Charmed: a Cinderella Reverse Fairytale book 3 (Reverse Fairytales)

by J. A. Armitage

  “Theron!” I shouted.

  The king of Thalia turned.

  There was no fear in his eyes, only anger as he saw who it was—the girl that had started this madness.

  “You...you...” he roared and then came running towards me, catching me by surprise.

  “Stop!” I yelled, dodging to the side, just in time. He righted himself and then came towards me again, this time grabbing me and pulling me tight.

  “Luca!” He shouted above the noise, trying to get the attention of his son.

  “Theron!” I hissed back. “It’s me, Charmaine. I know I don’t look like me right now, but it is me. I came to you a few weeks ago. We had whiskey in the study.”

  He gazed at me, the shock of everything apparent in his eyes.

  I could see him trying to understand the situation, but he looked torn. A bullet whizzed past the pair of us, taking one of the retreating guests out. A man next to Queen Sarina fell to the ground, a plume of blood drenching his shirt. Sarina grabbed her chest in shock and ran towards us, looking for comfort from her husband.

  “You aren’t going to get out this way. It’s too crowded. Follow me.” I grabbed Sarina’s hand, making her scream.

  “Theron, let me go! I’ll help you,” I begged. His hands were still holding me tightly around the waist, while I was holding his wife’s hand so she wouldn’t get swept away in the tide of retreating people. All I could hear above the noise of screaming and gunshots was the priest, giving the speech needed for the coronation. He was already a quarter of the way through it.

  “This can go one of two ways,” I explained hurriedly. “Either you let me go and I get you out of here quickly and safely, or we all stay here like this and either get shot by a guard or trampled in the crowd.”

  Sarina whimpered and shook her head. My hand hurt from her pulling against it, but I knew if I let her go, she would run and more than likely end up dead.

  I felt Theron’s grip around my waist lessen and then drop. Still holding Sarina’s hand, I pulled her towards the small door that I’d come through at the side of the cathedral. Upon opening it, I saw that the antechamber was still empty, but the outer door was now shut, and the guards were nowhere to be seen. Pulling the door firmly behind us, I turned to them.

  “You can get out through that door,” I explained, pointing to the outer door. “You’ll be safe out there. Look for a policeman, not one of Luca’s guards.”

  Instead of heading for the door I’d pointed out to her, Sarina ran around me and began to pull on the inner door.

  I grabbed her and pulled her away before she managed to reopen it. She kicked backwards, badly bruising my shin, but I didn’t let her go.

  “Sarina, it’s me, Charmaine.”

  “I believe it is, Sarina dear. She knew about the whiskey in the parlor. I think she has one of those mask spells that Seraphia does so well.”

  Sarina stopped pulling against me, so I let her go. She turned and looked closely at me. I saw her searching my face, looking for something familiar. A second or two later, her features relaxed a little.

  “What’s happening, Charmaine?” she asked bewildered.

  I took a deep breath and spoke slowly. “I told you before. Luca will stop at nothing to be king. He didn’t care about killing you at my wedding, and he doesn’t care about you all dying now. I’ve got about six minutes left to stop him from becoming the king of Silverwood. If he does, he can do whatever he wants, and the first thing on his agenda is killing me and all my friends and family. If he decides you are a friend of mine, you’ll end up with the same fate. You need to get out of here as quick as you can. If you go through that door, you’ll be outside. Find a police officer to protect you. Don’t go to one of Luca’s guards.”

  Sarina shook her head again.

  “I don’t understand any of this, but I can’t go out there. Tomas and my grandbabies are still inside. I lost sight of them.”

  With that, she burst into tears.

  Damn! I could see there was no way I’d get her to leave without her son and grandsons and I didn’t have time to try and persuade her to.

  “Hand me your jacket,” I said to Theron.

  He hesitated and then decided to take it off and hand it to me without question.

  It was huge on me, but it did what I wanted it to do, cover my clothes. I asked for Sarina’s hat which she passed over.

