So This is Love (Disney Twisted Tales) - Elizabeth Lim Page 0,89
no hope left at all that things would get better, my fairy godmother came. I wonder now if hope is the most powerful magic of all.”
“Hope, and I’d add a thick skin,” said Genevieve sensibly. She touched Cinderella’s shoulder. “I should have guessed that you have a fairy godmother. The fairies come to those with the heart to change the world around them. You are certainly no exception, Cindergirl.”
The duchess inhaled deeply. “I’ll do what I can to help her, but try not to worry about it tonight. Tonight marks a new beginning for you, and I have some words of advice: What friends you have now, you should treasure. Once you become royalty, people will only see what you can do for them. There’s an unofficial last P my mother used to tell me.”
“What is that?”
“A princess must know how to pretend—pretend that the jeers don’t bother you, or that the whispers aren’t about you.” A sad smile touched the duchess’s lips. “Now I’m not so sure it was the best advice.”
Cinderella thought of how she’d sing to herself through the chores for her stepmother, wearing a smile even when she was so exhausted and so frustrated with her life that all she wanted to do was sink into her bed and dream away her troubles. “I used to pretend quite a bit during the years with my stepmother. . . .” Her voice trailed off. “I pretended I was happy, but I wasn’t. I was miserable.” She swallowed. “I don’t want to pretend anymore.”
“Then don’t,” said Genevieve. “If it were up to me, the last P should have been for punch.” The duchess chuckled. “Heaven knows I have a number of people I’d love to give a nice rap on the head. The duke being on the top of that list.
“I have faith you will make a fine princess. Charles does, too. And so will the rest of Aurelais, once they get to know you.”
Cinderella drew a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. “I hope so.”
“You will. It begins tonight. Tonight, Aurelais will finally meet its runaway princess, the mysterious young lady who has captured Prince Charles’s heart and the curiosity of the entire nation. Tonight, you’ll show them you’re as lovely as your name.”
You’re as lovely as your name, Cinderella echoed in her thoughts.
It was almost like something her father had said once, when Drizella and Anastasia first made fun of her name.
Your name is lovely, he’d chided her, just like you. Do you want me to call you Ella?
No, Papa. I like Cinderella.
Then ignore them. You’re stronger than that, my darling.
“Thank you,” she told the duchess. “Truly.”
“Feel better?”
“Much.”
The duchess clapped her hands. “Now let me show you the dress I’ve picked out for tonight. Oh, it’ll go beautifully with those blue eyes of yours, Cindergirl! The court will titter-tatter what it wants to about your background, but I’m not going to give them anything to carp about when it comes to your wardrobe!”
A princess must be poised, pleasant, and presentable, Cinderella repeated to herself. When all else fails, pretending helps. Goodness, I hope I won’t have to pretend tonight. Or punch anyone.
Trying to calm the butterflies fluttering in her stomach, she smoothed her skirts with her hands. Her gown was azure blue, its ruffles accented with strands of pearls and delicate lace that gently tickled her ankles as she glided out of the duchess’s apartments toward the Amber Room, the hall adjacent to the ballroom.
“I saw the flowers,” she said softly, when Charles greeted her with his arm extended for her to take. “They’re beautiful.”
He lifted her hands to his lips, pressing a kiss on her fingertips. “Now there’s a piece of your home here—one of your happier memories—to make this your home, too.”
Cinderella placed her hand on the prince’s outstretched arm, and he guided her into an anteroom that overlooked the gardens. Outside, the arched trellis she had seen the gardeners begin to construct had been finished; now it was exquisitely braided with pink and white roses. As Cinderella gasped with delight, Charles reached for her fingers, gently pressing something into her hand.
On her palm was a ring, with a simple band of gold, slightly burnished with age, and a pale blue sapphire in the center that glittered like a star-filled midnight sky.
“This was my mother’s,” said Charles. “Nothing would have made her happier than for me to give it to you.”
Cinderella was at a loss for words. “I’ve never seen anything so .