Chapter 8: If the Shoe Fits…

The blast of a trumpet's fanfare broke the silence in the large Roth Manor. Raven smirked at the sounds of shoe heels and Tavia's squeals drifting down from upstairs as the three women looked out their windows to see several carriages, all embellished with the royal arms, pulling into their yard.

Placing her scrubbing brush in the pail next to her, Raven stood up as her stepfamily came running downstairs. Victoria and Tavia pushed past Raven, while simultaneously shoving each other out of the way and trying to fix their already fixed hair.

Melinda paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking cautiously at Raven, who had replaced her smirk for a neutral expression.

"Go upstairs and finish scrubbing the floors," Melinda ordered. "And if you make so much as a peep, or show your face downstairs, I will personally make your life a living hell."

Instead of making a sarcastic remark in return- though it was quite tempting-, Raven nodded and went upstairs, bringing her soapy bucket with her. It wouldn't do well for her to make Melinda even madder, or she might get locked in the kitchen, and that would ruin the plan.

She walked to the top of the stairs and turned the corner so that she couldn't be seen from the foyer. Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced herself to ignore the sound of Melinda's cheerful greeting, and sat down to listen for a moment.

-

Opening the door, Melinda let a deceivingly gentle smile cross her features. On the doorstep stood four men and a young woman.

The first was Sir Robin the Leader, clad in one of his best uniforms. It was made of thin, but amazingly strong armor, which had been painted red, yellow and green. He was even wearing his infamous mask. It was said that he wore the mask during battles so his opponents couldn't tell what he was think by looking into his eyes.

Next to him was the young woman. She wore a long purple dress, and her hair had been pulled up in a concealing veil around her head, but her intense green eyes flashed with determination. Although she wore a pretty smile on her face, there was something about her stiff posture that reminded Melinda of a warrior.

On the other side of the doorway, stood a large man, also wearing armor. Unlike Robin's, this man's armor was incredibly bulky. The metal was white and blue, and the with the helm raised, only half of his face could be seen, causing him to look like some sort of half-metal monster in Melinda's eyes.

Next to the human hybrid, was a green man, who Melinda immediately recognized as the prince, by Victoria's description of him and the richness of his clothing. His face held an expression of careful apathy that even Raven would be jealous of.

And finally, in the center, was the king. The old man had the same green eyes as his son, although his skin was a pale shade of ivory.

"Good morning, Sire," she greeted in a bubbly voice, bowing to King Marcus and nodding her head to the others. Opening the door wider, she allowed them into the house. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Not pleasant at all, I'm afraid," the king replied gruffly. "It seems we have a problem."

"A problem?" Melinda repeated, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Perhaps," the king replied. "You see, the other night, my son met a young woman. Unfortunately, she left before he could get her name. He doesn't even know what she looks like."

"She wore a hood," Prince Garfield explained quietly before allowing his father to finish his explanation. It was a lie- Gar could still see Raven's face in his mind, as clear as if she were standing right in front of him. Melinda, however, did not know that. She nodded, fighting back a triumphant smirk as she thought of what a fool Raven had been to hide her face from the prince.

"All we could find was this glass slipper," The king continued, gesturing to the man in armor, who held up a silk pillow with a dainty slipper sitting on it. "And so, we have been traveling around the kingdom, searching for a woman of appropriate age who fits this slipper. Surely then, we'll have the mysterious girl we've been searching for."

"Surely," Melinda nodded. She gestured toward a group of velvet trimmed chairs that sat in the corner of the room. "Please, sit."

Marcus, Garfield and Starfire each took a seat, while Robin and Cyborg remained standing. Robin handed his friend a scroll, and after clearing his throat, the advisor began to read the latest royal proclamation.

-

Raven pressed her ear against the floor, straining to hear what was being said downstairs. She nearly laughed when Melinda fell for the slipper story. How stupid did she think they were? Obviously no one with half a brain would search the entire kingdom for the one girl who would fit the shoe. Her feet may be small, but they weren't so small that it wouldn't fit a few other noble girls. In fact, Tavia's feet were almost the same size as Raven's.

