Queen Helena had been the first queen. She died while giving birth to Snow. That much I knew. “She threw away a doll her dead mother gave her? That makes it even worse. Snow doesn’t deserve Eve. She’s a horrible girl.”
Merna scrunched her face and pinched my arm. “Don’t you ever speak ill of the princess again, especially not in her own palace. You don’t even know her. Snow is kind and gentle and gracious. The opposite of how you’re behaving right now. Don’t you ever say another bad thing about her. These walls have ears.”
There was nothing kind and gracious about an ingrate who gave toys away and then took them back.
When Merna let go of me, I rubbed my arm where the skin was sore and red, but my heart was really the thing that had been wounded. Hearing Merna speak so nicely of another little girl when I wanted her to only love me broke my heart. Watching her take Eve back to that spoiled brat, made it even worse.
Two weeks later I was granted a “privilege”. Merna’s friend, Cassia, who had been promoted to head of the kitchen, allowed me to walk through the palace with her to deliver baskets of cherries to the servants who would be using them to create centerpieces for the royal dinner table.
As we strode across the first floor, I was in awe of the beauty surrounding me. Magnificent tiled floors, pillars decorated with gold and silver, ceilings so high they seemed to reach the sky. Cassia had warned me to not say a word, that we weren’t to be seen or heard, but I couldn’t have spoken if I wanted to.
As we passed a breath-taking winding staircase, something caught my eye. Eve. She lay sprawled across the bottom step, alone and abandoned. Her beautiful red dress was torn and her gorgeous black curls had been mercilessly chopped off. Even after all that abuse, she was carelessly tossed to the side like yesterday’s trash.
I wanted to hug Eve and tell her that everything was going to be all right. I wanted to take her back to my room and fix her up as best I could, but I knew Cassia wouldn’t allow it. That was how Snow treated the doll given to her by her mother? She hadn’t wanted Eve back because she was a gift from her mother. She’d only wanted her back so I couldn’t have her. That was the day I came to hate Snow White.
3
One day I was kicked out of the kitchen. The staff was getting ready for a very important royal dinner. The queen and king of a neighboring kingdom were coming to visit and Cassia claimed I was in the way and moving much too slowly. She thought banishing me from the kitchen for the day was some sort of punishment, but it wasn’t. Everyone was so busy and flustered, I could have used a break from them anyway. Cassia ordered me to make myself busy working in the garden instead.
“To the garden, where you can join the rest of the annoying insects.”
I disobeyed her. Since I wasn’t working, I went to my quarters and changed out of my servant’s uniform and into one of Snow’s old dresses that had been handed down to me. It was dark green with a large golden bow that tied at the waist. I slid my feet into an old pair of her black leather shoes and crept from the servant’s quarters to the first floor of the palace with my doll, Anastasia. Merna had brought her for me at the marketplace, so I didn’t have to worry about that awful Snow taking her back. Anastasia wasn’t as special as Eve, but she would do.
I knew I wasn’t supposed to be there, but I didn’t care. I crawled underneath a beautiful oak table covered with a golden tablecloth that hid me from view. There I played with Anastasia, away from all the worries of the royal dinner preparation.
Suddenly a corner of the table cloth lifted and someone peered at me. A girl’s face that looked nothing like mine. Her skin was a flawless creamy white like milk, while mine was tanned and ashen from a year of living in the furnace room. No matter how often I bathed, it seemed as though the ash had been baked into my skin. Merna had promised me that it would go away some day but I wasn’t so sure about that.
While my eyes were as green as envy, hers were as dark and mysterious as the night the witch came for Father and me. My straw-colored hair was long, and unruly, while her ebony locks were short and combed perfectly into place, surrounding her face like a black frame. My lips were pink, while hers were the reddest I’d ever seen, like apples. For the first time in my life I was seeing Princess Snow White up close and personal. I’d always wanted to believe that the ravings about her perfect looks were exaggerated, but she was even more beautiful than everyone had claimed.
I remembered what she had done to Eve. I hate you, I wanted to say, but I knew that was no way to speak to a princess, so I sat, clutching Anastasia tightly, waiting for her to say something. Would she tell on me because I was out of the confines of the servant’s quarters? Probably. Anyone who would do what she’d done to Eve was capable of anything.
“That’s my dress,” she said finally.
“Yes,” I replied, waiting for her to rip it off me.
She stared at me for a moment. “It looks pretty on you. The green matches your eyes.”
Now that, I hadn’t been expecting. “Oh.”
“How old are you?”
“Eight,” I replied.
Snow grinned. “Good. I’m six.” Even though I was two years older, we were about the same size.
Maybe Snow wasn’t so bad. Just when I was thinking of something nice to say to her, she reached out and whacked my arm. Very unprincess-like behavior. She dropped the corner of the table cloth and raced away without bothering to apologize.
I remained underneath the table, stunned, wondering what I had done to earn her abuse. A moment later, the corner of the table cloth lifted again and she reappeared. “I tagged you, silly. That means you’re it and you have to chase me.”
I understood. I had played that game with other children in my village before I’d come to the palace. Snow disappeared again, but this time I chased after her.
