CHAPTER TWELVE
A/N: Just a quick disclaimer that, while the description of the character of the Fey Queen and certain mannerisms are mine, the name "Sherlyndria" is borrowed from the movie "Willow", which I don't own.
This chapter is edited. I still am not sure about this one, but here it is. Hope you readers enjoy it. In this, Magdalena tells Cinderella the facts of love and Trillion's lusty, capricious side comes forth. The secret of Trent is also revealed.
The pre-dawn hours called to Max as he walked through the magic forest a few days after the ball. Although it was generally his favorite time of the day and he usually was happy when he took his morning constitutional, the magic mentor was worried. He pondered his student Trillion as he felt the soft green grass beneath his feet.
A small light winked on beside him. Max stopped and watched as it grew and illuminated everything where he stood. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the light change into his monarch, the Faerie Queen, Sherlyndria.
The Queen shook out her titian tresses, which had strands of black in them. Huge flowers were running throughout like a decorative ornament. Their petals were hot pink and white, and they resembled lilies. Her gown was an off white and had glittering tiny silver beads in it. Her skin was pale and glowed with the warmth of the sun, and her eyes were an indescribable color—almond shaped eyes set in a heart shaped face with tiny, elfin ears. At only five foot two, she seemed to be almost child like, but at other times, she appeared for all of her youthful looking appearance to be older than mere human years could measure.
When one was in the Queen's presence, Max knew, one not only bowed, but kept one's head lowered until the Queen gave them permission to raise it. Max bowed and dipped his head respectfully so that he did not see her face.
"Greetings, Maxiflucorocofalipatoryan," the Monarch told him. She tipped his head up. "So, you have sought an audience with me alone," she said. "What doest thou wish of me? I give thee permission to speak."
"I thank thee, my lady," Max said, bowing yet again. The Queen waved him off and they walked to some rocks that she turned into a throne and a non descript looking chair which faced it. They sat down in their prospective seats.
Max chose his words carefully as he asked his favor, "I ask my Queen this boon not for myself, but for my charge, Trillionanaoscapie."
The Queen pursed her lips. She had heard about Trillionanaoscapie's first mission and about his colorful way he had assisted the human Cinderella. She had also heard about the separation they had had. Although Sherlyndria could anticipate Max's request, she waited patiently for him to speak it.
"My apprentice is so distraught. He performs his duties as well as ever, but the song in his heart has gone. When he does speak, he either does so in a monotone or he is antagonistic toward everyone! I realize that it might take some time to recover from his separation from his first client, but I have been consulting the tapestries and parchments. They seem to point to the fact that there is something more than just a simple infatuation with the human girl on his part," Max told the Queen.
The Fey Queen considered what Max had said. "You know this to be certain?" she asked, curious.
"I am not sure," Max responded. "The signs are not definite, but if there is something there, would it be right to deny this union?"
When the Queen failed to reply, Max pressed his point, asking hopefully, "Would the Heavens or the Earth be disturbed irreparably if we structured them to accommodate a match between a human girl and a young fey?"
The Queen's eyes glowed frightfully. Max shrank back, realizing he might have doomed the pair without wishing to. "You know better than to ask that question," she said sharply. "The Heavens and the Earth give us our powers! Their proclivities dictate our actions and, consequently, govern our laws! We are, and ever will be, in harmony with them because we do not interfere with that which has been Ordained by the natural order of things."
"But…" Max started protesting. The Queen shot out of her throne, storming over to the fey tutor.
"You know as well as I do that the Laws of Ordainment can never be altered!" She shouted. "I have seen my husband's tomes, outlining your pupil's and the human girl's futures. The book clearly states that a male of great importance will wed the Girl of Cinder and Ash at the appointed time! This prophecy can never be changed!"
"Of course," Max replied sadly. "I just thought…" Max stiffened, saying, "Forget I asked my request."
Sherlyndria felt a moment of pity for Max as she told him, "No, I shall not forget. I know your heart lies with your protégé's, and it does you credit that you care for Trillionanaoscapie so much. But the Book of the What Will Be is clear in this, and we cannot disturb all of what will be to suit the desires of two beings."
"I understand, and I beg thy forgiveness in asking such a favor, my Queen," Max responded, with tears in his brown eyes.
"I truly am sorry," the Queen said softly, "but the Laws of Ordainment must be upheld." She dematerialized, the chair Max had sat on and the throne returning to their original state.
"They will find the proper mates to share their lives with in time," the Queen's voice said on the wind.
