“Own yours Cinderella, and stop complaining. You could very well have made yourself something to eat, it’s not my fault that you have been too spoiled to learn, you’re more than old enough to have acquired that simple skill. Now I suggest you hurry and clean that cellar or you are not going to the ball tonight.” She declared with a smile.
“Seriously? It’s a dirt floor! You can’t sweep it. It’s dirt, what are you nuts? This is ridiculous, I need to get ready.” Cindy turned her back on the Madame and opened one of her closets.
“You are not going to the ball tonight.” The Madame said quietly behind her.
“That’s what you think lady...what...where’s my costume?” Cindy said in shock as she looked in on her empty closet. “And my shoes?”
“I told you the girls don’t know where everything belongs yet.” The Madame made a tssking sound.
“Where is my Wood Nymph costume?” Cindy had an edge to her voice that had never been there before.
“I wouldn’t know, but it hardly matters since you are staying home to sweep the cellar.” Her stepmother didn’t even bother to hide the smile.
Cindy rushed the door, but The Madame had anticipated such a move and was just that much faster. She heard a lock click and looking down in horror she realised that her own fancy door knob had been replaced with a new shiny locking one.
She was locked in!
She kicked the door in frustration as she realised that she really wasn’t going to the ball.
Something inside her told her that she had to find a way to get to that ball...it was her destiny.
Just then a small ball of pale blue light entered in from her window. With wide eyes, Cindy watched it float towards her; she had a pretty good idea who it was and her heart leapt as a wild hope began to build. After all, how many girls had their very own fairy godmother.
~~*~~
Rapunzel sat on the floor in Uncle Doc’s library. Her masses of silver blonde hair were pulled tightly back in a ponytail high on her head and falling over one shoulder, she rubbed her tired eyes and carefully opened another book of legends. She hoped she would find something, a clue, a footnote, any similarity to Snow’s strange curse in one of the tales...and more importantly how to break the evil curse. She had hardly slept in the past few days, choosing instead to systematically go through every single book in Uncle Doc’s collection of myths and legends.
She found she was becoming an expert on Evermore Lore. The tales, the legends...the myths...she remembered them all. Who would have thought, the girl hidden all alone in a cold stone tower would ever amass this much knowledge, and then she had to laugh, because all in all, it was quite useless knowledge. But she persevered, hoping she could find something useful, in any case, she could safely say from now on that she knew ‘a little bit about a lot’.
Manuel watched her silently from the doorway; in his hand he held a dinner plate that Uncle Horst had asked, nay commanded him to tempt the girl with. Rapunzel had become so intent on her work, that not only had she forgone the ball, she regularly forgot to eat. Manuel studied her profile in silence; to him she was the most beautiful being in the world. Every time he saw her he was struck again by the depth of his feelings. He worried about her ceaselessly.
“There is a little man in the kitchen that has sworn to throw me out in to the sun if you do not eat this.” He said as he passed the plate to her. “I do not believe he is bluffing.”
She sighed. “I can’t have that now; I am all out of the elixir.” Even her laugh was tired, but she began to eat anyway. That eased him a little; he reached down and stroked her hair.
Sitting down of the floor beside her, he picked up one of the books and began to flip through it; this was something they could do together. So that’s how they spent the evening. Sitting side by side companionably on the floor in Uncle Doc’s study reading the legends of Evermore. It was a perfect evening...they were together.
~~*~~
Young Prince Nickoli dutifully danced and conversed with the “Wood Nymph’ as requested by his brother. Although he found her acceptable, her long, wavy auburn hair was quite nice and she smelled rather good, she was also incredibly dull.
He let his mind wander, as he plotted out various revenge scenarios carried out against his brother Leonardo for insisting he entertain the increasingly tiresome girl, when suddenly the grand ballroom door opened and a dainty ‘Blue Fairy’ flitted in. All eyes were drawn to her, Nickoli instantly forgot all about his promise to his brother as all of his attention was suddenly caught by the girl in the Blue Fairy costume.
