Hoping she hadn’t hurt anyone, she toned down her intensity. Forget me thou shall! She studied the crowd, wondering whether her command had worked. Thee I beg, she pleaded, remember me not.
She slipped out the doorway.
Ella barely slept that night, tossing and turning on the floor by the hearth as she worried about what was to become of her. At the ball, Irmgard had identified her as a witch, all but condemning her to being burned alive. Ella trembled at the thought.
Her only hope was that, before leaving the ballroom, she had mentally instructed the whole crowd to forget that she had been there. She hoped that had been enough to preserve her secret, but she wouldn’t know until morning.
Irmgard had also called her a temptress. As best as Ella could figure, a temptress was a woman with extraordinary power over men. She assumed that a temptress who was also a witch could use magic to get her way.
Her mind reeling with confusion, Ella wondered what all of that meant to her. Maybe, to be safe, she should run away, leaving the kingdom forevermore. But this house was the only home she had ever known, and she hated the thought of living alone in a strange town and kingdom. She decided that her best course of action would be to hide the fact that she was a witch, using her newfound powers to help conceal her identity when necessary.
The next morning Ella busied herself with household chores as if nothing unusual had happened the previous evening. She entered Irmgard’s room to make the bed and found all three of the women there.
Claudia ran a brush back through her hair. “I think Willem and I make a lovely couple, don’t you, Mother?”
“Of course, my dear,” said Irmgard. “Either of you would make a lovely bride for the prince.”
“Willem is just divine,” said Yvette. “While we danced, I felt sure that he had decided to pick me.”
“As did I,” said Claudia.
“Don’t be anxious, my darlings,” said Irmgard. “He’s probably decided to finish all three balls before announcing his choice. It’s a big decision for a young man, and I’m sure he wants to choose wisely.”
“Oh,” said Yvette, “but the uncertainty is driving me crazy!”
“I wish Willem would hurry up and pick me,” said Claudia. “I really think it’s just a matter of time.”
“I admit being a tad bit worried that he spends so much time with the other women,” said Yvette, “but I’m sure he feels he has to give everyone a fair chance.”
“I wish I could reach into his mind,” said Claudia, “and make him love me.”
“Me, too,” said Yvette. “Why is it that the men get to choose, anyway?” she asked. “That just doesn’t seem fair.”
Ella noticed a smug look on Irmgard’s face, so she focused on her stepmother’s thoughts. These silly girls have no idea how to control a man. My first husband had been easy—too easy, really. Cinderella’s father was a much greater challenge, but he was worth the effort. It’s such a pity that the plague took him in the prime of his life.
Startled by Irmgard’s opinions, Ella forced herself to focus on helping Irmgard and her daughters prepare for the next ball.
After the three left for the castle, Ella headed to the garden and her mother’s grave. With a sense of relief, she figured she had fared well that day. No one had accused her of being a witch. Apparently, her instructions to the crowd at the ball had been effective, and no one at all remembered that she had been there.
She felt exhausted after worrying all day that someone would pound on the door to arrest her. Now she could relax and regain her strength. She would be safe as long as she just did her work. Indeed, life as a domestic drudge, even a virtual slave, was far better than living in terror.
She would serve Irmgard for the rest of her life, and then serve either Claudia or Yvette. If that is to be my fate, thought Ella, I must accept it.
Daylight had faded, and Ella realized that the ball was about to begin. At the end of the evening, Prince Willem would probably announce who he would ask to be his bride. Some lucky young woman would be plucked from relative obscurity to marry him and most likely to become his queen one day.
Ella imagined each of the women she had seen dancing with Willem over the last two evenings and wondered who he would choose. She wished now that she had spent more time reading Willem’s mind so she knew his thoughts about each of his dance partners. She also regretted not having probed the thoughts of the women, discovering their true character. If she had, she could have helped Willem make the right decision.
