Confined
Grace bustled into the King's study with a convincing appearance of haste. "Louis! Louis, I have terrible news!"
She came to a halt, and took a deep breath as though she had run to get here. "I was right. About Cinderella, and about your son. They are faithless, Louis, utterly without loyalty to you. I'm so sorry, my darling, but I was right. I would give anything not to be but…we cannot always have the things we wish for so badly." I know that lesson very well, or why would I be settling for my second choice?
The king looked up at her from his writing desk. By the looks of things he had been trying to write, but had not succeeded in making much progress. That was a side-effect of the love potion still at work within his brain: he would find it hard to concentrate on anything but her, or that did not touch on her in any way. Even now he looked befuddled, confused, as if he didn't understand what she was saying.
"My…my dear…my heart," he mumbled. "I…what are you saying?"
"I have the proof I spoke to you of," Grace said, her voice calm and soft and unfailingly patient; the same sort of tone that Cinderella used on that stepson she delighted to play mother to. "The proof…" she bowed her head, and assumed an expression of great regret as if this wasn't what she had been searching for all along. "The proof that Cinderella and Eugene are plotting against you. Against both of us. Please protect me, Louis, I'm so afraid."
The King was on his feet in a moment, rushing around his writing desk to clasp her hands within his firm embrace. "Be brave, sweetheart, all will be well. No harm will come to you, I guarantee it." He scowled. "To think, that I once embraced that viper to my bosom. To think that I doted on her as my own daughter, and all along she was using and deceiving me."
Ah, irony. "I know, Louis, you must feel so broken-hearted."
"How could I feel broken hearted over that wanton wretch when I have you to comfort me?" the King asked fondly. "Now, what is this proof? Show it to me, and I will instantly have them both thrown into the dungeons for this foul work!"
"Contain yourself," Vanessa said, bending down to whisper into his ear. "I know your wrath, my king, but you must be as wise as a serpent yourself in confronting these vipers. You must not put the strong law upon Cinderella, for she is loved by the credulous multitudes who, judging not with their wits but with their hearts, cannot see the forked tongue that lies behind her smile. If you arrest her there will be riots in the streets." Thank you, Serena, for teaching me that lesson. She and Serena had both underestimated the sheer amount of raw support that Cinderella possessed amongst the common people. Who knew that all you had to do to be popular was lower grain tariffs? In fairness – much as she hated to be fair to Cinderella – Grace suspected that her low birth and humble story might have something to do with it to. Cinderella wasn't just the People's Princess because she was beloved of the People but because she had been one of the People before Prince Eugene plucked her from obscurity.
Regardless of where exactly their love for Cinderella came from, regardless of whether you thought she deserved it, the fact was that the common people loved their Princess of Hearts more than they loved their king, and it would not matter what proofs were presented of her treachery, the mob would rise up anyway. Thus, even when Grace had been planning to dispose of Cinderella in such a way that would leave her dead to the world, as it were, it would have been necessary to remove her discreetly from the scene. Grace had been planning something simple: an illness that would be announced in the papers and explain Cinderella's absence, and then an explanation that the beloved princess had miscarried her child and died from the ensuing complications. So sad. Such a tragedy.
Now, of course, her agreement with Drizella would lead to a revision of that approach.
The King looked up at her. "What would you have me do? Treason cannot be tolerated!"
"Nor shall we tolerate it," Grace replied. "But we will invite worse than treason if we move too hard against the snakes in the grass. For Cinderella's part, it was already planned that she should be expelled from the rooms which she has so vainly claimed, despite them being a queen's rightful apartments, and move her to quarters more fitting for her lower station. Let her be confined there, separated from the ladies with whom she plots and the servants who run her errands, and set under the close watch and guard of trustworthy attendants loyal to your majesty. Once Prince Eugene is dealt with she will be powerless, and can be released at leisure."
The King nodded at that. He would have nodded at practically any thought that she put into his head. "But Eugene…him I can…I mean I should…"
"You may deal with him, my love, as a traitor deserves," Grace said. Prince Eugene was somewhat popular – he was, after all, the man who had won the American War – but not noticeably more so than his father, and not in such a way as to inspire the people to rise onto the streets for him. He had none of the common touch, he barely seemed to look down and notice those beneath him; had she not known better Grace might have suspected that he had married a commoner in order to make himself seem less remote.
There was the question of the popularity that he borrowed from his wife – people who assumed that there must be something about him they didn't see for such a beloved girl as Cinderella to love him – but some of Drizella's accusations should be sufficient to take care of that.
The King blinked. "My dear…my son…he…I…a traitor. They are both traitors. They…I love th- No. No, I hate them both! I hate them both for their betrayal of me!"
"And quite right too, they are unworthy of the love of so good a man as yourself. Drizella! The time has come."
