All My Angels

Philippe's Castle was a masterpiece. It had been crafted by a master toymaker, and Cinderella had been told that it was based upon the ancient castle at Tregor, a great fortress on the coast built by King Eugene the Confessor in the days of old, to defend Armorique from Viking raiders; Cinderella had not visited the great castle - parts of it had fallen into disrepair, according to Eugene, and it was in other respects a draughty, gloomy place lacking in comfort - but she had seen drawings of it in her history books, and it certainly matched the toy castle from certain angles.

Besides, it was so rich in detail and so purposeful in design that it seemed there must have been some model that had inspired it, rather than springing from the imagination of a toymaker, even a great one.

The castle proper, or at least what Cinderella thought of as the castle, all the towers and walls, sat upon a base that was crafted to look like a rock, or a rocky hill - Tregor, the model, sat upon just such a thing upon the north coast, separated from the mainland by a channel - that added a foot in height to the toy and, what was more, opened up to reveal underground passages, dungeons, armouries, quarters, because this was just a castle but almost a doll's house as well, and all the towers and all the buildings opened up with fully furnished rooms within. Some of the crenellated walls were almost as tall as Philippe, and the highest tower was a little taller, he had to stand on tiptoes to reach on top of it.

Six towers, a gatehouse, stables, barracks, a great hall, scores of bedrooms, it was a whole and complete castle rendered in miniature, and quite the most magnificent toy that Cinderella had ever seen. When she had been a little girl she had possessed a dollhouse which looked, to outward appearance, like her father's chateau, where she had played the lady of the house, entertaining guests and waiting for some gallant gentleman to ask for her hand on marriage - Anastasia and Drizella had taken it for their own, and then broken it while fighting over who got to play with it - but that had only had six rooms within, far fewer than the actual house had possessed. It had been nothing at all compared to this castle.

Small wonder that it was Philippe's favourite toy, his most treasured possession, and the toy which - in conjunction with the horde of toy knights and soldiers and everyone else who made up a castle - he most loved to play with.

Which was why it sat on the floor of his room now, and Philippe himself knelt eagerly upon the floor beside it, looking up at Cinderella and his grandfather, while all the little toy men - and the smaller number of toy women, lay spread out on the floor around him.

"Are you going to play with us as well, Grandfather?" he asked.

His Majesty chuckled jovially. "I may join in later, my boy, but for now I think I'll leave your father and... mother to it." He settled down into a chair on the corner of the room, clasping his hands across his belly. "While I watch their gallant efforts."

Philippe blinked. "Where is Father?"

"Here I am," Eugene declared, bounding into the room. "And not a moment too soon, I see."

"You're just in time," Cinderella said, reaching up to touch his cheek with one white-gloved hand as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him gently on the lips. "How did it go with Lieutenant L'Escroc?"

"He'll be along to present himself sooner or later," Eugene said. "When he does I can introduce you. But, for now," he ruffled Philippe's hair as he knelt down on the floor as close to him as the toys would permit, "I believe it's playtime."

Philippe beamed brightly. "Grandfather's going to watch!"

Eugene looked at His Majesty with raised eyebrows and a smile playing across his face. "Really, Father? I shall try not to shame myself in front of you. So, what are we playing?"

"You've got the princess locked up in your castle," Philippe told him. "And I'm going to rescue her."

Cinderella chuckled as she knelt down, tucking her skirt and petticoats beneath her legs rather than spreading them out so that they didn't get in anyone's way. "I've no objection to being rescued, but I have a better idea: why don't the two of you work together to rescue me?"

"Being a hero would certainly please me better than being the villain of the piece," Eugene said.

"But who would we rescue you from?" Philippe asked. "Grandfather?"

"No," Cinderella said quickly, lest His Majesty get the wrong idea that she was trying to present him as a villain. "After all, your grandfather said he wasn't ready to play just yet."

"Then who?" pressed Philippe.

"Hmm," Cinderella murmured, as she got up and went to the door of Philippe's room. "Augustina?" she called, as she stood in the doorway. "Augustina?"

In a little while, a matter of moments really, Augustina du Bois arrived, accompanied by Lady Christine with a curious look on her face.

"You called, Cinderella?" Augustina asked. She was dressed in a light lavender day dress, with white sleeves that bellowed out to conceal her arms from view. Lady Christine was similarly attired, save that her waistcoat of pale yellow did not conceal so much of the white blouse beneath from view, even as the neckline of the blouse was not so high and permitted her to wear a necklace of miniature pearls around her neck.

"Yes, I did," Cinderella replied, stepping backwards so as to admit Augustina- and Lady Christine, too - into the room. "Augustina, I'm afraid we need you to play with us."