She should be at the ball this very evening, she realized, so she could help Willem pick a suitable bride. Otherwise, despite his best intentions, he could make a terrible mistake. Ella’s heart ached at that thought. Even worse, she realized, he might choose Claudia or Yvette.
Ella’s mind returned to the previous evening, when she’d seen Willem approach Yvette for the next dance. Ella recalled her revulsion that Willem would pick Yvette or Claudia instead of her, and how, more than anything in the world, she had wanted Willem to pick her and not them.
She also recalled how she had told Willem to love her. And then Irmgard had ruined everything by recognizing her and exposing her as a witch and a temptress.
Thinking back to the afternoon, Ella recalled Irmgard’s thoughts about controlling each of her late husbands. And how both Claudia and Yvette wished they had the power to make Willem fall in love with them. Ella had no doubt that if any of the three women had the power to do so, they would use it. And wouldn’t that make them temptresses as well?
Ella’s mind swirled in confusion. Should she accept her life as a domestic servant to avoid being punished for being a witch? Should she attend the ball and help Willem make the best possible choice from among the other maidens? Or did she dare choose herself for him?
Her dress and shoes shimmering like gold, Ella strode into the ballroom. The man in the red sash glanced her way, but she raised her hand as if to silence him. With a sweep of his arm, he stood aside and let her pass.
Enjoying her newfound powers of suggestion, Ella looked at the people in front of her, many of whom faced the dance floor. Ella focused her mind in their direction. Through this crowd, she thought, let me pass thou shall.
Several people turned and studied her for a moment, then nudged those next to them. As the crowd parted for her, Ella smiled and headed toward the dance floor.
The music stopped, and Ella watched Prince Willem escort a tall brunette in a red dress back to the crowd. Apparently ready to select another partner, he glanced around. His gaze locked on her.
“I don’t recall seeing you here before,” he said, then took her hand and signaled the orchestra to start a new song.
She gazed into his eyes. Love me thou must. No other woman shall thee need or desire.
He paused and looked at her anew. As the song began, he pulled her close and held her tight. Ella’s heart raced.
When the song ended, Willem signaled that the orchestra should immediately start another. He propelled Ella across the floor with renewed vigor.
All around them, couples stopped dancing and whispered to each other.
As she and Willem danced song after song, Ella’s spirits soared with the realization that her fantasy of dancing with a handsome prince in a chandelier-lit ballroom had come true. On the verge of marrying a prince, and eventually becoming a queen, she imagined that they would live a long, happy, and prosperous life together.
Ella couldn’t help but notice the two young officers once again at the edge of the dance floor, apparently poised to stop anyone who might threaten the prince. Pleased that Willem inspired such devotion from his two childhood friends, Ella resolved to get to know Wolfgang and Erik.
The king’s old squire, Rolf, came into view, and Ella recalled that at the last ball she had sensed that he had been worried. Concentrating on him, she learned that he w
as concerned about the king.
Ella’s focus shifted to the king and was shocked by what she learned. He suffered great pain throughout his body, and his physician had recently informed him that he probably had only weeks to live.
Ella’s attention returned to Willem. Almost immediately she sensed that he was overwhelmed by the challenges of running a kingdom. Concerned about the welfare of the people, he worried about making sure that everyone had enough food and somehow avoiding the plagues that periodically ravaged the region. But that wasn’t the greatest of his concerns. He had just been informed by Rolf that a horde of barbarians had invaded Gerstvald, the kingdom to the north of Bechenborg.
Ella’s mind swirled in confusion. If the king died soon, Willem would then be crowned, and she could become queen—queen of a kingdom that might face imminent invasion by barbarians.
She wondered what the future had in store. Almost at once, her mind filled with images of bloody carnage as barbarians overran the kingdom, killing the men and enslaving the women and children. With horror, Ella realized that she was about to become queen of a nation on the verge of destruction. How could she, or anyone, possibly deal with such a situation?
