The Happy Return

Cinderella knelt on the floor and vomited.

Because she was a princess, she had the luxury of vomiting into a large china chamber-pot rather than a bucket, but that was about all the additional dignity that her exalted rank and social station afforded her in the face of her body's rebellion against her will.

It will all be worth it, Cinderella told herself. In less than eight months time I won't even remember this moment. All I'll care about is my child. All of this will be worth it.

But did it have to feel so terrible to get there?

Cinderella gagged, her body jerking up and down like a fish on the end of a line as she felt the harsh, sour, strangely hot substance rising up her throat, scratching as it went. Cinderella's vision was blurred with the water in her eyes, she struggled to breathe as she fought to expel all of the vomit rising up her throat out of her mouth. She was left leaning over the bowl, gasping for breath as her throat clenched up as though trying to gag, as her mouth felt hot and smelt rank from the awful substance that had so recently filled it. Her hands shook. Her whole body trembled. There was so much water in her eyes that everything was still a blur.

Considering that meant she didn't have to see every detail of the contents of her stomach that fact might have been a blessing, Cinderella considered as the water ran down her face like tears.

She felt a hand upon her back. "How do you feel now, ma'am?"

Cinderella gasped for breath. When she spoke, her voice was small and hoarse. "Water...please."

"Of course, ma'am," Duchamp said. "Here you are."

Cinderella wiped her eyes so that she could better see the glass of water being handed to her. She took it in one trembling hand which, fortunately, didn't quite trembled enough to spill, and took an unladylike gulp of water before swallowing.

Her throat felt foul. Cinderella took a second gulp and spat into the chamber-pot. She was disgusted to see various ugly specks of red, yellow and brown floating in the water before it descended quickly into the mass of vomit before her.

Cinderella pushed the chamber-pot away from her as she straightened her back and knelt up. "Thank you, Duchamp," Cinderella said softly, before taking another deep breath. "I think it's passed for now. Would you please pass me a handkerchief?"

"No need, ma'am, I'll do it," Duchamp said, as she began to dab at Cinderella's mouth for anything that had stuck there during her discomfiture. "Are you feeling better now, ma'am?"

"Not really," Cinderella admitted. "As a matter of fact I feel rather tired. And thirsty. Do you think I have time for a spot of tea before I have to leave?"

Duchamp's face was pinched with concern. "If I may, ma'am, I think that General Gerard and Mademoiselle Adessi would understand perfectly if you were to send your apologies."

Cinderella shook her head. "I don't want to miss my friend's wedding, Duchamp. And if I told Eugene that I was feeling too ill to go then he'd assume the worst and probably stay himself to keep an eye on me, and I don't want Eugene to miss his best friend's wedding. I'll manage."

"I have to say, ma'am, I am not so sure of that," Duchamp said. "You have been vomiting very often."

Cinderella said. "If I start to make a scene I'm sure that Eugene will take me home straight away," she said. "But I want to at least try to go. Now, do you think that I have time for tea before I have to get ready?"

Duchamp glanced at the clock on the wall. "I think so, ma'am. I'll ring for Constance and send word, with your permission. I'd rather not leave you alone like this."

Cinderella's smile was slight, weary and just a little wan. "I'd rather not be left alone, Duchamp, thank you."

Technically speaking she would not be alone even if Duchamp left to get tea. Oscar and Penny, the two girls that Jean had brought back with him from his little trip into the city, were in the sitting room, while Jean himself was outside the door along with Private Junot. But she didn't know the two new girls and Junot, like most of her guards, rarely spoke and even more rarely in complete sentences. None of them - except perhaps Jean who would be reluctant to come into the bedroom given that Cinderella was only half-dressed - made her feel comfortable and cared for the way that Duchamp did.

As Duchamp walked towards the bell pull by the bed, the bedroom door opened to reveal Cinderella's two guards - fortunately both with their backs to the doorway - and Angelique, who's eyes widened a little and who shut the door as soon as she was inside.

"How do you feel?" Angelique asked.

Cinderella looked down at her hands, resting on her knees. "I feel a little tired. How do I look?"

"Unwell," Angelique said. "Marinette told me to tell you that if you're not well enough to come then everyone will understand."

Cinderella chuckled. "I might send you back to tell Marinette that I have every intention of going and it will take more than this to stop me...but she's already gone, hasn't she?"

Angelique nodded. "The general came to pick her up and take her to the church."

It was the day of Etienne and Lucrecia's wedding, which was why it was particularly bad luck that on today of all days Cinderella's vomiting had gotten much worse. All the same, so long as she was physically able to go Cinderella intended to attend the wedding. She wasn't going to spend her entire pregnancy just sitting back in bed doing nothing and having things done for her. That wasn't what she wanted.

Cinderella got out of the immediate path of the doorway as Duchamp rang, and sent Constance down to get some tea.

"Angelique, would you mind going downstairs and inviting Drizella to join us?" Cinderella said. "I think it would be very unkind not to."

"How many years did you live with her?" Angelique asked.

Cinderella counted in her head. "Ten," she said. "Or actually it might have been almost eleven. But my father was alive for the first year, so everyone was very kind."

Angelique shook her head. "I don't know how you managed it."

"Please don't be too hard on her," Cinderella said, with just a touch of reproach. "She deserves to be given a chance, as we all do."

"Alright, I'll try," Angelique said, as she left to go and fetch her.

Cinderella sat down on the corner of her bed, running her fingertips over the blanket. "Everyone seems to think I made the wrong decision about Drizella. Even Eugene." She glanced up at Duchamp. "What do you think, Duchamp?"

"I haven't had occasion to assess the young lady's behaviour, ma'am," Duchamp said.

