The Immediate Aftermath

Grace was gone. Her shadow had been lifted from Cinderella's life and yet she could take no joy in it, feel no relief; indeed she could feel nothing but a great weight upon her shoulders that threatened to break her beneath them. Grace was gone but in the time allowed to her she had done so much, wreaked such havoc, that simply contemplating the work that she had been left to undo all this made Cinderella feel weary with exertion.

I was once the regent of all of Armorique, what is this compared with that? And I have Eugene to help me now, as well.

I hope.

Cinderella had not been brought up to do this, she had not been raised for this...but she was here now and it was her obligation to do this. One might even say it was her duty, as such a time as this, to take charge and do what she could to repair the damage.

With Etienne following behind her as obediently as a hound - unlike the dogs on the stairs and landing, who continued to mill about aimlessly - Cinderella rejoined her ladies and servants by the entrance to the secret passageway.

"We just saw Jean taking Drizella away," Angelique said. "But he didn't look too happy about it. What happened?"

"Grace is...dead," Cinderella said softly.

Augustina frowned. "Grace? But...what about Vanessa?"

"Vanessa was Grace," Etienne said. "She was...disguised. By magic."

"Magic?" Christine repeated. "There's no such thing as magic."

"If my lady will go to where we have just come from she will see a great many mongrel dogs upon the landing," Etienne said. "I invite my lady to explain where they came from."

"Lady Christine," Cinderella said softly. "I'm not going to tell you what to believe, but I'm afraid there's no time to explain all of this properly. The point is that Grace, or Vanessa, is gone...and now I must ask you all to help me."

Christine curtsied. "We are at your service, your highness."

"Thank you," Cinderella said, still speaking quietly. She knelt, and set Philippe down on the ground. "Philippe, I'm afraid that I can't stay with you at the moment. I have too much to do, so I'm going to leave you with Marinette while I look for your father and grandmother, do you understand?"

"Yes, Stepmother."

"And you will be good for Marinette, won't you?"

"Yes, Stepmother."

"Of course you will," Cinderella said, stroking his hair out of his forehead with one gentle hand. She glanced up at Marinette. "You don't mind taking care of him, do you?"

"Of course not," Marinette said, as she bent down to pick him up. "Come on, young man, let's leave the princess to her work."

"Lady Christine," Cinderella said. "Will you please find the kennel master and ask him to gather up some men and go through the entire palace, from top to bottom, rounding up every stray dog he finds and bringing them to the kennels until we can decide what to do with them?"

Christine frowned, but she curtsied again. "Um, yes, as you wish, your highness."

"Augustina," Cinderella said. "Grace's...body is not far away. Can you please find one or two servants and...and bring her to the chapel? She can rest there until...until we have time to make a proper decision."

Augustina bowed her head. "Very well."

"Thank you," Cinderella said. "Angelique, General Gerard, please come with me. We're going to find men and search the palace for Eugene and Madame Clairval."

"What about the King?" Angelique asked.

Cinderella closed her eyes for a moment. Now that she knew the truth about Grace she did not doubt that the King had not been in his right mind when he had...when he had done those awful things, but all the same...knowing that didn't make the fear she had felt in the face of his anger any less real, it didn't make the pain she had felt when he struck her any less real, it didn't change the way she had felt when Vanessa - Grace - had held her in place so that His Majesty could beat her like a disobedient child.

It didn't change the fact that when she thought of the King she felt not love but fear.

"I hope," she said. "I hope that we will find Eugene before then."

And he can decide what is to be done.

Her ladies attended each to their appointed tasks as Cinderella began to attend to hers. It was Jean who sent word that he had found Eugene, locked in a cell not far from where he - Jean - had secured Drizella. Cinderella hastened down to him at once, to find that he had already been released and met her coming up the dungeon steps as she descended them to join him.

"You're alright," he cried in a hoarse voice as he gripped Cinderella firmly by the shoulders. "Thank God you're alright, I was so worried."

Even in the half-light that prevailed in the dungeon staircase, half illuminated by light falling from above and half consumed in the darkness from below, Cinderella could tell that the same could not be said of Eugene. His face was bruised and swollen, and he walked favouring his left leg and almost limping with his right.

"Oh, my," Cinderella murmured. "Does it hurt terribly? What did they do to you?"

