Cliche Endings Need Not Apply (except for that one)
A Word: Ibid.
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However, because Cinderella kept asking, the stepmother finally said, "I have scattered a bowl of lentils into the ashes for you. If you can pick them out again in two hours, then you may go with us."
The girl went through the back door into the garden, and called out, "You tame pigeons, you turtledoves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to gather:
"The good ones go into the pot,
The bad ones go into your crop."
Two white pigeons came in through the kitchen window, and then the turtledoves, and finally all the birds beneath the sky came whirring and swarming in, and lit around the ashes. The pigeons nodded their heads and began to pick, pick, pick, pick. And the others also began to pick, pick, pick, pick. They gathered all the good grains into the bowl. Hardly one hour had passed before they were finished, and they all flew out again.
The girl took the bowl to her stepmother, and was happy, thinking that now she would be allowed to go to the festival with them.
But the stepmother said, "It's no use. You are not coming with us, for you have no clothes, and you don't know how to dance. We would be ashamed of you." With this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her two proud daughters.
Now that no one else was at home, Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel tree, and cried out:
"Shake and quiver, little tree,
Throw gold and silver down to me."
Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She quickly put on the dress and went to the festival.
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"I don't want to go to that stupid ball!" Desmond protests for what feels like the hundredth time. Why anyone would think he wants to go to some party to dance while a snooty prince chooses a bride is beyond him.
Malik and Juno seem to think differently for some reason.
Desmond's been confronted by Juno a dozen times -each one nearly lethal as Desmond had to force down a suicidal desire to attack her- about it. She's refused him every time and told him he'd have to complete some impossible task first as she threw bowls of beans everywhere outside. Desmond had let the dry beans sit in the yard and not tried at all to pick them up. Birds came by eventually and ate every single one of them.
Malik has also been riding him hard about going. Bringing it up multiple times a day and planning out loud for it like it's actually going to happen. Desmond had ignored him after the first few rejections didn't seem to get through to him, and just buried himself in the few books Shaun hadn't claimed.
The house is silent now. Juno having just left with Haytham and Vidic for the ball, and Desmond had hoped that would be the last he heard about it all. Right up until Malik drags him outside to where a fine looking carriage stands with two black horses hitched to it.
"I didn't ask what you wanted," Malik says with a frown that promises pain if he's not obeyed. "This ball is part of your destiny, Desmond, and you will be attending it."
"Dressed like this?" Desmond twists but doesn't actually get free of Malik's strong grip. He's wearing a soot stained shirt and his most comfortable trousers. His definition of comfort tends to grow with the number of holes a piece of clothing has. "They wouldn't let a servant into the palace dressed like this!"
"Of course not, you idiot," Malik snorts and the arm in his grip starts to tingle. Desmond yelps as dark gold tendrils of light seem to creep from Malik's hand before shooting out to envelop him. "This is important. I wouldn't allow you to appear anywhere looking like a beggar."
"Shit, shit!" Desmond flails as he's released but the light dies and he finds himself dressed in a fine set of clothing. Something that's the very height of fashion at the moment going by what he's seen people walking the streets in. It's tight and itchy in all the ways he remembers detesting, and the shoes are shiny and pinch uncomfortably. He looks like a noble and he feels like an utter idiot. "Malik, no!"
"Yes," Malik states firmly and he's got that familiar rolled parchment in hand again. "This ball is in here Desmond, it's important. Now you can trust me about this and go along with it quietly or I can curse you to attend it unwillingly. Either way you go. I assure you that one of those options is far more enjoyable than the other."
"I hate magic," Desmond growls and stops trying to pull the clothing off. "What am I even supposed to do there anyway?"
"Stop Juno?" Malik suggest wryly and turns back to the carriage as Desmond gapes at him.
"Are you nuts?! The second Juno sees me there she'll kill me!"
"Then I suggest you not be seen," Malik turns back around and he has Connor, Rebecca, and Shaun in hand. The golden light curls up around them and Desmond hears a startled squeak before Malik throws them all up into the air.
"Fuck!" Desmond dives for the small forms and feels fur on his hand before a bright flash of the gold light blinds him. He hits the ground with a groan and strangled shout as something heavy lands on top of him.
"Are you bloody insane?!" Another voice starts up a loud tirade as Desmond blinks the spots clear from his eyes and finds a somewhat familiar face grinning down at him.
"Hey, Desmond," Rebecca says as Shaun starts tearing into Malik. She looks the same as he last remembers her and helps him to his feet before spinning in delight. Shaun's red-faced as he yells at an unimpressed Malik, but Desmond's attention is firmly fixed on the third person standing uncertainly nearby.