Some of Cinderella's hair had started to fall over her shoulder, and she pushed it back with one hand. "When my father married again I was so excited to have two sisters, Duchamp. I...I didn't have any real friends growing up; we lived outside of town, without any neighbours, and Papa didn't take me into the city very often, and when he did I never had time to make any friends. I was so excited to have a pair of sisters who I could talk to, play with, share secrets with, all that sort of thing. I suppose I've kept on looking for that, even if it doesn't seem to work out."

There was a knock upon the door.

Cinderella frowned slightly. "Who is it?"

The door opened and Augustina du Bois stepped through the open doorway. "Someone humbled, but ready to serve," she said, as she closed the door behind her.

Cinderella got up off the bed, her feet landing with a tiny thump on the wooden floor. "Augustina?"

Augustina smiled abashedly. "With my proverbial tail between my metaphorical legs, as it were."

Cinderella stared at her, the ivory-complexioned beauty who had left her service just as they had come to truly understand one another. "Augustina, you're...I mean are you...you've come back?"

"I have," Augustina said. "If you'll have me that is. Prince Eugene wrote to me asking if I'd be willing to re-enter your service, but he also made clear that if you didn't want me back then that would be the end of it."

"I...but you left," Cinderella stammered.

Augustina made a wincing expression. "Yes, I did, didn't I? Suffice to say it seemed very important at the time, but it seems just a little self-important now. And besides, I only left because I didn't want to be a party to what you were doing...but you've done it now so what I think about it doesn't matter one way or the other. And you know, there is some precedent for this kind of behaviour-"

Cinderella crossed the little distance that separated the two of them and embraced Augustina in a hug, wrapping her arms around the other girl's neck. "Welcome back, Augustina. I've missed you."

She felt Augustina's arms around her waist. "Likewise, your highness."

Cinderella took a step back from her. "Eugene sent for you?"

"Yes, I think as soon as he found out that…how are you feeling, your highness."

Cinderella bowed her head as she laughed. "Everyone's been asking me that for days…you're fortunate that you're asking on a day when I feel a little sickly."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Augustina said. "When His Highness asked me to come back I ventured to talk to my stepmother – the things I do for you, Cinderella – and she swore by ginger as a remedy for morning sickness. I can't attest to it myself of course but…" Augustina stopped, and tilted her head to one side. "If I might ask, why are you only wearing a slip?"

Cinderella chuckled embarrassedly. "I'm a little worried about ruining my dress with…well, you know…if I get dressed too soon before I go out."

"Ah, I see," Augustina said. "Are you seeing the doctor regularly.

"Yes, he's due again tomorrow."

"And you're doing what he says this time."

"Eugene won't let me do anything else."

"An improvement over the last time you were ill, at least," Augustina said. "I…I'm sorry that I wasn't…when I heard what happened with Serena and Grace…I'm sorry that I wasn't there."

"It's alright," Cinderella said. "It all worked out in the end."

"Yes, but…I left you alone with them."

"Angelique was there, and Marinette too," Cinderella said. "Honestly, Augustina, what could do you have done except be in danger from them as well?"

"Your logic may be sound, but that's not really the point is it? I shouldn't…" Augustina hesitated. "If it really doesn't matter then I'll stop going on before I start to sound as though I want you to tell me you don't mind. But thank you, anyway, for taking me back."

"Thank you for coming back," Cinderella said. "I was a little worried about a flood of new faces, but it's wonderful to see you again."

"Speaking of faces," Augustina said. "I'm a little surprised that Marinette and Angelique aren't here. Are they downstairs?"

"Angelique's gone to fetch my stepsister Drizella to have tea with us, and Marinette is with her brother at the church."

"The church?"

"It's General Gerard's wedding day."

"Oh, yes, your dressmaker isn't it? Of course," Augustina said. She paused. "I'm sorry, did you say your stepsister Drizella? Drizella Tremaine?"

"Yes, I offered her a position, since there were so many of them," Cinderella said.

"That sounds…a very generous offer of you."

Cinderella huffed. "I must say it's becoming ever so slightly tiresome the way that everyone seems to think that I've made a mistake doing this."

"I won't pretend to know her the way that you do," Augustina said. "But from what I saw of her in the salons-

At that moment the door opened and Angelique returned, accompanied by Drizella.

"Cinderella! There you are!" Drizella declared, as though there was something strange about Cinderella being in her room. "I've been here for almost four days and I'm not satisfied, no not in the least bit! In the first place I don't see why I should have to have a room that's only the same size as the other ladies, I mean I am your sister. And in the second place why do I have to eat my meals with this riffraff instead of with you and the Prince? And why-"

"Good morning, Drizella," Cinderella said mildly. "Did you sleep well?"

She had spoken softly, but there was also a touch of rebuke to her words as well. She wanted to get on with her stepsister, she wanted to have the friendship that she had hoped for when they were little girls, but she wasn't going to allow Drizella to treat her the way she had done when they were children, to carry on as though Cinderella were still the maid and nothing had changed between them, or otherwise to ride roughshod over her. She had learned from Serena and from Grace and even Theodora that if she did not stand up for herself with her ladies then no one else would stand up for her and no sense of common decency would restrain them. And, as Duchamp had told her what seemed a long time ago, there were times when a good firm 'no' was required, even amongst friends.

Unfortunately, Drizella seemed ignorant of the message that Cinderella had tried to impart to her. "Look at you, standing there only half dressed. Lazybones!" She glanced at Augustina. "And who are you and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Augustina du Bois," Augustina declared proudly. "And I'm here doing the same thing that you are, apparently: serving the princess. I'm one of the riff-raff."

