Charm (16 page)

‘I wondered when you’d get here.’

‘Rose?’ Cinderella said, incredulous as her step-sister came into view. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I followed your markings. I thought something strange was going on and you might need my help.’ She rested her cane against the wall and lit the small lamp in her hand. As she held it up, casting yellow light on the three figures in front of her, she raised an eyebrow. ‘I was right on the first count at least.’ She dropped into a slight curtsey. ‘Your highness.’ She looked at Cinderella. ‘What the hell is going on?’

The prince was staring at her and his mewling grew louder and more indignant.

‘It’s a long story,’ Cinderella said. ‘He’s got something secret in that room. And we need it.’

‘Come on,’ the huntsman pushed the prince forward. ‘Let’s get this done, shall we?’

Rose held the light up and Cinderella darted forward with the key.

‘Are you sure you want to do this, little sister?’ Rose asked. ‘You’re going to be a royal princess. Sometimes you have to look the other way.’

‘I can’t do that.’ Cinderella shook her head. ‘And I’m not sure I’m going to be a royal princess either.’ Just saying the words aloud made her feel better, as if a weight had been pressing down on her, pushing her into the very foundations of the castle, and she’d suddenly been freed.

‘Oh, Cinders,’ Rose said. ‘You do like to make life difficult. Go on, then. Unlock the door.’

And Cinderella did.

F
or a moment Cinderella couldn’t breathe. She had expected the room to be as dusty and dirty as the rest of this part of the castle, but instead everything shone. The polished floor was inlaid with mosaics of dragons dancing in the summer sky. Overhead a chandelier glittered brightly, rubies and emeralds and diamonds sparkling with the light within. Heavy red velvet drapes hung over the windows and in the corner a table was laden with bottles of wine and a silver goblet. A chaise-longue of gold and blue was on the far side of the room, matching cushions at its head and feet as if someone spent a lot of time on it and wanted to be comfortable.

But it was the centrepiece she couldn’t tear her eyes from.

‘I had no idea what to expect,’ Rose said, softly. ‘But it wasn’t that.’

The glass coffin sat on a raised dais in the middle of the room. Inside it, a beautiful dark-haired girl in a pink dress lay perfectly still. Her cheeks had a dusky rose tint and her lips were cherry red. Cinderella peered in. The girl had the most extraordinary violet eyes. They stared, empty of expression, at the ceiling.

‘Snow White,’ the huntsman said. ‘I knew it.’

Cinderella looked at him. ‘You know her?’

‘We . . . we’ve met.’

‘Met?’ There was something in his voice that sent a flare of jealousy through her. ‘What do you mean,
met
?’

‘Her step-mother too as it happens.’ He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling and she realised he was enjoying her reaction. ‘I was feeling lucky to be alive. And they were hard to resist.’ He winked at her and she almost growled again, but swallowed it down. He was
still
infuriating. Was that all their moment had been? Another notch nearly carved on his bedstead?

‘You slept with her?’ The prince spat his gag out and glared. ‘
You
?’ He looked from the huntsman to Cinderella and back again. ‘And her?’

‘Not yet. I’m working on it.’

‘Don’t hold your breath,’ Cinderella muttered. The girl in the casket was truly beautiful. She almost looked as if she was just sleeping, but that couldn’t be possible.

‘If perhaps we could worry less about who’s been sleeping with whom, and focus on what’s going on here, I think we might make more progress towards a solution.’ Rose said, pouring herself a glass of wine. ‘I take it this is something to do with how you managed to get to those Bride Balls in dresses you certainly couldn’t afford.’

‘I made this stupid deal . . .’ Cinderella started. ‘I’m so sorry, she gave me these slippers . . .’

‘There’s this queen,’ the huntsman said, over Cinderella, ‘and after he abandoned me she wanted me to kill this girl and I didn’t so she cursed me but now . . .’

‘I can explain’ the prince joined in.

‘Okay, enough!’ Rose held her hand up and Cinderella fell silent. She was surprised to see that the huntsman did too. Rose had always been good at being in charge. ‘I don’t want to get lost in the details. I’m not sure I even want to hear the details.’ She looked at the prince.

‘Is she dead?’

‘No,’ he shook his head like a berated child, and Cinderella wondered how she could have ever thought he would be the one for her. He was charming and handsome, but so weak. She looked at the girl in the box. And clearly damaged.

‘She’s just enchanted.’

‘Just,’ the huntsman muttered.

‘And I take it the king doesn’t know she’s here?’ Rose continued. The prince shook his head.

‘He wouldn’t understand. I don’t
do
anything. I just like to talk to her,’ he said, as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. ‘She’s so perfect like this. She listens.’ He looked at Rose as if she of all of them would understand. ‘I wasn’t hurting anyone. Not until
he
came back.’ He glared at the huntsman. ‘I’ll have you arrested for this. The Troll Road is too good for you. I’ll hang you from the castle walls to rot!’ His face had twisted into a sneer and his eyes were cold and ugly.

‘And I in turn,’ the huntsman leaned casually against the wall, ‘will tell your father and anyone who’ll listen exactly what happened with that
other
beauty of yours.’

The prince’s eyes widened. Cinderella wished she knew what they were talking about. What other beauty? A different girl to the one trapped in the glass box? She stared at her again. Who was this Snow White? She frowned as a glint of gold caught her eye.

‘She’s wearing a wedding ring,’ she said, staring at the frozen girl’s left hand. ‘She’s married.’ The truth hit her like a blast of the winter wind and she turned to the prince, her mouth half-open. ‘She’s your
wife
?’

