Loving a Fairy Godmother (10 page)

There was a darker thought marring Reina’s
pleasure, the thought of what would happen between her and Tiernan
once they returned to the FG Compound. It had been so easy to
ignore that reality these last days as they became caught up in
Cinderella’s life.

During the day they worked, made friends with
Cinderella, Cook, and Henry. They watched for interruptions from
the Elf King, interruptions that never happened. They did their
magic and placed hints to ensure Cinderella and Henry’s HEA.

At night, they explored each other with the
ferociousness of two people who had wanted each other for a long
length of time, who never thought the possibility of touching their
desire would happen.

It was a wonderful interlude.

Interludes were not made to last.

At times, she could feel Tiernan’s
questioning gaze on her. She saw him puzzling about what to say to
her, opening his mouth to confront her. Every time, she changed the
course of events. Every time, he allowed her to do it, hurt
crossing his features.

The problem was she didn’t know what to say.
She had started this with the thought that she would get him out of
her system. She would enjoy herself, and she would exorcise the
tension, the heaviness that always existed around him. They would
come to an understanding, and once this mess was behind Tiernan,
she would be able to see him around the compound without the
negative emotions she always battled.

Their time together accomplished none of
that. Now the thought of the other women approaching him made her
physically ill. She was also sure she would banish Katarina to the
Mortal Realm with a job that would keep her occupied for the next
few centuries, just to get rid of her.

She wanted his hands only on her, his eyes
only on her, his mouth for her alone.

Reina shook her head. No more on that. She
would deal with the future later. This was about Cinderella. She
genuinely had grown to love the young woman, and though her
overriding interest in this HEA was to protect Tiernan,
Cinderella’s happiness mattered a great deal to her as well.

Cinderella was not acting as herself, though.
Reina had thought she would be experiencing nothing but pleasure in
the thought of this ball, but Cinderella kept falling into periods
of deep contemplation, and it was obvious not all her thoughts were
pleasant ones.

“Cinderella,” she said.

Cinderella’s head jerked up. “Reina, what is
it?”

Reina smiled at her. “I have a surprise for
you.”

A shocked smile blossomed over Cinderella’s
face. “A surprise? For me?”

“Follow me.”

Up to the room she and Tiernan shared, Reina
brought Cinderella and seated her in front of a worn trunk. “Please
do not think I am pitying you,” Reina began. “But I know the dress
you are wearing tonight is older and not in the best shape. I would
like you to borrow something from me.”

Reina opened the trunk and pulled out a long
silvery dress that appeared to be spun from moonlight, the finest
most delicate lace adorning the long lines of the bodice and skirt.
Along with that, she pulled matching shoes.

“Reina?” Cinderella asked, awe in her voice
and look as she took in the beautiful dress.

“My mother was a seamstress,” Reina lied.
“This was my wedding outfit, the finest thing my mother ever
created. I want you to wear it tonight.”

Cinderella was shaking her head. “No, I could
never do that. What if I tore it?”

“So what if you did?”

Cinderella’s brows drew together. “You said
it was your wedding dress?”

“Well, I don’t want you to tear it on
purpose,” Reina replied, her hand smoothing the dress. “The dress
is a nice reminder, but what is truly worth savoring is the union
it witnessed.”

If only it had truly seen such a union…

Reina tamped that thought down, watching
Cinderella’s face. Her words resonated with the young woman, who
began taking tactile pleasure in the dress. “Henry… Henry will like
seeing me in this dress.”

“Henry will like seeing you,” Reina said
gently. “I think, though, he will be beside himself with how
beautiful you will be tonight.”

That night, Reina and Tiernan were at the
entranceway, seeing the Stepmother and her two bitch daughters off.
Something about the skinny one set alarm bells clanging in Reina,
warning her the stepsister had done something.

Calm yourself, she thought. Keep your eyes
open and all will be well.

Before she could pursue the thought beyond
that, Cinderella appeared.

Reina had styled her hair, leaving the
tresses long with a slight curl. Add those to her delicate face,
lush figure, and silver gown, and she appeared to be an angel sent
to Earth, something otherworldly, too precious to truly exist.