Drizella let out a 'hmph'. "Yes, I suppose you are? Well, Cinderella? What are you just standing there for, what are you going to do about it?"

The first thing that Cinderella did was sit down. She was feeling too faint and dizzy to keep on standing, and so she set herself upon the stool which sat in front of the dressing table. "What are you expecting me to do about what, Drizella?"

"Weren't you listening, stupid?" Drizella demanded, advancing upon Cinderella as though she meant to loom over her with menace. "I told you-"

"Drizella," Cinderella's voice was sharp, although she didn't raise it too much. She wasn't sure how it would have sounded if you'd tried. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you speak to me like that any more. I asked you here because I want you here and I also want you to be happy. But I'm your princess now, not your maid, and you can't insult me and bully me to get your way like you used to." She kept on going, not giving Drizella a chance to speak; partly because she was afraid that, if she did let her stepsister recover, then her own resolve would crumble and she would become the servant girl again, even in front of Angelique and Augustina. "As for your room, it is the same size as everyone else's, all my ladies-in-waiting have the same rooms on the same floor below us just as they all eat together in the same dining room. I'm sorry if you'd like to dine with Eugene and I sometimes, but it is the King who decides upon his guests for dinner. Although I promise that I will mention you to him, if you like." She smiled. "Now, we were just about to have some tea, would you like to join us in the sitting room?"

Drizella stared down at her in amazement. Her expression shifted from shock into a kind of sneer. "No I would not," she declared haughtily, and stalked straight away back out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind her as she went.

Cinderella sighed. It has only been a few days.

"You wouldn't put up with that from anyone else," Angelique said.

"From any of my other ladies? No, I probably wouldn't," Cinderella admitted. I had Eugene get rid of Theodora for not much more, after all. "But from any other lady I wouldn't expect it. I knew what I was getting myself into with Drizella."

"Then why bother?" Augustina asked.

"Because she'll come around, eventually," Cinderella said. "I really believe that."

"And maybe you're even right," Angelique admitted. "But will it be worth all the effort you've put into making her come around when she finally does?"

The arrival of the tea saved Cinderella from having to reply.

Although it was a little disappointing that Drizella couldn't join them, the tea left Cinderella rather refreshed, after which it was about time to get ready if she didn't want to miss the wedding. It was a little awkward, trying to get dressed when she felt as though she might start to vomit again at any moment, but with the able assistance of Duchamp Cinderella was finally ready, dressed and made up by the time that Eugene arrived to take her downstairs.

She heard first his knock on the door. "Cinderella? Can I come in?"

"Of course, darling," Cinderella replied. "Everybody's decent here."

The door opened and Eugene walked in, a soft smile upon his face as he beheld her. "You look as lovely as always, if a little more subdued than normal."

Cinderella chuckled. "It would be very unkind to Lucrecia to outshine her on her wedding day, don't you think?" It was for that reason that she wore a rather plain blue dress, and a trace of jewellery on her, not a single diamond, sapphire or pearl hung from neck, arms or ear. Today was a day when all eyes should be on Lucrecia.

"Personally, I don't think she or anyone else could ever outshine you," Eugene said, as bent down to give her a kiss. "But I'm sure that she'll appreciate you made the effort."

"On, stop it, you're terrible," Cinderella replied with a laugh.

"How do you feel?"

"I was vomiting before, but it's stopped now. I'm a little dizzy still but I'll manage."

Eugene frowned. "Are you-"

"Yes," Cinderella said firmly, placing a hand upon Eugene's arm. "I'll be fine."

Eugene nodded, but at the same time he said, " The moment that you think that isn't true, tell me and we'll come straight back."

"Alright," Cinderella said softly, with a nod of her head. "But I'm fine now, and I'm ready to go."

"Alright," he said, and kissed her again. Eugene glanced momentarily over Cinderella's head. "Mademoiselle du Bois, I'm glad to see that you felt able to return to Cinderella's service."

Augustina curtsied. "When the Prince of the realm asks, one does not refuse. I should thank you, your highness, for thinking of after the circumstances in which I took my leave of the princess' household."

"As I understand it, your principles wouldn't allow you to stay at that time," Eugene said. "I think that a woman of firm principles is exactly the sort of person I want surrounding Cinderella. And now we should probably go. Lady Bonnet, Mademoiselle du Bois, adieu for now."

"Goodbye Angelique, Augustina," Cinderella said, as Eugene led her out the room. "I'll see you both when I get back."

Jean and two of his men fell in behind them as they began to climb down the stairs. Cinderella noticed that Eugene was not only holding her by the arm but by the waist as well, as though he was afraid that she was going to faint at any moment and he would need to catch her before she fell and cracked her head. She considered rebuking him mildly for it, but in the end she said nothing; partly because she did feel a little light-headed and couldn't entirely discount the possibility that her foot might slip on one of these many stairs, and secondly...secondly because it felt rather nice, the way his hand felt on her waist like that.

"So how is it? Having your stepsisters around?" Eugene asked.

Cinderella sighed. "Hard work, at first, as I knew it would be."

"You shouldn't have to work hard," Eugene said. "You shouldn't feel as though you have to punish yourself."

"I'm not punishing myself," Cinderella cried. "If I didn't do any hard work, if I just sat in my room and played cards with Marinette and Augustina I'd soon be bored out of my mind."

"There's a difference between royal work and what you're doing," Eugene said.

"Perhaps," Cinderella acknowledged. "But that doesn't mean I can't do both."

They said little else as they left the palace - more guards joined them both outside - and mounted a plain and unornamentex black carriage to take them to the church. Honestly, Cinderella didn't feel much like talking; it was wonderful to just lean against Eugene and rest her head upon his shoulder as the carriage rattled down the cobbled street. Cinderella closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of Eugene's body against her. He didn't say anything but she felt his arms around, clasping her hands. So warm , so comforting. She might have dozed off for a little while, because the next thing she remembered was Eugene giving her a gentle nudge to let her know that they'd arrived.