Eugene tried to smile. "I didn't let them take me without a fight. But it doesn't matter what they did to me, I was just so worried about what they might do to you...to you and the baby. They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No," Cinderella said. "Etienne rescued me, before she could. It's all over now; the danger is, at least. Did Jean tell you?"

"Yes," Eugene said solemnly. "Yes, he told me." He looked up from Cinderella, and his gaze fell upon Etienne. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, I've probably caused you nearly as much trouble as she did," Etienne muttered.

"You saved Cinderella's life-"

"And took a life in the process," Etienne said. "I don't regret it, not for one moment, but...it must be answered for, and explained."

Eugene scowled. "You're probably right. But we have a little time yet before we have to cross that torrent, and whatever comes of it...you have my gratitude."

Etienne bowed his head. "An honour to serve, your highness."

Eugene embraced her, but Cinderella had no time to enjoy the feel of his strong arms enfolding her, just as he had no time to savour the feel of Cinderella pressed against his breast. He released her quickly. "What's going on?"

Cinderella explained to him all that she had done.

"And my father?" Eugene asked.

Cinderella looked down at the stone steps leading down to the dungeon. "I...I didn't say anything about him...I decided to wait for you."

Eugene nodded. "You've done very well," he said. "As you always do."

Cinderella didn't smile. She didn't feel proud of her decisions; mostly she felt relieved that Eugene was here to share the burden with her.

Eugene gave one additional instruction, to search the surrounding countryside for any of Grace's cohorts who might be nearby, but other than that he let Cinderella's own instructions stand. Together, they joined the search for Madame Clairval...and for the King.

It was the kennel master who sent word that he had found Madame Clairval, a little the worse for wear but not badly hurt. She was unconcerned with herself, but only with her grandson, to whom she was escorted by one of the guards.

"Do you think," Cinderella murmured, as she gripped Eugene's arm with both hands. "Do you think that I made a terrible mistake, inviting them to come and live with us? It puts them in such danger that...maybe you were right all along, and it was better when no one knew the truth."

"No one knew the truth, and I didn't know my son," Eugene said. "Cutting off all contact with him was never the right thing to do, and I can't claim it was in his best interests."

"But the peril-"

"She's gone now," Eugene said. "Grace is finished with. I don't see any reason why he should be threatened like that again."

Cinderella turned her eyes downwards. "I hope you're right about that."

"I am right," Eugene insisted. "For all of us. Nothing like this will ever happen again."

Not long after, word was brought to them that the King was in the throne room, alone, marvellously distempered and crying out for Vanessa. They made haste to join him there, accompanied by Jean, Etienne, Angelique and a swelling number of guards that followed in their train. It heartened Cinderella, as she walked beside Eugene, how the guards and servants alike obeyed them both in spite of the fact that His Majesty had named them his enemies. No one tried to waylay or arrest them, no one even refused to obey them, and those for whom they had no instructions bowed or curtsied to them as they passed on by. Eugene had revealed that all his captors had been the hounds of the Queen's Regiment who soon would swell the kennels, and none at all of the troops that Cinderella had grown accustomed to. It gladdened her to know that the staff and guards had not betrayed them, that they had recognised even when His Majesty had not that they were loyal friends of the crown.

As her steps brought her closer to the King, or at least to the place where he had been seen last, Cinderella felt more and more in need of the reassurance. She didn't want to see him again. She wasn't sure if she was capable of it or if her heart would quail on the threshold of the room. But she said nothing of this to Eugene, she dared not; the King was his father, and Eugene loved him. He wouldn't want to hear that Cinderella feared him now.

All the rest of Grace's spells were ended when she died, perhaps the spell she cast on His Majesty is ended too.

It doesn't sound like it, if he is still calling out for her.

Perhaps...perhaps it was never a spell at all. Perhaps he always hated me after all.

Then why would he hide it?

I don't know...all I know is that when he hit me the love I felt for him took more hurt than my face.

As they approached the throne room, walking down the crimson carpet that led that way, Cinderella and all those who accompanied her could hear the sounds of His Majesty shouting, the bellowing of his voice accompanied by heavy crashes and shattering sounds.