Drizella Tremaine was not so good an actor as Grace herself, in her own opinion anyway, but she made a fairly decent job of looking nervous as she walked into the study.
Grace pulled her hands free of the King's grasp and walked over to stand by Drizella's side. "This is Drizella Tremaine, Cinderella's stepsister and closest confidante." Had the King been in possession of all his wits he would have disputed that barefaced lie, but in his current state he would not notice it. "She came to me with very disturbing news. I hated to believe it, but I am positive that she's telling the truth."
She embraced Drizella about the shoulders. "Tell his majesty everything that you told me. And don't be afraid. There's no need to be nervous."
And get it right, we spent an hour rehearsing this.
And it isn't even as if its all made up.
"Y-your majesty," Drizella murmured. "I…I spend a lot of time with Cinderella, and so I've heard everything that she and…that she and Prince Eugene have said…about you and about what they plan to do to you and I can't keep quiet any longer…"
Drizella poured out her tale before the King. Actually, to say poured out was to give Drizella Tremaine a little too much credit at points: from the way that she'd stumbled you'd never guess that she and Grace had actually gone over this in advance, and frankly Grace didn't have enough confidence in Drizella's acting skills to think that this was deliberate on her part. She just couldn't remember what they'd agreed she ought to say.
But she managed to get through her account. Some of it was even true, just as some of Grace's lies had been sweetened with the taste of a little truth to them.
Drizella had told Grace all that she knew, which wasn't as much as Grace might have liked but it was enough. It seemed that Cinderella's ladies-in-waiting, her faithful friends and companions, had not been shy in complaining at the way that she was being treated by the King under her control. Lady Christine Roux had even suggested that His Majesty might be mad.
Christine, you couldn't have done any better if you were actually on my side.
From there, it was only a short hop to 'Cinderella and Eugene are plotting to have you removed from power on pretence of madness', and that was the lie that Drizella fed the King. And Grace could barely restrain her smile as she saw the King eat it up like a delicious desert.
"I'm sorry for not coming to tell you all this sooner, your majesty," Drizella said. "But Cinderella is my sister and I love her so much. But I…I came to…I came…to realise that…that my loyalty-"
"She realised that her loyalty to the crown outweighed her loyalty to her family, and so she told me everything," Grace said, rescuing Drizella from the consequences of her poor memory. "And that's not all, tell him the last."
Drizella folded her arms across her chest. "Prince Eugene tried to take advantage of me to stop me from talking! I know that he's been after me for some time but I'm such a virtuous woman that I would never give in to him and I told him so! I told him-"
"Yes, thank you, dear, I think we understand," Grace said. "Such beastliness, don't you think, Louis?"
That last was more for the benefit of Cinderella's enthusiastic supporters outside the palace walls. They might look fondly upon Prince Eugene for the mere fact of being her husband, but they would be calling for his execution when they found out that he had even tried to cheat upon beloved Cinderella. Eugene would die and the people would cheer his passing.
Our mistake, Serena, was in trying to match the mob with our own force; much better to manipulate them into doing your work.
Like I'm manipulating everyone else.
The King's face was red with fury. "I will not suffer this! I will not stand for it for one moment! Where are my guards? Guards!"
"Discretion, love, we must use some discretion," Grace said. "Until Cinderella is in our hands we cannot reveal our purpose too early. We must use some guile in this." She smiled. "Fortunately, Mademoiselle Drizella and I have an idea on that front."
Angelique pounded up the stairs from her own room to Cinderella's apartments; she tripped twice on the stairs - she'd gotten better at walking in a dress, but running in one was still a bit of a struggle - but she ignored the sensations of pain in her knees and kept on running because if she was right about this then things were about to get very, very bad and they didn't have long to get in front of it.
Jean was guarding the door; that was good, that was the best that Angelique could have hoped for. He held up one hand as he saw her running up the stairs towards him. "Angelique, what's wrong?"
Angelique took a deep breath. "Drizella's sold out the princess, or is selling her out right now; I don't know how far it goes but I know that she's with Vanessa now and that means trouble for all of us."
Jean didn't ask how she knew that, he took it on trust that she wouldn't lie to him. She appreciated that, even if she didn't have time to tel him just how much that was the case. A scowl consumed his scarred face. "It is an ill thing that the princess is betrayed by her own kindness and compassion; what sort of world is this where virtue is punished and vice rewarded?"
"We're not quite there yet, thank goodness," Angelique said. "But I'm worried about what she knows." I should have seen this coming, why didn't I see this coming?
"What do you mean?"
Angelique abruptly remembered that Jean didn't know about Vanessa's plan to fit up Cinderella and Prince Eugene for treason. I should have told him, he wouldn't have asked how I knew. "Short story: Vanessa is out to get Cinderella, Drizella has heard a lot of conversations going on in these rooms and I'm afraid that she can twist what she heard against the princess. So I need you to get all your men, and don't let anyone up these stairs whom you don't trust, okay?"