Ella wished she could melt into a puddle on the floor and evaporate. Her mind raced to consider options, but she could think of only one. She glanced at Willem and thought, Forget me thou must. She reached down and grabbed the sides of her dress, lifted her hemline off the floor—and then she ran.
She raced through the ballroom and out the front doors. As she took the steps down to the courtyard two at a time, one of her slippers flew off.
She turned to retrieve it, but it was nowhere in sight.
Voices shouted from the ballroom. Someone was chasing her.
Yanking off the other slipper, she turned and ran.
The next morning, Ella woke with a start as Irmgard screamed, “Cinderella!”
Ella rushed upstairs and found Irmgard sitting in her room with Claudia and Yvette. All three stared at Ella as if their eyes could bore right through her.
Focusing on Irmgard, Ella sensed anger. Irmgard was furious that Ella had disobeyed her orders and had gone to the ball.
Baffled for the moment, Ella wondered how Irmgard knew she had been to the ball. Ella specifically recalled telling Willem to forget her. Then, with a jolt, Ella realized that in her haste to leave the room, she had failed to instruct everyone else to forget her. The impact of that mistake stunned Ella, because that meant nearly everyone there would remember her as well. Her secret was revealed, and now she was ruined.
Ella quickly instructed Irmgard to forget that she had seen her at the ball.
“Mother!” said Claudia. “Ask her why she went to the ball after you specifically forbade it.”
Irmgard stared with a blank expression at Claudia.
Ella focused on Claudia and Yvette, instructing them to forget that she had been the young woman dancing with Willem much of the evening.
Enjoying her control over the girls, Ella smiled and said, “Tell me about last night.”
Soon, Claudia and Yvette were chattering about the ball. As Ella helped them dress, they decided that Willem must have rejected the mysterious young woman he had danced with for much of the evening because she suddenly bolted from the ballroom. As they had after each of the balls, they speculated about their chances of being chosen by Willem as his bride.
More than ever, Ella hated the thought that Willem could choose either of them to be his bride and potentially his queen someday. But that really didn’t matter anymore, she reminded herself. The kingdom was doomed, soon to be overrun by savages. Irmgard, Claudia, Yvette, Willem, and all the other subjects of the kingdom would meet their fate—whatever the invaders determined that to be.
Later, when Ella was in the garden, she decided that she would get out of Bechenborg as soon as possible. She must work on being brave no matter what her future brought, which seemed increasingly likely to include being homeless in a strange land.
All her life she had heard stories of witches leading a solitary life deep in the woods, and the thought of a lonely life in solitude saddened her. Would she starve and be without a roof over her head? She sighed. At least now she supposed that all she needed was to mentally suggest someone provide her with food or shelter, and they would comply. Could it be that easy? Then she realized she must be careful not to draw too much attention to herself, lest she be recognized as practicing witchcraft.
She would begin her new life first by escaping Irmgard’s household. Tonight, she would pack a bag with as much food as it would hold, and then she would sneak out the front door and walk south until she was far, far away, in the next kingdom or one beyond that. There, she would start anew.
Her decision made, she focused on her mother’s grave and said, “Mother dearest, Mother dearest, in my new life the way forward guidest me.”
Ella heard a noise from the far side of the house. Someone was pounding on the front door. She focused her attention in that direction and found herself in Irmgard’s mind.
Irmgard opened the front door and gasped. There stood Prince Willem. “Your Highness!” After a quick curtsy, Irmgard said, “Please, do come in.” Her heart pounding, Irmgard felt sure that the prince could be at her door for but a single reason—to select one of her daughters as his bride.
Willem stepped into the foyer, followed by the king’s old squire and the two young officers from the balls. “Madam,” Willem said, “pardon my intrusion, but would you be so kind as to have all the women in your household gather in the foyer?”
Irmgard smiled. “I would be delighted, Your Highness.”