"Vanessa!" he cried. "Vanessa! Why does she not come at once, Vanessa! My dear, my sweetheart, where are you? I...I need you. Why do you not come?"

Eugene's mouth tightened as he led the way, throwing open the doors into the throne room and leading their whole party in. The King had his back to them, glancing this way and that as though Vanessa were somehow in the room but he had missed her. He turned at the opening of the doors, and his look of joy - he must have thought it were Vanessa coming when he called for her - turned to fury as he beheld who it was.

"You!" he yelled, pointing at them with an aggressive finger. "You pair of traitors! You vipers and deceivers! Guards! Guards! Seize them! Seize them at once and put them in irons! Seize them and...and...do something!"

The guards stood motionless, ignoring the commands of their king and waiting upon the word of his son.

The King's eyes were wide, they darted from soldier to soldier. "I gave you an order!" he yelled. "Obey your king!"

"There are no traitors here, father," Eugene said gently, tenderly. "We only want what's best for you?"

The King's face twisted into a sneer at that, but then his expression became melancholy. "Wh-where's Vanessa? I sent for her but...but she will not come, nor will they bring me news of her."

"Vanessa...Vanessa is gone, Father," Eugene said.

His Majesty stared at them in silence for a moment. "Gone? Gone, no, no she cannot be gone, no. What do you mean, gone? She would not leave me, her love, her dear heart. What have you done? What have you done?" He advanced upon them with such anger in his eye that Cinderella shrank back before him, but Jean and a couple of his men placed themselves squarely in his path and in front of Cinderella.

"Please, your majesty," Jean said. "Calm down. I have no wish to use you harshly, but I cannot allow the princes to come to harm, even from your hand."

The King shook his head violently. "What have you done?" he repeated. "Oh, my love, my sweet, my pretty one! Oh, my dove! What have you done?" Tears began to well in his eyes. "What have you done?"

Eugene looked away. "Take His Majesty to his room. And see that he stays there, and doesn't hurt himself."

"Yes, your highness."

Cinderella did not, could not, look as they took him away, feebly protesting all the while. He was such a kind man, and so sweet to me when I was all alone and friendless. Or so he seemed? Was he always hiding something else beneath or did you do this to him, Grace? Why did you have to be so cruel?

Eugene took her hands. "Do you think...do you think he will recover?"

Cinderella looked up at him. "I'm sure he will," she said, with far more certainty than she felt because Eugene needed reassurance.

Eugene snorted. "You're a terrible liar, darling; but thank you."

Cinderella sighed. She felt so tired, exhausted by all that had happened today and in the hectic days that had preceded it. Sadly, their work was not yet done.

In some ways it was only beginning.

They had laid Grace out before the altar in the palace chapel, with candles burning all around her and the ornate golden cross casting a shadow over her. She looked like Grace now, and not at all like Vanessa: that golden hair, those eyes as green as envy, the softness of her features; she had been beautiful, and yet it had not brought her happiness. Or had she even wanted to be happy? Had she not, in the end, desired other things more: power, revenge, authority. Whatever the case, they had led her here: with a red ruin engulfing her neck, her lifeless form lying in the chapel with a white shroud laid over her.

"Cover her face, for goodness' sake," Eugene snapped. "And then leave us."

One of the servants threw the shroud over her face, concealing it from sight. Then they exited, leaving only Cinderella, Eugene and Etienne in the chapel with Grace.

"What are we going to do?" Eugene asked. "About her, about...all of this."

Cinderella sat down on one of the pews; she was so tired she felt as though she couldn't have stayed on her feet for another moment. She leaned forward, her elbows and forearms resting upon her legs with the layers of her gown separating them. "Can't we tell the truth?"

Eugene turned to look at her. "Magic? Grace wearing Vanessa's face, dogs transformed into men and men into bears? It will seem absurd, and we will seem as mad as...as my father seems at the moment."

"We have the bodies of Grace and Anatole," said Etienne.

"And no proof they were ever anything more than Grace and Anatole," Eugene said. "Besides, I worry that the truth would make things even worse. It's one thing for the King to fall prey to foolishness, another for his mind to be taken over. One is laughable, the other deadly serious."

"Then what do you suggest?" Cinderella asked.

"Deception," Eugene said. "Vanessa has fled the palace, taking a large quantity of money with her and leaving the King heartbroken."

