Chapter 2
Kingdom One: "Too pretty to be evil"
"Mother,
father, it's only for a year and it's the opportunity of a lifetime," Vivienne,
the eldest daughter of the woman formerly known as Cinderella—known now to
friends and family as simply Ella—and the first of our Prince (well, King now)
Charmings, appealed to her parents. "I
would be an apprentice to one of the most renowned mages in the whole land!"
"Vivienne, dear, you've heard our answer, and
you've heard our reasons," her mother, Ella, replied to the frustrated young
woman. "Magic is so… unprincess-like,"
she explained, unconsciously touching up her already perfect blond hair.
"But mom, you used magic," their younger
daughter, Lilith, pointed out as she swallowed a mouthful of chocolate chip
cookies.
"Lily, please don't speak with your mouth
full," her father reprimanded gently.
"Sowwy daddy," Lilith replied, working her way
through another cookie.
"I think you've had enough of those cookies
already. You'll spoil your appetite for
dinner," her father continued.
"Don't worry," Lilith smiled brightly as she
patted her stomach, "I have plenty of room for both."
"Don't I know it," Ella muttered beneath her
breath, shaking her head at her youngest daughter's "unprincess-like"
appetite. "Lilith, darling, I did
not use magic. My fairy godmother
assisted me through her use of magic."
She let out a mental sigh. It
seemed no matter how many times she told her daughters that story she was
having to continually correct them on the finer details of it.
In response Lilith gave a shrug that indicated
that she failed to see the difference between the two statements.
"But it doesn't matter mother," Vivienne
interjected. "Regardless of who used
the magic, you would not be where you are today if it weren't for magic. So I don't see how you of all people can
look down it as you do."
"Vivienne, I do not look down on magic, and I
am perfectly aware of what it's done for me, young lady," Ella replied
hotly. Then she took a deep calming
breath and spoke in a softer voice, "It's just that, only a certain class of
people practice magic: either those who are born with it, or witches and
sorcerers."
"Oh please mother," Vivienne responded, rolling
her eyes. "There are so such things as
'witches.' People only call them
witches because they practice magic.
It's circular reasoning."
Ella let out another mental sigh and sent a
look toward her husband. See. She had always been of the opinion that
their daughters would be better off with a "reasonable" amount of education… as
much as would be required of a princess, or future queen. Her husband, however, had insisted that if
the girls wanted to learn, they should be provided with the opportunity
to do so. And look what that had gotten
them: a disobedient, argumentative daughter who wanted to practice magic!
"Fine," she replied, giving Vivienne that
point, "But you know how it is in our world… only the ugly daughter is supposed
to practice magic. And then she places
a curse on her pretty sister."
"Right," her husband chimed in, having
recognized the reason behind the look she had sent him, and thus eager to
appease her. "Why would you want to do
that; you're not the ugly daughter."
There were several seconds of silence as the
implications of that statement hung in the air, before three sets of eyes
turned toward the youngest princess, who stood staring at her parents, eyes
filling with tears and lips quivering.
"I mean you're not an ugly
daughter. Because we have no ugly
daughters. Both of our daughters are
tremendously beautiful," he quickly continued.
But it was too late, and the damage had been done. Lilith dropped the rest of the cookies that
had been clutched in her hands and ran from the room bawling loudly. "Lily, darling, wait!" the king called out
as he followed after her.
"Good lord," Ella sighed. "Sometimes I wonder why I married him."
"Because you didn't want to spend the rest of
your life slaving after your stepsisters," Vivienne suggested as she plopped
down on a couch.
"Oh, right."
Ella sat down next to her daughter and took one
of her hands in her own. "Vivienne, you
know that I only want what's best for you.
And frankly, at this age, there's really only one thing that you should
be thinking about."
"And that is?" Vivienne replied, her eyes
narrowing because she was already pretty sure what that "one thing" was.
"Marriage, of course, dear."
Pushing back the feeling of incredible outrage,
she asked, "And to whom?"
"Well," Ella replied, suddenly quite fidgety,
"your father and I have been discussing this… and you know my friend Snow has a
son about your age… Prince Valor, you've met him—"
"Mother!"
"What?"
"No!"
"You didn't even think about it!" Ella
protested.
"Just like you didn't think about my
request?" Mother and daughter glared at
each other, locked in a battle of wills.
