It was one in the morning when the ball finally ended. Which seemed rather early unless you considered the mind numbing hours that had preceded it. Cass' maid had helped her out of her gown and tried to help her into her nightgown but Cass irritably shooed her away. She put on her nightgown herself as she reflected on the night. She was just about to take her hair down when Bianca rushed into her room.
"Where have you been? I've been trying to talk to you all night!" she declared loudly.
"I was having a torrid affair with a knight from another realm." Cass replied airily.
Bianca stopped. "Really?"
"Well it wasn't so much a torrid affair as a lukewarm argument but same general idea."
"Oh, ok. Anyway, I have to tell you something!"
"Right, old man, cooky stories, go." said Cass settling down to listen.
"Where was I?" asked Bianca.
"He used to work here a hundred million years ago." Cass reminded her.
"Yes! Ok, so he used to work here a hundred million years ago, and even then the swans were there. But here's the thing," she looked at Cass her eyes shining. "There's another way out."
Cass stared at her. "Don't do that. That's not nice. Don't say things that make my whole soul fill up with joy and light unless it's really true, because otherwise it might kill me." She said seriously.
"I am dead serious Cass! Serious like a plague! Serious like a fox! Seriously!" exclaimed Bianca.
"Well where is it?" asked Cass jumping up.
"It's a secret passage, somewhere in the small ballroom. He doesn't know where." answered Bianca.
"Wait, Bianca, how do you know this isn't some crackpot guy who's sending you on a wild goose chase for the fun of it?" asked Cass.
"Who cares?" said Bianca happily.
"Absolutely. Let's go get Elaine!"
Elaine wasn't in her room. They didn't want to let the other girls know about the passage until they knew if it was true, so they settled down to wait. The next thing they knew Elaine was waking them up.
"What time is it?" asked Cass groggily.
"Late…well, early actually. The sun will be up in about two hours. What are you doing in here?" asked Elaine.
"A better question would be what you are doing just getting in two hours before sunrise?" asked Bianca slyly.
"Nothing like that." She answered. Elaine sighed heavily. "I've been with Cordelia. She's a complete wreck."
"Why? Too many boys falling all over her?" asked Cass sarcastically.
"Yes actually." Elaine said sharply. "What is your problem Cass?" she asked angrily.
"Whoa," said Cass surprised. "I was just kidding around! What happened?"
"Don't do that! It's so stupid! This whole thing is so stupid!" raged Elaine. Cass started to answer but Elaine shushed her. "Don't Cass, please stop. If it were anyone else, anyone who had never met Cordelia I could excuse it, but you know her! Why are you acting jealous?"
"I'm sorry Elaine! Ok? I'm sorry! Please just tell me what happened!" Cass cried.
Elaine stopped and took a deep breath. "You were right, Cordelia didn't wear her potion tonight, but it wasn't her idea. Long story short, Madame Beatrice forced Cordelia into her little belle of the ball routine. She gave her shoes that made her light on her feet. She put her into a corset with magic laces to give her a fairy's waist. She put her hair up with a comb that makes its wearer happy, no matter what. And she didn't let her put on the potion. Cordelia was her little puppet, her doll. But the problem is, when the shoes came off Cordelia's feet were raw and blistered. Since human girls aren't supposed to have waists the size fairy's, her whole abdomen is bruised and sore, and she most likely has a broken rib. And worst of all, when the comb came out all the pain and humiliation of this whole night came rushing into her head. She was passed back and forth and grabbed and begged and teased all night long." She paused for breath. "It's just so…cruel." she slumped into a chair head in her hands.
"We have to tell somebody!" cried Cass furiously. "Her parents wouldn't allow this!"
"Yes they would." Elaine said dully. Her anger had passed, she only seemed tired now. "Cordelia is eighteen, of age to be married. Since her parents aren't here to make the selection, they asked Madame Beatrice to find her someone with a brave spirit and a pure heart, hence the dragon slayers."
"But breaking a rib to do it? They would be furious about that. What was even the point of that? She would have been the center of attention without that stupid corset, she would have been the center of attention even if she wore the potion!" Bianca cried.
Elaine sighed deeply. "I've spent all night having the same conversation with Cordelia and Francie. The bottom line is that this just isn't that big of a deal to people. Cordelia's older sister cut off a toe to fit in a pair of shoes to win her husband. It's accepted."
"That's horrible!" Cass said in disgust.
Elaine stood up again. "It is! It's horrendous! But it's how things are, how they've always been." A tear escaped the corner of her eye. "It's probably how it will be for me."
"No Elaine." Cass vowed. "It's not going to happen to any of us! I won't let it!"
"You can't stop it Cass." Elaine said sadly. "You and Bianca, you're so strong. You can fight it, you can stand up to it. But the rest of us aren't like that."
"You're strong too!" said Cass angrily.
"No I'm not. Not really. My mother is gone, I'm a prisoner of the council, and I'll do what they want me to do. I'll marry who they want me to marry, because if I don't, they'll kill my mother and then they'll kill me. I don't have a choice." Elaine said quietly.
"That's not good enough! Create another choice!" shouted Cass.
"How am I supposed to do that Cass? How?" Elaine yelled back.
Cass was silent.
"I'm sorry Cass. You're right that it isn't much of a choice, but I don't know what else I can do." said Elaine softly.
"I'm sorry too." Cass replied. "I don't know what to do either." She paused. "And that makes me so mad."
Bianca spoke for the first time since the argument broke out. "Well you know what I always say. Don't get mad," she smiled a sly, grim sort of smile. "Get even. And that is one thing I do know how to do."