So This is Love (Disney Twisted Tales) - Elizabeth Lim Page 0,56

could to maintain the garden, rising before the sun to nurture her mother’s rosebushes and tulips. But one morning, she’d found the entire garden trampled by Lucifer.

Back then she’d blamed it on the cat. But now she knew better. Knowing how much her mother’s garden meant to her, Lady Tremaine must have let Lucifer loose on the flowers. By the time Cinderella discovered what he had done, the garden had been destroyed, and Lady Tremaine had ordered Cinderella to clean up the “dirt.” The very next day, her stepmother had a brick path laid over the area so that another garden might never grow there again.

The memory still stung, even after all these years, and Cinderella pushed it away. Her stepmother didn’t deserve another second of her time, not even in her thoughts.

Before long, she’d returned to her room. Setting aside the duchess’s gown, she sat on her bed to give her tired feet a short rest. Work in the palace wasn’t half as strenuous as it had been at home with her stepmother and stepsisters, yet Cinderella hadn’t been sleeping well.

There was so much she’d missed during her unhappy years with Lady Tremaine; now that she was free, there was so much she wanted to do. There was so much she could do. She wanted to see the world and to help others who might have felt as lonely and trapped as she had. She didn’t want to have to force herself to smile anymore just to bear each day; she wanted to find out what truly made her laugh, what truly made her happy. She wanted to get to the heart of things—to find the truth, instead of turn a blind eye.

She drew a deep breath then, wiping the tears from her cheeks, and got up from her bed. Duchess Genevieve must be wondering what had happened to her.

Cinderella faced her reflection in the mirror. “I’m not alone anymore. I have Louisa, the girls from the palace, even Duchess Genevieve . . .”

Then why am I still crying?

Because every time she dared hope for something, for some glimmer of happiness, it slipped her grasp, almost like stardust. Whenever she reveled in something of her father and mother’s, Lady Tremaine sold it—or destroyed it. When the Grand Duke was searching for her to bring her to the palace, Lady Tremaine locked her in the tower. When she had finally dared hope someone might care for her, it turned out to be part of a larger ploy.

Could any happiness she found actually last beyond midnight?

As she splashed her face, trying to wash the redness from her eyes, a shadow flickered behind her. A warm light swelled from the darkness, so bright it illuminated her entire room.

Startled, Cinderella turned around, only to find her fairy godmother waiting behind her.

“Fairy Godmother!” she breathed, embracing the older woman.

“There, there.” Lenore stroked her hair. “I heard you crying, and I felt . . .” She revealed her wand. “It felt your sadness. Why the tears, my dear?”

“Nothing,” said Cinderella quickly. When Lenore raised an eyebrow, she sighed and explained, “I found out the ball was just a scheme for the prince to find a bride. And now there’s going to be another one.”

“Isn’t that wonderful news? You can see him again.”

She swallowed, a hard lump lodged in her throat. “No, I’m not allowed to go. Besides, I don’t want to. It’s just a silly ball, and I . . . I want to leave that part of my past behind me.”

“What makes you think it’s a silly ball?”

“I have a job in the palace,” Cinderella continued without answering. A touch of pride edged her voice as she said, “And I’m free of my stepmother to lead my own life. I wouldn’t want to run into her again.”

Lenore’s shoulders softened. “My child,” she murmured, “you needn’t fear her.”

“I know, but . . .” Cinderella pursed her lips. She didn’t want to talk about her stepmother anymore; she had so many questions for her fairy godmother. “I have another dream, too. One to help people. Like you.”

“Like me?”

“You told me that magic was forbidden, and when I went to the royal archives, the librarian said that everything to do with magic has been destroyed. Oh, Fairy Godmother, what happened all those years ago? What happened to magic . . . and to you?”

Lenore sighed, taking a moment to gather herself. Then she looked at Cinderella with a sad glimmer in her eyes. “When I was your