Jean looked into her eyes, and then nodded. "You can rely on me, Angelique."
"I always do."
Jean brushed past her as he started to descend the staircase. "Sergeant Bourgogne!"
The sergeant appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Sir?"
"Rally the men," Jean said. "And be ready for trouble."
Angelique burst into Cinderella's bedroom. "Cinderella?"
"Angelique? I'm in here?" Cinderella replied from the sitting room.
Angelique ran in, in time to see Cinderella rising from the settee, a book clasped in her white-gloved hands. Oscar and Penny stood behind her, trying and succeeding in looking unobtrusive.
"Is something wrong?" Cinderella asked. "You sound very anxious."
Angelique hesitated. Her mouth was dry, and not from the run up the stairs. To be honest, from the moment that the mice had told her what Drizella had done...she might have run up the stairs to bring this news but at the same time she had been dreading that she would have to do this. Cinderella had believed in her stepsister, believed that they could move past the antagonism of her earlier years and build something between them; she had insisted upon the point in the teeth of everyone else's opinion and in spite of Drizella's own behaviour. Angelique took no pleasure in being right and she took even less pleasure in proving Cinderella wrong.
It was as Jean said: it was a terrible thing for Cinderella's kindness to be answered with malice, for the outstretched hand of friendship and sisterly love to be spat upon.
"It's...it's Drizella," Angelique said. "She's with Vanessa now."
Cinderella pursed her lips together. "You...you don't just mean that she's in the same room, do you?"
"No," Angelique said, speaking slowly with a softness born of reluctance. "She's on her side. She's joined with her to..." she searched for a way to say 'to get you'.
By the look on Cinderella's face she didn't need to say it. The princess paled, and she fell back onto the settee that she'd been sitting on as the book fell from her hands.
She bowed her head, and her lustrous strawberry blonde hair fell over her shoulders and hid half her face from Angelique's view, like curtains being drawn across a window. "Drizella...she..." Cinderella looked up into Angelique's eyes. "I'm sure that you want to say it, so go on. I deserve to hear it."
"I take no pleasure in this," Angelique replied. "It brings me no joy to...to see you upset."
Cinderella's face was a picture of misery. She closed her eyes. "All I wanted was a sister," Cinderella moaned. "That's all I ever wanted, ever since...ever since I was a girl. A childish dream that I should have gotten over a long time ago." Cinderella opened her eyes. "Serena, Grace, Theodora, Drizella; perhaps my stepmother was right all along, perhaps I should have become hard and cold if I wanted to survive here."
"If you were hard and cold I would have taken my leave of you by now," Angelique said. "There are no honours you could pile onto my head would make me stay and serve a princess with a heart of ice. I'm sorry about Drizella; I'm sorry that you couldn't have the sister that you wanted. But you have a husband who loves you, a stepson who adores you, three friends who'd do anything you asked us to, Jean would die for you if need be...that is what your kind heart has got you and that...that's not nothing. Do you think an icy-hearted princess would have as much?"
Cinderella stared at her. "Why do you think she hates me, Drizella? Why do you think she...I thought that if we only started anew then we could be true sisters. What did I do wrong, Angelique? What should I have done better to-"
"I think you should have remembered that she needed to want it as much as you did," Angelique said. "You can't blame yourself, we need to think about how bad this could get and what we're going to do now."
Cinderella's eyes widened. "You think that she'll-"
"I think there have been things said in these rooms that might not sound too good if they were to be presented in the wrong light."
"Do you think that will be enough?" Cinderella asked. "To...to prove that..."
"I think that His Majesty beat you across the face with a stick for no other reason than he thought you were up to something," Angelique said. "Do you want to take the risk that he won't act if Drizella goes and confesses that we've been talking about how he's mad and needs to be removed from power?"
Cinderella sighed. Her voice, when it came, was laden with a mixture of weariness and melancholy. "No. No, I don't. Angelique, I'm sorry to ask this, but I need you to go and find Eugene, tell him what you've just told me and tell him...tell him that I think we should take our trip to the Summer Palace early."
"You think that will be enough to get away from her?"
"I'm afraid not," Cinderella said. "But it's better than nothing, isn't it? And then could you please bring Philippe and his grandmother back here? I'll send for the rest of my ladies and tell them that they should leave; their families ought to be able to protect them. Angelique, I think you should come with us. I know you're a countess but-"
"But I don't have a family, I see what you mean," Angelique murmured. Cinderella made a good point, with what was going on right now the chances of Angelique being able to accomplish anything by staying here were slim. She might even end up in a cell somewhere. "I...yes, I'll come with you, if we can get out. I'll go tell the prince now."
"Thank you, I'll start packing right away," Cinderella said, getting up and walking towards the bell pull by the door. "Oscar, Penny, I know that this isn't what you're here for, but could you help me, please?"
