It was time. I tugged at the rough material of this gaudy gown I had thrown on for the occasion. No wonder fairy godmothers are so overblown if they go around weighted by this monstrosity of a gown. I shook my luxurious golden curls and spotted glitter floating down in my peripheral. Perfection. Smirking, I looked down to my familiar. "Are you ready Smigel?" The pale little beast leaning forward on all fours in preparation for our brief journey.
It came in handy that most objects could do what witches could innately perform. Especially after that bit of magic I'd performed on myself. We stepped through the looking glass and entered onto the soft grass at the edge of an estate. Glass slippers from my own closet swung precariously from Smigel's mouth as we landed. "Don't slobber all over those you fool!" The cat muffled a hiss before trotting towards the figure sitting on a stone fountain surrounded by hydrangeas that were in full bloom. The air was sickly sweet with their fragrance.
Glancing back toward the fading portal, I saw my reflection一my true figure一staring back. An unrecognizable hobo stood there, covered with blue splotches of varicose veins showing through the transparent wrinkled skin. Patches of uneven hair fell in clumps from its head with eyes sunken into the skull making the cheekbones jut out unproportionally. Disgusted, I sharply tore my gaze away from the mirror and rested my sights on the target. The vibrant magic that had once surged through my veins like the electricity of a lightning bolt was depleting even more quickly now that I had begun using it up as this last ditch effort to see my plan through. It no longer had the power to sustain this beauty that had once been the talk of the coven. Though if all goes well after tonight, I'll be on my way to returning to my former glory. And one step closer to my revenge, my lips curled in grim anticipation.
***
The little wuss. Is she seriously crying? I took a deep breath and plastered a smile on before making my introduction. She startled, hastily brushing away tears, and asked who I was. Not everyday one is greeted by a face as beautiful as mine.
"Why, I am your fairy godmother of course." The lie fell off my tongue with a feel similar to swallowing honey soaked lemons. I couldn't help but spin around for good measure, making my billowous shirts sparkle all the more. Smigel darted beneath those shirts before they floated down again. He would make sure the slippers were close by until I needed them.
The girl, whose name was Cendre, arched a delicate eyebrow and huffed out a laugh. "Those don't exist, but I appreciate the levity." She turned her back to me, rags shifting uncomfortably against the rough stone.
The false smile nearly slipped from my facade before I continued. "I am here to aid in any troubles or misfortunes you may have. I hope to be of assistance, my dear."
"Yeah I'm good thanks. You can go bother some other miserable chick."
Deep breaths, keep it together. "Why my love, I am here for you. I understand that it might be difficult to believe一"
"Impossible and nonsensical really."
Oh I would strangle you if I didn't need you, brat. I took another deep breath and then smiled slowly. "Your mother was weary of me as well." Cendre's eyes flashed up to where I stood and tracked my form as I sat next to her on the stone bench. By the brush of Smigel's hairless back, I knew he followed. "So kind she was." Kindness was to be debated, but whatever. "And with a heart of gold." An insufferable attitude more like it. "No one loved their daughter more and for that I wish to lend my help." Oh isn't that the truth. I looked off towards the estate silhouetted by the full moon to feign indifference.
Cendre had stared blankly throughout my description of her mother. Now, she threw back her head and laughed abruptly. "Are you serious? You come out of nowhere spouting mumbo jumbo about my dead mother and you just expect me to believe you come here in my best interest? If you're my fairy godmother, where were you when she died? Where一"
Yadda yadda yadda. This girl is too much like her mother. Involuntarily, I thought back to the first time I met Laurel. Walking into that witch's apothecary like she owned the place, but was utterly out of her depth, eyes darting around like an animal on a butcher's table. She'd come asking for help. Desperately. Ha, last time I ever helped a human. Though decades had passed, a blinding redness filled my vision. My only consolation was that that lying, backstabbing woman can rest uneasily knowing her daughter will be the one to undo her work. Dimily in the background, I heard said daughter droning on about "unfairness". Gah, what does she know?
"一your magic do now? Even my step family have abandoned me to go to a stupid, pointless ball like we're not dirt broke." She shook her head, apparently finished with her tirade.
Thank goodness for those persuasive charms. "Well, say you attend that pointless ball一"
"Why on earth would I do that?" Cendre scrunched her face in confusion.
If this girl interrupts me one more time一"Say you attend that ball," I continued. "What if you were to meet a man of high regard? A man of means. If he were to be overcome with affection for you, might he want your hand in marriage? Then I rather think all your financial problems would indeed be solved. Perhaps you could even be rid of your stepfamily." I gave her a knowing look.
Cendre, still creasing her brows, questioned. "And that would work? A Duke or Lord ... even Prince? I would have power over them?"
I gave a small dip of my chin. Cendre seemed to ponder this as she looked in the direction of the palace. It's spires tower over the forests even from this distance. Her lips twitched. Looky there Laurel. Your daughter isn't turning out to be as benevolent as you hoped her to be.
Cendre looked at me expectantly, apparently ready for her "glow-up". Rolling my eyes, I gathered my strength for what would most likely be one of my last displays of power. The air shimmered as I began waving my wand一not that I needed a wand, but every godmother seems to have one一around Cendre, weaving a transformation spell similar to what I had used earlier on myself. A sharp, piercing pain began in my fingertips and travelled up my neck. I shrugged it off.
The gown was created from fantasies every young girl has when dreaming about going to a ball. Her faded rags became elegant navy blue silks, cinched at the waist with gold stitching which flared at the hips like a crowned halo after elaborately decorating the off-shoulder neckline. Bare and calloused from days running in the nearby forest without shoes, her feet found themselves inside clear, glass slippers, sparking just as my own gown had sparkled when I first arrived. Smigel curled his tail around my ankle and I knew he felt the same excitement I did at this moment.
"And one last touch." I said after she looked about my work with awe. I took Cendre's chin not unkindly. "There." My hands trembled slightly as more nerve endings were fried. "Now when any man looks upon your face, you will have his heart forever. Whatever it is you desire: a home, safety, ... revenge on your stepmother," Cendre arched an eyebrow. "He will give you because he loves you." I paused at Cendre's hesitancy though I knew I had done my job well. "Any man will do. That you must choose yourself."
Uncertain as she was at our introduction, as soon as her gaze caught on the gilded carriage coming to guide her toward her future, I knew she was caught. She glanced back at me, a small smile upon her face. She looked so much like Laurel that my heart clenched painfully for a brief moment. She would not be smiling after all was said and done.
I blinked and dragged myself to the present. It was her mother's fault that she was in this mess in the first place.
"Remember, love. My magic ends at midnight. Do be back before then and be sure not to lose any item I am gifting you with tonight. You would not like to face the consequences." I added, my eyes having flickered to the glass slippers.
Cendre, distracted by what, not ten minutes ago, was a pumpkin from her vegetable patch, mindlessly yelled, "Thank you, godmother!" out the window as the carriage drove off.
"No need for thanks, my dear." I grinned toothily.
Oh thank goodness for objects that fulfilled my need for magic when I was not in control of my own. Where would I be if not for the laws that governed my kind? Rotten laws most of them, but when they worked to my benefit一like the one stating that if a gift from a witches' possession becomes lost, even temporarily, the perpetrator would be forced to remain in the witch's service until they saw fit一I cherished them dearly.