"Connor?" Desmond slides up to the man with long dark hair and skin. He looks up, startled, and there's enough of Haytham in his face that Desmond grins widely at his friend. It feels like his grin is going to break his face right in half as he throws his arms around the slightly taller man.
Connor makes a small noise and hugs him back. Desmond can feel a smile stretching across the face that presses into his neck as he says, "Hello, Desmond."
Desmond laughs and pulls away just enough to turn on Malik. "You said you couldn't undo the curse!"
"I can't," Malik answers and that shuts Shaun up fast. Rebecca stops spinning and Desmond feels Connor stiffen behind him. "I can only alter it slightly for a period of time. Six hours to be precise. They will all go back to as they were at midnight tonight."
"I'm sick of being a mouse!" Shaun hisses in protest and Desmond hears the shuddery breath Connor takes behind him. He reaches back blindly and finds one of Connor's hands. Squeezing tight.
"Well then," more magic flies from Malik's hands and wrap around the three of them. Desmond feels the tendrils drift past him in a buzz, and when he looks Connor's wearing the clothing of a servant. Nice and presentable but not very expensive or fashionable. "I suggest you take the time tonight to figure out how best to kill Juno so that you won't have to remain one for long."
"You said you couldn't figure out what she is," Connor frowns and stops examining his jacket.
"I have never claimed to know everything," Malik sounds bored as he crosses his arms. "The good King of this land on the other hand has gained a lot of notoriety for his tales of killing one of each creature in the world. Which you should know from your lessons."
Connor flinches a little and Desmond has to fight back the urge to cry out in victory at it. He knew he wasn't actually reading all the time!
"And seeing as you have two well-versed researchers," Malik inclines his head to Rebecca and Shaun, "it might behoove you to take the time at the ball to, and this is only a suggestion mind you, get into the King's library and figure that out!"
One of the horses snorts and shakes its head at the shout that echoes in the yard. Malik makes sure to fix each one of them with a scathing look before pointing at the carriage. "Go!"
They all jump to it, and Desmond slides into the carriage seat with Connor all but pushing him in. Rebecca looks bewildered by her compliance across from him, and Shaun just looks pained.
Malik's voice floats through the door, low like it gets when he's feeling physically pained by the stupidity around him. "You do know this carriage won't drive itself, right?"
"Don't look at me," Shaun says immediately. "I can't even ride one."
Rebecca shrugs, "Yeah, I don't know either."
"I was turned into a mouse when I was four," Connor says flatly. "I'm surprised I can walk on two feet."
"I can drive," Desmond offers, because he's really the only one who seems to have had the chance.
The carriage door opens and Malik looks pissed too now. "Are you serious?"
"Yes?" Desmond says when no one else says anything.
Malik groans and rubs his forehead. "Alright then, new plan, because I can now no longer trust any of you idiots to do this properly on your own. Get out of the carriage."
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The servant clothing fits better and is much more comfortable. Desmond relaxes into it as he guides the carriage through the streets toward the palace.
"I knew you weren't reading those stupid books," he says quietly even though it's unlikely they'll be heard over the clop of the horses' hooves.
"I did," Connor protests from next to him. Attention divided equally between the city and Desmond's handling of the horses. He'd actually had to drag Connor away from the animals earlier. "Some of the time."
"Liar," Desmond sings the word out and doesn't miss the way Connor's lips twist up in a pleased grin.
"It's hard to read when you're a mouse," Connor tries a different tactic, and watches as Desmond handles the reins for a bit to get the carriage around a tight corner without flipping the whole thing. "The words are too large to see properly, and it gives me a headache."
"Shaun seems to have handled it fine," Desmond says and leans slightly to the left as they take another corner. It presses him up against Connor because the seat is so small, and when he pulls back Connor follows him.
"Did he really read though?" Connor asks stubbornly. His hands are moving constantly. Running over the cloth of his clothing, brushing against the wood of the seat, and poking at whatever part of Desmond is closest. A constant need to touch and confirm that's as bright as his curiosity.
Connor has had very little opportunity to get out of the house, and it shows. Desmond wishes now he'd maybe talked a bit more about what it was like, but it hadn't honestly occurred to him before. He almost swears to promise to start now, but he'd really much rather just show Connor. Take him out and point out everything he missed knowing, and that's not something he's going to be able to do until Juno is dead.
"There's the palace," Desmond straightens up and schools the smile off of his face. There's a small contingent of guards at the gate who don't move as he drives through. He slows the horses and has half a minute to sort through the chaos before him before he drives the carriage for a small set of stairs, narrowly beating another one there as all the fashionably late people are dropped off.