“I feel exposed,” said Cinderella as Reina
and Tiernan could only look at her with open-mouthed wonder.

Since this was where Tiernan usually said a
semi-lewd comment, habit had Reina smacking his arm in warning.
“You are truly a sight, and Henry will be known far and wide as the
luckiest man who ever lived,” Reina told her.

Strong arms wrapped themselves around Reina,
pulling her back into an embrace. “Second luckiest man, my love.
Second luckiest.”

Reina’s cheeks heated, and Cinderella let out
a giggle at her expression, both women calming down with that bit
of normalcy.

The ball was truly amazing, Cinderella
thought, taking in the pageantry that surrounded her. It was nice
to see the people in their finery, to hear the music and smell the
food and enjoy everyone’s happiness.

Someone mentioned dancing, and her stomach
turned over on itself. That was what she was truly looking forward
to, dancing with Henry this night.

“Why, Cinderella, I would have never taken
you for that type of woman.”

Cinderella turned to see an older woman from
the village. She was titled, but amongst the peerage, her
importance was negligible. She had only seen the woman a few times
but didn’t remember her eyes to be so dark, the color almost as
black as the center. Her tone, sly and insinuating, set
Cinderella’s shoulders back. “What type, Madam? I don’t understand
your meaning.”

“Looking like that, you are trying to pretend
truly to not know?” When Cinderella, didn’t answer, the woman
continued, “Well, no matter. Keep your front. To answer your
question, I never took you as a woman looking for a
benefactor.”

“A… no,” Cinderella whispered, her
stepsister’s earlier conversation rampaging through her mind.

“What do think the purpose of this ball is?
All unmarried maidens invited? True, some marriages will be
brokered, but it because the Prince himself is looking for a
mistress.”

“No, the Prince would never throw a ball for
such a reprehensible purpose. Our Prince is not even married.”

Cinderella was treated to a look implying she
was a simpleton. She continued on, the s of the words pronounced as
if a snake made human were speaking “He has a wife… well, I should
say, he will have a wife. The very credible rumor is treaty papers
have been signed with a neighboring king, with marriage promised on
both sides. However, as their princess is not highly attractive,
our prince must find someone to meet his needs.”

Cinderella couldn’t stand to hear any more.
“If you will excuse me, Madam, I must find my Stepmother.”

Both her stomach and her thoughts were
roiling. Cinderella couldn’t believe such disgusting people could
truly exist. How they could stand there and smile, talking about
such things? Did they truly have no shame?

She didn’t want to see this prince, or any of
these other men here who thought of women only as things to satisfy
their lust.

Henry, she just wanted Henry. She wanted
Henry to engulf her in his arms, let her know that decency still
existed, that love was real.

Then she spotted him, in a corner, looking at
the people in the ball, not having spotted her yet, and suddenly
she could breathe again.

He was beautiful, sharply tailored, his
clothing nicely displaying broad shoulders and thick legs.

She needed to be by his side, now. She needed
to tell him how much she loved him, how much she appreciated his
decency and honor, especially here, surrounded by such people.

Then his eyes found hers.

His gaze took her in, from the long tresses
to the nicely displayed curves to the shoes peeping from underneath
the hem.

Then he looked into her eyes again, and the
heat in his made her take a step back. Having seen Tiernan with
Reina, Cinderella now knew what that look meant, and she was sure
he was going to sweep her in his arms and take her to the nearest
bedchamber.

“Your Highness!”

Henry jumped, looking in the direction the
voice came from. To Cinderella’s ears, it sounded similar to her
stepsister.

The voice’s owner was nowhere to be found,
but the commotion it caused turned all gazes to Henry.

A steward from the castle rushed over. “Your
Highness, there you are. Your father is asking for you.”

While those who lived in the town looked on
with confused eyes, other royals came over to greet Henry, speaking
to him as if it was a common occurrence.