Angelique didn't stick around to hear their reply, she headed for the door, crossing the bedroom and exiting out onto the little landing before the staircase.
"How dare you! Who do you even think you are anyway? Move aside this instant!"
Angelique looked down the stairs to see Drizella trying to get up towards Cinderella's rooms, and being forestalled by Jean and a half dozen of his men on the landing below.
"You'll get no closer to her highness than this, I promise you," Jean said.
"I demand that you-"
"You've got a nerve," Angelique snapped as she began to descend the stairs.
Drizella looked up at Angelique. She looked as though she had been crying, but right now there was no sorrow in her eys, only the habitual distaste with which she regarded Angelique. "What are you talking about?" Drizella demanded. "This is your doing, isn't it? You're the one responsible, aren't you? Out of my way, I need to see Cinderella this instant!"
"Really?" Angelique said. She did not descend all the way to the landing; since Drizella was taller than she was Angelique stayed sufficient stairs up to be able to look down upon the other woman. She folded her arms. "And why do you need to speak to her so urgently?"
Drizella shudered theatrically. "Because Prince Eugene just tried to assault me and I think Cinderella deserves to know about it as soon as possible!"
Angelique laughed. It escaped her mouth before she could stifle it. She fought to control herself. "Prince Eugene...I'm half tempted to let you up so I can see how she'd react to you telling her that."
"Are you calling me a liar?"
"Yes," Angelique said. "And as much as Cinderella might have trusted you, I'm certain that she trust her husband more. More importantly I know who's side you're really on and so does she, so you're not getting any further up these stairs." Angelique didn't bother to ask what Drizella's plan had been, because she thoght she could guess: Cinderella wouldn't have believed Eugene would either be unfaithful to her or that he would try and force himself on another woman, but she wouldn't believe - she wouldn't want to believe - that Drizella would make up malicious lies about something like that either. She would suggest they go talk to Eugene, to clear up the misunderstanding; and so she would leave the relative safety of the tower and walk into some trap or some kind.
Thank god the mice found me in time.
Drizella licked her lips. "It would be best if she just came downstairs."
"Best for who?" Angelique demanded.
"She's going to have to come out of there one way or another."
"You don't feel even a hint of shame, do you?"
"What have I got to be ashamed of?"
Angelique snorted. "Go and tell your new mistress that we know what you're up to and it isn't going to work."
Drizella's eyes narrowed. "This isn't over," she declared, before she turned away and stalked haughtily back down the stairs from which she had come.
Jean looked up at Angelique. "Do you think we should have held her here?"
"I doubt Cinderella would approve of that, and even if she did would there be much point?" Angelique asked. "I thought you had more men than this."
"The others are still coming, I hope," Jean said.
"Right," Angelique murmured. She turned, and headed back up the stairs into Cinderella's chambers.
"We might already be out of time," she said.
"What do you mean?" Cinderella asked.
"Drizella was just here, trying to see you," Angelique said. "She wanted to tell you that Prince Eugene had assaulted her, apparently."
Cinderella's eyes widened. "But Eugene would never do anything like that!"
"I thought you'd say that," Angelique said. "But what would you have done if she had come to you with a story like that, and you still trusted her."
Cinderella was silent in thought for a moment. "I'd think it must be some kind of misunderstanding, and suggest we go and see Eugene to straighten it out."
Angelique nodded. "I suspect they've got some fellows down there waiting for you to do just that. I've told Drizella you won't come down but-"
"But now they might come up," Cinderella murmured. "But Eugene would never...oh, my, you don't think-"
"I don't know," Angelique said. "And right now we need to worry about you."
Cinderella pursed her lips together. "But if they're already down stairs, waiting at the bottom of the tower...there's no other way down."
Oscar coughed into her hand. "With respect, princess, that isn't entirely true. We can use the secret passages to get around them if you want."
"Of course we could if we knew where they..." Angelique stopped. She blinked. Her eyes bulged a little. "Are you saying you know how to get into the secret passages?"
Oscar nodded. "I found the way in second day I was here. Me and Penny have been exploring them bit by bit." She hesitated. "Did I forget to tell you that?"
"Yes you forgot to tell us!" Angelique snapped. "How did you...how?"
Oscar shrugged. "Jean told me that some creeper had been using secret passages to sneak around and spy on the princess while she slept so I thought it was important to know where they were."
"But Jean and I spent ages trying to find them and didn't come up with anything," Angelique protested.
Oscar's expression was one of almost feline smugness. "I suppose that's the difference between a professional and amateur, isn't it?"
"How much do you know about where they go?" Cinderella asked.
"There are tunnels going all over the place in this tower, your highness," Penny said. "I think there are peepholes and secret doors to every single room in this part of the palace. We could probably get everybody you want to out, easily. The news isn't so good outside of this tower, where do you want to go?"
