"Just take those," Stepmama snapped. "Cinderella has no need for slippers threaded with gold."
"Truly? Should I?" she gushed. Cinderella stifled a giggle. She imagined Pricilla rolling her eyes.
"Something odd is going on," Stepmama said. She sounded reasonable enough.
"What do you mean, Maman?" Pricilla was as good an actress as Essie. Cinderella covered her mouth. Laughing would ruin everything.
"Why does the queen insist on including Cinderella, do you suppose? I vow she has taken an unusual interest in her." Bitterness bounded from the walls. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.
Alarm tingled over Cinderella.
"My dear, Esmeralda, I cannot forget that it was you, my darling…"
"Shush," Pricilla interrupted, with a melodramatic beat. "We must leave. If you are correct in your assumptions regarding the queen…" she trailed off.
"Oui. Oui, of course," Stepmama said quickly. "I shall take care of her later. Right now we've a betrothal ball to prepare for."
The breath rushed from Cinderella's body, their voices fading from the chamber. She hesitated a few moments more, then crawled from beneath the bed.
An effervescent glow blinked from the room and slowly dissipated. She had the strangest feeling…"Fairy Godmother?" she called, softly. Nothing.
The door stood slightly ajar. Cinderella shook out her skirts and willed her pounding heart to a normal rhythm. She might never feel normal again.
She spun slowly, worried. Each day the challenge to confess her true identity became more and more difficult. Her secret would devastate their relationship. Once more she'd allowed the opportunity to pass. Such a coward she was. Tears filled her eyes.
Essie and Pricilla would forever hate her.