“I hate her. I hate her so much and she hates me. I wish she would just go away.”
That wasn’t the first time she had complained about Queen Angeline and how difficult she made her life. It was hard for me to believe a princess with such a charmed life could have problems, but Snow did. I lay on the pillow beside her and stroked her cheek. Like all the other times, I only listened. There was really no advice I could give her. I had no experience with awful stepmothers.
“She’s always so nice when Father is around but then when he leaves, she’s horrible to me. She says I need to stop being a baby and playing so much. If I’m going to be queen one day, she says I must spend more time with her learning about the duties of the queen and more time traveling, learning about the world and how it works.”
Snow was only ten, I thought she had plenty of time for that. It would be at least six years before princes came around to court her.
Snow took my hand and squeezed it. “The worst part was that she had all my mother’s portraits removed from the palace. She wouldn’t even let me keep one. She’s wanted to do it for some time but Father kept telling her no. The last time he finally relented. I don’t know what she did to make him change his mind. I don’t want to know.”
I squeezed her hand back. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“I wish my mother was still alive.”
“So do I.”
Snow and I had spent a great deal of time talking about our mothers during our many walks. My mother died of the Red Fever when I was three. The ailment had almost taken me too but Father got a hold of some medication just in time. I thought about how my life would be completely different if my mother were still here. Maybe I wouldn’t have ended up spending the better part of my childhood living in a furnace room and being a servant.
The thought of our mothers brought back a memory. “Snow, why did you destroy Eve?” If she wished her mother were still alive, why would she desecrate a present she had given her.
She frowned. “Why did I destroy who?”
“Eve. That’s what I named the doll your mother had made for you before you were even born. You gave her to me and then took her back. One day I spotted her lying on the steps completely ruined.”
Snow blushed and closed her eyes. “Oh, that. I know it’s silly, but sometimes I would get mad at my mother for leaving me behind and I’d take it out on the doll. It’s ridiculous because it’s not her fault. She didn’t want to die, but I used to get angry. I couldn’t help it.”
I understood because sometimes I got angry too. At my mother for not being strong enough to fight the fever and at my father for not outrunning the witch. I immediately felt guilty for thinking Snow was a monster.
Snow looked me in the eyes. There was a sadness there I had never seen before. Snow was always sunshine. She had a way of finding the good in everything.
I pushed a soft lock of hair behind her ear. “Are you okay, Snow?”
“I hate it here . . . in this palace.”
That to me was unfathomable. Snow had the life every little girl dreamed of. Who didn’t want to be a princess? I would have traded places with her in a hot second. “You don’t really hate it here. You’re just angry right now. You’ll feel differently in the morning.”
Snow shook her head. “It’s not just right now. It’s all the time, Ella. If it weren’t for you, I would have run away a long time ago. The days I get to spend with you are the only good ones.”
She closed her eyes and I lay there beside her until she had fallen into a deep sleep. After that, I went back to my proper place—the servant’s quarters.
That was the last nighttime conversation I had with Snow. Whatever her stepmother told her to turn her against me must have worked. We went from hanging out three to four times a week to one weekly visit and then eventually none. Snow was growing up so she had more lessons to take. She spent more time being groomed by that awful queen which was not a good thing. I pictured Queen Angeline turning sweet Snow into a wicked soul like herself. Snow spent more time traveling with her father, learning about the world.
When she did have free time, she chose to spend it with visiting princesses or girls from high-ranking families in the kingdom. I knew this because it was my job to prepare their tea and refreshments. Merna told me to forget about Snow because our friendship was over. She said a princess who was becoming a woman had no use for a servant girl now that her world was expanding beyond the palace. I took Merna’s advice, and even though it was one of the hardest things I had ever done, I forgot about Snow, the girl I had once called my sister.
5
When I was seventeen, Abigail, the head of the household staff stormed into the kitchen with her bony arms flailing all over the place. “Quick! I need a chambermaid for the princess. The last girl is with child and has been dismissed. I need someone young and able who can keep up with the princess’ demanding schedule and all her needs.”
Cassia dumped a handful of carrots into a boiling pot. “I’m sorry, Abigail, but we’re swamped here. I need every one of my girls.”
Abigail ignored her and strolled slowly through the kitchen scanning her eyes over each woman as she worked. I ducked my head, quickly chopping the potatoes Adella had already peeled. Silently, I prayed that Abigail wouldn’t choose me. I wanted nothing more to do with Snow.
Abigail stopped beside me, resting her hands on her slender hips. “How about this one? What is your name, girl?”
Giving no response, I continued to work even though she was clearly speaking to me.
Abigail snapped her fingers impatiently. “Speak up, girl!”
I lifted my head to meet her gaze. “Cinderella.”
Abigail was already sweating from the miserable kitchen heat. She pushed her stringy hair back from her moist forehead and looked me up and down before raising her crooked nose in the air. “Well, Cinderella, I believe you would be a nice fit for Princess Snow. You shall report to the princess’ chambers within the hour.”
