This is what I had wanted when I first wished to be Cinderella and now that I was actually getting it, I wanted nothing more than to go home with Tristan, Jane, and Hunter and live a normal life again.
The carriage hurried on. Finally, the castle came into view. The horses raced toward it without slowing even when we approached the drawbridge. I knocked on the carriage ceiling, hoping Scuppers could hear me. “Slow the horses!” I yelled.
He didn’t. Instead he hung his head over the side of the carriage, his eyes wide and his mouth still panting.
“The horses!” I yelled again. “Slow them down!” His face disappeared. The horses didn’t lessen their pace. From the window I could see that the peasants were having their own feast outside of the castle. A bonfire glowed in the yard while a hundred or so stood around it eating and drinking. Some danced while others sang and clapped out a tune.
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We drew too close to the crowd and several people had to dive out of the way to keep from being hit. While fleeing, one woman flung her drinking cup in the air and it splashed onto the window as I went by.
“Sorry!” I yelled, but she’d already passed from my sight and I wasn’t sure she’d heard me.
Moments later the carriage came to a lurching stop at the castle doors. A castle doorman opened the carriage and eyed me. Slowly, primly, he held out his arm to me.
“Madame.”
I took the doorman’s arm and stepped out of the carriage. “Sorry about the quick arrival. I’m in a hurry to find Sir Tristan. Do you know where he is?” The doorman gave me a curt nod. “You may inquire within as to the guests’ whereabouts.” He paused as he glanced at the driver’s box. “Is your driver all right? He’s acting rather addled.”
“Addled” was the word they used for crazy in the Middle Ages. I glanced up at Scuppers. He was biting his shoulder as though he had an itch and hadn’t thought to use his hands to scratch it.
“He’ll be fine.” As I turned and walked toward the castle, Scuppers jumped from the carriage, landing like he was in a game of leapfrog. He sprang up into standing position and took loping steps to follow after me.
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“Oh no you don’t,” I told him. “You’re not coming inside.”
He sniffed in the direction of the castle, licked his lips, and then whined.
“I don’t care what you smell, you’re not coming.” The last thing I needed was a man-dog tagging along after me.
Scuppers whined again and took two quick steps toward the castle as though trying to get around me. I took hold of him by the lapel. “Bad dog, Scuppers. Now go back and wait with the carriage.” He lowered his head and whimpered, but then scampered back to the carriage.
The doorman watched him go with a questioning expression.
“He’s not feeling quite himself tonight,” I said, and I walked the rest of the way to the castle.
A doorman let me in. Another servant pointed the way to the great room. He needn’t have bothered; the noise of the crowd and musicians led the way. I went and stood in the line to be introduced. It wasn’t until I was there that I realized who stood in front of me: my WSM
and two wicked stepsisters from the Cinderella fairy tale.
Chapter 23
I stood behind them, hardly breathing in hopes that if I was quiet they wouldn’t turn around and notice me. The fairy tale said Cinderella’s stepfamily didn’t recognize her, but things had never gone exactly like they had in the real fairy tales and perhaps this would be one of those differences. I’d never read a version of the story where Cinderella went and stood right by her family.
Hildegard grasped at her skirt and tapped one foot nervously. “No one will even look at us. Every noblewoman and princess within riding distance will be here.” WSM swatted Hildegard’s hands. “True, but so will every nobleman and prince. Perhaps there will be some left over for us.”
Matilda leaned toward her sister and snorted. “Perhaps Prince Hubert will take a liking to you.” Hildegard giggled but WSM sent her a cold-eyed stare that silenced her. “A prince is still a prince. I’d give either of your hands to him quickly enough.” Hildegard looked away from her mother and noticed me. Her gaze traveled over me and stopped on my face.
She stared at me for a moment and then turned back to her mother.
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I waited for her to tell WSM who I was, but instead she whispered, “It isn’t fair, Mamá. No one will notice me at all!”
I let out a sigh of relief. A few minutes later a servant introduced me as Lady Savannah of Herndon, and I walked into the ballroom. I don’t think a single person heard him. Between the musicians that played in the loft, the dancers that swept across the floor, and the crowds chatting by the food table, no one was paying attention to latecomers. I stood for a few moments trying to catch sight of Tristan’s blond hair. I didn’t see him, although I caught sight of Prince Edmond dancing with a young woman in the center of the room.
He looked exactly as I remembered from when I was Cinderella—tall and broad shouldered with glossy brown hair and chiseled features—straight out of a Hollywood leading-man catalog. He moved gracefully across the floor dressed in a purple tunic with gold trim.
We looked like we’d coordinated our outfits, and I supposed Chrissy had.
I moved past him, glad he hadn’t seen me, and looked for Tristan. Princess Margaret danced in the middle of the floor with some nameless nobleman. She wore a cranberry velvet gown and it gave me a guilty sense of pleasure that my dress was nicer.
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I walked around the edges of the room, still searching.
Every once in a while I noticed men staring at me with smiles on their lips, but I didn’t recognize anyone. The thing that struck me the most as I walked through the crowd was how good everyone smelled. It wasn’t just the perfume, the smell of the rich was the absence of stink.
I caught sight of Jane talking to Prince Hugh in one corner. She looked out of place in my Snow White dress—it was nicer than the clothes the peasants and servants wore—clearly a lady’s dress, but not fancy enough for a ball.
As I walked up to her, she shook her head at Prince Hugh apologetically. I wondered where Hunter was.
“Jane?”
She turned and her mouth opened with surprise. “Savannah, how did you get here?”
“Compliments of Chrissy. The inn is now short twelve mice and a turnip, and don’t ask what happened to the innkeeper’s dog.” I gave a quick curtsy to Prince Hugh, then turned my attention back to Jane. “Where’s Tristan?”
But Prince Hugh wasn’t about to let me ignore him.
“You’re Savannah?” he asked incredulously. “The lady I spoke to on the stairs?”
“Yes,” I said.
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Jane gave an “oh!” of understanding, then turned to Prince Hugh. “You thought I was my sister—that’s why I didn’t know what you were talking about.” The prince’s gaze ricocheted between us for a moment longer, adding up our similarities and differences, then he held out his hand to me with a smile. “Your sister tells me that she prefers not to join in the festivities, but I can see you came to dance. Would you do me the honor?”
He wasn’t really giving me a choice, but I didn’t take his hand. “I’d be happy to dance as soon as I find my friend. I’m afraid it’s urgent.” A flash of annoyance went across the prince’s face.
“Sir Tristan is outside with his friend waiting to see if the Black Knight will answer his challenge. I doubt he’ll come. It’s bad form to fight during a ball. Any knight of worth is inside dancing.”
He raised his hand to me again and this time I took it.
Over my shoulder to Jane I said, “Tell Tristan I need to talk to him. Make him promise not to eat or drink anything. Someone may be trying to poison him.” She looked as though she wanted to ask more questions, but the prince had already pulled me away from her. She turned and disappeared into the crowd.