Cinderella ignored the calls and made a beeline for the kitchens. “If no one can find me, he’ll go away. He’ll have to go away, and I have to find Friedrich and talk to him—curse my impulsive self!” Cinderella said. She nearly collided with a maid who bore a tray of food, but dodged at the last moment.
She slid into the kitchens, ignoring the uproar her servants were in, dodged a live chicken, and tripped on the cat sunning herself on the stoop outside the entrance to the kitchens.
Cinderella tilted alarmingly and almost fell, but she righted herself at the last moment and hopped several steps. “Darned cat!”
“I have to say, I’ve never seen you fall before, but you’ve gotten precariously close in the past day or so.”
Cinderella stopped pinwheeling her arms and could not help the rush of relief she felt when she saw Friedrich standing not three paces away, his arms folded across his chest.
“Friedrich!” Cinderella cried, throwing herself at him. “I am so glad to see you—but we have to get out of here. The Prince—,” Cinderella cut herself short and stepped back when her eyes finally caught up with her mind, and she realized Friedrich was not wearing his usual uniform.
Friedrich wore an outfit of black, and on his head was the copper crown with the ruby setting Prince Cristoph wore.
“I’m going to sit down,” Cinderella announced before her legs gave out, and she sat down, hard, on the ground.
“I thought you would try to run when my men flashed my full title, so I positioned myself in the location you were most likely to exit from.”
“You’re a prince!?”
“Yes.”
“The oldest prince?”
“Prince Cristoph VI, yes.”
“Then you lied? You’ve been lying to me?” Cinderella said, her chest heaving.
“Not entirely. I go by Friedrich (as Cristoph is a family name), and it can make discussions quite confusing. I don’t use my prince title often, as my main occupation is Colonel of the First Regiment.”
Cinderella pushed herself to her feet, anger giving her newfound strength. “The organizing it must have taken to pull this over me—your whole regiment was in on it, weren’t they? And that explains why you kept sticking up for your greedy Queen Freja!”
“What happened to forgiveness?”
“That was BEFORE I found out you’ve been lying to me this entire time!”
“Cinderella, you need to calm down,” Friedrich said.
“I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE CALM IN MY LIFE!” Cinderella roared.
“I see,” Friedrich said.
“What was this past summer to you?” Cinderella said, stalking back and forth like an angry mountain cat. “A joke? A way to amuse yourself—by watching the penniless duchess scrabble for change?”
“It was a marriage interview.”
“What?”
Friedrich grabbed Cinderella by her shoulders. “Listen to me for a minute.”
Cinderella briefly considered slapping him, but settled for angrily brushing his hands off her shoulders.
“Mother and Father will be leaving the Trieux territory soon. For safety and military reasons, they must return to our fortifications in Erlauf—there have been magical attacks, as you know. I am to remain behind and rule in their stead. Since the war, I knew I would have to marry someone of Trieux blood to stabilize our claim to Trieux. So, I’ve been watching all eligible girls from the noble class, the guild and merchant glass, and the daughters of the remaining Trieux officials. I narrowed down my selection to include you, which was when I decided I wanted to meet you.”
“So, I was the best-bred mare to suit your purposes?” Cinderella said, her eyes narrowed. “You’re not winning any points for charm, Your Highness.”
Friedrich ignored the acid in her voice. “I know the story is less than romantic…but it’s all I have. I am the prince of a country that has finished one war and is on the brink of another against an enemy we have no real means of conquering. I’m sorry I only looked at you because I had to marry someone from Trieux. I wish I had approached you with more wholesome intents, but it is unfair to discount my love for you because of that.”
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why did you want to meet me?”
Friedrich hesitated. “Because of…the position I’m in, I knew I needed to be careful with who I selected as my wife. I wanted someone who could learn to love Erlauf as I love it.”
“And?”
“I heard about your unusual situation—the way you gave up everything to keep your servants. Your actions were selfless, and they were what made me decide I should meet you. The day you saved my life, I knew, if I could convince you, you would love Erlauf just as fiercely as you love your servants,” Friedrich said, fixing his dark eye on Cinderella.
Cinderella could feel her anger starting to subside, but she wouldn’t admit it, so she looked away and turned her back to Friedrich.
“And then I fell deeply in love with you, and I worried you would marry me only to save Aveyron. You never gave any indication you felt more for me than friendship. You still haven’t,” Friedrich said, standing behind Cinderella.
He was so close Cinderella could feel the heat of his body, but he did not touch her.