"We need to find Eugene," Cinderella said. "But...I'm afraid I don't know where he is."
"If he's in his room then it would be a cinch," Penny said. "There's a secret entrance into his room as well. Might make things convenient once everything's back to normal."
Oscar coughed. "Thank you, Penny, I'm sure the princess appreciates that." She coughed again. "There are more peepholes than entrances, so we can look for him at least."
"I see," Cinderella murmured. "And what about the rooms of Philippe and his grandmother?"
Oscar winced. "The nearest way in or out is a whole floor down, your highness."
Cinderella closed her eyes. She didn't say that she wasn't going to leave her stepson behind, but she didn't have to either. Angelique knew her well enough to know that she would never consider an alternative.
"Alright," Cinderella said. "We'll gather everyone from this tower, then get Philippe and get for Eugene and then...have you found a passage out of the palace?"
Oscar glanced at Penny, who shook her head.
"No, princess."
Cinderella nodded. "Alright. Well...once we've found Eugene I'm sure we'll think of something." She ran - Angelique reflected on how rare it was to see the princess run anywhere - to the bedroom door. "Jean? Would you come up here please?"
Jean came quickly when summoned, sweeping his shako off his head and bowing that same head to the princess. "Highness?"
"I want you to tell your men downstairs to surrender, Jean," Cinderella said. "I'm sure Vanessa won't hurt them, she has no reason to."
Jean frowned. "But...your highness, we are here to protect you. If we surrender then-"
"We're escaping via the secret passages," Angelique explained.
"But we don't know how to get at the secret passages."
"Hello!" Penny said, in a cheery voice that matched the wave of her hand.
"You asked us to come and work here and you didn't expect us to find a secret door?" Oscar asked.
Jean smiled. "Forgive me for underestimating you."
"Now you see," Cinderella said. "Jean, I want you to come with us while we gather everyone else."
"I would rather stay here and buy time for the rest of you."
"No," Angelique said. "Absolutely not."
"If Vanessa is able to find the secret passages as easily as Oscar did-"
"Hey, there's no way that any rich girl playing shepherdess is going to have our skills," Oscar declared.
"Even so," Jean said. "She will surely learn what you have done, so any delay that I can give you can only help you, your highness. Help all of you."
"And what state will you be in when you're done with this last stand or whatever you're doing?" Angelique demanded.
"Now, Angelique, that's quite enough," Cinderella said softly. She reached out, and stroked Jean's unscarred cheek with one hand. "You're very brave, Jean. I think you're probably the bravest person I know. But there wouldn't be any point at all to me escaping without you, because if Vanessa captured you then she could just threaten you to make me do whatever she wanted, just like Grace did." She smiled. "I'm afraid I couldn't bring myself to stand by and watch you get hurt."
It was not often that Cinderella demonstrated an ability to manipulate people; in fact it was a skill she exercised so rarely that Angelique couldn't have been the only one who forgot that she had such a skill. But as she watched Jean's face, as she watched Cinderella's softly spoken words move him in ways that Angelique's wrath had not, Angelique could barely keep her admiration off her face. Truly, it was masterfully done: Jean was too brave to flinch from danger, but he couldn't countenance putting Cinderella in danger by his actions.
Jean's back straightened. "In that case, your highness, I will of course obey your every command. I apologise for my thoughtless foolishness."
"That's quite alright," Cinderella said, as she kissed him on the cheek - the scarred cheek, to show it did not disgust her. "I don't know what I'd do without my hero."
Angelique was reminded on Cinderella's wedding day, and the way that Cinderella had pre-emptively silenced any objections to her taking Jean and Angelique into her service. If she showed this side of her more often I bet she wouldn't have half the trouble in politics that she's had to put up with.
She probably doesn't like doing it.
Angelique resolved to discuss it further once their situation was less hectic and possibly perilous, but for now they had to escape.
Etienne raced towards the palace. The hooves of his horse echoed on the cobbled streets as he galloped her down the boulevards.
He had heard of magic before, and not just in fairy tales and children's stories; Lady Bonnet swore blind that Grace du Villeroi had been some kind of witch, using magic against the princess. Etienne had not really believed her, because it was hard to believe in something like that which he had never seen. But now he had seen a bear, unmistakably the same bear which had nearly savaged Princess Cinderella, the same bear that had injured Lieutenant Taurillion, the same bear which was responsible for this whole chain of events, transform on death into Anatole du Montcalm, a man last known to have fled the consequences of his treason in the company of Grace du Villeroi.
It was incredible; it was something else he might not have believed if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes; but he had seen it happen right in front of him: the bear had died, and in death it had become Anatole, Anatole bearing the wounds that Jean Taurillion had dealt him. If that wasn't magic then what on earth was it?