"And Grace?" Etienne demanded. "The body?"

"Grace was never here," Eugene said. "We will...quietly inter her, somewhere secret. Anatole du Montcalm, too."

"You want to lie to everyone," Cinderella murmured.

Eugene nodded. "For my father's sake, and the good of everyone."

"I see," Cinderella said softly. "I'm not sure that I approve, but...you're probably right."

"I hope so," Eugene said.

"Are you sure no one will talk?" Etienne asked.

"If they do, what will they say? How will it not sound ridiculous?" Eugene said. He held out his hand to Cinderella. "Can you walk? I don't think we should stay here any longer."

Cinderella nodded silently, and allowed him to help her to her feet and lead her out of the chapel and back into the palace.

"General," Cinderella said. "Could you give us a moment, please? I'd like a word with my husband in private."

Etienne bowed to her. "Of course, your highness. I bid you good day, and pass on the regards of my wife."

Cinderella smiled, if only a little. "Thank you, general, and thank you for saving me."

"Ma'am," Etienne said, as he quickened his pace and left Eugene and Cinderella, who walked only at Cinderella's slower pace, behind.

"What is it?" Eugene asked her. "Is something wrong."

"Not wrong, but," Cinderella hesitated for a moment. "You talked about going to the summer palace after the wedding."

"There will be no wedding now," Eugene said.

"I know," Cinderella replied. "But...does that mean that we can't go?"

"You still want to? There's nothing to be afraid of any more."

Cinderella nodded. "But..."

"What is it?"

Cinderella closed her eyes for a moment. "I feel so tired, Eugene. So much has happened, and so quickly that...there are times I feel as though I'm drowning. I know that I'm a princess and I have responsibilities, but...can I not want to be just Cinderella again, for a little while. Not long, but...I feel so tired." It had been less than a year since she and Eugene were married and in that time Cinderella had been shot at, humiliated more times than she cared to recall, harassed into something approaching terror, bullied, elevated unexpectedly to the regency, poisoned and cursed; she had fallen gravely ill, become regent over the entire country and made laws and treaties on the nation's behalf. She felt she had the right to say that she would like to stop and rest for a while, even if it was only for a little while.

Eugene's expression softened, and his voice when he spoke was as tender as his touch upon his hand. "I'm sorry, Cinderella, but I can't, With Father the way he is, and things in the state they are...I can't abandon everything right now, as much as I might want to."

"Oh," Cinderella said softly. "I see. Of course." You must think I'm very selfish.

"But you can, and I think you should."

"Really? But without you-"

"Take your ladies, I'm sure they'll keep you entertained," Eugene said. "Plus, I'm not sure how good all of this strain is for you in your condition. No one will think it strange to hear you've retired to the countryside for your health, especially as you are. And you have been through an awful lot, so much more than you should have ever had to endure." He bent down and kissed her. "You deserve a break. I'll miss your advice, but I'm sure I'll be able to muddle through without you."

"Are you sure? I feel as though I'm abandoning you."

"Not if I send you away," Eugene said. "I want you to be safe and happy and healthy, and if a trip to the countryside is what you need then I'm all for it." He kissed her again. "I hope you have a perfectly boring time."

"So do I," Cinderella said, because after everything that had happened it felt as though boring was exactly what she needed at the moment.

But before then, before she could take refuge in the beauty and boredom of the royal rural retreat, there was one more unpleasant task that she had to perform; perhaps the most unpleasant of all.

She had to decide what was to be done about Drizella.

Eugene stayed by Cinderella's side as she walked through the dark dungeons beneath the palace. Light fell in striped patterns through the barred windows, illuminating her dress and then casting it into shadow again. Her footfalls, light as they were, echoed on the stone floor.

The dungeons were dirtier than the immaculate palace up above, with straw on the floor and what sounded a lot like rats. Cinderella didn't flinch. She forced herself to remain impassive as she walked down the rows of empty cells, to conceal the fact that she didn't want to be here at all.

Jean had locked Drizella in one of the cells furthest away and when Cinderella came to her barred door she saw her stepsister hunched up on the bed, hugging her knees as if she feared to let them touch the floor.

It took her a moment for her to notice Cinderella standing on the other side of the door, but when she did notice she gave Cinderella a baleful glare. "What do you want? Are you here to gloat again?"