  I pulled my long hair into a bun and hid it under the blue hat. I knew I looked ridiculous and with even the briefest of glances would never pass as a wedding guest, but it changed my appearance. Any guard looking for a girl with long hair and a blue dress would have to look a lot harder to see me in the throng of people.

  “Wait here,” I said, opening the inner door. I took a deep breath and headed back into the cathedral.

  Finding Tomas was hard. I couldn’t see him or the children in the rush of people trying to get out. Of course, they could have already have gotten out, but I doubted it. They had started at the back just as Sarina and Theron had. They definitely weren’t anywhere in the center of the cathedral. If they had been, the chances were they were already dead. There were now more bodies on the floor than there people still standing, and yet those that did stand were still fighting furiously. The beautiful vaulted ceiling was lit up with flashes of purple, and the sound of gunshots seemed never-ending. By keeping to the walls and hiding behind pillars, I managed to stay out of the worst of it. Up at the altar, I saw the terrified priest reading from his book. I estimated I had about four minutes left.

  Luca was still surrounded by his guards, and even though the Magi had toppled some of them, there were still way too many for me to get through to stop him. It was then I saw Tomas. Actually, it was Jacob; Tomas and Seraphia’s eldest son, I spotted first. He was cowering behind a pillar on the opposite side of the cathedral. I could just see his face peeking out.

  Looking both ways to make sure none of the guards had seen me, I ran as fast as I could, leaping over bodies until I reached the little boy.

  As I rounded the pillar, I saw Tomas laid out on the floor, his eyes closed. Next to him was his other son, little Michael. The boy was clutching his dad’s hand, sobbing wildly.

  I bent down and looked at Tomas. There was no blood on him, and he was still breathing.

  I nudged him. “Tomas?”

  He didn’t stir, so I nudged him again, this time a little harder.

  “Hmmm?” he mumbled, his eyes closed.

  The priest’s voice filled my head, making me panic. I had about three minutes left.

  “Come on, Tomas,” I shouted, really pushing him now. “Wake up.”

  His eyes opened. As soon as he saw me, he grabbed Michael and pulled himself back along the floor.

  “Jacob,” he shouted to his eldest who was a little to my right. “Come here. Come to daddy.”

  “It’s me, Charmaine!” I said, desperately hoping he realized I was telling the truth sooner rather than later.

  “Jacob,” he repeated, looking more agitated. The little boy ran past me to his father.

  Tomas scooped him up in his free arm. He glared at me with such anger. “I don’t know who you are, but stay away from me and my children.”

  “Tomas,” I pleaded, taking a step towards them. Tomas shuffled backwards again.

  Why didn’t he stand up?

  It was then that I saw that he was injured after all. His left leg was twisted. The only way he was going to get across the cathedral to his parents was if someone helped him. I glanced back at Luca and the priest. Luca looked almost manic now, his eyes wide, a scary grin on his face. I had about two minutes left. If I helped Tomas and the children to the antechamber and ran as fast as I could back, there was a slim chance I’d be able to get to Luca. I’d still have to get through Luca’s guards without being killed.

  “Tomas, your parents are in an antechamber. They are safe. Please let me take you to safety.”

  He looked like he was about to say no when
a woman stepped between us.

  “I’ve got this,” she said, holding her hand out to Tomas. With a wave of her wand, the woman became Seraphia again.

  Tomas’s eyes went wide. “Seraphia? I thought you were at your parent’s house down south?”

  “Mommy!” The two boys yelled and ran over to her, leaping up to hug the mother they hadn’t seen in weeks.

  I quickly explained where Sarina and Theron were.

  “You can get out to safety with them. I have to go and stop Luca from becoming King.” I looked at Seraphia. “Can you use your wand to knock out some of those guards?”

  She turned to look towards the altar. In less than a minute, the royal crown would be placed upon Luca’s head and my time as queen would be over. Even if I showed the world who I really was, after Luca gained the crown, I’d never be able to get it back.