And once you accepted that magic was real then all sorts of possibilities opened themselves up before him.
Start with the facts. It was a fact that Anatole du Montcalm had been turned into a bear. Either he had done it to himself or somebody had done it to him. If you accepted that Grace du Villeroi was a witch as Lady Bonnet said then it made sense to assume, since they had last been seen together, that she had done it to him.
And when you considered the way that Anatole had behaved - hiding, and only emerging when the wind changed and Etienne's dogs caught his scent - it was viable to suppose that he had retained some degree of human intelligence.
Someone - let's say Lady Grace - turned Anatole into a bear. Why?
To attack Princess Cinderella? Why, to kill her?
No. To attack Princess Cinderella and not kill her.
Because it was the rescue of the princess that was the root from which all else had flowed. Everything: His Majesty coming to the acquaintance of the shepherdess Vanessa, him taking her first to mistress and then to wife; it all comes to that day.[/i]
And Vanessa didn't move like a woman unused to ballgowns; she moved like someone who had been wearing them for half her life. Not like a shepherdess, but like a lady.
And just like that, Etienne had it. He had very little proof, and a lot of his assumptions were founded upon sheer guesswork when it came to what 'magic' could or could not accomplish, but he had it. The dead body he had found in the storm belonged to the missing shepherdess Vanessa; Lady Grace had kidnapped her, and - using magic, assuming it could do such a thing - she had stolen her appearance and in so doing killed her. She had killed the girl's father, too, to prevent him from causing trouble. And then she had transformed Anatole du Montcalm into a bear and staged an attack upon the princess from which she would rescue said princess, making herself look like a hero and giving her an in with the royal family, particularly the King.
And now she was about to become Queen of Armorique.
A crown that she had murdered two people to attain.
She needed to face justice for that; she would face justice for that.
Vanessa's mother had died long before, there had been no one in her life but her father who was also dead. No one would mourn for them, but Etienne vowed that he would remember, and get justice for them both.
There remained, however, the question of obtaining justice. He had no proof, not even that Anatole and the bear were one and the same. No one but him had seen the transformation. He was yet unsure how he would prove any of this...honestly he was a little unsure of whether or not he could prove it.
But in the meantime he had to warn the prince and princess that their enemy was ensconced in the heart of their fortress.
Etienne galloped his horse through the city streets, heedless of the gawping gazes that his haste attracted, and rode through the open gates of the palace. He reined in just long enough for the guards upon the gate to recognise him - his haste was not quite so great that was willing to risk being shot - before spurring his mare on again with the nudge of his knees. Her hooves rang upon the stone as he rode around the palace to the stables, throwing his reins at a nearby groom with a bark of 'See to my horse!' as Etienne leapt from the saddle.
"Where is Prince Eugene, have you seen him?" Etienne asked. He knew that Eugene had taken to going riding over the last few days, and he hoped that his friend might have only lately returned.
"I don't know sir," the groom said. "He returned from riding about an hour ago."
Etienne nodded, and tossed a silver shilling at the lad for his assistance. "Don't stable that horse, hold her ready for when I return."
"Yes, sir."
Etienne entered the palace via one of the side entrances nearest to the stable. Unfortunately, with over an hour since he had returned from his ride Eugene could be almost anywhere in the palace by now. If he were not with Cinderella in her rooms, or with Philippe in his room, then he might be almost anywhere. He headed in the direction of the Queen's Tower, on the logic that if Eugene wasn't up there with Cinderella then Cinderella might be there by herself, and she might know where Eugene was and even if she didn't she needed as much warning about Etienne's suspicions as he did. And if neither of them were there then hopefully someone - Lady Bonnet, for instance - would know where they both were.
He was about to open the door which led from the corridor he was in to the hall at the foot of the Queen's Tower when he heard what sounded like Vanessa's voice - which was to say Grace's voice if he was right - on the other side. Etienne waited, one hand on the door, and bent down to listen at the keyhole. He had no desire to reveal himself to Grace before the time was right.
"She will not come down?" asked Grace (even though he had no proof that it was her Etienne found it difficult to keep from thinking of her by that name now).
"That little brat Angelique wouldn't even let me see her," Drizella replied in a tone of high dudgeon. "They knew, somehow."
"Rodents," Grace hissed. "I'd forgotten that she could use them that way. I wonder how long she's had them following me for." She sighed. "This is my fault, I should have...if I'd remembered then I would have kept my fangs more carefully hidden until...ah, well, what's past is past and cannot be changed. If they will not come down then we must drag them out."
Etienne froze, as a feeling like a ball of ice formed in the pit of his stomach. Drag them out? Has she turned the King so completely against the princess? To that he might add 'against the prince' as well, for Prince Eugene would never allow his beloved Cinderella to be dragged anywhere if he had any say in the matter. Where was Eugene? Had they taken him already?