Giggling, she ran through the dining room, through one of the many great sitting areas, and then up the giant winding staircase. I thought I was a fast runner, but Snow was a lot faster than she looked. At the top of the staircase, she made a quick left. I followed her down a long hallway covered with a beautiful carpet. My feet almost slipped on the sleekness.
Just as I had almost caught up to Snow, a door opened and a beautiful woman stepped out.
“Snow,” she said in a low tone.
I knew exactly who she was. No one else would be as beautiful or dressed as extravagantly. Queen Angeline. I had never seen her in person either. I had, however, heard her screaming at the staff at the top of her lungs anytime something wasn’t to her liking. At least ten times she’d ordered for the entire staff to be fired and executed but the King always rejected that request.
Snow froze and looked up at her stepmother. “Hello, Stepmother.”
The Queen’s icy glaze fell on me. “Whatever do you think you’re doing?” Although she watched me, we both knew that question was meant for Snow. I wasn’t worthy enough to be addressed directly by the Queen.
“W-we were just playing, Stepmother.”
I met the Queen’s gaze and then looked away. Although she looked absolutely miserable, her beauty was undeniable. She looked as if she could be Snow’s real mother. She had the same milky skin and dark features. She wore a tight blue gown that hugged her perfect body in all the right places.
She made an ugly face at Snow. “Just playing. We’re hosting a royal dinner in a few hours and you’re just playing. Snow, I don’t expect her to know any better, but I expect you to. What is her name?”
Snow shrugged and turned to me.
“Ella,” I whispered. “Cinderella.”
The queen sneered. “Of course. And why is she wearing a dress designed for a princess?”
Snow shrugged again. “I guess because it was removed from my closet. I’d already worn it twice.”
The queen rolled her eyes and clapped her hands. “Rafael!”
Within seconds a tall man in an impeccable black suit rounded the corner. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“
Please take this urchin back where she belongs and see to it that she stays in her place. No more princess clothes for her. Apparently wearing them makes her think she can have full reign of the palace. I expect her to be given the appropriate punishment by whoever’s in charge down there.”
Rafael placed his hands on my shoulders. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Just as we turned to head down the hallway, the queen yanked Snow by her arm way too hard. “What the devil were you thinking?”
Snow squirmed under her stepmother’s grip. “Well, there’s never any other children for me to play with.”
“She is not a child, she’s a servant,” the queen hissed. The door slammed shut behind them.
Without a word, Rafael delivered me to Cassia who glared at me firmly. After a long lecture about how I could have gotten the entire staff in trouble, Cassia took a paddle to my backside.
“Lucky for all of us Queen Angeline is preoccupied with this royal dinner coming off perfectly. Stay in your place, child. Wearing a princess’ discarded dress doesn’t make you a princess.”
Normally that would have been a hurtful blow. It would have made me jealous. It would have made me hate Snow, but something had changed. I no longer hated Snow. I even felt a little sorry for her. I did however hate that horrible queen. The way she looked at me. The way she’d yanked Snow away. There was something very wrong about her that I couldn’t put my finger on.
4
I had learned my lesson and promised Merna I would never again leave the servant’s area without permission. That day I hadn’t been thinking at all, much like Snow. I had been so excited about seeing another child and running through the palace wild and carefree like I had done when I lived with Father. I’d only wanted to play.
One night a young man in a first-floor servant’s uniform delivered a message to Merna. The following day I was to report to the first floor. My stomach dropped. Word of me playing with Snow must have just reached the king after all the hoopla of the royal dinner and now he was going to give me a real punishment that not even Merna could protect me from.
Merna paled and swallowed hard. “Why? Why does the king request a simple servant girl? What does he need from her?”
Probably to whip me for contaminating his precious daughter.
The servant looked down on me gravely. “I don’t know, missus. I’m only delivering the message. She will just have to see in the morning.”
That night I didn’t sleep a wink.
When morning came, Merna made me as pretty as she could. “Remember, my love, no mouthing off.” She clipped a floppy, pink bow to the side of my head. “He is the king and he is right no matter what. Apologize for breaking the rules and tell him it will never happen again. Be nice, Ella. As nice as you can be. This is very, very important.”
I nodded, giving Merna my promise. I didn’t want to be in trouble and the last thing I wanted was to cause trouble for her. When the king’s assistant came for me, I paused in the doorway and looked back at Merna. She gave me a sad smile. “Everything is going to be okay.” She didn’t really believe that. I didn’t either.
The young boy led me to a sitting room and then left me alone standing in the entrance. A man sat on a lounge chair reading a book. His face was long and stately with bushy black hair and flaring nostrils. I’d seen plenty of portraits of him on the first floor of the palace. However, this man didn’t wear a crown or the royal robes. He wore a well-made shirt with buttons going down the front and a pair of dark blue pants.
I stood there, balling up the hem of my dress in my shaky hands, waiting to be noticed. After what seemed like forever, he looked up, placed his book to the side and waved me inside. “Cinderella, please come in and have a seat.”
I stood frozen for a minute. He didn’t look or sound angry at all. He seemed happy to see me.
