Twice, Cinderella had to run to keep up. Such brilliant landscapes had her wanting to leap in the painting, surround herself in the fantasy. The still-life works portray food so detailed, it begged on to pick up the fruit and take a bite. The paintings lined the hall between symmetrically spaced windows on both walls.
Some showed angelic cherubs wings that hovered over tall trees, or floated atop sheer realistic painted waterfalls. Her fingers itch to don a brush. She possessed not even the slightest talent for sketching. Soon they entered a vast room adorned with life-sized portraits. Natural light filled the chamber. The windows bore no coverings, and of course remained free of dust.
Queen Thomasine entertained them with spectacular tales of the King's rise to power in their tiny kingdom of Chalmers, hidden in the depths of the Pyrenees Mountains. Pride rang through her melodic voice in speaking of her heritage.
Spellbound, the queen informed them of His Majesty's tragedy when he'd been in line for a small dominion within the Portuguese borders.
Cinderella forgot herself and whispered, "What happened?"
"It is a sad tale, indeed," she said softly.
"Cinderella," Stepmama snapped. "How dare you address the queen with such impertinence."
"'Tis quite alright, Lady Roche." She turned stark vivid blue eyes on Cinderella. Eyes that still reflected long ago pain. "War had broken out and the empire was seized by the Spaniards."
Esmeralda and Pricilla's gasps united with Cinderella's.
The queen cleared her throat delicately. "We prevailed, of course. His Majesty was a young child when it took place." She shook her head, sadly. "Close family friends hid him away in France at the age of two."
"Two!" All three girls sounded together.
"Oui. Until his sixth year when his Grand-mère was safely able to reclaim him. Unfortunately, his parents had perished in the Siege."
Enthralled, Cinderella could not imagine his fear, being stripped from the bosom of one's family, too young to understand the dynamics surrounding him. She dashed a tear from her cheek, embarrassed by her show of emotion.
At once Stepmama's piercing scowl leveled on her and she fell back a step, carefully pasting on her usual blank expression.
"It was at that time our marriage was contracted."
"Contracted?" Esmeralda said weakly.
"Oui. A condition not so uncommon," she smiled. "As you can see, it has not been an unhappy life. Ours was the family who sequestered him, you see."
Despite Stepmama's impending presence, Cinderella found herself captivated by Queen Thomasine's rendition of the King's poignant past, moving on to describing each portrait in detail. Who was whom and how each member was related to the royal family tree.