Her soft Blue Fairy costume sparkled and shone with every movement she made, her large iridescent wings seemed alive while she herself fairly crackled with spontaneous energy. He couldn’t see her face, but he knew she would be beautiful; her jade green eyes danced with mirth as she gazed about the ballroom.
The dainty young girl with the dark, golden blonde curls and the laughing green eyes, happily accepted the carefree young prince’s hand and with a somewhat dramatic sigh, she melted in to his arms and the band struck up again. As he held her close, he inhaled the delicate fragrance of fresh cherry blossoms...his favorite. He wondered who she was, but every time he dared to ask she merely laughed and flitted away from him. He found himself helplessly following her...
And so they danced and laughed all evening having a wonderful time and forgetting everyone else in the room; she understood all of his jokes and had many of her own. Her smile made him somewhat giddy and the entire Aristocracy of Turin watched in wonderment and perhaps more than a tinge of resentment as the anonymous Blue Fairy and the prince became more and more spellbound by each other, but as the clock struck midnight the little Blue Fairy raced out of the palace in apparent terror. Prince Nickoli had followed her out, promising to protect her from whatever it was that terrified her so; he begged her for her name...he was desperate to see her again, but she refused to tell him a thing, and just like that she disappeared swiftly in to the night.
All he had was the glass slipper that had fallen off of her foot as she skipped down the stairs in her mad dash.
He decided right then and there, he was going to find her; he would use this delicate glass slipper to identify her. She was all he could think about.
~~*~~
Three very important things happened that next morning at precisely the same time.
The first concerned Cindy.
Cindy was quietly sitting on the edge of the town Wishing Well in those early hours that morning, trying very hard to process the events of last night. The Madame and her ugly stepsisters had returned home from the ball quite late, complaining loudly about the mystery girl that had stolen Prince Nickoli’s attention all evening. And just when it had looked so promising for Juliette too, her stepmother whispered fiercely; the Madame vowed to find out who this mystery girl was...and destroy her. Cindy shivered involuntarily.
Cindy begged the Madame to let her out so she could make herself something to eat, and the Madame had tiredly relented and unlocked the door. Grabbing some bread and cheese from the fridge Cindy waited until she heard the terrible trio turn in for the night before grabbing her coat and leaving herself.
Now she found herself sitting on the edge of the Well, wanting more than anything in the world to talk to Snow. Only a best friend could understand the predicament she found herself in that morning. Her fairy godmother, Lailie had arrived right in the nick of time, and with a rather flamboyant bibbity bob of her wand, transformed Cindy from a tired and bedraggled angry, teen in to a beautifully costumed, enchanting young lady. Cindy had arrived at the ball in full Blue Fairy costume and spent the evening delightedly flirting with Leo’s younger brother Prince Nickoli. Now Cindy, supposedly under lock and key was forbidden from revealing her true identity, and especially seeing as the stepmother had sworn vengeance on the mystery girl...well Cindy found herself in quite the predicament. And worse yet, she had lost one of the enchanted glass slippers Lailie had d
ressed her in, she now hid the remaining slipper deep in her bag. If there was ever a time when she needed a best friend, it was now and if there was anything, anything in the world that she could do that would bring her friend back she would do it in a heartbeat. There was no price she wouldn’t pay, no treasure she wouldn’t gladly give up.
Now, if she could wish for anything in the world, if this ‘magic Wishing Well’ was actually the real deal, if her wish would actually come true it...it wouldn’t be for the Madame to run away or even for her to treat Cindy better. It wouldn’t be for Prince Nickoli to fall in love with her and take her away from all of this, and it wouldn’t be for her life to magically return to the way it was before her mother had died.
“No,” She sobbed. “I wouldn’t wish for any of that. I just want Snowy to be okay. That’s all that matters anymore. We all need Snow, and she needs us.” She sobbed, feeling completely helpless to save her friend.