"You should have woken me if I'd fallen asleep," Cinderella said.

"I didn't have the heart to disturb you, you looked so peaceful," Eugene said. " And I thought you both might need your beauty sleep."

Cinderella laughed softly as Eugene helped her down out of the carriage. The church outside of which they had stopped was a decebt-sized parish church for one the city districts, if nothing compared to the great cathedral in which Eugene had taken her to wed. A statue of the Blessed Virgin stood outside the church, poised atop a pool for donations. Eugene tossed a couple of gold coins in as he led Cinderella up the church steps, while Jean threw something in as he took up his station keeping watch outside.

They found Lucrecia waiting in the antechamber, dressed in a gown that Cinderella had made for her, fortunately before morning sickness had overcome her. It had seemed only fair, Lucrecia having made so many wonderful gowns for Cinderella, that she return the favour at least once. Looking at the results upon the intended subject, the way the sleeves fell off the shoulders and the bodice embraced Lucrecia's figure, Cinderella was glad her sewing skills had not completely atrophied from lack of use.

"You made it," Lucrecia cried as she saw them. "I wasn't sure that you would be able to in your condition."

"Oh no, I wouldn't miss this for anything," Cinderella said. "You look so beautiful."

Lucrecia blushed. " Thank you, you did a marvellous job with my dress."

Cinderella giggled, "I seem to remember a certain dressmaker telling me something about a dress only bringing out the beautu of the girl who wears it. Congratulations, Lucrecia, I'm sure you'll be very happy."

"Congratulations from both of us, mademoiselle," Eugene said. "I've known Etienne since we were boys, but after his father passed away...it wasn't having his family lands restored that restored his spirit, but you. And for that you have my praise."

"Your highness is too kind."

Cinderella and Eugene left her then, and took their seats in the small church it was not crowded, Lucrecia was still somewhat new to Armorique from Italy, and any family or friends she might have had there had probably found the trip prohibitive in cost and distance. Etienne was no social butterfly either. His sister, Marinette, stood across the altar from where Etienne himself waited in his dress uniform, but his brother Lucien was far away in America now, and Cinderella couldn't see any sign of their mother either. Perhaps she had still not reconciled herself to the idea of her son marrying a dressmaker.

Still, when the music began to play and Lucrecia began to walk down the aisle none of that mattered. When she reached the chat, and she and Etienne began to exchange their vows before the priest it was clear from the way they looked at one another and only at one another that the small size of the crowd didn't matter one bit.

Cinderella sat with a smile on her face as she watched Brigadier General Etienne Gerard marry Mademoiselle Lucrecia Adessi.

And then, when all was said and done and God had joined the two of them ad man and wife in holy matrimony, Cinderella joined the small number of other wellwishers outside the church as Etienne and Lucrecia climbed into the carriage that would whisk them away on their honeymoon. They waved, and cried out to them as the coach disappeared out of sight.

Cinderella looked up at Eugene with a smile. "There, you see? I told you I was fine. Now we can-"

Cinderella was rocked by a sudden dizzy spell, a wave of weakness that assailed her as if from nowhere. She swayed unsteadily, and her foot slipped on the stone steps of the church. Cinderella's world spun as she felt herself falling backwards.

"Cinderella!" Eugene caught her, cradling her in his arms as held her tight. "Cinderella, are you alright?"

"I think," Cinderella murmured as her vision began to darken and a feeling of such immense fairness overtook her. "I think...perhaps we should go home now."

She could hear Eugene calling her name as she slipped into unconsciousness.

With Cinderella gone, Angelique and Augustina lingered a while in her bed chamber. Oscar and Penny were in the sitting room, but both were so silent it was easy to forget that fact. It was so quiet it was as if they were alone.

Neither if them spoke. Angelique didn't know Augustina that well, and she couldn't say she liked her either. Her abiding memory was of the time that Augustina had laughed at a cruel prank played on Cinderella by Theodora, and then lied about to Cinderella when Theodora tried to get Angelique in trouble. That wasn't a memory guaranteed to build up trust.

So the two lingered in silence, looking at one another and then looming away, neither willing or able to make the first move.

"I'm sorry," Augustina said.

"Eh?"

"For not telling the truth about Theodora when I was asked about it," Augustina said. "That was what you were thinking about, wasn't it?"

For a moment, astonished rendered Angelique incapable of speech, before she rallied with a denial. "No."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Angelique said sharply. "I was thinking about how you laughed when you found out what she'd done."

"I didn't laugh," Augustina replied.

"You weren't exactly outraged about it," Angelique snapped. "Theodora went on about how Cinderella deserved to be taken down a peg and you didn't disagree."

Augustina licked her lips. "No," she confessed. "No, I didn't. Believe me, I'm not proud of the fact now."

"Why did you believe that at the time?"

"Because I didn't know Cinderella then, I couldn't believe that...I thought that she had either be a liar or an idiot and either way she deserved to learn some humility."

"Her life before this wasn't humbling enough?"

"Of course, I...I was a different person, I didn't know Cinderella then," Augustina repeated. "Look, I know you mean well and I happen to think that your protectiveness is beneficial on the whole; but do you find it so hard to imagine that I could change, or that my opinions could do so?"

Angelique was silent for a moment. "No, after all mine changed to. I suppose Cinderella is more than either of us imagined."

"Indeed," Augustina murmured. "There's iron beneath that petticoat, though she lets few enough catch sight of it, and rarely more than a glimpse. She has a marvellous way of telling you off, doesn't she? She doesn't get angry so much as she makes you feel ashamed of yourself."

