a brief, glorious moment, he wondered if his curse was broken.
No. There was no way. The witch adored him too much. Donnabella was so wildly in love with him, she didn't even punish him for helping Cinderella.
There was only one explanation for it. Donnabella wanted him to stay in the Winter Palace.
But why?
Gloriosa woke up, stretched, yawned, wiggled her toes—and spotted a glint of metal on the floor. With swelling eyes, she turned to Rank, who was on his back and still asleep. His snoring was so loud, Gloriosa swore the cell walls shook with each breath he took.
“Wake up, Rank!” Gloriosa yelled. “Wake up! Goodness... he probably can't hear me over all of this snoring.”
When her shouting didn't wake him, Gloriosa kicked his arm. Still, he didn't stir. With a frustrated grunt, she flew up to his chest, ran along his neck, and scrambled up to his cheek.
Crouching as close to his ear as she possibly could, the little witch shrilled, “Wake... up!”
“Nomnommmngffr,” Rank mumbled inaudibly.
“Why are you so impossible to wake? You're worse than a slumbering bear, I swear!” As Gloriosa groused, she stomped on his cheek. Rank's lips were ripped apart by a yawn, and Gloriosa, who was standing on his face, lost her balance. As the yawn intensified, she almost toppled into Rank's gaping mouth.
Rank opened one eye. A few seconds later, the second eye popped open. “Good morning, Gloriosa,” he greeted her with a sniff. “How are you?”
“Frustrated!” Gloriosa shrilled. “Do you have any idea how impossible it is to wake you?”'
“Maybe it wouldn't be so impossible if you weren't such a tiny little thing?” Rank suggested. “Just a thought.”
“You have goop in your eye,” Gloriosa told him. “Quite a lot of it, actually. It's nearly the size of my fist. Can you remove it? It's disgust
ing.”
Rank dragged a hand along his face. “It's an eye bogie,” he said. “Everyone gets 'em, don't they? Why were you trying to wake me up, anyway?”
Gloriosa gasped. It was such a struggle to rouse him, she nearly forgot her purpose. “Look!” She ran down to Rank's chin and pointed at the lump of metal on the ground. “It's a key!”
“Will you stop crawling all over my face, love? It's real annoying.” Rank lightly pinched Gloriosa's shirt and transported her to the floor.
“Did you hear me, Rank?” Gloriosa tried again. “It's a key!”
“I know. I see it.” Rank sat up, scooped up the key, and studied the lace that was attached to it. “What's this?” He showed her the shoelace.
“I haven't the slightest idea,” his tiny companion replied. “Stop wasting time, though. See if it opens the door!'
“I will. Give me a moment.” As Rank yawned again, his arms stretched high above his head. When his back cracked, he looked satisfied. “Alright. I'm ready.”
Rank slipped the skeleton key into the lock. When the cell door opened with a creak, Gloriosa's eyes lit up.
“It worked!” she gasped. “Unbelievable! Now... put me in your pocket, and let's get out of here!”
“Alright.” Rank heeded her command with a roll of his eyes. “We have to be careful, though. I ain't free yet, am I? There are probably guards patrolling the halls.”
To Rank's surprise, the dungeon's hallways were practically deserted. In the earliest hours of the morning, only a few guards were on patrol. In fact, Rank only spotted one guard, and he was sleeping at his desk.
“Knock him out,” Gloriosa hissed, which earned her a smirk from Rank. “Bash his head!”
“My god, you're brutal,” Rank whispered to her. “You have no mercy for anyone. I have a better idea...”
In the corner of the room, near a sign that read lost and found, there was a black walking stick with a fancy gold tip. Rank's wand. He snatched it from the floor, kissed it, and gave it a twirl.
“You really love that thing, don't you?” Gloriosa quietly observed.
“Of course. And why shouldn't I? Me wand's my best friend.” Rank pointed his wand at the snoozing guard and whispered, “somno,” which sent him into a deeper sleep.
“If your wand is your best friend, that's sad.” From the depths of his pocket, Gloriosa was shaking her head. “You need more friends, Rank.”
“You're my friend,” Rank said. “Fenix is my friend... sort of.”
“And who else?”
“Uhh...” Rank used his wand to scratch his head. “Terra?”
“Terra doesn't like you. Try again.”
“Uhhh...” Rank's mind was depressingly devoid of names. “I used to have mates, alright? They were the ones that called me Rank. When I started studying with Donnabella, I didn't have much free time, and we drifted apart.”
“Perhaps you should get in contact with them again? You need to expand your social circle, Rank. Everyone needs friends.”
“Are you trying to make me feel bad?” As he spoke, Rank started to remove the sleeping guard's clothes. “If you keep talking about how lonely I am, you'll make me cry.”
“Pfft. You won't cry!” When she peeked out of Rank's pocket and saw him undressing the guard, she gasped, “What are you doing?”
“I'm takin' his clothes, innit?” He tugged off the guard's breeches and slapped them on the desk. “Don't worry, love. I'm not taking his knickers.”
“For goodness sake, give me some warning next time!” Gloriosa snapped.
“Alright. I'll give you a warning right now.” Rank carefully removed the shrunken witch from the pocket of his shirt and placed her on the table. “Now I'm taking off my clothes.”
As Rank ripped his shirt over his head, Gloriosa clapped a hand over her eyes. “Your naked body is something I most definitely don't want to see.”
“Are you sure?” Rank winked at her, even though her eyes were hidden. “I don't think my body's so bad.”
“Perhaps not. But I wouldn't know. I'm not attracted to men.”