"Oh, Vivienne," Ella protested in one last
attempt to convince her daughter of the rightness of her decision, "A whole
year away from home… and an apprentice—it even sounds
common." She sighed aloud as she
wondered why her daughter simply couldn't be happy being what she was—a
princess. How could a child ask for
more?! Finally, she decided to give a
little. "Alright, your father and I
will reconsider your request."
Vivienne gave her mother a little smile. "And I guess I'll reconsider yours."
Of course, what neither knew was that mother
and daughter were more alike than anyone had foreseen, and neither had plans to
give on her decision.
Just then the king entered the room, smiling
brightly. "Disaster averted," he
announced happily.
"And how did you manage that?" his wife asked.
"Triple layer chocolate cake."
Ella sighed in exasperation. "You shouldn't encourage her like that."
Charming took a seat across from his wife and
daughter and asked innocuously, "Encourage what?"
"Her eating, of course!" Ella replied
sharply. "She's not a child
anymore. She should place more care in
her appearance, and it has to start with all that extra weight she's carrying
about."
"Oh, that," the king said, waving his
hand. "That's just baby fat."
"She's fifteen!"
"Look, Ella," Charming answered, a stern
expression on his face, "You know that most of the time I just go along with
what you decide, but this time I have to put my foot down. Lily is my baby, and if a little chocolate
cake now and then makes her happy, then let it be."
The queen glared at her husband. "It's not a 'little' chocolate cake. It's a whole chocolate cake. And it's not 'every now and then'; more like
four or five times a day. And she is
not a 'baby', she's almost a woman!"
"It doesn't matter," Charming answered
back. "I am not going to try to change
her, and neither are you." From the
look on his face, it was obvious that as far as he was concerned, the matter
was settled and no amount of arguing was going to change his mind.
Vivienne, from where she sat forgotten by both
parents, gave a silent cheer for her father.
It wasn't often that he stood up to his wife… in fact, it wasn't often
that anyone, with the exception of Vivienne herself, stood up to Queen Ella.
Which was exactly why Ella was left so
disoriented after the experience.
"Fine," she huffed. "I'm washing
my hands of the whole thing, and from now on it's your problem. Don't complain to me when her time comes and
you can't find any suitable matches because no eligible young prince is willing
to marry her." And with that final
statement she stalked out of the room, regally as only a queen could.
There was a moment of silence in the room after
her exit as the king contemplated his latest interaction with his wife. Vivienne cleared her throat, aware that her
father had all but forgotten about her presence. "Wow, dad, that took a lot of ba—" (oops, too "unprincessy")
"—guts."
"Hmm… oh, Vivienne!" Charming spoke as his gaze
settled on his eldest daughter. "Now,
darling, I don't want you to think that I don't support your mother in her
decisions—"
"Oh please, dad," Vivienne interrupted, rolling
her eyes. "You don't have to cover your
a—" (damn! what was with her today?) "—back with me. You have to admit, she is something of a—"
"Overbearing, self-righteous, megalomaniacal
control freak." This time her father
interrupted her.
Vivienne was slightly taken aback. "Um, yeah."
Charming sighed. "She has good intentions, really. All she wants is for you girls to have the best—everything she
didn't have when she was growing up."
"Even if that isn't what we want?" Vivienne
asked, hoping that perhaps if she could convince her father, he might convince
his wife. "Even if it isn't what makes
us happy?"
"Oh no," the king replied, suddenly jumping up
from his seat and shaking his head adamantly.
"You're not pulling me into this one.
I've already shared one dissenting opinion, and that should hold me over
for the next month, at least."
"Daddy—" his daughter protested as she stood to
face her father.
"Don't 'daddy' me. I'm not that gullible, you know.
Living with you three, I've learned some things over the past few
years."
"But dad!" Vivienne persisted as she watched
her father fleeing from the room.
"Sorry, darling, I'd love to help you, but you
know your mother and I value my life."
For several moments Vivienne continued to stand
and watch after the door from which each member of her family had successively
exited. All her anger and feelings of
impotence returned in full force and she had the sudden need to vent. In aggravation, she kicked the leg of the
nearest table, temporarily forgetting just how sturdy and exquisitely crafted
the furniture that royalty could afford was.
"Son-of-a—!" she yelped in pain. Her need for physical release of her anger
gone just as suddenly as it had appeared, she fell back onto the couch, her
eyes watering with the tears of pain and frustration that threatened to spill
over. After a great pause she managed
to blink them away and heaved a great sigh.
"I sure could use a fairy godmother right about now."