Cinderella felt Eugene stiffen by her side, but he didn't speak. She had asked him not to. She needed – she thought she needed – to do this by herself.

"No," she said softly. "I'm not here to gloat." She ignored the part about again. "I'm here…I'm here to talk to you about what happens next."

Drizella said nothing, but her eyes narrowed.

"We've decided to tell the country that Vanessa ran away from the palace, stealing from His Majesty in the process," Cinderella said. "Nothing about Grace, or about her treason. Nothing about you, either."

"Nothing about your friend killing someone either."

"No," Cinderella admitted. Etienne might have saved her life but murder was murder, and he would have to answer for it…if it came out. It felt a little wrong to her to cover the whole thing up, but she had to admit that Eugene had good reasons for taking the course that he had decided to adopt. "General Gerard will suffer no consequences for what he has done…and neither will you."

Drizella perked up visibly. "You mean you're letting me out."

"Yes."

"Do I still have to wait on you hand and foot?"

Cinderella could tell that Eugene was struggling to restrain himself beside her. "No," she said coldly. "I'm going to send you home, and the payments I was making to my…to your mother are going to end."

"You're taking our money away?" Drizella demanded in a tone of injured righteousness.

"No, I'm not paying you my husband's money any more," Cinderella corrected her.

"But why?"

"You tried to sleep with my husband," Cinderella reminded her. "And then you tried to kill me."

"No I didn't," Drizella said.

"I beg your pardon."

"You said so yourself: Vanessa ran away."

Cinderella's eyebrows rose.

"I'm just saying," Drizella said.

"You still tried to seduce my husband."

"Yes, but that doesn't count. After all, it wasn't as though you were sleeping with him."

"I'm afraid it still counts to me, Drizella."

Drizella pouted. "Don't you think you're being selfish about this?"

"Selfish?" Cinderella repeated, in a dumbstruck tone. "Selfish? You think I'm being selfish?"

"Don't you?"

Cinderella stared at her for a moment. She took a deep breath, and then released it in an equally deep sigh. She held out one hand, and felt Eugene take it gently.

"Perhaps I am," she said. "Perhaps I am being a little selfish. But perhaps…perhaps I have the right to be, just this once. Perhaps I have the right to say that I won't let you ruin my life any more. Any of you.

"I thought that I ought to be kind to you, because it was what you deserved. I thought that because you'd given me a roof over my head all those years that at least you'd treated me better than you could have. I thought that at least you'd spared me from the fate of Jean and Angelique. But when I think about it, I remember that Jean and Angelique always had each other no matter how bad things got: through all their hardships they had someone beside them who loved them. I…I never had that, and so I'm starting to wonder which of us was really the more unfortunate.

"I thought that I ought to be kind to you because you were the only family that I had, but I was wrong about that as well. We were never a family, not even when my father was alive. You never loved me and I…I'm not sure I ever loved you. I have a family now, here, in this place. I don't need you, and I don't want anything to do with you.

"Goodbye, Drizella. Please pass on my farewells to your mother and sister when you get home."

Cinderella turned and walked away. Eugene put his arm around her waist as he walked beside her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Cinderella hesitated for a moment. "Yes," she said after a moment. "Yes, I think I am."

With that done, boredom awaited.

Author's Note: So, at one point there was going to be a timeskip in this story after the defeat of Grace where Cinderella and Eugene would go the Summer Palace for a while to recuperate from their experiences. That doesn't make sense any more but I still think that if anyone deserves a break after all they've been through (and writing that summary reminded me of how melodramatic this story is) it's Cinderella. And I think it even makes sense that she would want one at this point, because you can see in some of the recent chapters that even her emotional resilience is starting to show a little strain from her experiences.

It also gets her away from the King for a little bit, because as much as a diminishing part of me is drawn to Cordelia-like forgiveness, at the end of the day Cinderella – as nice as she is – isn't a saint and she's going to have a hard time trusting him again, especially since he isn't actually out of the woods.

Drizella…yeah, she's kind of getting away with it, but Cinderella isn't a vengeful person; for me, the fact that she is finally able to say 'you treated me horribly and I'm done with all of you' is as great a victory as any kind of punishment could be.