Standing up, Raven dusted off her rag-covered dress. Wow, she really did need to wash the floors.

As silently as she could, Raven walked down the halls of the house, making her way to Melinda's bedroom. Opening the door, Raven looked around the immaculate chamber. At first, she couldn't see anything that might hide a priceless document, but after a slower scan of the room, Raven decided to check the drawer in the bedside table.

Pulling on the ornate handles, Raven shifted through Melinda's belongings. There was a book entitled 'Etiquette: The Noble Woman's Guide To Proper Behavior' and a set of keys, that could open or lock any room in the house, but nothing else. Picking up the ring of keys, Raven closed the door and walked over to Melinda's wardrobe. She wasn't sure what she was expecting- perhaps a box full of old papers and the like sitting underneath all her clothing- but it wasn't what she found. Instead she found Melinda's stiff dresses, all hanging in perfect rows of dark red, and plain black and gray. In other words, nothing helpful.

Closing the wardrobe, Raven quickly checked Melinda's jewelry box before giving up on that room. Stepping out of Melinda's chamber, Raven closed the door and walked through the hall to a room she hadn't entered in years: her father's study.

-

"Come on… fit you stupid shoe," Victoria muttered under her breath as Robin attempted to cram the slipper onto her foot. As the oldest, she had insisted on trying the shoe on first. Thus far, it was a futile attempt, to say the least.

"Clearly, it does not fit," Starfire said, after at least ten minutes of trying to fit the too small shoe on Victoria's foot. "Perhaps we shall try the next girl?"

"Tavia, you're majesties," Tavia introduced herself excitedly, bobbing a curtsey and pulling her sister out of the chair Gar had offered for the shoe fitting.

"I have a good feeling about this one," Gar whispered, knowing perfectly well that everyone could hear him. Victor disguised a barking laugh as a cough, and Robin smirked slightly. Tavia flushed with pride, while Victoria scowled.

Still in his kneeling position, Robin lifted Tavia's foot and slowly slid the slipper onto her foot. From all perspectives, it looked like the shoe was going to fit perfectly. With their eyes glued to Tavia's foot, no one except Sir Robin noticed the way Starfire lightly pointed a finger at the shoe.

As he finished sliding the shoe on, there was an audible gasp around the room.

"It fits!" Melinda exclaimed, smiling. Tavia beamed as well, while Victoria simply stared at her sister in shock.

Grinning, Robin held up her foot, as if to show off the perfectly fitting shoe. And that was when everyone noticed the way it hung off her foot loosely. There was at least an inch of shoe that needed to be filled.

"Take it off and try again," Melinda ordered. No one protested, so Robin did as he was told. This time, however, the shoe would simply not go on. It was much too small.

"Try again."

-

Raven sniffed, refusing to cry. As soon as she had stepped into her father's study she had been overwhelmed by his familiar scent, untouched for ten years.

Now, she sat digging through the drawers, stopping once in a while to look at letters written in his familiar scrawl and to take a whiff of his dried out tobacco. She had never been fond of the smell, but somehow it didn't seem too horrible at the moment.

Sighing, she closed his drawers with nothing to show for it. Looking around the study, her eyes fell upon the large bookcase sitting against one of the walls. Standing up, she walked over to the bookshelf, gazing longingly at the spines of each. She read each title, smiling at the ones she recognized. Suddenly she stopped. A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes. That was a strange title, and she didn't think she remembered ever reading it with him, but it seemed familiar somehow…

"Yes," he had chuckled. His chuckles had turned into a weak cough that shook his chest and made Raven want to cringe. "You must promise me that you will wait until your seventeenth birthday to read the last story. And remember, my darling, that a dream is a wish your heart makes."

Shaking her head free from the memory, Raven tried to convince herself that it was just a coincidence. Still, she didn't even try to stop herself as she reached for the book with a trembling hand.