"I wouldn't know, she doesn't tell me off."

"Teacher's pet," Augustina muttered. She was silent a moment. "So that was the stepsister?"

Angelique nodded. "She's been here a few days now."

"I'm sure that's been delightful."

"Yes," Angelique agreed. "It's been lovely. I don't think she's done one thing she's supposed to either. But then...Drizella isn't really here for that."

"What do you mean?" Augustina asked.

"She's a lady-in-waiting, just like us, supposedly," Angelique said. "But it's like she's really here so that Cinderella can prove that they could have been friends, or could be now. That there's someone good in there."

Augustina snorted. "Funny, I always thought you were the princess's pet project."

"What do you mean?"

Augustina shrugged. "A common girl, a society patron, an unfamiliar world and all it's trappings. All that's missing are the elocution lessons."

Angelique shook her head. "You know what I find the strangest thing?"

"About what?"

"About Drizella," Angelique said. "It's the way...it's like she hates Cinderella. Actually no, that's strange things. The first strange thing is that Cinderella knows it, too. This isn't Serena or Grace, this is Cinderella knowing that the dog wants to bite and choosing to pet it anyway, but I can understand why she's doing it even if I think it's...not the cleverest thing she's ever done. But Drizella's hate...I don't understand that at all."

"Cinderella is more beautiful than her by far, is jealousy so alien to you?"

"She was their servant, she never left the house and nobody saw her, what was there to be jealous of?" Angelique asked. "I can understand what they did, but...shouldn't the one who bore the cruelty be the one to hate, while them that was cruel glides on, uncaring?"

"An interesting notion, to be sure," Augustina murmured. "You don't think cruelty needs hate to drive it?"

Angelique pursed her lips together. "My...my mother abandoned me when I was seven years old. She just...kicked me out and locked the door. She didn't want a daughter no more. That's why Cinderella is so set on giving a second chance to her stepfamily, because at least they didn't do that for whatever it's worth. But the point is...the point is, do you think my mother hated me?"

Augustina was still, and near silent. Her voice barely carried across the small distance between them. "I can't imagine."

"I don't reckon so," Angelique said. "She didn't hate me, she just didn't care. She thought her life would be better without me so she did what we best for her. It was me who hated her for what she did, who still hates her for what she did." Angelique found that her hands had clenched into fists, and she forced herself to open them again. "I can understand that they thought making Cinderella a slave, but I can't imagine hating her while they did it, just like I can hardly imag8ne that she doesn't hate them for what they did."

"Do you think Cinderella has it in her to hate?" Augustina asked.

"I don't really want to find out do you?"

"No," Augustina said. "I take it...That sounded a very personal story."

"Jean knows," Angelique said. "Jean knows everything about me. But no one else, not even Cinderella."

Augustina took a pause awhile. "No one will hear it from me, I guarantee that."

"Thank you," Angelique said softly. "I appreciate it."

"Do you think they forgot we were here?" Penny asked as they heard the door close behind Angel Eyes and that new woman, Augustina. Oscar made a mental note to come up with a nickname for her, even if she only ever used it inside her own head.

Oscar looked up from the collection of fairy stories she was reading; it was the rare book in Princess Pureheart's rooms that she had both the ability and inclination to read; on the basis of the evidence it seemed the princess mostly read full political times.

She stared over the top of the book at her companion. "It wouldn't surprise me, we were being silent. So let's keep all that stuff about the Angel's past to ourselv4s, shall we?"

"Why?" Penny asked.

Oscar stared at her. Her companion and sole remaining member of her gang was two years younger than her, and the freckles on her face didn't make her luck any older or more mature. Her eyes were a kind of amber-brown, while her hair was a pale flaxen colour.

"Because I don't want her to be angry at me," Oscar explained. She had to explain a lot of things to Penny.

"It's her own fault."

"That won't make her any less upset about it," Oscar said, as she returned to her book. Beauty had just asked her father to bring her back a rose from his travels; it probably wasn't going to end well.

Penny huffed. "What I want to know is why Angelique gets to be a lady while I have to pretend to be a servant."

"Just be thankful that you're not a thief and a beggar any more, that's how I soothe my feelings of unfairness," Oscar said, without looking up from her book. "And get your feet off the setter, you'll leave marks and someone might make a fuss about it. Use a foot stool, it's what they're there for."

Penny huffed. "So, what do you think of this place."

"If it wasn't the nicest place we'd ever been in I'd be disappointed," Oscar said. "But it is, so I'm not."

"And what do you think of the princess?"

Oscar looked up. "Are you bored?"

"A little," Penny admitted.

"Good, this means this is an easy job. Now read a book or something."

"I've been quiet all day and when everyone comes back I'll have to be quiet again," Penny protested. "So come on, talk to me."

Oscar sighed. It appeared that Beauty's rose would have to wait. "I think...I think she could be the most unbearable person in the world and I'd still put up with her for the sake of this job. Thankfully, she's not unbearable...She's actually quite nice." Princess Purity was just a little twee for Oscar's tastes, but everyone, even savvy people like Angel Eyes, behaved as though she was completely sincere about it, so who was Oscar to question.

She wasn't entirely clear on why she hadn't used her power to take revenge on everyone who had ever wronged her, but just because Oscar would have done that didn't mean everybody had to, she supposed. "What about you, what do you think if her?"

"She seems nice," Penny said. "Stupid, but nice."

If Penny had not been a part of her gang Oscar might have been tempted to make a caustic remark, but as it was she just said, "What makes you think she's stupid?"

"Who leaves that much jewellery in an unlocked box?"