As Irmgard left the foyer, Ella lost contact with her. Fighting a rising sense of panic, she calmed herself. She focused on Willem and entered his mind.
She swooned when she realized that he was thinking of her and was absolutely determined to find her. His friends Wolfgang and Erik had raved about the beautiful woman he had danced with and how he had apparently fallen in love with her. They assured him that they hadn’t imagined her and presented him with the golden slipper she’d lost in the courtyard.
Although Willem had no recollection of her, he had resolved to find the mysterious young woman who fit the slipper. He would search the entire kingdom, if necessary. In house after house, young ladies had tried to fit into the slipper but had failed. Indeed, the slipper was so tiny that Willem feared no maiden could wear it. At each house, his hopes had risen, only to be dashed by disappointment.
Irmgard returned to the foyer. “Your Highness, my daughters, Claudia and Yvette.”
The young women giggled.
Willem knew that neither was the one he sought because he recognized them both. He glanced back at Irmgard. “You have no other women in the house? Not even servants?”
Irmgard cleared her throat. “My husband died many years ago. Since then we have had to make do with what we have.”
“I understand,” said Willem. “The plagues have, indeed, altered our lives in so many unfortunate ways.” His attention returned to Claudia and Yvette, and he smiled. “I recall dancing with each of you lovely ladies the last few evenings. What a pleasure to see you again.”
Without waiting for them to respond, he continued. “No doubt you recall the young woman who fled the ball last night. It seems that everyone remembers her but me. As she ran from the ball, she lost this slipper. I intend to ask every maiden in the kingdom to try it on until I have found her. Upon doing so, if she is willing, I intend to make her my bride.”
Yvette plopped into a chair, removed a shoe, and offered her bare foot to the prince.
He stooped and tried on the slipper, but it barely covered half of Yvette’s foot.
With a determined look on her face, Yvette held out her hand and said, “May I?” She grabbed the slipper with both hands and pulled until her face turned purple
. After a moment, she gave up.
Irmgard snatched the slipper from Yvette and handed it to Claudia. After failing to fit into the shoe, Claudia handed it back to Willem.
Eager to continue his search, Willem stepped toward the door.
He turned to the sound of a horse galloping from the north.
Before the horse came to a complete stop, the rider leaped out of the saddle, rushed to the prince, and knelt. “Your Highness, a horde of barbarians has crossed our border with Gerstvald and is heading this way.”
Ella could feel Willem’s sense of alarm. His worst fear had become reality. The kingdom was on the edge of destruction. Forcing himself to appear more confident than he actually felt, Willem turned to Irmgard, Claudia, and Yvette. “Pardon me, ladies, but duty calls.”
Ella lingered in Willem’s mind as he mounted his horse and rode away, out of her life.
Ella breathed a sigh of relief. Willem dearest, she thought, that thee ever met me thou must forget.
A deep sense of sadness settled over her as she recalled that at the ball she had looked into the future and had seen barbarians overrunning the kingdom. She dreaded what would happen next.
She wondered if, somehow, Willem would survive. Peering through the mist in her mind, she looked into the future and could see Willem ride across a pasture to meet the barbarians face to face. They slaughtered him and his men, leaving the kingdom defenseless.
Feeling hollowed out and spent, Ella slumped to the grass in front of her mother’s grave marker. The events of the previous week raced through her mind. She relived the balls, at the height of which she imagined fulfilling her wildest fantasies of becoming a princess, even a queen. Now the kingdom faced destruction, shattering her dreams. How, she wondered, had everything gone so wrong?
Her gaze fell upon her mother’s grave. Ella recalled her mother’s final words, “Possible for thee art all things, little princess of mine, but in thyself first thou must believe.”
Ella had always assumed that her mother used the word princess merely as a term of endearment, but what if her mother had also been able to look into the future? Could she have foreseen Ella as a real princess? If that was true, then maybe the rest of the statement was also accurate. If she first believed in herself, then all things could really be possible.
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