And what do I do now? It wasn't only the princess up in that tower, but his sister too. Etienne took his ear from the keyhole and tried to peer through it instead, to very little result it must be admitted except to catch sight of a great deal of red on the other side of the door. The red coats of the Queen's Regiment, most like, those snarling soldiers without voices. He could not fight off a multitude, but he couldn't allow Marinette to be harmed either. And where was His Highness?
Etienne's hands clenched into fists. He would wait, and see what Grace or Vanessa brought back down the stairs again. With luck, the opportunity to act with hope of success would soon present itself.
The entrance to the secret passageway was dark. Cinderella couldn't see anything inside. It was just a gaping black hole in the wall, a void that threatened to swallow her hole.
A void that she would have to walk into.
Please, Stepmother, please don't put me back in there. Please, Stepmother, I'll be good, I promise.
Please, please, I'm begging you.
Cinderella could already feel her chest begin to heave with nervousness at the thought of going in there.
I have no choice. There is no choice.
If she didn't go in there then Vanessa would catch her and then…and then who knew what the other woman might do to her. Who knew what the King might do to her, he didn't love her if he ever had.
"We can't have any lights in there," Oscar said. "They might be seen through the peepholes and it would give us away. But don't worry, I can see in the dark like a cat so I'll go first. Penny will be right behind me. Princess, will you come next?"
"I'll go next," Angelique said. "And Cinderella will be behind me." She glanced up at Cinderella, and smiled. Cinderella realised that it was intended to be reassuring.
She knows, Cinderella remembered. Because it was Angelique and Marinette who had found her, locked in her own wardrobe, crying as she shrieked and screamed and begged to be let out of the cramped, dark space.
I'll be good, I promise.
"I will bring up the rear," Jean said.
Oscar nodded. "Everyone keep hold of the person in front and behind them so we don't get separated. Everybody ready?"
Angelique and Jean nodded. Cinderella took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment. "I…I'm ready. Yes. Let's go."
Angelique held out her left hand, while with her right she grabbed hold of Penny. Cinderella slipped her right hand into Angelique's open palm, feeling her grip through the silk of her glove. She held her left hand behind her, and felt Jean take it with a firm grasp that lacked Eugene's delicacy of touch.
And one by one, they walked into the darkness of the secret passage with Oscar at their head. For Cinderella, when her turn came, it was like walking into night from day, as if the sunshine outside had been abruptly snuffed out and the whole world plunged into darkness. Darkness pressing all around her. She could dimly feel – or perhaps it would be better to say that she could hear the slight rustling sound – her dress against the narrow walls of the passage, narrow walls that also pressed around her. She felt as though she could feel the ceiling just barely higher than her head.
She could feel and hear but she could see very little; the light coming in from the open passage door was barely enough for her to make out Angelique.
And then Jean shut the door behind them and the last light entering the tunnel was wholly extinguished.
Perhaps that was a slight exaggeration, there was still a narrow beam of light coming in from the peephole which Lucien had used to spy on her, but it was barely anything, and it did nothing at all to drive away the darkness. Cinderella couldn't see anything. It was as though she had wandered far from home on a moonless night and gotten lost on a moor somewhere, except that even on a wild and desolate heath there would have been multiple directions in which she could have turned. Here there was nothing but the close, and the dark. She couldn't see Angelique, let alone Penny or Oscar. She couldn't see her own dress of shimmering white. She couldn't see the walls but she could feel them, pressing down upon her, boxing her in, squeezing her.
Cinderella couldn't hear her footsteps on the soft floor – carpeted? Whoever had built these passages must not have wanted to be heard coming and going – but she could hear her breath as it started to run short. She gasped, but she couldn't breathe, not really. She couldn't breathe, she felt as though she could barely walk. She couldn't do anything except boggle with wide eyes at the darkness and feel the walls close in around her. She had to get out of here. She had to get out of here or she was going to start screaming.
"Your highness?" Jean hissed from behind her. "Your highness, are you alright?"
"Oh no," Angelique said.
"What's going on?" Oscar demanded, her tone no less demanding for being a whisper.
"Stop for a minute, alright."
"What did you just let go of me for?"
"Stay where you are and I'll find you again, but give me a minute," Angelique said.
Cinderella felt Angelique's other hand, gripping her wrist.
"It's alright," Angelique said, and though they all had a need to be quiet Angelique's tone was more soft than merely muted. "Cinderella, it's alright. I'm right here. We're right here."
"Aye, your highness," Jean said. "We both are."
Cinderella tried to nod – although they wouldn't be able to see it any more than she could see either of them. But her breathing kept coming quicker and quicker, and the walls were so tight around her and it was all just so dark and she just couldn't and please don't put me back in there-
She felt Angelique's arms wrapped around her waist.
"It's alright, princess," she whispered. "It's alright now."