All eyes were on me and I felt the same shame I had once felt when my playdates with Snow stopped and she discarded me like an old shoe. It might have been my imagination, but I thought everyone was secretly saying, “I told you so.” A woman who worked in the laundry room bumped me with her hip one day on purpose. “You thought you were so special getting to socialize with the princess, didn’t you? Don’t forget, you’re no better than the rest of us, Cinder Girl.”
The other servants must have been thinking the same thing but none had been cruel enough to say it. They understood that being forgotten and ignored was punishment enough.
I straightened my shoulders. “Thank you for the offer, but I’d rather not.”
Abigail clapped her hands together. “Great then. I will have the proper uniform sent down to your quarters. Remember, you are to report to the princess within the hour. Be grateful, young lady. This is a wonderful promotion.”
Cassia turned from where she had been stirring a pot on the stove. “Oh, you don’t want her. Cinderella is the laziest and the slowest on my staff.”
I appreciated what Cassia was trying to do, but part of me wondered if she were telling the truth.
Abigail threw her a sharp look. “I’m sure she will suit the princess just fine. She has no choice.” She turned back to me. “I will see you upstairs soon.”
The kitchen was spinning. It had been five years since I’d last spoken to Snow. It had taken me almost a year to accept that she would never send for me again and that our sisterhood was over. I never wanted to see or speak to her again and now I had to be her personal chambermaid?
Abigail had already stalked away from the kitchen so there was nothing more to be said. I looked around me as the other ladies slowly went back to work. Cassia gave me a tight smile. “Well, you heard Abigail. You are hereby released from your kitchen duties. Go prepare yourself for the princess. Wash your face. Run a brush through your hair. I’ll let Merna know when she gets back from the marketpla
ce.”
I desperately wanted Merna right then. She would know exactly what to say to help get me through this but I would have to do it alone. I did just as Cassia said and made myself look as presentable as possible. I scrubbed my face with lilac soap and brushed every tangle from my hair. I slipped into the uniform that had been delivered to me. The thing was hideous but it was a step up from the potato sacks we had to wear in the kitchen.
When my hour was almost up, Abigail came for me. I moved swiftly behind her, struggling to keep up as she rattled off my new job description. “You will be responsible for everything the princess needs. You will keep her bedroom, wardrobe room, and leisure room impeccable at all times. Anything she needs done or fetched you will do it. No questions asked. Whatever she needs.”
How many times was she going to say that? I got it. Everything was about Snow and keeping her happy.
Abigail paused at the top of the staircase and whispered to me. “I must warn you, the princess is in a foul mood today. Don’t take it personally.”
A foul mood? Since when did Snow have those? Was she really that different now?
We stopped outside the door to Snow’s bedroom. I ran my shaky hands down the sides of my uniform to smooth it out. Abigail rapped her knuckles against the door’s pristine white finish.
“Come in,” a voice called from the other side. She sounded so different. So much more mature.
Abigail pushed the door in and I followed her inside. Snow’s bedroom had been completely redecorated since the last time I’d seen it. Before it had been covered with pink, frilly ruffles, and golden accents. Now the room was a light blue like the sky with silver accents. All her childish things had been put away. There were no toys or dolls in sight. Only books, globes, bottles of perfume, and other things designed for vanity. I had to remind myself that Snow was fifteen now. Practically an adult.
She sat at her desk with her back turned to us, scribbling something with her quill. I couldn’t see her face, but her shoulder-length hair was as black and lustrous as always.
“Princess Snow,” Abigail began, “I have your new chambermaid. I have made her aware of your expectations. Just tell her what you need her to do. Her name is Cinderella.”
I needed no introduction. Snow already knew who I was. I waited for her to make a mention of the obvious, but she only kept writing. “Thank you, Abigail. That will be all.”
Abigail gave me a stern nod, closing the door behind her, leaving me and Snow alone for the first time in five years.
I stood awkwardly by the door with my hands clasped in front of me, waiting for Snow to greet me. I wasn’t expecting a hug or anything but at least a hello after all that time. For a full minute, only silence hung between us as she scribbled away.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I cleared my throat. “It’s good to see you again, Snow. It’s been a long time.”
She dipped her quill in the ink and turned to me. I didn’t think it was possible, but Snow had grown to be even more beautiful throughout the years. “Excuse me? Oh, you’re still here. What was your name again?”
I couldn’t believe it. She didn’t remember me. “Snow, it’s me. Ella.”
She pressed her perfect red lips together. “Right, Ella. I’m working on something important and you just standing there is very distracting. Can you work in the wardrobe room for a while while I work on this?”
“But I—”
“Thank you, Eleanor.”
Stunned, I backed away from her and moved toward the door. She was speaking to me as if I were some common stranger because that’s exactly what I was to her. How could she have forgotten about the years we’d spent being friends and sisters? I know I looked a little different now that I was grown up, but I didn’t look that different and how could she have forgotten my name? It was as if she’d completely wiped me from her memory.
I took my wounded heart and made my way to her wardrobe room. I knew it very well. The two of us had spent hours in it dressing up in her fancy clothes. The room had even more things in it than I remembered. There were rows and rows of floor-length gowns in every shade and hue imaginable now that Snow was attending grown-up balls. Everything was in perfect order but I pretended to straighten the dresses anyway. My mind was elsewhere as I wondered how our friendship could have meant so little to her and yet so much to me. Merna was right. I should have never gotten so close to her in the first place.