Opening it up, she gasped as a piece of paper floated to the ground. Looking down at it, she smiled lightly as she saw a familiar signature printed at the bottom of the paper.

-

For twenty minutes, Starfire had played with Tavia's mind, as well as Victoria's and Melinda's, as she continuously shrunk and expanded the shoe. She was shrinking it again, when suddenly she felt a sharp jolt to her fingertips. Her eyes widened as she realized that her magic had stopped, right when the shoe had returned to normal size. She shook her hand, trying to reawaken the magic in her veins, but it didn't seem to be working.

She had been feeling her magic slowly draining out all day, but she hadn't expected it to run out so soon. Robin hadn't seemed to notice, and was sliding the shoe onto Tavia's foot. Frantically, Starfire shook her hand even harder, letting it whip through the air as if trying to shake out that last bit of magic in a last ditch effort to help Raven.

Suddenly, there was a cracking sound. Robin immediately pulled the shoe away, and looked down at the glass. It was still fully intact, but a deep line was etched down the middle of the slipper and green sparks were still lazily circling the shoe. It wasn't much but it was enough to delay the shoe fitting, if only for a second.

"It's fine," Melinda insisted. "Just a small crack. Please, do go on."

Robin gulped, noticing Starfire's dismayed, and that the slipper seemed to have returned to normal size.

Slowly, under Melinda's demanding eyes, Robin began to slide the shoe on. Gar watched with wide eyes as the shoe made its way up Tavia's foot and drew closer to the back of the heel, and the point where they would have to admit that the shoe fit.

Though he tried to hide it, Gar could feel beads of sweat forming nervously on his forehead.

"Stop."

Stopping what they were doing, everyone turned to see Raven walking slowly down the stairs, a bright white piece of paper in her hands.

"What are you doing down here? I thought I told you to wash the floors!" Melinda hissed, casting a nervous glance at the bemused looking king, and Gar, who had a goofy smile plastered across his face.

"I don't take orders from you," Raven replied coolly. She held up the piece of paper. "Not anymore."

"What is that?" Melinda asked, eyes narrowing.

"My father's will," Raven replied calmly. "The will that left me all his land, money and possessions."

"You lying little-" Melinda snatched at the paper, eyes scanning the page frantically. Her face paled, and her hands shook with anger as she took in the words. She looked like she would have ripped it in half, if Victor hadn't pulled it out of her hands at that moment.

Reading it over, he smiled. "Why, sire! Look at this," he said in an obviously mock-surprised voice. "It's Trigon's will! You remember Trigon Roth, don't you?"

"Of course," King Marcus replied, smugly adding, "He was my dear friend, and one of the richest men in the kingdom before his death. Whatever does the will say?"

"It says here that Trigon wished for everything in his possession to go to his only daughter, Raven Roth on her seventeenth birthday," Victor answered, smirking at the shock on Melinda, Tavia and Victoria's faces.

"How very interesting," the king said, rubbing his chin as he looked over the document in Victor's hands. His eyes stopped on a specific date and he grinned. He turned to Raven. "My dear, when is your seventeenth birthday?"

"What a coincidence," Raven said in an equally obvious fake voice, as she smirked at Melinda who had suddenly paled. "Today is my seventeenth birthday!"

"Let me see that!" Melinda screeched, flailing her arms in an attempt to pull the will out of Victor's grasp. The large man simply held it above the livid woman's head. She craned her neck to see it, and Victor generously pointed out the important lines in the document, and Trigon's final signature at the bottom of the page.

Melinda's fists clenched, and her jaw tightened before turning into a sickeningly fake smile. Slowly she turned her sweetest smile on Raven.

"Raven," she cooed, forcing her voice to match her fake expression. "How very fortunate for you. Of course, you would never let your loving family go hungry on the streets."

"You're right, Melinda," Raven replied. "I never would let my loving family go hungry on the streets. Unfortunately, none of them are still living."