Oscar sighed. Penny, bless her, was many things but she was not in the least but subtle. Oscar could see her mind working. A blind man could have seen her mind working.

"No," she said. "Absolutely not. No, Penny, I mean that."

"She's got so much," Penny protested. "Do you think she'd notice-"

"The rich always notice," Oscar said firmly. "Penny, what are the first two rules?"

Penny sighed. "Rule one: never steal anything that looks unique, you won't be able to get rid of it."

"And rule number two?"

"Don't rob anyone the constable has to bow to."

"And this breaks both of those," Oscar said. "The princess doesn't buy from the high street, that stuff in there is bespoke, you'd never be able to fence it, which meant you'd be stuck with it while every constable in the country looked for you which brings me to the point that they'd all know it was you! And besides, why would you want to ruin this?"

"Because we could be actual rich instead of working for the rich."

"There's nothing wrong with honest work," Oscar said. "We've got out, Penny. We're away from all of it we don't have to worry about the constable or the magistrate any more; the thugs and the snitches can't touch us here. And you want to throw that away? Come on, Penny, think about this. We're free of the shadow of the rope here. And..."

"What?" Penny asked.

Oscar shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "The Little Bull trusted me with this, it...I don't know, it makes me want to do right by him."

"I didn't think you liked Jean that much."

"I didn't, until now," Oscar said. But he trusted me, and with something that seems to matter to him. That...it's like obligation, we have to live up to the opinion that he has of us."

Penny leaned back. "I've never heard you sound like that before."

"Just because I never said it doesn't mean I never thought it," Oscar said. "Why do you think I took care of you: because you trusted me, and so I couldn't let you down. And I think the princess trusts us too, if only because Jean does." Her eyes narrowed. "So no stealing, understand? Absolutely none."

"I understand," Penny said. "Fingers to myself at all times."

Cinderella came to in the carriage back to the palace, a fact which did not prevent Eugene from sending for the doctor as soon as they returned.

"I told you to tell me if there was anything wrong," Eugene said reproachfully as helped her to sit down.

"Nothing was wrong," Cinderella said. "Until something was, and when it was I told you."

Eugene did not look entirely convinced by this, which hurt just a little, but he didn't argue the point with her, for which Cinderella was very grateful. He stayed with her until the doctor arrived, for which she was also grateful even if the way that he sat beside her holding her hand as though she was dying worried her far more than her having fainted did.

Cinderella didn't mention that fact to Eugene, however. He probably wouldn't have appreciated hearing it, not right now. And it wasn't as though she didn't understand why he was behaving this way. Katherine haunted him, or at least the spectre of her fate did. Having lost her he was terrified of losing Cinderella, and nothing she could say would convince him that she wasn't in imminent danger of death.

The physician arrived, and listened to Cinderella's description of what had happened as he examined her.

"Hmm," he murmured, as much to himself as to either of them. "Tell me, how many times a day do you vomit, your highness?"

"Um, I'm not really...three, maybe?" Cinderella hazarded. "I don't really keep count."

"And you're keeping food and liquid down?"

"Yes."

Cinderella few more similar questions before the doctor appeared satisfied. "The good news is that you don't appear to be suffering from particularly severe morning sickness. You're vomiting isn't excessive, you aren't unable to keep down food and I can't see any evidence of weight loss. On the other hand, based on your account and my examination, it seems you are suffering from anemia."

"Oh," Cinderella said. "What's that?"

"Too little iron in your blood," the doctor explained. "Not uncommon in pregnant women and not dangerous to the baby either. You should eat more red meat, green vegetables, cereals, grapes and the like; conversely your highness should have less tea or coffee, milk, cheese and that sort."

That advice was something of a disappointment, as Cinderella rather liked tea, but he was the doctor and she was the patient, and Eugene would make sure she followed his advice anyway.

Once the doctor had departed, Cinderella sighed and lay back on the settee. "I'm just glad that Etienne and Lucrecia missed this. "I'd hate to have ruined their wedding day. They've waited a long for this."

"I know," Eugene said. "It would have been pointless for them to have stayed for all they could do, but they might have done. Etienne will be glad he had a break when he comes back to his new post."

"New post?" This was the first Cinderella had heard of this. "What's this?"

"Etienne was interested in the vacant position of deputy commander of the city garrison," Eugene explained. "I persuaded Father to give it to him. He'll be close to his wife but he'll also be run ragged, poor fellow. I'm not sure he understands that yet."

"So long as he has Lucrecia I'm sure he'll be able to bear it," Cinderella said softly. She was silent a moment. "You know...when I first met Etienne, I was a little that you cared for each other more than you could care for me."

Eugene leaned forwards in his chair, "You never told me that before."

"I suppose I was afraid to find out I was right," Cinderella said. "That he was the friend of your heart, the one who understood you while I was just...the pretty face."

Eugene's expression was remorseful. "I swear, if I had understood how you felt then...I would have done many things differently."

"It doesn't matter," Cinderella said. "We're still here, and everything is different now. I only mention it because, well, with Etienne married too...It seems I never had anything to worry about."

Eugene laughed. "Never, for my part. It may have taken me some time to find the perfect wife, but I always knew or hoped that one would come between us. I admit I was a little surprised about Etienne though, I always thought his pride and his poverty together would get in the way."

"And I thought my being a mere servant girl would get in the way," Cinderella said. "When it comes to love it seems we all overestimate the difficulties. So what is Etienne's new job and why will be so terrible for him?"

"He's the second in command of all policing functions in the capital, and his superior is seventy-eight," Eugene said. "Etienne will have to read all the reports into every single secret society no matter how ridiculous, authorise all the payments, review all the assignments...when I looked into it I was astonished, and I'm not sure how much he knows." He grinned. "But, on the other hand, I'm hard pressed to think of anyone I'd rather have keeping us safe.

