Cinderella watched tormented as Prince's large masculine form was hauled over his manservant's shoulder and whisked away. Her fixed-stare followed the retreating figures up a flight of stone steps then disappearing through the elaborate entrance of the castle.
One blink brought her attention to the monstrosity of the structure in the brilliant light of the late afternoon. Much different than crashing the Royal Ball in the throes of a dark night.
A lovely night, she sighed. A finer night she knew she'd never see again in this lifetime.
Rich green ivy hugged the stones on both sides of the entrance. Windows in mortared stacks of four reached an endless sky and rounded columns towered above a flat roof. Cinderella swallowed past the obstruction blocking her throat.
Perhaps it would not be such a trial to see Esmeralda married to Prince. But the vision of his slumped form over the servant's shoulder tugged at her heart. She was the one who should be there when he opened his eyes. The one to kiss away his hurt, shower him with love, affection, children.
She pressed her lips together. Non. There was no way she could allow Esmeralda to marry her true love. But how to prevent it? She dropped her head. Her eyes landed on her patched frock. Despair filled her, seeing what everyone else saw. Stepmama had everyone believing her a servant.
"Mademoiselle?" A shy voice broke through her careening thoughts.
Her head shot up. "Oui?"
"This way, Mademoiselle."
Cinderella peered about. No one seemed to hear the timid maid but her. A young miss with a flouncing white mob cap and starched white apron. Her elf-like features, whimsical eyes, and pert nose sparked a mischievous adventure. A sense of déjà vu touched her. Fairy Godmother?
Impossible.
Cinderella shook her head. The opportunity to escape her ill-gotten family was not one she was prepared to miss. Stepmama could hardly call her out before the queen.
So Cinderella followed her. They made haste in quick short steps that lead straight away from Stepmama, Pricilla, and Esmeralda. This, in and of itself, was a dream come true...but…
Away from the front of the castle?
Alarm prickled her skin when they reached the corner. Cinderella glanced over her shoulder where Pricilla's vicious smirk and piercing eyes reached her. Cinderella flinched at the venom, but squared her shoulders. Nothing could dampen her life any more than the situation had thus far, and Cinderella hustled through a hidden wooded door after the darting servant.
The instant she stepped inside, a wretched dread hit her. The servants' entrance? She'd followed the blasted girl through to the servants' entrance? Visions of hopeless abandon played out in her mind where Prince had married Esmeralda, and Cinderella's life became lost in serving the Uppers from the bowels of the palace, never to be seen or heard from again.