As Max saw the sun peaking over the forest's trees, he whispered to no one, "But will they be happy?" Max walked on, his feet dragging his sorrows through the forest.
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Magdalena went in search of Cinderella the morning after the last ball, her countenance somber. She spied the object of her focus in the kitchen, preparing to wash some dishes. The Little Cinder Girl pumped some hot water into a bucket. After pumping a little cold water into the hot water to cool the temperature, she carried it over to another bucket with cold water and grabbed some soap and a cloth. She scrubbed the first plate so vigorously Magdalena thought Cinderella's hands would drop off from the effort. So intent was she on her task that she did not see Dalena silently regarding her. Tears fell down from Cinderella's eye. She angrily banked down her anger and sadness and dried the plate.
Before she started on the second dish, The Little Cinder Girl heard her step sister behind her. "Is something wrong?" Magdalena wanted to know. Cinderella turned around, staring at her step sister. She swiped furiously at her tears as she turned back around.
"I have something in my eye," she told Dalena. Ashenputtal stared at the plate then put it to the side.
"Is something wrong?" Dalena repeated more forcefully.
"What makes you think that?" Cinderella asked, her voice angry. She selected a cup and tossed it in the bucket of hot water. Dalena watched her lift it out of the water and scrub the cup within an inch of its life.
"The lack of singing," Dalena said simply, grabbing the cup from her step sister's hand. Cinderella gave her a confused look.
"What?" she asked.
"You always sing early in the morning," Dalena explained, setting the cup in the now-warm water to rinse it off. "In fact, when I rise, your voice is the first thing I hear. It is quite soothing to me. I cannot sleep anymore without it. This morning, for the first time, you did not sing. It is most disturbing."
"Well, please forgive me, but I am not in a singing frame of mind," Cinderella snapped.
"You need not take that tone with me!" Dalena snapped back. She looked at her step sister; the Girl of Cinder and Ash looked as though she had not slept well. Cinderella was hunched and her shoulders drooped as she scrubbed a wooden spoon. Dalena dried the now cleaned cup with the second towel.
"I am sorry," the Little Cinder Girl said, not really sorry at all. Dalena's eyes filled with sympathy. She knew that Cinderella was really hurting over what had happened with Edward. The flaxen haired girl mulled over the options she had. Option one was to go be with Edward, and good riddance to her family. Option two was to tell Edward about how Cinderella felt and let nature take its course. Option three…well, she didn't want to think about option three.
"I didn't mean to snap at you," Dalena replied. After a moment's pause, she said, "Look, you did not hear this from me, but I believe you have a problem which has an easy solution. You should talk to him."
I tried that! Cinderella thought, but then decided not to give Dalena or anyone else in her family any more ammunition to tease her with. "No, it is better this way. I am not on the same footing with him, and he deserves better than what I can give," the Little Cinder Girl said.
Dalena violently shook her head, saying, "There is no one better for him than you! You would be condemning both him and you to a life of misery if you don't reveal and offer your love."
Cinderella regarded her, saying in a cold voice, "I do not know why you are so concerned about my feelings. You never were before."
Magdalena warred with her desire to tell Cinderella off, and to proclaim to anyone who would listen that she knew her step sister was the maiden who danced with Edward at the final ball. She would then gloat about her step sister receiving the fate that she deserved for taking Dalena's prince away. Beneath that, though, was another feeling of compassion and beyond that, empathy, for Cinderella's suffering, and Edward's.
The younger step sister realized that the Little Cinder Girl might have danced with her step sibling's Prince, but Cinderella had neither asked nor wanted to fall in love with Edward. In fact, until now, Dalena had never heard Cinderella speak a cross word to any of them, nor had her step sister ever complained about the back breaking chores that had to be done daily. Whenever Dalena or Griselda got into trouble, the Little Cinder Girl had either claimed that she didn't know what had really occurred when Dalena's mother pressed her, or she would hold her tongue until the step mother punished Cinderella for her silence by whipping her or making her do even more chores.
Dalena also knew that, in her own way, Cinderella had always been a companion to her; dancing with her whenever Griselda was in one of her moods and would not oblige, or listening whenever the younger step sister had had a bad day. Whenever Dalena wanted to play with someone when she was a little girl and needed a male figure to be her dream prince, Cinderella was always accommodating her.
Dalena had decided that she had taken from her step sibling enough. It was time to curry her favor. She knew however that Cinderella was still angry enough to not trust her completely, and she kept her voice neutral.
The flaxen haired blonde responded, "I have an ulterior motive. I want you to sing again so that I can sleep. You will not sing if you are not happy, and our family will suffer for it! So tell the man how you feel!"