"Oh, by the way Cinderella," Eugene continued. "In addition to Mademoiselle du Bois I've had responses from one other family with able to make up the numbers of your ladies-in-waiting; since I said I would talk to you about it first...if you feel able-"

"Of course I'm able," Cinderella said. "Who is she? What's she like?"

"Christine Roux is the niece of Lord Roux, the leader of the opposition," Eugene said.

"I see," Cinderella murmured. What she principally remembered about Lord Roux was that he had agreed to form a government, kept her waiting for weeks and then told her that he couldn't manage the business after all. It had been very frustrating.

On the other hand, thanks to the delay there had been no one to oppose her making a deal with Frederica, so she supposed it had all worked out for the best.

Eugene sighed. "I know what happened, but the Roux family is not only old and distinguished but they are also historically liberal, which I thought would please you. You won't find many such amongst the aristocracy."

"Have you ever met Christine?"

"No, I think this season is her coming out," Eugene said. "So I'm afraid there's nothing I can speak to with regards to her character."

"I see," Cinderella said. That meant she was young, and hopefully too young to have Cinderella for stealing Eugene away. And it would be good to have another lady who supported her ideals, rather than someone who thought she was wrong and probably stupid too. Drizella would he quite enough in that regard. "Alright, I'm sure she'll be fine. When can she be here?"

"In a few days, in time for the big outing."

"The what?"

"Father's idea," Eugene explained. "A great expedition out of the city get into the countryside for a day, relax, take the load off our shoulders. Father, you, me, Philippe, your ladies, everyone."

Cinderella smiled. "It sounds idyllic."

"I think he just wants to play with his grandson where no one can accuse him of shirking because they're all shirking too," Eugene said.

"All the same, it still sounds lovely," Cinderella said. "I'm looking forward to it already."

Anne, Duchess of Cornouaille, was sitting in the school room, keeping one eye on the copy of Virgil's Aeneid open in her lap.

The other eye was on her eldest son, Charles August, as he worked on his Latin.

She handled his tuition personally, it was one of the avenues allowed for her to exercise her own learning. Some looked askance at her, of course, whispered about it; but Anne wasn't sure why it should be considered more acceptable to hire some poor middle class girl as a governess than to involve herself in the lives of education of her own children.

It wasn't even as though she had anything better to do.

"Mama, I've finished," Charles declared from his desk. He was a thin boy of seven years old - with half a year still to go until he was right- with fair skin but rosy cheeks. He had inherited his father's blonde hair, but it was Anne's own eyes that stared back at her.

"Show me," Anne said, holding out one hand for his translation. Charles got up from his desk and handed her several sheets of handwritten French.

Anne put down her book and picked up a quill, dipping into ink as she began to correct his work. "A little rough in places," she murmured, before favouring him with a smile. "But very good in others."

He smiled back at her. His smile was not quite like either his mother or his father, but a mixture of both of them. The best of both of them, God willing.

The door to the room flew open, slamming into the wall with a bang. Henry strode in. "I have it!"

Anne felt a chill settle upon her. She put down her quill and Charles' translation and hoped her son could not see the slight strain in her smile. "Your father and I need a moment alone, darling. Run along to the nursery and see that Helene is being nice to Louis." Her daughter sometimes forgot that her little brother was a child, and not a toy for her to play with.

"Yes, Mama," Charles said, and scampered from the room.

Anne watched him go, then looked up into Henry's face. "He doesn't need to hear you plotting treason." Indeed, if things went very wrong then ignorance would be his best defence against a prince's wrath.

Or the best means of getting a princess' mercy. Anne hoped that Cinderella would not punish a child for the sins of his parents, but who could say how a mother would react to a threat to her children.

Henry seemed oblivious to her concerns. "When he is king it will be as well for him to know by what means he became king, and learn from it resolve in the face of obstacles."

Anne pursed her lips together. "What do you mean to do?"

Henry looked very pleased with his own cleverness. That was a bad sign, it probably meant he hadn't thought things through at all. "Eugene takes his wife-"

"Her name is Cinderella, darling, it will do you no harm to say it," Anne murmured.

"They take a carriage out into the peaceful meadows in a few days time, to while away a few untroubled hours," Henry continued ignoring. "I, and a couple of trustworthy fellows, will waylay them disguised as highwaymen, and shoot them both in the confusion."

It was as Anne had suspected, he hadn't thought this through at all. Now she just had to find a way of explaining to him that he was being very foolish. "Do they ride alone?" she asked, suspecting she knew what the answer would be.

"No, they are accompanied by all the princess attendants, and by his majesty and-"

"Do you really think all those people are going to let you ride up and shoot the prince and princess?" Anne asked. Princess Cinderella possessed a ferocious mastiff of a protector, if what she heard be true, and he would surely not be the only attendant upon their highnesses and his majesty as well, good God! "Husband, you would be more like to die in this than any you would put to death, unless you rode in such numbers as to make a mockery of any claim to be mere highwaymen."

Henry's face redeemed. "I have no need of your advice in matters such as these, wife; they are outside of women's provinces. That being said, it occurs to me now that the occasion is not perfect for my enterprise, and a better time and place may yet present themselves."

"I think that is very wise of you, lord husband," Anne said. "For the sake of our children I beg you to be ruled by caution, lest in your urge to have more than you posses you lose them all that they would inherit."

"I cannot be too cautious," Henry complained. "Now that Eugene has demonstrated his willingness to do his duty then he must die, and swiftly."

