The Wronged Princess - Book I (32 page)

Oh, this was a nightmare
. 
What if it belonged to—

"What did you do that for?" Essie cried
. 
"Oh, no
. 
My shoe is getting too snug."

"Oh, Es
s
, I'm sorry
. 
Truly, I am
. 
I just had a fleeting thought that if your feet were the same size as mine and pointed the stick…Oh, Essie—"
Pricilla gasped.

Cinderella felt almost sorry for Pricilla. Her horrified expression made clear her intention was not to make Essie's foot less dainty
. 
But, she changed the size of her fo
ot!
This verified the disaster
. 
That stick could only belong to one person, and they needed to return it
. 
Without delay
. 

"Pricilla!" Cinderella was determined
. 
"Come
. 
Now.
”
She spun on her heel without waiting for eithe
r one
of her newfound sisters
. 
Newly embraced
or not, she strode up the path
,
praying they'd have sense enough to follow
, they had to return that stick
.

"I will
not
return it
. 
Not
just
yet," Pricilla called after Cinderella
. 
"If this thing can adjust the size of one's foot, just imagine the other possibilities."

Cinderella halted in her tracks, groaning
. 
She’d never be able to stand up to the both of them
. 
She would just have to confiscate the thing
in secret
and return it herself
. 
If Fairy Godmother got wind of this…well, it was bad enough she’d lost her shoe, but to have stolen her magic stick
?
’T
was inconceivable.

She could only hope reigning terror did not befall them all
in the interim
. 
This thought occurred as streaks of silver and gold glitter fell gracefully from the sky.

Chapter
27

"What do you mean 'you've misplaced your wand,' Faustine
?
If this
is
another one of your little practical jokes, I'll have you know, my sensibility level is knee-high, at best," Thomasine ranted.

"Good heavens, Thomasine
. 
What on earth could make you believe I would jest about such a
thing
?
Why, the very idea of my wand in the wrong hands leaves me alarmed beyond comprehension," she shuddered
. 
"And, because the blasted thing
has gone
missing, I am stuck in this dust, rat-infested hole until we locate it."

"My castle is
not
rat-infested, I'll have you know
. 
But that is neither here nor there.
”
Thomasine waved a hand through the air
. 
"You are right, of course
. 
It does not bear thinking of what consequences should emerge if the wrong person
were to come
in contact with it
. 
I best return, before someone wonders what
has
bec
o
me of me
. 
Give me a sign of some sort once you have located it."

Thomasine swept from the room leaving behind a flustered, frustrated Faustine
. 
Disgust filled her. What
more could
go wrong
?

Muted screams reached Faustine's ears
. 
“
Well, t
hat did not take long,” she
m
uttered, darting for the door
. 
One should not tempt fate in the manner of such a question, she chastised herself, hastily quitting the chamber.

Chapter
28

Cinderella snatched one arm and Essie the other as they dragged Pricilla into the first unlocked chamber door they could find
. 
Lucky for them, Pricilla
’s amusement
was
so great it lessened her
resistance.

"What?" Pricilla choked out, laughing so hard she bent
at
the waist
. 
"I am just having a bit of fun."

"You terrified that poor chambermaid out of her wits," Essie accused.

"We sh
all never survive the aftermath
," Cinderella muttered
. 
Her heart pounded furiously against her chest
. 
She had to get that stick out of Pricilla's hands, and soon, before she set the entire castle afire or turned everyone into chirping crickets.

"Where are we?" Pricilla asked, swiping tears from her eyes once she'd finally calmed enough to pose the question.

"Some poor unfortunate's sitting room from the looks of it," Essie said.

"Well, poor they are not, I would venture." Ci
nderella cast a nervous glance
round
. 
Heavy brocaded drapes blocked out a good portion of the daylight but for a parted sliver
. 
Heated coals smoldered in the hearth, and an empty brandy glass sat on a nearby table.

Cinderella had trouble believing Pricilla bore not a single stint of remorse
for her theft of the magic stick
. 
In retrospect, it had mattered naught for Pricilla to steal the bread from Cinderella’s place
. 
She supposed that could not compare to the powers of a silver baton.

Why, the two carried on as if Pricilla had not just whipped up a flock of butterflies scurrying round
the palace
,
worthy of Essie's batting eyes
. 
Thousands of them
. 
Monarchs, T
iger
S
wallowtails,
G
ossamers of every shape, size and color, flitting about, covering every conceivable surface
. 
It sent the servants into a horrific frenzy of activity with the betrothal ball just days away.