Somehow, the news wasn’t a surprise. Somehow,
it seemed right that Henry, always so regal, so beautiful, it never
fit that he was a mere messenger, of course he would be the prince.
Of course he was not meant for someone like her.

Cinderella looked around, saw the women
covered with jewels and the finest cloth. Saw, without even knowing
their names, the pedigree each of them brought to the ball, the
family names they clothed themselves in.

Her stepsister was correct. Yes, she was
comely enough to attract a prince, comely enough that he had
groomed her with years of lies to get her to this point, but she
saw, standing here amongst those who were truly suitable to become
queen, that he never had any intention of making her a wife.

She turned on her heel and fled.

“Cinderella!”

“What happened?” cried Reina as she saw
Cinderella fleeing the ball.

They were invisible to the humans around
them. They had just come back from a perimeter check to make sure
none of the Elf King’s subjects were laying in wait when they saw
Cinderella flee from Henry. This was most assuredly not how this
night was supposed to end.

“Trip,” Tiernan said, letting the magic flow
to Cinderella. Unfortunately, Cinderella was spry on her feet, and
though she ended up losing a shoe, she kept going. Too many people
surrounded Henry, including eventually his own father, and by the
time he escaped their clutches she was long gone. He grabbed her
shoe, holding onto it as though it were his last link to
happiness.

“What do we do now?” asked Reina.

“Find out what happened,” Tiernan replied,
voice and expression grim.

“The stepsister, the skinny one, she’s the
key, I felt it earlier,” Reina said, self-loathing twisting her
stomach. “I dismissed her. I was too sure she was nothing but a
jealous twit, and I didn’t stay close.”

Tiernan nodded, but said nothing else.

Studying him, Reina realized his anger was
not solely directed towards the stepsister or towards her mistake.
“Why are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you,” he denied.

“Then who else beyond the stepsister are you
mad at?”

He started to shake his head as if to deny it
again, then stopped. “I’m mad at this situation, of your stupid
rules that forced me to try for a HEA. If I had been left alone,
Henry would have proposed to her several days ago, and right now,
they would be announcing their engagement.”

Reina grabbed his shoulders. “Yes, they would
be engaged, but it wouldn’t have been a HEA. The king would
actively fight the engagement, and without the king’s blessing, the
kingdom would never accept her. If that happened, Cinderella, being
the person she is, would probably break the engagement off when she
saw how it was hurting Henry’s relationship with his father and
with his people. And Henry would probably let her. That’s why we
needed an HEA.”

Tiernan gave her a look filled with disgust.
“Why do you always assume the worst possibility? Henry would fight
for her.”

As Tiernan’s anger started to direct towards
her, Reina reacted. “How can you be sure of that? Why do you think
he wouldn’t let her go? He’s a man of power, and she is a sweet,
pretty young woman who has only love to give.”

His lip curled. “Just like once you were
nothing but a woman with only love to give?”

Every line of her body tensed. “What are you
saying?”

“I’m saying not all of us are like your
bastard ex!”

She jerked back as if slapped. “That has
nothing to do with it.”

“It has everything to do with it,” he roared.
“It has to do with you not giving me a chance for thirty years. It
has to do with you now not mentioning anything of our future once
we go back. Why? Do you expect me to cast you aside?”

“Why not?” she screamed back at him. “You’ve
had me now. There is no more challenge to be had, and you have your
entire harem waiting for your return!”

“If all I wanted was meaningless fucks, I
wouldn’t have been celibate for the last thirty years!”

The shock at those words nearly caused her
knees to give out. “That’s a lie,” she said.

His eyes blazed. “I don’t lie, ever. I have
loved you for thirty years, and I have waited for you. I’ve tried
every way to get you to notice me. I acted professional, and when
that didn’t work, I started flirting. I kept myself away from all
the other women, then I feared you thinking I hated the life I was
given, so I made friends. No matter which way I went, you blocked
me, when every other FG in that compound knew how I felt about you.
And if you ever bothered to take your head out of your ass and look
at what was in front of you, you would have seen that!” As though
he didn’t trust himself to be around her anymore, he abruptly
left.