And as she sobbed a few stray tears snaked their way down her sweet cheeks and were caught up in the early morning breeze. The capricious breeze that had caught them, just as easily released them and they found their way down in to the Wishing Well water.
~~*~~
Across worlds on the Neutral Plane.
The Oracle was sitting cross legged, looking deeply into his viewing pool. The Muse, Sybil paced back and forth behind him anxiously; her long white boots were soundless against the thick green carpet of grass as she strode.
“Are you going to help them?” She asked in her soft, sweet voice, dropping down to sit beside him.
The Oracle smiled his big beautiful wide smile and shook his crazy blonde mane. “I don’t need to luv, they got this one all figured out already, all they needed was a push. Look here.” He pointed to something in the pool.
Sybil leaned over his shoulder, and what she saw made her smile as well. The Oracle squeezed her hand affectionately and they gazed deep in to the pool together.
~~*~~
And lastly, in the Rutherford Cottage, at Snow’s bedside.
“Aw White.” Prince Leonardo Charming sighed. Her hand was so cold in his, her breathing was even slower if you could imagine. His heart felt like ice, it hurt to breathe; he knew she wouldn’t last long.
During the course of his days and nights spent sitting by Snow’s side, he had come to realise a few very important things. The first being that he cared about Snow; really cared about her, he had barely left her side in days. If he had to pick the moment when he first subconsciously discovered it, he would have to say that morning on the road with Mercury. That dusty country road, how the sun had shone in the sky, even the air had smelled wonderful. He would always love that road. But maybe it went further back than that, that night in Crystallise at the palace, he had felt such a kinship with her, little had he know that she was the Rylakian Heir. He could have stood out on that terrace for hours listening to the breeze with her. Or maybe it had been the night they had all had dinner, when she had shown such remarkable insight. Maybe he was just supposed to care about her, maybe she was...it hurt to finish the thought.
The second thing he had realised was that he should have kissed her that night after the wedding. He’d meant to, was just about to in fact, but didn’t. Now he never would. At the time it just seemed like the thing to do; now it was the only thing he wanted to do.
He buried his head in her cold hands. He had spent days at her bedside; they would have to drag him away when she passed.
“A prince and an exiled princess...the Rylakian Heir. It would have been an unstoppable combination.” He raggedly whispered.
Slowly Prince Charming leaned in and kissed Snow White softly on her rose pink lips.
Snow’s large dark eyes snapped open.
EPILOGUE
“War is coming, whether you like it or not. You had better decide which side you are on.” Gabriel sighed heavily. He leaned against the crystal gargoyle as he regarded his brother.
“The equality movement...” Manuel searched; he ran a hand through his dark, shiny mane, silently wishing there was more he could say. In a hundred years, that is all he had accomplished.
“Too little too late. Lonstas may be relatively peaceful as of yet, but the revolution that is hitting Devon as we speak is going to make its way down here, and soon. You have done your best Manuel; no one knows that more than I, but it is unavoidable. I suggest you detach yourself from the humans now while you still can.”
“We are wise but we are warriors. I have to try.” Manuel sounded weary, but not yet defeated as he shrugged his shoulders; his beautiful dark eyes searched his brother’s sky blue ones
“As would we all, but in the end we would lose for sheer numbers.” Gabriel’s angelic face showed no emotion.
“So you have made your decision then.”
About The Author:
Caroline Metzlaff lives with her boyfriend, their son and four cats in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She divides her time between bartending at her favorite local bar, raising her small son, attending live concerts and of course...writing.
Look for Evermore: Snow Falls, a prequel novella...before Snow fled...she fell.
And the story continues in Evermore: The Secret of Sarrilia coming soon!
‘Like’ us on Facebook, under ‘Tales of Evermore’. See you all again soon!
Evermore: The Rylakian Heir Page 32