6
I served Snow for two months and she showed no signs of remembering me even though I spent a great deal of time in her presence every day. Each morning I told myself that would be the day something clicked in her pompous little head and she would apologize for her bad memory and recall that once she had told me I was the only thing that made her life bearable in the palace.
One sunny morning as I brushed her raven hair with the silver brush that had belonged to her mother, she stared at her lovely face in the mirror. “What kind of name is Cinderella, anyway?”
Seriously? I had told her the story of how I got my name when we first met. I told her again. Once I was done, she squinted, and for a moment I thought the memories might be coming together. Then she went on talking about a dinner she was preparing for. I tried to be gentle as I continued to brush her hair, but it was a task. There were few things worse than the feeling of being forgotten by someone you had once loved.
When I was alone cleaning Snow’s chambers, I was reminded of how I once had access to all her beautiful things. I’d never had pretty things of my own and I probably never would. The best things I owned had been hand-me-downs from Snow. Many times, I would try on her priceless jewelry and then return the pieces to her crystal jewelry box once I was done or any time I heard her approaching. A diamond ring. A ruby bracelet. It was no big deal.
One day I tried on a pair of beautiful pearl earrings. They were small and simple, yet so elegant. Once my duties were done for the night and I returned to my quarters, I realized I was still wearing the earrings. Snow had so many things and would never miss them so I wasn’t too worried. I hid them in the pocket of my smock so I could return the earrings first thing the following morning.
When morning came and I reported to the princess’ bedroom, I was greeted with Snow shrieking bloody murder at the top of her lungs. Two other servants, one holding the princess’ breakfast tray hung outside of her door, staring, wide-eyed. I stood behind them and peered into Snow’s bedroom. It was a complete and utter mess. Things lay tossed and strewn about the floor. Her bedclothes had been pulled off and thrown around. Her eyes were wide and frantic like she’d had gone mad.
Abigail stood in a corner trying to calm her down but Snow was having none of it. “Where are they? Where are my mother’s earrings? I planned on wearing them today and someone has taken them. Where are they?”
My stomach dropped as my hand instinctively ran over the tiny bulges in the pocket of my smock. This had to be the worst timing ever. Of all the lovely jewelry Snow owned, why did she have to need the pearls before I’d had a chance to put them back?
Abigail emerged from her corner cautiously as if she were afraid Snow might strike her. “Princess Snow, perhaps you simply misplaced the earrings. I will have the girls check every nook and cranny. They’ll show up. They have to be here somewhere.”
Snow stamped her foot. “Misplaced them? I would never misplace anything that belonged to my mother, Abigail.”
I felt sick to my stomach. If I had known the pearls were her mother’s, I would have never touched them. I wanted to say something—to tell Snow it had been an accident. I only wanted to try the earrings on like I used to do with all her pretty things, but there was no way I could do that. The old Snow would have understood. She would accept the earrings and even give me a hug, telling me that everything was okay. I didn’t know this new Snow and there was no telling what she would do.
As if something clicked in her, her anger subsided. Snow lowered herself unto her unmade bed. “I’m sorry for sho
uting and making a mess. I know it’s very unbecoming.”
Abigail nodded. “There’s no need to apologize, Your Highness. Ella, we will leave you to restore order to the princess’ bedroom.” Then she gestured to the other girls, still standing there, frozen. “Follow me please.”
One girl handed me the breakfast tray before leaving. I set it on Snow’s vanity and started to straighten out the colossal mess she had created. She watched me curiously as I set her overturned bottles of perfume upright. I ignored her and worked as fast as I could. I suddenly wanted to be out of her presence. I needed her to leave or at least occupy herself with something else so I could place the earrings somewhere she would easily find them and think they had been there all along.
I bent to grab a lamp from the floor when she gasped. “What’s that in your pocket?”
My heart raced. Getting caught with something that didn’t belong to you was the worst thing that could happen to a servant in the royal palace. “What do you mean, Princess Snow?”
She frowned. “I mean what is that in your pocket? That lump?”
My instinct told me to run. To get out of there as fast as I could and discard the earrings but that would only make me look more suspicious. Chills ran up and down my spine as Snow took wide strides in my direction. She yanked on my smock, shoving her hand into the left pocket.
Closing my eyes, I wished for it to all go away. When I opened them, Snow stood before me with the earrings laying delicately in her palm. “I can’t believe it. You stole from me. You actually stole from me.”
“I-I didn’t mean to take them. I only wanted to try them on. I know I shouldn’t have and I’m sorry about that but I honestly forgot to place them in your jewelry box before I went back to my quarters and I had every intention of returning them this morning. I wasn’t going to steal from you.”
She glared at me with an angry darkness. “I can’t believe this. I might have been able to forgive you for taking anything, even my tiara, but I will never forgive you for taking my mother’s priceless earrings. They had been passed down from her great-grandmother.”
Forever Ella: The Everly Girls Book 2 Page 3