Augustina's brown eyes swept across the room, taking in His Majesty, Eugene and Philippe, as well as all the toys. She curtsied. "Your Majesty, Your Highness and Your Grace, I am at all your services and at her highnesses; and this command hardly seems onerous, and yet I am a little unsure why you wish or need me to participate."

"It's quite simple really," Cinderella said, kneeling down around the castle once again. "You're going to kidnap me and hold me prisoner in this castle, and Philippe and Eugene are going to rescue me together."

Augustina blinked. Then her eyebrows. "You wish me to be the villain?"

"Well, you are a Conservative," Lady Christine muttered, covering her mouth - and the attendant smirk upon it - with one hand.

Augustina's eyebrows rose just a little higher as she glanced at Lady Christine, before she said, "Would it be in the worst taste if you called me Serena?"

Cinderella covered her own mouth with one hand as she chuckled. "I'm sorry to put you to the trouble-"

"Not at all," Augustina assured her, kneeling down. "Not at all. After all, I come from a proud military family, who better to organise the defence of what I do believe is Tregor castle." She smiled. "You may be the Victor of the American War, Your Highness, but I promise you, I won't go down without a fight."

"We must not lose, Philippe," Eugene declared. "We will be shamed before the King if we do."

His Majesty chuckled.

"Don't worry, Father," Philippe said. "I always save the princess."

"I hesitate to intrude, your highness," Lady Christine said. "And yet, since you have invited intrusion, may I remain and observe? I will not disturb the play, you have my word."

"You want to watch?" Cinderella asked. "Lady Christine, I would have hardly thought that you would-"

"I am a serious person for serious times, your highness," Lady Chrsitine said. "And yet, is there any time so I'll suited to seriousness as playtime?"

Cinderella smiled. "You're most welcome to stay, of course."

Lady Christine bowed her head in gratitude, and moved to stand unobtrusively in the corner of the room.

"So," Augustina said. "Where do we start?"

"With a story," Cinderella said, reaching out and picking up the princess figure from amongst the pile. She was blonde, wearing a blue dress with a white headdress covering a lot of her hair, and a golden belt clasped around her waist. She looked about Cinderella's age, too young for what Cinderella had in mind, but then they were only playing, after all.

"Once upon a time," said Cinderella, in a voice that was soft and soothing lime a lullaby, "there was a beautiful princess who felt as though she was the luckiest girl in the world girl in the world, because she was blessed with a handsome, charming husband," with her left hand she picked up another toy, a Prince on shining armour, distinguished from the common run of knights by the golden circlet he wore around the crown of his helmet. With her other hand she reached out across the castle towards Eugene, and as Cinderella placed the toy prince alongside the princess, Eugene took Cinderella's hand in his, and kissed it, his lips brushing lightly against her knuckles.

Cinderella picked up another figure, not crowned this time, but wearing a distinctive red cape that still served to set him apart from others. "And a brave and loving son." She smiled at Philippe, and stroked his cheek with her free hand.

"The three of them were very happy together," Cinderella went on, "for they all loved one another very much. But one day, the princess went out by herself, leaving her husband and son behind."

"Where was she going?" Philippe asked.

"She was visiting the poor and the sick," Cinderella said. "To make sure that they were being treated well, and if there was anything more that she could do for them, for the princess gave a lot of money to charity. But, while she was on her way-"

Augustina let out a great cackle that seemed to echo of the walls of Philippe's room. It was so loud and so unexpected it made Cinderella jump to hear it.

"I am Theodora the Black!" Augustina cried.

"I thought you were going to be Serena," Cinderella murmured.

"Theo, for all her faults, was much more fun," Augustina whispered. She raised her voice to cry out. "Theodora the Black is my name and I am a wicked witch!" Indeed, she had found a witch toy, a with on horseback, all dressed on black, riding on a black horse. With her, she placed the toys of three black knights, with swords and axes. "I hate the princess because she is good and kind and beautiful, and I hate all things nice. Now, Princess, I have you in my power!"

"Oh, no!" Cinderella cried, as Augustina's black knights fell upon the princess and carried her away. "Help! Please, someone help me!"

"No one can help you now!" Augustina declared, placing the princess figure atop the highest tower in the castle. "For in my castle you'll remain, a captive prisoner, and languish till your beauty fades and your voice is but the croaking of a frog."

"That's where you're wrong, you fiend," Eugene declared, a smile upon his face. "Isn't she?" he added to Philippe.

Philippe nodded. "Don't worry Mother, we'll rescue you."

"The husband and son of the princess raised an army," Cinderella said, as Eugene and Philippe arrayed their soldiers around the castle, even as Augustina set up her defenders on the walls. "And they laid siege to Theodora's castle to get the princess back."

"But you will never get her back!" Augustina said.

"Mademoiselle du Bois, you were wasted at court," Lady Christine said. "Truly, your calling was the stage."