Cinderel
la had to admit, the situation w
ould be considered outrageously comical, had she not been so petrified of the consequences
. 
She harbored enough terror for the three of them
. 
"Do not touch a thing," Cinderella hissed as Essie picked up the empty brandy glass and brought it to her nose
. 

Unfortunately,
Cinderella’s
stark command triggered the opposite
effect, startling Essie into dropping it
. 
At least, the elaborate rug padded its fall which sent it rolling to a slow stop.

Cinderella stilled, breath stuck in her throat
. 
Her pulse flailed wildly against the open palm she laid across her neck
. 
Pricilla and Essie froze too
. 
Not for long, however.

"Watch this," Pricilla whispered, grinning
. 
She extended the silver bar toward the glass now resting on its side
. 
Cinderella watched, enthralled
, in spite of her misgivings.
T
he glass levitate
d
from its position to float mid-air with Pricilla's carefully guided motion
. 

Its journey near complete to the table was a spectacular sight—until an adjoining door to the chamber burst open
. 
Pricilla and Essie's gasp drowned Cinderella's own
. 
Pricilla snatched her hand behind her back sending the glass crashing against the edge
. 
No graceful set down as it shattered its way in pieces to the floor
. 

"Good afternoon, ladies
. 
To what do I owe the pleasure?" Prince smirked at them from the door jam with his arms folded across his chest.

Cinderella
could not have moved had someone set
her feet a
fire
. 
H
e moved to the windows and whipped the drapes
aside
,
flooding
his features
with late afternoon sun
. The affect accentuated
his
chiseled
cheek
bones
. 
Streaks of dirt covered his shirt
. 
His hair was plastered against his head in an unsightly,
quite
unprincely manner
. 
He reeked of rich soil and fresh air
. 
She thought him the most beautiful sight she’d ever laid eyes on
. 
Her breath caught in her throat.

"Please tell me you had nothing to do with the mayhem thunder
ing the halls
?" Amusement colored his tone.

The heat
that flamed
Cinderella's cheeks must have matched the color mirroring her sisters
at
those prophetic
words
. 
Dea
r heavens, they were sunk
. 
If
Pricilla was able to keep the silver b
aton hidden, mayhap they could esc
ape any real dire consequences
. 
It took every ounce of restraint Cinderella could muster to not drop to her knees and beg for his mercy
. 
She could not face his disappointment.

She snuck a peek to
wards
Pricilla, and before Cinderella could screech out a resounding
'No
n
,' Pricilla had pulled the cursed
stick
from behind and had it slanted toward His Highness
. 

Her
Prince
. 
How could she!

Shock rendered Cinderella immobile
. 
Her life flashed before her eyes in a series of dark stoned dungeons equipped with a stretching rack, or worse
.
The Wheel
. 
Mayhap
,
administered by an evil,
mustached
-man armed with a whip to snap across her bare back
. 
Essie’s cries
would bounce
off the dank walls she
’d
be
manacled to
, r
odent c
ritters scattering over their broken bodies
. 
The pictured, so vivid in her imagination, had her gasping for air.

Riveted and unmoving
,
except for a furious blinking that had the drapes fluttering with the shift in current, showed Essie’s fear in
a
sha
red
vision
. 

But Pricilla was not to be deterred.
A
rm
raised
,
she wore
a
vague smile on her lips
. 
"My
apologies,
sire," she said softly
,
just before she flicked her wrist
in his direction
.

To Cinderella's abject horror,
her
Prince
—her wonderful, beloved, Prince—
slumped to the floor like a lump of coal
. 

Oh,
non
. 

As shocking as the scene before her
unfolded
, Cinderella watched, rooted in place
. 
Pricilla
did
not
appear
finished
…
proof in her motioning of
the silver baton upward
…
lifting Prince in the process
. 
Slowly, s
he guided his leaden body to the settee, arm shaking with
her
effort
s
.

“Don't just stand there gaping like fish,” she hissed, startling Essie and Cinderella forward, where he’d dropped in an unceremonious heap
. 
Their panted endeavors were rewarded by a semblance of attempted comfort as Essie struggled to shift his booted legs over the
arm rests
.