Magdalena helped Cinderella wash and dry the rest of the plates, cups and spoons much to the girl's surprise. Cinderella's jaw dropped open during Dalena's wordless exchange and stared after her when Dalena left without waiting to hear a "thank you" from Ashenputtal.
When Cinderella left the kitchen to grab the bucket in the pantry for washing the piles of clothing she had, Griselda stepped out from her hiding place by the kitchen door. So, Cinderella was seeing a man behind their backs, was she? Griselda reasoned, and not just any man, but the Prince himself!
But how? Grissy thought. Mother never allows her out, unless…
Griselda thought about the balls, and the mysterious "Angel" everyone was talking of. The older step sister thought about how the Prince, while engaging her for at least one dance at the first ball, had waltzed most of the time with the other maid.
She had looked at the cut of the maiden's gown during that event, studying the style of her hair, and the shape of her face, hoping that maybe she could copy whatever style it was that the young woman used. Grissy had even seen the color of the maid's eyes, in relation to the gowns, to catch a glimpse of whether or not the maiden's orbs were the same color as Griselda's. That way, Griselda had reasoned, she could get the best materials which matched her own rosier complexion and her darker eye color. That way, she could insure that the Prince would notice her instead of the ethereal maid.
Magdalena's older sister felt the sting of inadequacy as she beheld the bewitching, green eyes that were the color of the ocean. She knew that she could never compete with such interesting orbs. But as she thought on those eyes now, she realized that something was familiar about them. They were eyes that Grissy had seen before, eyes in a hue that no one else in the kingdom had, except for…
Grissy fought back the bile in her throat as she realized that the maiden who was the Angel of the Prince's imaginings was none other than Cinderella.
Mother will want to hear about this! The fat, red faced girl decided. She stormed out of the hallway and went straight away to her mother's chamber.
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Trillion projected his subconscious suggestions at Prince Edward through the faerie's magic mirror as he stared at the human male, making sure that the glass slipper the junior ruler had picked up at the ball was foremost in the prince's mind.
Unbidden, the image of Cinderella as she had run from him crept into the faerie's thoughts. When he had finished prodding the prince and dissolved the link through the mirror, Trillion felt himself turning blue, then a deep shade that was almost purple, with melancholy. He turned away from the now normal looking glass.
You did the right thing, the magic man's moral self told him mentally.
If it is so right, Trillion thought toward his conscience, then why does it not feel better?
Because you are an idiot! Another side of the faerie, his dark persona, argued inside his head. She wanted you! And, like it or not, you wanted her! You have power beyond measure! You can take what you wish, without having to bow to anyone!
"What of her human needs?" he wondered aloud. "What of her frailties, her aging, her need to create children?"
Bend the magicks to your design, his evil self tempted. You know that you want her…we crave her! Make her yours! Change her into a magic being worthy of us so that she will be ours forever!
As Trillion argued with himself, he suddenly realized that he was flying toward the chateau where Cinderella lived. He knew he should turn around and fly away, but as he spied her washing her step family's clothes from high above, he knew he could not leave. As her hands guided the dress she held in the basket filled with water, her rhythmic motions going up, down, in, out, the faerie's breathing slowed as he imagined those hands going up and down along his muscular back, kneading the kinks in it, stroking his skin.
He turned green with lust as another picture swam up in his mind, that of her taking her fingers and working them along the juncture between his…he dared not complete that thought. Her long, shapely fingers removed the dress from the basket, and she wrung the garment out, hanging it on a clothesline as she took another in her hands.
Trillion continued to allow his craving for her to build. He came closer and, seizing upon an idea, turned into a human guise that was familiar to her. Cinderella looked up as the shadow of Monsieur Trent loomed over her.
"Monsieur!" she cried, dropping the clothing. Trent scooped it up, putting it into the water filled basket.
"Thank you," Cinderella breathed. She broke the silence when she asked, "how did you get here? These are private lands, and not traveled much, if at all."
Trent smirked, saying, "My…conveyance is where you cannot see it. I practically flew here in my desire to see you."
"But how did you know where I lived?" Cinderella asked, perplexed. "It is not exactly common knowledge." Trent took her hands in his, kissing each palm slowly, yet with the all encompassing passion he felt smoldering beneath. It was then that the Little Cinder Girl saw the desire in Trent's violet eyes. His rich, full lips moved to kiss her fingers.
"No more questions," he whispered.
"No more questions," she repeated, as his lips claimed hers slowly, methodically, totally. His tongue ravished her mouth, then sought the pulse at the base of her throat.