“Really?” Rank's eyebrows jumped to his forehead. “I wasn't expecting that.”
“It's true,” said Gloriosa, whose eyes were still hidden as Rank hopped out of his trousers. “I had a ninety-year relationship with a lovely witch named Pulsatilla. Sadly, she passed away last year.”
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Rank mumbled his condolences. “Ninety years, though? Damn, that's a long time. How old are you, anyway?” Gloriosa's hair was as white as snow, and she had a few wrinkles, but she didn't look ancient.
“I'm one hundred and eighty, give or take a few years. To be honest, I got tired of counting. Donnabella's even older, I believe. As you can tell, she's much better at staving off the signs of aging.”
While Gloriosa was talking, Rank changed into the soldier's uniform. When he was fully dressed, he rummaged through lost and found in search of a suitable hat. “You can open your eyes now,” he told her.
Gloriosa's hand slowly fell away from her eyes. “What are you looking for?”
Rank found a plaid top hat in the depths of the treasure trove. It was ragged, well-worn, and it suited his style. As he slammed the hat on his head, he replied, “This. I was looking for this.”
“For a dirty, old hat?” Gloriosa wrinkled her minuscule nose. “And you're pairing it with the guard's uniform? Aren't you worried that it'll make you stand out more?”
“Nah. Not really.” Without warning, Rank scooped her up and dropped her into his uniform's front pocket. “Are you ready to go?”
Rank sprinted up the spiral staircase, taking two steps at a time. As soon as he was out of the dungeon, he grinned. His long wand was tucked beneath his arm, his hat was slightly crooked, and he walked with a swagger.
“Can you try to walk more normally?” Gloriosa criticized him.
Her critique had no effect on Rank's grin. “What's wrong with my walk?”
“It's too... springy,” Gloriosa said. “Most guards look a little bit stiff.”
“Stiff?” Rank sputtered at the word. “Stiff, stuffy guards are no fun. Rank will be a fun guard.” The mage swung his wand and practically skipped down the hall.
“Please try to be normal!” the witch begged him. “Look... there's someone heading in our direction, Rank! They're at the end of the hall. Don't look suspicious, alright? For the love of God, be normal.”
When he realized the approaching stranger was on crutches, Rank's grin expanded. “Terra!” he cried out. The hallway's flickering torches provided very little light. He could only see her silhouette, but he assumed it was her. “Beautiful Terra, how have you been?”
“Rank?” Terra gasped. As she ambled toward him, he could see the shock in her eyes. “Rank, how are you out of the dungeon?”
He answered with a shrug. “Dunno.”
“You don't know?” Terra's brow furrowed at his answer. “How can you not know?”
“I don't know how I don't know.” She looked frustrated by his reply, but Rank never stopped smiling. “Why are you awake? Isn't it early morning?”
“It is. It's nearly four o'clock,” Terra told him. “Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd wander around for a bit.”
“Where's your room?” As he waited for her answer, Rank readjusted his crooked hat.
“It's over there, three doors down. But... why are you asking?”
Rank shuffled down the hall and paused by Terra's door. “This one?”
“Yes. That one.”
Rank opened the door, sashayed into Terra's room, and collapsed on her bed. When she followed him in, her blue eyes were thunderous.
“Rank!” Terra gasped. “What are you doing?”
“I'm resting in your room.” Rank folded his hands beneath his head. “Would that be alright?”
“No, it's not alright!” Terra grabbed the leg of Rank's breeches and ineffectually tried to tug him out of bed.
“You'
ll let me hide out in here, won't you?” Rank moved his head to Terra's pillow. “Ooo, your pillow's comfy. This entire bed is comfy, comfy, comfy. I'm really loving it.”
“Rank!” Terra gently rapped his leg with one of her crutches. “Are you listening to me? You can't stay here!”
“Are these silk sheets?” Rank ran the soft blanket along his cheek. “Oooo. It is silk sheets! I've got to give Princey some credit. The man doesn't scrimp on comfort.”
“R-a-a-a-ank!” As she whined his name, Terra sat on the end of her bed, near Rank's feet. “Why do you think you can waltz in here and claim my room for yourself?”
“Because I need a place to hide out, and you're my friend.”
“I'm your... friend?” Judging from her raised eyebrow, Terra was reluctant to accept the label.
“Aye. You are.” Rank suddenly sat up. “You have lovely blue eyes, you know. They're like oceans, but better.”
“Oh, really?” Her eyebrow drifted higher. “And... do you think a compliment is going to change my mind about this?”
Rank shrugged. “Maybe.”
“You think I'll let you stay in my room because you said my eyes were pretty?”
Rank shrugged again. This time, he replied, “Hopefully.”
Rank's smile was so wide, it was difficult—if not impossible—to disappoint him. With a roll of her eyes, Terra capsized. “Very well... you can stay. But I have rules!”
“Alright.”
“First...” Terra began, “You can't sleep in my bed!”
Rank suddenly rolled out of Terra's bed and landed facedown on her rug. Gloriosa squeaked when he dropped. Still facing the floor, he said, “Alright.”
Terra's eyes rolled at his strangeness. When she was with Rank, her eyes were always rolling. “You have to behave yourself!” she said. “Don't cast magic!”
“Alright,” Rank's reply was mumbled to the floor.
“Roll over! It's weird to talk to your backside!”
Rank flipped over and smiled at her. For the fourth time in a row, he said, “Alright.”
“Keep your hands to yourself,” Terra coached him. “Don't touch my stuff, and don't do anything... weird.”
Rank could barely hear Gloriosa whispering in his pocket, “Don't do anything weird? You're really going to struggle with that one.”