Connor jumps down before the carriage is even stopped and opens the door as a servant in the colors of the palace runs up to give a hand to Malik. The man doesn't flinch or react at all the sour glare that gets him which is a good sign that whatever glamour Malik's using on himself is working. He'd said something about people seeing what they expect to see and Desmond hadn't felt the need to ask for details.
Desmond works hard to keep the grin off his face as he once again sees the clothing Malik had altered with the same magic he had given the others human form with. The rules governing it -as fussy as any other rule of magic- dictated that he still wore a dress. It was just now a proper ball gown in white and red that looked ridiculous but had Rebecca's stamp of approval. Especially the headpiece she'd called a tiara that looked to be made of real rubies.
("Still not the worst thing I've worn," Malik had admitted before turning a glare on Rebecca as she tried to do something to his hair around the tiara. "I will wrap this thing around your throat.")
Desmond waits for Connor to get back up on the seat before urging the horses on. Following the subtle directions of the palace servants to pull the carriages around the side of the large castle where a series of fields seems to be set up for them all. It's tight, noisy, and not at all pretty but it gets the job done.
"Alright," Shaun says once they've stopped and climbed out. Desmond finishes hitching the two horses to a fence, not bothering to undo any of the complicated buckles attaching them to the carriage. He's not even really sure if they're actual horses or not at this point. They're far too calm and accepting of their position. "Now what?"
There's an area on the far end of where they are where it looks like a majority of the drivers and servants have gathered to wait. "Well," he studies the distance between them and that crowd, the distant door that probably leads into a kitchen area, and the unknown distance between that and a library that none of them actually know the location of.
"No," Malik says and Desmond nearly jumps as high as Shaun as the man just appears beside them. He waves his hand and they're all in a small study. The walls lined with books and a fire already going in the fireplace. "We have five hours. There's no time to waste on sneaking in."
"Then why did we need to drive here in the carriage?" Connor asks with a frown.
"Connor, do you want to become a witch?" Malik asks as Shaun immediately tackles one of the book cases. Rebecca not far behind him.
"No."
"Then don't ask me why each time," Malik waves his hand again and the three of them are on a dark balcony that leads into a bright room filled with voices and music. "If I explained every rule to you, you might as well go out and find a familiar because that's all you'd need to do magic."
"I thought it took decades to learn magic," Desmond moves to look in and notices he's wearing the fancy, uncomfortable clothing again with a grimace.
"It does," Malik says and leaves them to figure that out for themselves as he strides into the ball. Head high and not at all bothered by the looks he's getting. Granted, they're mostly approving and don't seem to actually be looking at him...
"I don't think I like magic much," Connor mutters. "Or this clothing."
Desmond turns around and laughs. Connor's wearing a set of fine clothing of his own and isn't pleased at all by it going from his face. He's fighting with a fluffy cravat, his hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, and he looks almost exactly like his father in that moment.
"Here, there's a trick to it," Desmond bats Connor's hands away and slips his fingers in between the stiff fabric and Connor's neck. Loosening it just enough that it goes from suffocating to barely tolerable. "The more you struggle with it the worse it gets. You kind of just have to suffer through it."
"Why would anyone want to wear this?" Connor asks, utterly baffled.
"No idea," Desmond grins up at him and a bit of light from inside lights Connor's face up. Desmond tilts his head and looks close because he hasn't had the opportunity to really look at him yet. "Giving all of this up was never a problem for me if you remember."
Connor looks nothing like what Desmond had thought he'd look like the few times he'd tried to imagine him as human. His skin is darker than Desmond's but this close he can make out a faint spatter of freckles high on his cheeks. There's a small scar on Connor's cheek that Desmond can place with a bit of horror that still gives him nightmares. An old alley cat had gotten into the tower one night, and Desmond hadn't even known it was there until it'd pounced on Connor. The wounds had healed, but it's obvious now that the fur had concealed the scars left by its claws.
He's a handsome man, Desmond is surprised to find out, especially when he smiles down at Desmond. A small and sweet smile that curls his lips and lights up his eyes. Until it's Desmond who feels like he needs to loosen his cravat.
"Boys," Malik's voice breaks through the slight daze Desmond has fallen into and he's not sure if he should be grateful or not. "If you're done, we have things to do."
Desmond swallows and steps back, feeling cold all along his front immediately. Had they been standing that close? "Alright, what's the plan, fairy godmother?"
Desmond follows Malik into the ball and shakes himself mentally. There's things to do right now, and time enough for whatever that was later. When Connor's fully human again.
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