Melinda's face fell and she looked at her daughters in shock and sadness. For a minute, Raven almost pitied Melinda. As vicious as she had been to Raven, Melinda had only wanted the best for her daughters, and it would be a terrible culture shock for them to be suddenly left with nothing.

"However," Raven relented. "I will let you keep this house. And, of course, you may keep everything you bought with my father's money before today, as it was not yet mine."

The three women's eyes lit up with gratitude.

"You are most gracious," Melinda thanked, voice still sickeningly sweet.

"Perhaps," Raven replied stiffly. They'd find out soon enough that none of their pretty dresses would be of much use when they needed food, and other necessities.

Melinda's eyes narrowed, at Raven's cryptic words, but she just nodded and fell silent.

"So, do I still get to try on the slipper?" Tavia asked, looking over at Robin.

"No," Robin replied calmly, standing up.

Suddenly the tinkling sound of glass being broken echoed around the room.

"Oops," Starfire murmured. She smiled apologetically, opening clenched fist and letting several tiny pieces of glass fall from her hand. "It looked so beautiful, I simply wished to see it closer, but I accidentally grasped it too hard, causing it to shatter into a million pieces."

"Oh, that's fine," Victor replied benevolently. Melinda and Victoria, by this point, had pretty much figured out that they had been tricked. Tavia however, just shot Victor a disbelieving look. "We were never really planning on marrying him off to whatever girl fit in the shoe. We were just buying time so Raven could find her father's will."

"Why?" Tavia asked dumbly.

Rolling his eyes, Robin replied, "Because now that she has money, and proof that she has noble blood, she's eligible to marry Gar without any complaint from other noble families in the kingdom."

"So?" Tavia's face contorted with confusion, and Robin rolled his eyes again, and the movement was so exaggerated that it could almost be seen through his mask.

"So, he's going to marry her, if she'll say yes," Robin explained. Seeing the look of confusion still on Tavia's face, Robin ignored his exasperation at her idiocy, and continued in a fast, slightly annoyed tone. "He knew who she was the whole time. When he told his father that Raven was Trigon's daughter we searched a bunch of archives for his will, and figured out that it was somewhere here. We contacted Raven and told her to look for it while we distracted you."

"Oh!" Tavia gasped, eyes wide. Melinda and Victoria groaned at how long it had taken her, while Victor and Robin snickered.

"Not to ruin the moment or anything," Victoria said suddenly. "But what is he doing?"

Everyone looked in the direction Victoria was pointing at with her bony finger. Gar was standing quite close to Raven, idly toying with her hair. Raven simply looked away from the crowd of people suddenly watching them.

"Working up the nerve to ask Raven a really big question," Gar replied calmly, grinning impishly at the crimson blush that spread across Raven's cheek at his implication.

"What question?"

By now, everyone in the room was looking at Tavia like she was the new definition of 'idiot'.

Shaking his head in amusement, Gar dropped down to one knee, clasping Raven's hand in his own.

Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth and prepared to speak. He remained like that for several seconds, with nothing more than a few nervous squeaks escaping. Sighing, he blushed and laughed.

"Do I really have to say the words?" he asked jokingly, scratching the back of his head nervously. Smirking, Raven nodded. Smiling bashfully, he looked at the ground. Quickly working up his courage, he looked up at Raven and smiled lovingly.

"Raven, will you marry me?"

I think you can guess what happened next.

Hmm... okay, so not my best chapter, but it's fairly decent, eh? There were parts that I just don't like but couldn't figure out how to rewrite, and parts that were pretty good, and maybe one or two parts that I really liked. Oh well, it's definately better than my frst version of this chapter (I rewrote it a couple times because I didn't like it).

Anyway, this isn't the last chapter. There's one more after this, so you might have to bear with me while I write it. I want to make sure that the last chapter at least is awesome.

Oh yeah, if you have any questions, feel free to ask them. I'm not totally sure if I remembered everything I wanted to put in this one, so there might be a few things that only make sense to me and need answering.

Tammy Tamborine