"Philippe," Eugene whispered, as he stood up, and picked up Philippe, holding his son in his arms as he carried him to the far side of the room, where the two of them began to whisper to one another, occasionally pointing backwards towards the toy castle.

"Are we about to witness the genius that took Vicksburg and put the rebels in their place?" asked Augustina.

Cinderella smiled.

Eugene and Philippe returned, and took their seats upon the floor once more.

"The prince and his army began to attack," Eugene said. "Bravely they charged the walls with ladders and catapults, making a storm of stones and arrows, shouting as they shot up at the defenders, trying to climb the walks and rescue the princess." Eugene threw his toys forward, knights and archers and men at arms, ladders and catapults. Augustina met them with her own figures, racing them up and down the walls, cackling as she threw Eugene's attackers off their ladders, poured boiling oil on them, shot at them with arrows. Eugene's toys attacked bravely, but they could not seem to gain the wall.

Through all this, Philippe did nothing.

Augustina let out a triumphant laugh. "Is that all? You fool, you cannot hope to win!"

Philippe opened up one of the rocky sides of the castle base, exposing the dungeons and passageways within. "But while you were looking at Father, I've snuck inside through a secret door." He put his own red-caped toy inside, and began to move his figures upwards towards the surface.

"No!" shrieked Augustina. "How could I have failed to see this coming?" she winked at Cinderella.

"Don't worry, Mother, I'll save you!" Philippe cried.

Augustina began pulling her toys off the walls to head down into the tunnels to fight Philippe, but not only were there not enough of them to stop Philippe's figures, but with the walks weakened Eugene's knights swept over the battlements.

"And that," Eugene said, "while it may not be exactly how I took Vicksburg, but it's certainly how we won at Champion's Hill."

Augustina's figures were backed into the courtyard, growing fewer all the time as they were chased through the rooms and across the open spaces. Dead toys, laid on their sides, littered the castle as Eugene and Philippe fought Augustina's black knights directly in front of the high tower where the princess was being held.

"And so, the princess was rescued," Cinderella said, as the lady black knights fell. "As she had always known that she would be."

"Always?" asked Philippe.

"Always," Cinderella repeated. "Because the Princess knew that so long as she had her family, no matter what misfortunes came her way, everything would be alright in the end." She reached out across the castle and picked Philippe up, kissing him first on the forehead, then on the cheek, then giving him a hug, pressing her cheek against his, one arm tucked beneath his legs and the other around his waist. "I love you both so much."

Eugene moved across the room to put his arms around them both, kissing Cinderella on the other cheek.

"And we love you, more than words, our princess."

"I must say I enjoyed that," said Augustina.

"A little too much, perhaps," murmured Lady Christine.

"In matters of play is it possible there can be too much enjoyment?" asked His Majesty. "Mademoiselle du Bois, you played your part to perfection. Now, what's next?"

What was next was a little more play. A lot more play, indeed, as roles switched around again and again. His Majesty took a part, at least some of the time, and Cinderella got to defend the castle with Philippe once against Eugene and his father - the princess and her son, you see, had been left alone in their stronghold when raiders arrived.

Sometimes there was no battle at all, just life in the castle and all its incredibly well rendered rooms.

Eventually, the toy castle and all the knights got put away - on so much as such an enormous toy could be put away - and it almost seemed as though Augustina was as disappointed in the fact as Philippe was.

"Perhaps, my dear, next time you might enjoy a more varied role," His Majesty observed, "or you, Mademoiselle du Bois, if a woman knight were to be added to the collection."

"Where there lady knights, Grandfather?" Philippe asked.

"Hardly, my boy," His Majesty replied, lifting Philippe up onto his knee, "but have you ever heard the story of Mer the Maid?"

Philippe shook his head.

"Nor I, your Majesty," Cinderella murmured.

"Well, then," His Majesty said, a touch of amusement, "settle down, both of you."

Cinderella knelt down on the floor, leaning against Eugene who sat beside her.

"This story takes place many, many years ago, during the the reign of our ancestor, King Gwilherm the Lion, whose daughter was Queen Saint Isabelle for whom, after a fashion, your sister is named. During the King's reign, when his daughter was about the age that your mother is now, a girl of a similar age arrived a court, a girl dressed in a coat of mail and bearing a sword. She walked into the throne room, knelt before the King and begged to place her sword at his service.

"Many of the knights and lords laughed to hear it, but the Princess Isabelle, as she was then, begged her father to give her a chance. King Gwilherm relented, for he loved his daughter well, and dearly, and so he told this girl on arms that he would accept her service if she could prove herself by bearing a knights of his household in combat..the girl got to her feet and cried that she could best all his knights, one by one. And the knights laughed again.