Jean gripped her hand with both of his. "Please don't be afraid, princess. Don't be afraid of anything."
Cinderella closed her eyes – it was no more dark than it was before – and let out all the breath that remained to her in her lungs. She breathed deeply, and more calmly than before. Angelique remained where she was, holding on to Cinderella warmly until her breath was wholly calm again and she no longer…no longer felt as though she had to get out at all costs.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you both." I owe them so much.
"Are you ready to go?" Angelique asked.
Cinderella hesitated for a moment. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I think I am."
They followed Oscar's lead, picking up Marinette and Augustina and Duchamp and even Christine along the way, all of them creeping through the secret passages in the wake of the girl who swore she had eyes like a cat as she guided them through the labyrinth like…who was that girl who guided someone through a labyrinth? Cinderella had missed the most important years of her education and didn't remember all the things a young lady ought to. She thought it began with an A.
Anyway, Oscar led them through these tunnels, and as far as Cinderella could tell she did not steer them wrong. They stopped every now and then, and looked out through the peepholes, but they saw no sign of Eugene, nor did they hear anyone talking of him.
Where are you, Eugene? Please be alright.
It was still dark, but Cinderella felt more able to bear it now. She didn't like it by any means, but the presence of her dear friends meant that she wasn't about to start screaming any more.
Oscar led them what felt like across the entire palace, and it seemed that that was exactly where she had led them as she said, "This is the nearest door to the young lad's room. It's up one level and…I'm sure you can find it."
"Thank you, Oscar," Cinderella said softly. "Everyone wait here, I'll be back soon with Philippe and his grandmother."
"You shouldn't go alone," Jean said. "What if someone sees you, your highness."
"Then you'll be able to rescue me, won't you Jean?" Cinderella asked. "I don't see any reason why everyone should risk getting caught when only one of us needs to."
"I'm not everyone, your highness."
"How about I'll go get the boy, he knows me," Angelique said.
"He's my stepson," Cinderella said, not mentioning the fact that she also wanted to get out of this dark, confined space, if only for a little while.
"You take too may risks with yourself," Augustina muttered. "Some day you must learn better."
Cinderella didn't reply to that, although it was beyond sweet of them to care so. Oscar opened the door for her, and then shut it behind them once Cinderella climbed out. It looked like any other part of the wall, but Cinderella was sure that she could remember where it was.
She looked around, there were no guards, or even servants. She couldn't see anyone, and there was no sound to suggest that anyone had seen her either.
She crept upstairs; still there was no one in evidence. There was no guard on Philippe's door, there were no servants, there was no one at all. Cinderella walked quickly but softly – as softly as she could – to the door of the nursery. She pushed it open, as slowly as she could, taking a peek inside as she did so.
There was no sign of Madame Clairval, but she did see Philippe alone, sitting on the floor in front of his wooden castle, playing with his knights and soldiers.
Cinderella slipped in, and closed the door behind her.
"Philippe," she called softly.
He looked around and beamed at her. "Stepmother!" he cried loudly.
Cinderella put one finger to her lips as she crossed the room to join him. "Hush now, sweet boy, you mustn't be so loud. Where's your grandmother?"
"I don't know," he admitted, not as quiet as she might have liked but no longer shouting either. "Someone took her away, but I don't know where."
Cinderella frowned. Where would they have taken her, and why would they leave Philippe? She put on a brave face and a smile for the young boy. "Why don't we try and look for her as we go?"
"Go where?"
Cinderella knelt down in front of him. "You and I and some of my friends – like Angelique, you remember her – are going to go on a bit of a journey. We're going to find your father and go on a tribe to a beautiful place out in the country called the Summer Palace. I'm sure you'll love it there just as much as I do. But we must be quiet, because there are bad people looking for us, do you understand."
Philippe nodded.
"Of course you do," Cinderella said. "And I need…I need you to be brave for me, Philippe, because…because I'm very scared, and I need you to be brave, and to help me be brave too. Can you do that? Can you help me be brave, like you did on the night you first came to live with us?"
Philippe nodded.
Cinderella kissed him on both cheeks. "Brave boy," she whispered, and lifted him up in her arms as she felt him wrap his arms around her neck.
She carried him out of the bedroom and turned-
"As always, Cinderella, your compassion is your greatest weakness."
Author's Note: Despite what you may think, I don't particularly enjoy putting Cinderella through the wringer like this; in fact these last few chapters have been quite hard for me to write (there have been times I've had to very much force myself to get on with it). Nevertheless, I sort of enjoyed bringing back the detail from the first fic that Cinderella really doesn't like dark, confined spaces. I also enjoyed reminding you all that Cinderella does know how to read people when they aren't flat out lying to her. She prefers to trust people, and to see the best in them, but she's not stupid. It's possibly an element you'll see more of once the Grace business is wrapped up and normal service resumes.