"Tell me, Cinderella," Trent half commanded, half begged, "does your heart belong to the Prince, or to another?"
Cinderella broke away slightly, saying in a passion drenched voice, "I…I…" She forced her mind to become clear as she whispered, "to another."
"Who is he? Tell me his name!" Trent insisted.
Cinderella's eyes darted back and forth. She did not want to tell the Monsieur that he had competition in the form of Trillion. Ashenputtal did not say anything as Trent continued.
"Your eyes tell you I am Trent," the man said softly, "but your heart knows differently." Trent took her arms and draped them around his shoulders.
"Open yourself to me totally," he instructed in a thick voice. "Say you are mine."
The Little Cinder Girl felt her mind drifting, then connecting with his as she opened her mouth for his kiss. Her mind banished all thoughts of Trillion from it as she continued to kiss Trent.
When they broke the contact, she said in his ear, "Yes, Monsieur, I am yours…"
Trent smiled, his eyes still filled with a heady desire as they dove for each other's lips again. Cinderella breathed him in, savoring the essence, the taste, the scent of—
The scent! That was what had bothered Cinderella ever since she had danced with Trent, and now she knew why!
"Trillion?" she asked, pulling away slightly from his kiss. She stared at a red haired man with diaphanous wings who had been wearing Trent's guise a moment before. He stared at her, his skin colored an intense green, and his eyes a dark hunter green. He looked angrily at her for breaking away.
"Did I say that you could stop?" he asked in an almost menacing voice.
Cinderella's eyes were wide with trepidation, but she asked in a calm tone, "What is going on? Why did you masquerade as Monsieur Trent at the ball?"
Trillion jerked from her, facing in the opposite direction and struggling to control himself. "I wanted to be near you," he said, "but I didn't want you to know it was I who danced with you at the second ball."
"Why?" she asked, still caught in a web of desire. Trillion's color returned to normal as she went on.
"You did not want to do something wrong?" Cinderella guessed. "You wanted everyone, including your superiors, to think you were just a human."
Trillion faced her again, nodding. "I thought my disguise would fool them, fool Max. I should have known better!"
His eyes were pained as he replied glumly, "I was not supposed to be there at all. I was only supposed to help facilitate your being with the Prince."
"But when you saw us together, you felt an overwhelming need to stake your claim on me, is that it?" Cinderella questioned, growing slightly annoyed. "You should have told me who you were, or left us alone!"
Trillion sensed her emotion, and asked incredulously, "Do I detect a note of anger in your tone?"
"You tell me," Cinderella responded. "One minute, you say you don't love me and aren't even capable of it, then the next minute, you act like a territorial, jealous suitor!" The Little Cinder Girl seized the dress from the now cold water in the basket and began to scrub it therein.
"I am not a piece of land to be staking a claim on!" Cinderella cried in a huff. She continued scrubbing until the faerie man knocked the basket down on the ground, letting the water and clothes spill out all over.
"I know you are not!" Trillion snapped. Cinderella's eyes blazed at him and would have melted him where he stood if they could have.
"No, I don't think you do!" she yelled. "You are a faerie and you are more powerful in many things than I, but that does not mean that you are allowed to play your games with me!"
"What games?" Trillion roared.
"The games where you kiss me one minute, then back off the next. The amusements where you make me crave you, even make me love you, and then, when I declare how I feel, you tell me to just go grab any prince like a melon at a fruit stand without considering my feelings for you! You didn't even try to give my emotions, or yours, a chance when it came to us!" Cinderella accused. "Now you want me as your bed mate? I think not!"
"I don't want you that way!" Trillion declared. "I…". He broke off, wondering what he could have said in his defense, because she was right. He did have conflicting feelings when it came to her, and, rules or no, he owed it to her to at least be honest. He knew he hadn't exactly lied about his not knowing if he could love her the way she had wanted last week, but then he also knew that he didn't exactly tell her that he had strong feelings for her either.
"I care for you, Cind, in all of the ways that matter," Trillion spoke truthfully. "I do not know how to feel when it comes to you. Sometimes, like tonight and the first time I danced with you as Trent, I am insanely possessive, and other times, I feel extreme sadness when you are not there. Still other times, I light up with happiness when I think of you. I feel the most incredible passion for you!"
Trillion began pacing as he said his next words: "When we separated that last time, I felt as though I was a crystalline statue, without life, without hope, without joy. When we came together just now, I felt so alive, so…complete! If that is love, then yes, I do love you." He stopped pacing and stared at her with his deep eyes.