  Seraphia nodded and pointed her wand at the guards. “I’ll only be able to knock over one or two. My magic isn’t powerful enough to do more than that.”

  I realized it wouldn’t be enough. Even if she knocked half of them out, the other half would capture me before I was anywhere close to Luca or the priest. I grabbed Seraphia’s arm and pointed her wand at me.

  “Change of plan,” I said. “I want you to do a spell on me instead.”

  One Shot

  As Seraphia cast her spell, I felt my face begin to change. My hair shortened until it was the right length and my features returned to normal. I was finally me again. I threw off Theron’s jacket and Sarina’s hat so the blue dress could be seen.

  “Take the children and Tomas to that door over there,” I said pointing to where Sarina and Theron were. “Go around the edge of the cathedral and keep in the shadows. You are going to have to help Tomas. His leg is in a bad way. He’ll need medical attention.”

  “Thank you, Charmaine,” she said, hugging me.

  I nodded, then turned and ran through a small door I’d spotted, hoping it would take me to where I wanted to be. To my left, was a set of steps going down, more than likely, to the royal crypt where generations of my ancestors now rested, and to my right, was a set of steps going up. I turned right and bounded up the stairs taking them two and three at a time. As I hoped I would, I came out on the cathedral’s balcony.

  The balcony was usually used when the cathedral was full, but today I had a hunch it was being used for a different purpose. This whole event was being televised, but I hadn’t noticed any cameras down below which led me to believe that they were up here. After a couple of years of having a love-hate relationship with the media, I had never in my life been so happy to see a television camera. There were actually three of them, all pointing at different angles. Two of the camera operators were missing, probably having fled in the chaos, but one remained. He was crouching on the floor, hiding from the bullets and spells being sprayed everywhere. His arms were over his head, protecting himself. I ran over to him and glanced over the balcony. The priest was saying the final part of the ceremony. In less than a minute, Luca would be king.

  “Are the camera’s still running?” I asked urgently.

  The cameraman looked up. He was a young man; he looked like he’d only just left college. His expression changed from one of fear to one of surprise as he saw who it was who was addressing him. He bowed his head.

  “Your Majesty, I thought...”

  “No time for that,” I cut him off harshly. “Are they still running?”

  He nodded uncertainly. “The red lights are still on Your Majesty. That means they are still on. We are currently showing this live all over Silverwood and across the five kingdoms.”

  “Point one at Luca and follow me,” I demanded, running across the balcony to one of the other cameras.

  “That one is already on Prin... er... Kin...Luca,” he stammered, keeping up with me.

  I looked over the balcony. The priest had finished the ceremony and was already picking up the crown.

  “Point this camera at me!” I urged. The cameraman nodded and swiveled the camera away from the pews.

  “Stop!” I yelled as loudly as I could. My voice echoed around the building, stopping not just the priest, but everyone else. Apart from the reverberation of my voice, everything else had become deathly quiet. Both wands and guns had been lowered as people looked around to see where my voice had come from.

  “Put the crown on, you idiot!” I heard Luca say, but the priest had seen me.

  Looking towards the cameraman, to make sure the camera was rolling, I went right to the edge of the balcony.

  “Don’t crown him. I am the Queen of Silverwood!”

  “Too late, Charmaine!” I looked down. The crown was on Luca’s head. The priest was now cowering at his feet. Luca must have crowned himself.

  Did he put it on before I showed myself to the camera or after?

  I turned back to the camera. “People of Silverwood, Prince Luca has been lying to you. All this time, you thought I was dead, I was in hiding—hiding from a man who wants me dead.”

  “Charm!”

  I looked over the balcony to see who it was shouting my name. There were so many bodies. With a jolt of fear, I saw Daniel laid out on the ground beside Dean. Neither of them was moving. Daniel’s head was covered in blood.

  “Charm,” he shouted again, and this time I knew exactly who it was.

  Cynder stood there, in the middle of the cathedral, surrounded by the bodies of both Magi and Luca’s guards. The Freedom of Magi versus the Magi Death Squad. From what I could see, the casualties were equally balanced and much too high. Cynder pointed to Luca. I looked over to see him holding a gun. It was pointing right at me.

