from night to night.” He frowned. “The ball was last night, was it not? My memories make no sense.”
“The day has not darkened yet.” She squeezed his hand, leaning closer. “Do you remember her?”
“Who?”
Cold washed through the room before she could answer. Robert straightened in the seat and his attention moved to the slipper. Kneeling beside him, she watched as he seemed to be dragged toward the object. His touch slipped away from hers. She didn’t bother hiding her distress, Robert’s attention had been engaged by the sparkling slipper.
He moved to the table, touching the detestable shoe with his fingers. “Cinderella.”
Leaving the ball, as Cinderella walked between the rows of carriages, she could feel the gaze of the prince. He watched. She didn’t need to turn around to know for certain. Pleasure of the night filled her. Though young, the prince held himself with the stature of royalty. The bearing of his mother shone through him.
She stumbled, and the delicate shoe fitted to her foot slipped off. She gasped. Broken? But when she saw it, the glass slipper gleamed in torchlight from a lantern hanging on a nearby carriage. It was meant to stay. She moved on, hobbling a few steps. When she turned from the view of the prince, she leaned against a vehicle and removed the other slipper.
A large window reflected her image. She slipped her finger into the pouch of sand. “Mirror on the wall, return me to the great hall.” A slight tremor of unease caused her hand to shake as she touched the reflection. She closed her eyes. The next moment she found herself home.
The long mirror stood in its majesty. Cinderella placed the single shoe on the floor a hand’s width from the mirror’s frame. She caught a glimpse of her reflection as she stood. The blond curls were charmingly disarrayed. Tiredness drooped her eyes and paled her lips. She stiffened her shoulders. There were things to check and preparations to be finalized. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling, nor the gleam of victory from sparking her eyes.
“A very good night.” She told her image in the mirror.
“Now sleep. Preparations will be ready tomorrow.” Her reflection answered.
She padded across the floor runner in her bare feet, pulling herself up the stairs to her bedroom. The inky shadow on the far side of the bed moved. She ignored Crow. After exchanging her ball gown for a sleeping tunic, she slipped beneath the cool covers of the bed. Though she didn’t mind Crow’s arm wrapping around her, the flashes of images behind her closed eyes as she settled for sleep were of Prince Robert.
When she woke, Crow had gone. Sunlight peeked through the thick curtains over the window. She breathed, allowing her thoughts to spread. The spell weaved its workings. She could feel it, every movement like a brush of air across her skin. “I must see,” she declared as she pulled herself from the bed. Food didn’t matter. She wrapped herself in clothes and returned to the deep room where the mirror waited.
“Mirror on the wall, reveal my prince at my call.” She stood before it. Her reflection faded and the image of the prince asleep in a chair came to view. The touch of her finger on his hand through the glass caused his fingers to pull into a fist. “The spell works.” She allowed herself to smile. Then the image widened as a young woman approached. Cinderella frowned. “What do you think you are doing, Dearie?”
The woman crouched beside the chair, taking hold of Robert’s hand. He relaxed, tension flowing from him. Cinderella couldn’t hear their words, but she didn’t need to. The gentle breath of webs razed against her skin, leaving angry red welts on her arm. This woman would be a problem. How had the prince attached himself to her?
“Can you not strengthen the spell?” Cinderella demanded of the mirror. The glass slipper glittered on a dais in the room with the prince. Robert’s attention fell away from the mysterious woman. His body tensed. The woman stepped away, hurt reflecting on her face. Cinderella tapped the woman through the mirror. “Robert is my prince, whomever you are. Don’t get in my way.”
She took a step away, turning toward the door. “Crow!” Cinderella hollered. The black man stepped into the room. She turned toward him. “You must go. Get her away from him. Distract her so my spell has time to weave throughout the palace.”
He glanced at the image in the mirror.