That his focus was upon Eugene, not Cinderella, managed to surprise Anne somewhat. After all it was Cinderella's marriage, and Cinderella's pregnancy, that was the cause of all this. "Eugene," she said. "Not Cinderella?"

Henry waved his hand dismissively. "Even if she were to perish with her child, Eugene would swiftly find another to fill his bed and get another child to trouble us. Or seek to make his son hair to the throne. But if Eugene should fall...The King is old, he will not live to see his grandchildren full grown and then-"

"You would be regent, and quietly dispose of your nephew or niece," Anne said. It was cold-hearted in the extreme, but it was not an awful plan. If only her husband's design to actually kill Eugene had not been so amateurish.

She didn't really expect him to come up with anything better either. Henry did not have that sort of mind. Anne was afraid she might have to devise the plan herself in order to keep her husband from getting caught. Because, as much as it would have better if he could have learned contentment with his lot, he clearly wasn't going to.

Which meant that, to save him from himself, Anne might have to step in. The alternative was that their children would grow up fatherless, and probably penniless too.

And that she would not allow.

She had sent them out to find need a pretty girl, and they had certainly done as they were hidden.

The girl who knelt at Grace's feet, shivering in fear, was a true beauty; and would have been so even by the standards of the court with her long raven hair, but blue eyes and high, sculpted cheekbones sent in a face that was soft when appropriate and sharp-featured else. Grace might have been jealous, had she not known what was about to happen.

"My, you are a pretty one," Grace said, with a little laugh. "What is your name, girl?"

"V-Vanessa, ma'am," the girl said.

"Vanessa, a pretty name too," Grace said. "Well aren't you blessed. Good work, boys; Vanessa here is absolutely perfect."

Vanessa struggled in futility against Rollo's hideous strength. "Please, ma'am, if you let me go I won't say nothing. On my life I won't. Please ma'am, I've been good all my life, I've never done nothing wrong, I don't deserve to-"

"Quiet," Grace snapped. "This isn't about you, or what you deserve. This is about me, and my family, and all the dreams that Cinderella knocked asunder." She got up, turning away from Vanessa and wandering over to the cauldron which bubbled away upon the open fire. A green liquid stewed within the black iron, sending noxious fumes rising into the air.

"Excellent," Grace murmured, as she watched her mother stir the cauldron. "It's almost ready."

"I don't understand," Anatole said. "What do you mean to do? What's the point of all this?"

Grace was silent a moment. "The royal family and all of their attendants go laying in a few days time. Or they would, if it were not still march. Lovers do love the springtime, I suppose. Regardless, they will all be out in the countryside together. There will be no better chance."

"A chance for what?" Anatole demanded. "The love potion, the girl, what is it all to come to?"

"Do you know what happens when you give someone a love potion?"

Anatole hesitated. "You told me they would love you, but only for a little while."

"Indeed, and it only works once," Grace said. " Or at least that is generally the case. I have a theory, that by altering the ingredients somewhat the effects can be extended. They will not come instantly now, but in a rising arc of affection leading only late to infatuation, which will then descend into mere fondness and then fade to nothing as before. But now...it will be long enough. How they will squirm as they see my claws sink deeper and deeper."

"And when it stops working?"

"By then we will have won," Grace said. "It all begins on the day of their little picnic. On that day I will become their hero, and use their gratitude to bring them down; or rather, Vanessa will."

Grace smiled savagely as she rounded on the captive girl. Roll had her kneeling in the midst of a pentagram carved into the earth, and Grace could feel its power crackling at her fingertips. "I conjure by the earth and sky and by the morning star, I conjure by Mephistopheles and by the rites of many sisters gone before me. I conjure for the life and health and beauty of this captive. Let her face and voice be mine."

Vanessa screamed as everything she had was ripped away from her, drawn in a green light towards Grace. She kept on screaming until there we nothing left of her at all, nothing but a desiccated husk drained of everything, wrinkled and withered like a prune.

"Dispose of that," commanded Grace, who now wore Vanessa's face and spoke in her voice, although without the common diction. She picked up a mirror, and smirked as she gazed upon her new reflection. "Now, to become a hero."

Author's Note: When I wrote the wedding scene ending with Cinderella fainting, that was to be the end of the chapter. However, circumstances prevented me from posting said chapter but didn't prevent me from writing the next one, and having done so that cliffhanger started to seem increasingly manipulative. In part this is because Cinderella was originally going to be a lot worse than simply anemic: she was going to suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum like the Duchess of Cambridge, only without 21st century medicine to remove the majority of the risk; the problem with that though was that it would mean pausing all the other plots for weeks or months while Cinderella was ill and some of them, particularly Grace's plot, just won't wait that long.

I also think the combined chapter works better together than it would have apart.

Originally Drizella was actually going to demand that Cinderella do her laundry, which I realised made her look too stupid for words, whereas her actions now fall under common idiocy. I think Drizella being foolish enough to be openly hostile is in character, but I also think that if she'd been super nice from the off Cinderella would have suspected something was up after what happened with Serena and Grace; she's warier now of false friendship and to an extent Drizella is showing her exactly what she expects to see.

I'm not very ashamed of myself for making up the way Grace's magic works almost on the fly, because I think there's an extent to which Brandon Sanderson-style rules of magic are only necessary if you're going to use magic to solve the problems, not create them (and sometimes not even then; the fairy godmother's magic only has one rule that we know of and it isn't even consistently applied). But Cinderella isn't going to defeat Grace by trumping her spells with other spells but by (well that would be telling, wouldn't it?) so I don't think it matters too much in this case.

Vanessa is the name that Ursula uses in the Little Mermaid when she ensorcels Prince Eric; there's enough similarity in Grace's plan that it felt like an obvious shout-out to make.