  “I have one bullet, Charmaine, and I’m an excellent shot.”

  I didn’t cower or hide. I’d had enough of hiding from Luca. I pulled myself up to my full height.

  “Shoot me if you must, Luca, but be aware that you are on camera. The people of Silverwood will see what you are.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. I am the king. I can do whatever I want!”

  He was manic. The beautiful man I’d once known was long gone. He now looked crazy, unstable.

  “Even if you did put the crown on your head and even if you are now the king, you shooting me without sentencing me will be illegal.”

  I waited for his reaction. There was none. He still pointed the gun at me. I held my hands in the air. “I’ve committed no crime. I have no weapons. Shoot me, and you will show your subjects that you are a coward and a murderer. If it is on film that I showed myself before you put that crown on your head, then you will not only be a murderer but a murder of royalty, and Elise and then her daughter will become queen. Either way, you’ll end up in jail. I doubt the other prisoners would care whether you have a crown or not.”

  Luca glared up at me. “We are still married, remember? I’m the king either way. I cannot lose this. If you did show yourself and you are still the queen, if I shoot you, the title of king will go to your husband. The kingdom will be mine anyway.”

  “Do you really want to be the king in prison?” I spat back.

  Luca snorted. “I control the prisons now, Charmaine. The police force does exactly as I say. How do you think I arrested all those Magi and the filthy Magi helpers? I had to kill many, many of them to fit them in, but I’ve rid the streets of them. I am the king, Charm. It’s too late for you. No one will take me down.”

  He pulled the trigger. I heard the crack of the bullet leaving the gun before I felt it. It felt like no more than a bee sting, but when I looked down, red blood blossomed out over the blue dress. For some reason, Baby Grace’s image passed through my mind. Without me, Silverwood would go on. The last thing I heard as my world turned black was the sound of Cynder screaming my name and Luca laughing.

  After the Wedding

  “Charm...Charm?”

  I heard his voice calling me. Either Cynder and I were both dead, or we were both alive. I didn’t actually care either way as long as we were
together.

  “Cynder?” I whispered his name through the blackness.

  “Wake up.”

  I opened my eyes. White light almost blinded me. I blinked a few times as my eyes got accustomed to the brightness of the room. It was painted all white and was unfamiliar to me. Cynder looked down at me. I could see him so clearly. His beautiful brown eyes, the curls growing way too long. A smile. We were alive after all.

  “Cynder, where am I?” The last thing I remembered was Luca laughing as I fell to the ground.

  Cynder pulled me up into a sitting position. As I looked around, I could see that I’d been wrong about the room. It wasn’t all white. The ceiling and walls were, but hundreds of flowers of every color filled the room. My eyes settled on one bunch in particular.

  “The tulips,” I said looking at a golden vase filled with the most beautiful flowers I’d ever seen.

  “A gift from King Theron and Queen Sarina. They sent a card too. They hope to visit you as soon as you are well enough to take visitors. If you look, there’s another tulip arrangement there from Tomas and Seraphia. You can tell Seraphia had something to do with them because they keep changing color.”

  “What happened, Cynder?”

  He picked up my hand. I could see tears in the corners of his eyes. “You got shot. The doctors weren’t sure if you were going to make it, but the best surgeon in the kingdom operated on you. You’ve been in a coma for three weeks.”

  “Three weeks?” I asked, startled.

  “You are going to be fine. The operation went really well. You just need to rest. I should go and tell a nurse that you’ve woken up.”

  He stood as if to leave, but I wouldn’t let go of his hand.

  “What happened after I was shot?”

  Cynder looked directly at me. I could see he was wavering between telling me what I wanted to know and getting help.

  “Please,” I whispered. “I have to know.”

  When Luca shot you on live TV, everyone saw it. It was shown on the big screens outside the cathedral, not to mention in the homes of everyone in Silverwood and the surrounding kingdoms.