I climbed into a beautiful chair across from him and crossed my legs at the ankles, the way Merna had taught me. The chair was made from red velvet and the softest thing my skin had ever touched. On the golden table between us lay a silver platter covered with gingerbread cookies. Those cookies were delicious. I knew because I helped make them several times a week. Sometimes Cassia would let me eat the leftover batter or the crumbs that stuck to the baking tins.
The king gestured to the plate. “Please, help yourself.”
As daintily as I could manage, I reached over and grabbed a cookie. I bit into the sweet treat and sank into my seat, wondering why a person would give cookies to someone before punishing them. Was this some sort of trap? Had the cookies been poisoned?
The king reached for something on the table behind him and handed it to me. Anastasia. I left her under the table the day I’d played with Snow and had come to terms with the fact that she was gone forever. I took her with my cookie-free hand and rested her on my lap. A button that was missing on her dress had been replaced. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“You are very welcome.” The king patted the book beside him. “I hear you had a meeting with my little Snow the other day.”
I nodded and swallowed a mouthful of cookie because I wasn’t sure how to respond.
The king flashed a smile that melted all my fears away. “Cinderella, my daughter has taken a liking to you. She’s been talking about you nonstop. She often complains about not having anyone her age to play with. Snow is very lonely. I will do anything to make her happy so I’m going to change that. A few times a week, I’m going to have you brought onto the upper floors of the palace to spend time with Snow. I’m sure that would make her unbelievably happy.”
My jaw dropped at his words. Not only was I not being punished for playing with the princess, but he wanted me to do it again and again and again—me, a servant girl playing with royalty. The king kept talking, but I’d missed what he said because I had been lost in my own thoughts. I imagined a princess begging to play with me and what it would feel like if I still had a father who would do anything to make me happy. “Would you like that, Cinderella?”
I nodded so hard the bow Merna had pinned in my hair almost came loose. “Oh, yes, Your Majesty. I would like that a lot.”
He clasped his hands together. “Wonderful. We will start tomorrow. Snow will be so happy.”
I finished my cookie while the king talked to me about things I didn’t understand, but I nodded anyway. He was a kind and fair man and I wondered how someone like him had chosen someone as wicked as Queen Angeline for a wife. I pushed my thoughts of her aside thinking about how wonderful my life had just become.
Playing with Snow became the best part of my life. Entertaining the princess gave me an escape from servitude to spend a few hours here and there experiencing the life of luxury. Snow and I played in her room with her priceless dolls, tea sets made of fine China, and all sorts of wonderful trinkets only a princess would own. We spent lots of time outside which was something I rarely got to do. There was nothing like fresh air. We took turns chasing each other through the palace gardens and courtyards. Sometimes I had lunch with her and enjoyed some of the food I often helped prepare. Fine sandwiches cut into perfect squares; the sweetest jams and preserves; fruit so fresh and juicy that you had to close your eyes when you bit into them. Sometimes we would even pretend that I was the princess and Snow was the servant girl who had been brought in to play with me. Snow never minded. She said she wanted to know what it was like to be a servant. I told her she was stupid. She had the perfect life. What could be better than being a princess?
I loved every minute of it although Merna wasn’t too excited. She said the arrangement was something bad waiting to happen. I thought she might be jealous because she never got a break from being a servant.
One night I asked Merna, “How come some people were born princesses and some people were born servants?” Really, the whole thing seemed unfair to me. Why were some people destined to live the good life but not the rest of us?
Merna pressed her lips together which meant she didn’t like my question. �
�That is life. You get the one you’re dealt and you endure it as best you can. There’s no use in questioning it. I was worried this would happen.”
“Worried what would happen?” I asked.
“That you would get spoiled by experiencing small tastes of the princess’ life and no longer be content with your own.”
I scrunched my face at her. “Why should I be content with it? There’s nothing good about being a servant. One day I’m going to be a queen and I’m going to have this life.”
Merna took a brush and ran it roughly through my hair as I prepared for bed. “Ella, that’s not how it works. You don’t just become queen. Please stop talking nonsense.”
“But Queen Angeline wasn’t born into royalty and she became queen. Snow told me herself. If Queen Angeline can do it, why can’t I?”
Merna yanked my hair back and spoke into my ear between clenched teeth. “You don’t concern yourself with the queen or how she got where she is. Nothing good will come of it. You are not Queen Angeline and you never will be. We are done talking about this.”
I wasn’t sure what Merna meant by that and I didn’t care. I spent my days looking forward to spending time with Snow and my nights dreaming about palaces, fancy clothes, priceless jewels, and servants who lived to fulfill my needs. Snow had everything a girl could imagine and I wanted nothing more than to know what that felt like.
This was the way it went for the next four years. We grew into best friends and then even considered ourselves sisters. At the ages of ten and twelve, we no longer chased each other through the palace or played hide and seek in the garden. Snow had taken a liking to painting, reading, and long walks in the neighboring forests so that’s what we did. I couldn’t imagine life without Snow. Some nights she would have her personal servant sneak me out of my quarters and we would talk in her room until she fell asleep. I remembered one night, Snow was on the verge of tears.
Forever Ella: The Everly Girls Book 2 Page 2