"I am sorry for deceiving you earlier, but what I said before does matter, too," the faerie man cautioned. "You need a human man, and, although I can wear the shape of one, the fact remains that I am not one."
Trillion looked dejectedly at his brown boots, saying sadly, "Now, matters are worse because I came. You are right: I should have been honest with you, and I never should have played with your feelings! Staying away from you, even for a fortnight, has been torture to me, but I…"
"It has been torture for me, too, my love," Cinderella told him. The Little Cinder Girl caressed his cheek. His hand flew to hers, but he gently pushed it away.
"You have never felt this way before?" she confirmed. When Trillion shook his head, she told him gratefully, "I appreciate your honesty just now. Thank you."
Trillion returned his attention to the washing basket on the ground. He gestured so that it was in his hands, and the water was clean.
As he handed it back to her, Cinderella asked, "So, what happens now?"
Trillion sighed, saying, "I am sorry, but rules are rules. You still must marry a Prince, and I must help you get one. If Edward is unavailable, I shall get a new one to marry you."
"Why?" Cinderella asked. "You and I love each other. Such a love cannot be wrong!" Her eyes pleading, she asked as she had the last time they had been together, "I beg you again: tell the fey that you wish to marry me, even if it is only for a short while, even if we don't have children!"
Trillion's blue eyes regarded her as he said, "What I revealed at the third ball is only part of why we cannot be together. I have seen the Book of Ordainment, the Book of What Will Be. It states that you will wed a man of great importance! Notice I said, 'man', which means you will wed a Prince, or perhaps a King! Nowhere does that text say 'a faerie of great importance'!"
"But the law could be changed, could it not?" Cinderella asked. Trillion shook his head.
"The Laws of Probability can be changed. They are always in motion, always transient, and they depend on your actions and the deeds of others, but the Laws of Ordainment are fixed laws. They are major events that, if altered even a little, can spell cataclysmic disasters for all of human and faerie kind! That is why they cannot be rewritten!" Trillion shouted. "I am sorry, my bella mia, but you must wed Prince Edward if he is the right man!"
Cinderella stared at Trillion, but instead of anger, she felt an overwhelming sadness like she had felt the first time they had separated.
"Will the wedding be…soon?" the Little Cinder Girl asked.
"I cannot tell you that," Trillion said. "But when the time comes, everything will be as it should be, and you, and all who are affected by the outcome will know."
"Can you make me not love you, then?" Cinderella asked with quiet resolve. Though she was crying inside, her soul dying, no tears fell from her green eyes outwardly.
"I cannot," he said simply. "These feelings cannot be modified, but the ache they are causing both of us will ease with time."
The Girl of Cinder and Ash nodded, asking, "Will I see you again after I am married?"
Trillion forced a smile. "Who can say?" he tried teasing. "The list of people I must help is huge and varied. Perhaps I will be prevailed upon again to aid you." The magic man let his wings flap as he hovered above her.
"Trust that all of your wishes will come true," he said, trying to be brave for her. "I always do." He flew away as Cinderella's eyes never left his retreating form.
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As Trillion materialized back in the magic cottage he and Max shared, the young faerie asked the mirror, can it be done? Can our feelings be dissolved as if they had never been? I ask not for me, but for my love, Cinderella. Please, you must help me! You must show me the right spell to do this!
I cannot, the mirror spoke in his mind without emotion.
Why? Trillion asked. The magic energies have been tailored if it was best for the human involved before, so why not now?
Yours is not a simple union with each other, the mirror thought to him. When your mind touched hers the first time, you forged a link with her, her thoughts, her feelings, her very soul, is bound to you, just as you are linked to her. That link cannot be undone. If you try, you and she will cease to exist, or you will become cut off from any feelings you might have. You both will be apathetic, uncaring, about anyone or anything. That will be a great disaster; that leads to the dark magicks permeating your lives and the lives of those around you!
"The Book says that she is to be married to a man of great importance," Trillion mused. "Can that be prevailed upon to be not changed, but amended somehow?"
Amending the book is not what must be done. It is, rather, your knowledge and the knowledge of those you aid which must be amended, the mirror instructed.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Trillion asked aloud, feeling himself turn red with frustration.
It is not for me to answer, but for you to find answers by asking the right questions, the mirror mentally advised. The mirror's pictures vanished and it became ordinary once more.
The fairy willed his anger into submission as he became normal looking. He considered what the mirror was trying to tell him and came to a decision. Trillion flew out the window toward the Western Province to the One who could answer his questions, or show him how to dissolve the link.