Cinderellion (bxb)

Chapter 3: Elated

The next day I walked into the kitchen from the backyard, not bothering to brush myself off outdoors. It was once again the afternoon, which meant 'family time'. I greeted Boudon who sat in the corner of the kitchen scrubbing a piece of clothing on a washboard.

"Ellion," she responded, "bring the mail to the Tremaines', would you? It's on the table there." She nodded her head towards the corner of the kitchen table. I snatched the stack of envelopes off the table with a nod and walked out, then through the hallways, brushing myself off on the way to leave a trail of dirt and straw.

The three Tremaines' were already in the parlour when I got there, Lord Tremaine and Dru talking about something financial, the kind of conversation I was skilled in zoning out of. Anastasia sat there pretending to listen, but I doubted she understood half the words they said. I handed the envelopes to Lord Tremaine which he took without looking at me, then I grabbed a tart from the side table and sat. It took all my being not to stare and study Lord Tremaine, as if I could discern, just by watching him, whether or not he killed two women.

It was another ten minutes before Lord Tremaine finally began looking through the envelopes. He glanced at and put down three of them. He then paused on the fourth, frowned, dropped the remaining two on the coffee table, and stared at the envelope in his hand for a few beats before breaking the seal.

Everybody had gone silent, the three of us stared at Lord Tremaine while he read.

"What does it say, Daddy?" Anastasia's shrill question, which I barely hide a wince from, was answered by a sharp shush from her father that you would use on a misbehaving dog. Anastasia scrunched up her face.

Lord Tremaine looked up from the letter and— holy shit, he was smiling. It was more terrifying than I ever thought it would be.

"What is it, Father?" Dru asked.

Lord Tremaine cleared his throat. "It is an invitation from the palace. They are having a ball in celebration of Prince Henri turning eighteen, officially becoming an adult." Yipee! I didn't even get my inheritance when I became an adult last year. "All of high society is invited."

Dru shifted in his chair, probably because of how uncomfortable Lord Tremaine was making the room feel with his smile. "And why, may I ask, are you so elated about it, Father?"

Lord Tremaine grimaced at the dirty fingerprints on the royal envelope —courtesy of me— and threw the soiled paper onto the table with a heated glare at me. Elated, indeed. He looked to his son. "Because, boy, it gives your fair sister a chance to introduce herself to His Royal Highness. If she can make a good impression, she could make it onto the list of the boy's potential brides."

Anastasia looked elated at that. Smiling a smile that is mostly gums, she clapped her hands excitedly and says, "oh, I would love to be queen! I have also heard from Miss. Chastain —you know the Earl of Valluy's daughter— that Prince Henri is very charming and so, very handsome—!"'

"Yes, yes," Lord Tremaine interrupted. The only time I appreciated either of the Tremaine men was when they silence Anastasia. "That's all well and good, Anastasia. The three of us will go. The ball is a week from now—" A filler invite then; they had probably invited everybody of true importance months ago but noticed a week ago that they had extra space they needed to fill and sent out invitations to the acceptably rich families— "so, clear your schedule that day, Dru." Dru nods. Apparently the three of them were too elated that they got invited at all to realize what the invite actually is. Which was truly hilarious to me, if only I could have laugh without getting slapped.

"Can I come?"

The three of them turned their heads to look at me, the movement freakishly bird-like – and in sync.

Now, this may have seemed like an insane idea considering my hatred for cravats and bowties, but if there was one place I could be sure Dr. Aubert would be, it would be at the ball. Not only was he the most well-known and on demand

doctor in this city, I'd also heard that he had nursed Prince Henri back to health when the boy had fallen off his horse a year ago. If I could go, I could talk to the doctor and convince him to let me look at his records. Simple, right?

"You," Dru said, a smirk on his face, "You want go to a royal ball." I nodded. "Whatever for?" he said through a chuckle.

I shrugged. "It's a once in a lifetime experience, I might as well take it."

Anastasia huffed a laugh. "Please! Where would you possibly get good clothes on such short notice!" She laughed again.

However, I didn't get the chance to answer. Lord Tremaine cut in with, "It doesn't matter. He's not going anyway."

My head swiveled to Lord Tremaine. "Why ever not?"

He met my eyes and tilted his chin up, putting his already sunken cheeks into deeper shadows. His, hands clenched and unclenched. "Because you would be a disgrace to my family if you came. Can you imagine what the King and Prince would think if we brought you along. You're horribly ill mannered, and dirty." He curled his lip up on the last word.

I almost wanted to yell, and whose fault is that? But I refrained, instead saying, "I could go separately —"

"No," he said, knocking back the remainders of his drink, "I do not trust you. You will not be coming. You are dismissed, Ellion."

I took a deep breath to calm myself and, releasing the crushing grip I have on the arms of the chair, I stood and walked out.