‘But that can’t be right,’ the huntsman said. ‘No priest would marry a girl in this condition. No matter who wanted . . .’ his sentence drifted away. ‘You bastard,’ he said, eventually. ‘I knew you were spoilt and pathetic, but this?’ His words contained the growl of every predator in the forest, and as he stepped forward the prince cowered backwards, seeking protection from Rose. ‘You married her and then did this to her?’

‘It wasn’t like that,’ the prince said, although from the tone of his voice Cinderella was pretty sure it was something close. ‘I just . . . she was just . . .’ his shoulders slumped and whatever energy he had for the fight left him in a heavy sigh. ‘I just don’t understand beautiful women. They’re so much . . .’ he glanced at the glass coffin and then at Cinderella. ‘Trouble.’

‘I think this cancels our engagement,’ Cinderella said.

‘But there has to be a wedding! My father will insist on it. All the preparations have been made! I can’t tell him about this. I can’t . . .’

‘No one’s going to tell him about this.’ Rose laid a gentle hand on the prince’s arm. ‘But nor can this continue. It’s time to let the past go.’ She looked at the huntsman. ‘You have someone waiting for this girl?’

He nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘I’ll go with him,’ Cinderella blurted out. ‘I don’t want to live here. And I want to see this queen who’s messed with us all so much. And . . .’ she closed her mouth. And what? What had she been about to say? And she couldn’t imagine never seeing the huntsman again? She could feel him looking at her and her face burned.

‘But there has to be a wedding,’ the prince muttered. ‘There has to be.’

‘And there will be,’ Rose said. ‘You’ll marry me. I’ll smooth all this over and the kingdom will carry on happily.’

‘Marry you?’ He frowned slightly.

‘I’ll be a good queen,’ she said firmly. ‘I can guide you through the parts of ruling that you’ll find dull. And I won’t care when you take mistresses so long as you treat me with the respect a queen deserves.’ She held his face until his eyes focused on her. ‘It could be a good partnership.’

Slowly, the prince nodded. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Thank you.’

‘Are you sure?’ Cinderella looked at Rose, even though she could feel the rightness of the match in her stomach. Things were as they would have been if she hadn’t turned up with her enchanted slippers and wrecked it all.

‘Certain,’ her step-sister – her
sister
– said. ‘I’ll explain to mother and father. But you’d better stay in touch. Come and visit when things have calmed down.’ She clapped her hands together and smiled. ‘Now, we’d better organise you two a cart of some kind. You’ll want to be gone before everyone wakes up. And you’ll need to dress down.’ She lifted her chin and as she walked away, leaning so carefully on her cane, Cinderella thought Rose looked every inch the queen already. Cinderella rummaged in the pockets of her dress and pulled out the final nut the fairy godmother had given her. Escape, that’s what she’d said, and Cinderella knew this was exactly the moment she had meant.

R
ose was ruthlessly efficient and, by her side, the prince did exactly what he was told. Horses were saddled and a donkey brought out of the stables and attached to the cart.

‘He looks old and tired,’ the prince muttered. ‘But he’ll walk steadily and for as long as you need him to.’ He looked at the girl in the glass coffin on the back of the cart. ‘If she wakes up, she’ll know who he belongs to.’ He didn’t look at Cinderella as she flung a small bag of possessions alongside it, and she didn’t care. She had nothing to say to him. Neither did the huntsman, or so it seemed. He looked pained. ‘Hurry up,’ he told her. ‘I haven’t . . . we haven’t got a lot of time.’

She nodded. Rose came alongside her and pushed a small bag in her hand. It was heavy with coins.

‘I can’t take that,’ Cinderella protested. ‘Not after everything. I’m so sorry. You were right. I was spoilt. Stupid.’

Rose pulled her in tight and hugged her. ‘No. Everything is as it should be. And all will be well.’ She stroked Cinderella’s face and smiled. ‘You’ll see. Now go before I get too emotional.’

The moon broke through the heavy clouds as they slipped away but when Cinderella looked back Rose was still standing by the gates. She raised her hand, and Cinderella did the same, just before cracking the nut and letting the dust settle over her and the huntsman. She breathed in, and her fine court gown turned into a dusty green dress. It was the colour of the forest and she loved it. Once her sister was out of sight, she kept her head down. This city held nothing for her anymore.

They travelled in relative silence until they reached the edge of the sleeping city and the border of the snowy forest, disappearing under its canopy and being embraced by the trees. The huntsman led them to a track and gave her his jacket to keep warm. Slowly dawn was edging into the sky, bringing a strange light with it that found gaps in the branches and cut strange shapes around them. Cinderella noticed that the huntsman was pale and trembling. Was it his injuries? Or was he about to transform back into the tiny mouse? She touched his arm. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked.

He nodded, but his face was drawn and his eyes were filled with sadness. ‘You might have to finish this journey alone,’ he said, and glanced up at the sky, his handsome face furrowing.

‘Well, only until tonight,’ Cinderella said. ‘I’ll keep you warm until you become a man again.’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t think it will be that way this time. The deal changed.’

‘What do you mean?’ Cinderella stared at him. He had to be joking. ‘She can’t do that.’

‘Have you got the slippers? She’ll want them back.’

‘Yes,’ Cinderella was still staring at him. ‘They’re in my bag.’ She thought of all the times they’d laughed in the doorway by the kitchen. She thought of how he’d saved her from the prince. She thought— suddenly a whole new thought struck her. The slippers.