Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 4

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Valerie said, kissing her sisters and Claressa on the cheek. “I’ll send a letter if I can.”

            “You still look weird,” Paige said, the end of her nose wrinkled.

            “At least I’m not a monkey,” she replied, making Cate and Paige giggle.

            Claressa smiled. “Be careful.”

            She nodded. “Always.”

            Isaac’s snort of disbelief made her kick him. He flashed a grin at her. “Don’t worry Claressa. I’ve got her back.”

            “I know. Thank you and you be careful as well.”

            He saluted before turning to Valerie. He pulled his necklace off and flicked the catch open with his thumb. He slid both rings into his palm where they lay in the shadow of the huge backpack he wore. He handed one to Valerie and slipped the other over his ring finger. “You ready?”

            She glared. “Of course,” she snapped and before he could say anything, turned her ring three times and disappeared. Isaac sighed and followed suit.

            Valerie stumbled as she went from the flat floor of her kitchen to the cobbled stone of the narrow city street. Or rather, a centimetre above it but that was only for a moment. She waved her arms and managed to catch the rough stone corner of a building and steady herself. She stared at the pink cobbles that reassured her that this was in fact Armith.

           She looked up at saw the red brick, pink stone, and wood houses that surrounded her, seeming to lean over top the street to peer down at her. The sun was hidden behind the buildings leaving her in cool shadows, but the light she could see was the dull gold of late afternoon. But that meant nothing given how tall and close together they had been built. She was certain the only time the street she was on got sunlight was when the sun was at its highest.

            The thump of leather against stone announced Isaac’s arrival. He too nearly fell due to the sudden change in footing. “Thanks for waiting,” he said sarcastically.

            “You were being slow.”

                        He rolled his eyes. “You’re too impatient. You know I’m surprised Claressa was as good about you going as she was. I’d expected her to throw some kind of fit.”

            She smiled slightly. “She married Dad when I was sixteen. I had a fully formed personality and an almost fully formed identity at that point so there wasn’t that much parenting for her to do. We’re more like sisters really. Which is one of the reasons I call her Claressa and not Mom.”

            “Ah. I had wondered. Anyway, you need to switch into that new voice of yours and keep it up.”

            She glared but complied. “So what’s the plan?”

            “First we get information. Then we make a plan. None of your, let’s just shove our way in and berate people into doing what I want method. We do this logically and properly. Because if we get caught and sent back again, I think they’ll find some way to keep us there,” he said. “Now unlike you, I’ve actually been to the city so I’m putting myself in charge. Stay close to me.”

            They followed the street to the end they could see sunlight shining at the end of. The street was full of houses, all tightly shuttered but occasionally, in the highest windows, Valerie would catch a brief flash of a head before it was pulled down, out of sight. “Is it usually like this?”

            Isaac shrugged. “No idea. I’m not sure where we are but…ah! It’s one of the squares.”

            They came out of the shadows of their narrow sidestreet into the sudden warmth of sunshine. Immediately Valerie began to sweat under all of her layers. The square, an empty space where two large roads intersected that had clearly been enlarged, was surrounded by several large impressive buildings. At least one she was sure was a temple. One of the others she thought might be a court due to the large scales engraved into the front of it. The square was made of the same pink cobbles as the street, which reflected the sunlight and sparkled in places. The square itself had small groups of people, hurrying across the open ground as if afraid the sky would start raining fire down on them. Frowning, she watched, disturbed when she realized no one was stopping to talk and there were no children in sight. “This can’t be normal.”

            “It isn’t. I have no idea what’s going on. It’s like they’re all terrified of something. Last time I was here, there were stalls everywhere and the place was deafening. Now, all I can hear is footsteps and the wind,” Isaac said, face and voice completely devoid of amusement.

            “Let’s keep going then.”

            Isaac nodded and they headed farther into the square. But they hadn’t taken more than four steps when a brown blur appeared in front of them and grabbed Isaac by the arm. Before he could react, they were dragged back into the sidestreet. “Are you as crazy as a stepmother? Do you want to be caught?” A high voice hissed.

            They looked down to see a familiar set of brown eyes glaring at them under her usual pigtails. “What are you doing here?” Valerie asked, voice cracking.

            Nateza’s eyes flicked to her briefly before settling on Isaac. “Who’s your friend?”

            She opened her mouth to say something but he said quickly, “A friend from home. Now what’s going on?”

            The girl shook her head. “Not here. Not in the open. There are spies everywhere. Come on, I’ll take you to my place. We’ll talk there. Just…is Valerie safe?”

            Isaac nodded as he allowed her to tow him back down the street, Val trailing behind them. “As safe as I am now.”

            “Alright. We need to move quickly. They have patrols roaming besides the soldiers set up at the check points. You nearly blunder into the one in the square.  I thought you had sense up to now but that was royally stupid. They’d have caught you and thrown you in their prison camp. And that’s if they didn’t know who you were. If they did… Without the right papers you’ll be hauled off faster than you can say Fee Fi Fo Fum.”

            “Who are these people? What happened?”

            Nateza turned back to look at them, eyes wide, face pale but tinged with green. “The palace fell.”