Ever After High: Secret Storybooks

Chapter Fourteen: Raven Queen

Though I'd been to many palaces before and lived in one my whole life, nothing was more intimidating than knowing that I was Cinderraven or whatever you want to call me and I was walking into the ball in which Prince Dexter Charming was hosting.

It's like being able to see your future and attending a party at your crush's house. You already know you'll end up together by the end of the night, but you don't want to screw things up so that things work out just the way you planned.

I put one glass-slippered foot in front of the other and climbed the long stone staircase to the castle entrance. I was late to the ball, and since I know the course of the Cinderella story, no matter what I do, people will notice me when I walk in. I'm used to being stared at awkwardly or people looking with fear in their eyes when I walk into a room, but all eyes on me because of how I looked was different.

It's also very superficial if you ask me, but I'm just going through with this to find Dexter and figure out a way to get home. Dexter has a brilliant mind and I'm sure he has some idea.

I was also really nervous to see Dexter in such a formal way. I haven't ballroom danced properly since... Well, I've never ballroom danced properly. My dad tried to teach me but I just didn't have it in me. What if my lavender dress isn't a good color on me, and he hates it? What if he doesn't recognize me at all? So many things could go wrong, and with my luck, it was impossible to wave them away without being a teensy bit worried.

At the palace door, a guard pointed me in the direction of the ballroom. I stumbled right on through the entrance, tripping in these heels a little. My confidence was not at its usual level of strength, and I was suffering the consequences.

To my surprise, everyone in the room stared at me like Hopper stares at Briar when she walks by, or as if I was Princess Apple White, despite the fact I almost just tripped over the balcony railing. Dexter would have had to call me an ambulance instead of asking me to dance.

The stares were beginning to get into my head, so I looked at the floor and started down the steps in order to keep what little confidence I had left in check. Dexter met me at the bottom.

"Raven!" He said a little too excitedly, hugging me tight. I really appreciated that Dexter thought such wonderful things about me. If he could see good in me, there really must be some.

"Dex, boy am I glad to see you," I sighed, hugging him back. Nobody in the ballroom seemed to notice we already knew each other. "Do you have any idea how we got here or how we get out of it?"

"Well I've been thinking about it and my theory is that if we complete at least a majority of the story, we should just be free to go. By the way, you look gort- I mean, great, or gorgeous, or- you know what I mean," Dexter explained. I blushed at his compliment. This isn't the first time he told me I look "gort", but that didn't mean I didn't like it. "Let's just dance." He put out his hands and we began to dance. I prayed I wouldn't step on his toes.

"Okay, well that's relieving. I hope you're right." I spotted the stepsisters from earlier across the room, and wished I could get back at them, but I did nothing. After all, I'm here with Dexter, dancing, and I should just be enjoying this pleasant time.

*

The next morning, I started the chores early, awaiting Dexter to arrive at the house and find that the slipper fits me. I also finished early, so I hid in my room until he arrived.

At midnight last night, when I ran out of the castle, I actually ran up and down the steps four times trying to get my shoe to fall off, but it didn't. So, I got frustrated, pulled off the shoe, and threw it, then prayed it didn't shatter because a shoe made of glass most definitely can.

It did mean that I had to walk home in rags a lot further than original Cinderella had, since I wasted time trying to get the shoe off. I don't know how she did it. I guess what I mean is, I don't know how Ashlynn will do it.

From my window in the attic, I could see and hear Dexter knock on the door below.

The stepmother opened it, and immediately the shrilling sound of shrieking stepsisters followed.

Instead of telling the stepmother he had to try the slipper on the foot of every girl in the land, he said that he had a warrant to search the attic. Dexter is a genius.

The guards pushed into the house and Dexter was among them, and the stepmother had no choice but to show them to the attic. She was forced to unlock the door, and Dexter ran inside.

He hugged me again, just like last night. I could get used to that. "Ready to go home?" He asked.

"Ready. Oh, and way to go off script!" I whispered, glad that if anyone was here in the story with me it was him.

He blushed and laughed, then bent down and put the glass slipper on my bare foot. Just like the story says, it fit perfectly.

Sparkles exploded out of nowhere and there was a flash. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the Ever After High log bench I'd been sitting on last night, along with all of the students that had attended the campfire, with the exception of Briar and Faybelle. I wondered if they were still trapped in the stories.

An idea occurred to me. "We all were able to exit the stories we read by completing them. What if Briar is sleeping, and can't wake up because there's no one there to wake her up?"

There were a few gasps. Ashlynn clapped her hand to her mouth and whispered "oh my godmother." Apple's eyes widened with realization.

"We need to find her prince right now," Apple added hurriedly.

"We could ask headmaster Grimm," Cedar suggested, pointing a wooden finger at the castle-turned-school.

"Apple, Cedar, and I will go. Everyone else stay here and let us know if they come back," I directed, taking charge. Apple leapt up and ran to my side. Cedar rose to her feet, the hinges in her legs squeaking quietly as she got up. We raced into the school, anxious and ambitious to save Briar and Faybelle from their story.