Princess Charming

Chapter 3: Elliot

The King and Queen cordially invite you and your household to a series of balls in honour of the return of their daughter, Princess Charmaine.

The house was in chaos. Gone were plans of tea and friendship. Instead, fine clothes were ordered, dance steps were practised and Elliot's step-family behaved even more wretchedly than usual.

"Elli, these shoes need shining."

"Elli, my dress will need taking in; I'm not eating a thing until the ball."

"Elliot, the carriage needs to be washed and polished. The horses need grooming. And when you finish that, my medals and sword will need to be laid out. Selene will need help with her hair. Helios needs help with... everything."

Elliot was a blur of motion from the moment the invitation arrived on thick cream parchment. Once he had polished Helios's dress shoes and pretended to take in the waist of Selene's dress (twelve hours starvation wasn't going to make a difference and, at any rate, Selene would relent once she scent of roast chicken wafted through the house), Elliot then ensured that the coach was ready for their departure and that his step-father's finest clothes were laid out ready for him.

"Elli, my nails need painting." Elliot looked mournfully at the meagre plate of lunch he had just laid out for himself. He pushed it to one side and accepted the bottle of polish from Selene's outstretched hand. It was a deep, vermilion red, half used and familiar. Elliot looked up, his brow creased in confusion.

"This was my mother's. She wore it all the time."

Selene sat down opposite him with a shrug of her slender shoulders. "Well, it's not like she needs it any more, is it? No sense in it going to waste."

Elliot swallowed down the retort he longed to give; it wasn't worth the punishment his step-father would mete out. Instead, he opened the bottle and began to carefully apply the polish to his step-sister's nails. He was onto her second hand before she spoke again. "She had good taste, you know, for a merchant."

His mother had been so much more than a merchant. She had been beautiful and kind and good. When Elliot's father had been alive, she had been a shining light, popular throughout the kingdom. But with his death, her spirit darkened. Joy had turned to sorrow, charm to reserve. It hurt to think about her and the pain grew more acute when Selene mentioned her so flippantly.

"So what should I say tonight, to the Princess?"

Elliot looked up from Selene's nails to her pretty features. She was gazing back at him with an interest he had never seen on her face before.

He shrugged. "Why would I know?"

"Oh come on, Elliot," she said with a roll of her eyes. The interest was gone, replaced once again with a mixture of frustration and revulsion. "Don't play coy with me. We all know how close you were before the Princess went to school. If anyone can tell me how to befriend her, it would be you."

"That was a long time ago. She's changed a lot since she went to school."

He hadn't spoken to Charmaine for almost seven years. He only had to think about how much he had changed in that time to realise how little he would know of the young woman she had become. Would they even recognise each other now? Elliot caught sight of the reflection of his ash strewn face in the copper kettle boiling on the oven. If Charmaine passed him in the street, she's keep on walking, oblivious to her childhood best friend.

Household. The word had been rattling around in Elliot's head like a loose screw since the invitation had arrived. Household meant that he was invited too. He could see Charmaine again. If he wanted to. If his step-father would let him. What would he say to her, if they were close enough to speak? Hey Char, remember when you tore my heart from my chest then stamped it into the mud? Well things have only gone downhill from there really. How are things with you? Still feasting on the tears of small children? Still dashing the hopes and dreams of the people who care most about you?

"You must know something that can help me! What did she used to be like then?" Selene interrupted his thoughts, a scowl on her face.

"Fierce. Passionate. If she wanted something, she'd get it. And if she's not happy, she'll let you know. She never would have gone through with an idea like this when I knew her; if she's anything like she used to be, she'll have an ulterior motive."

"Like what?"

Elliot replaced the lid on the bottle of varnish and shrugged. "I don't know. But this won't be as simple as three balls to find a husband. And Charmaine isn't some pretty, vapid princess Helios can charm with a smile and some fancy dance steps. She's a viper; she'll eat Helios alive then return the bones to you when she's finished." Even his horrible step-brother didn't deserve the fate Charmaine was likely to dish out to him.

"Is that what she did to you?"

"I wish that was all she had done." The words came out as a whisper so low Selene thought she must have misheard them. She repressed a shudder and stood up, smoothing down her dress.

"Perhaps the Princess saw the poor cinder-boy you were to become. Helios isn't perfect, but he has enough class and poise to be a prince. I'm sure he won't have any problems winning her heart. And even if he doesn't, friendship with the crown princess is hardly going to harm my prospects." Selene swept from the room, a smug smile tarnishing her face.

Elliot picked up the bottle of nail polish she had left behind and briefly considered throwing it at the cold stone walls that made up his home. That was what Charmaine would have done. With a sigh, he took the bottle over to the kitchen draw, stowing it away where Selene would never find it.