"They did not laugh so loud when the whole court moved into the yard, and there the girl began to best the finest knights in Armorique: one, two, three, they fell before her, their swords knocked out of their hands, their shields shattered, none could withstand her. After her seventh victory she seemed not even a little tired, and King Gwilherm declared that she had made her point and more than proved herself. He asked the girl's name, and she replied that her name was Mer."

"Did she do great deeds after?" Philippe asked.

"Many," His Majesty said. "She went on crusade, and entered into the Holy Sepulchre, and when she was older she defended Queen Isabelle against a conspiracy of wicked lords."

"Perhaps those are stories that Isabelle and Annabelle would like to hear as well, your majesty?" Cinderella suggested.

"What a splendid idea," His Majesty agreed, and he carried Philippe upstairs to the nursery, where Isabelle and Annabelle where in their crib.

Annabelle was as good as gold and better as Eugene lifted her up and into his arms, she stared at him with big eyes, silent as she reached out with one hand to touch his face.

Eugene laughed, as he turned his head away.

Cinderella laughed also. "Annabelle isn't so quiet when I hold her. She must like her father best."

Eugene smiled, even as he said, "I don't believe that. It isn't possible."

"Look at her," Cinderella insisted. "She is her father's little girl." She picked up Isabelle, cradling her in her arms, rocking her gently back and forth. "At least you love me, don't you Isabelle?"

Isabelle smiled up at her, but then let out a sort gurgling little groan of displeasure.

"Or are you hungry?" Cinderella asked. "Augustina, Lady Christine, would one of you indicate undoing my gown and corset so I can feed her?"

"Of course, your highness," said Lady Christine, as she began to approach. "Avert your eyes, your grace."

Cinderella rocked Isabelle a little less now. She had to hold still for Lady Christine as the latter, coming around behind her, began to undo the back of her gown.

As she did so, His Majesty continued to tell Philippe of the adventures of Mer, some of which, Cinderella had to admit, seemed less plausible than others. Like the dragon, for instance.

"Lady Christine," Cinderella whispered, "how much of this really happened."

"Mer was real enough," Lady Christine answered, as quietly as Cinderella had spoken, "but much legend has accrued to her, like barnacles to a boat."

Cinderella thought that she probably deserved a few legends, unique as she had been; and who was she to say that dragons had not been real once? After all, magic was real enough.

Lady Christine not only undid her dress but also Cinderella's corset, allowing Cinderella to expose her left breast for Isabelle to feed on. She did not bite so sharply or guzzle so greedily as Annabelle did, but gulped steadily, with a constant nibbling sensation where she had bitten.

By the time that His Majesty was finished, Isabelle was still sucking at Cinderella's teat, so Cinderella suggested that Eugene should read to the children, since she was otherwise occupied at present. His Majesty set Philippe down on the nursery floor, he sat very still, looking up with a smile on his face, while the King relieved Eugene of Annabelle. His Majesty laughed as she pulled his white moustache, grabbing it in one small hand.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty," Cinderella said.

"This is nothing, my dear, nothing at all," His Majesty assured her. "Why, even Eugene was a baby he pulled so hard I thought he would wrench the hairs from my face!"

Eugene coughed, looking both amused and embarrassed to be reminded of the fact.

Eugene read part of a book about a man who happened to look exactly like the King of a faraway country; travelling to that country, he ended up having to impersonate the King at his coronation, and afterwards too. However, they didn't quite get to the afterwards, because Eugene stopped just as the travelling gentleman and his friends arrived back at the hunting lodge where they had left the sleeping King, only to find him gone.

Philippe gasped. "What happened to him?"

Eugene smiled. "You'll have to wait abs see, won't you?"

"But I want to know now!" Philippe protested.

"I know, Philippe," Cinderella said, as Lady Christine laced her back up again - Isabelle had stopped feeding by thus time. "But if you had all the stories at once, what would be left for tomorrow?"

"I suppose," Philippe murmured.

Cinderella smiled as she knelt down on the floor, still cradling Isabelle on her arms. "Come here, sit with me and I'll sing you a song. Would you like that?"

"Yes, Mother," Philippe said brightly, the story forgotten as he ran across the room and sat down upon the edge of Cinderella's white skirt, where it lay draped out all around her like a blanket.

The song she sung was called 'Softly Awakes My Heart', from a recent opera that had become popular in Armorique of late - Cinderella had enjoyed it very much when she and Eugene had seen it - but the song itself had taken on a lofe of its own outside the rest of the opera, for leaving aside the context - in which Delilah attempted to deceive Damson - it was a sweet song, and so romantic.

"Softly awakes my heart," Cinderella sang. "With joy like the flower at the sun's bright returning."

She sang this sweet song, in her sweet voice, and when her voice faded away Isabelle was asleep in her arms, and Philippe was asleep in her lap, his head resting upon her dress and her legs. Annabelle was slumbering in the embrace of His Majesty.

They were all asleep, all so peaceful, all so adorable.

All her angels.