Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 21

              Val’s glare and high-headed stalk off didn’t last much past the first bend in the road out of the village. The second she was sure she was out of sight and earshot, she stopped, threw her head back and began laughing. Miette’s mouth rounded out into a little o while Isaac’s grin just got wider.

            “I knew you weren’t anywhere near as angry as you were pretending to be,” he remarked, watching her double over, tears streaming down her face.

            “The-the look,” she gasped. “Like…fish.”

            Now Isaac was chuckling. “I thought the first one looked more like a bull. It was a good thing your hair was covered or he might have charged.”

            That sent Valerie, who’d been recovering, back into a fit of laughter so hard she was no longer making a sound. Or breathing. She waved her hand at him to stop as she convulsed. Miette, her mouth finally closing, shook her head at the pair. “You two are terrible, pretending to be angry.”

            When she had finally stopped laughing and accepted the handkerchief Miette leant her to wipe her streaming eyes, Val explained. “It’s not that I was pretending. I was angry. At least initially. They were being absolutely ridiculous about that whole thing, acting like children. But then I kind of accidentally pictured my sisters acting like that and what Claressa would do to them. Then I pictured her doing it to that crowd and well then…Luckily they took me fighting from laughing for fighting from killing the lot of them. And I knew I couldn’t laugh. Scorn and anger would get them moving in the right direction. Laughter would only make them unproductively angry and unite the lot of them against me.”

            Isaac, smile still pulling at the corner of his lips, clapped his hands to either side of his face in mock shock. “Twice in an hour you’ve acted like an adult. You even broke out of one of your bouts of anger by yourself. You really are growing up. I’ll have to send Claressa a letter. She’ll be thrilled.”

            She snorted and set off down the path again, making him grin harder. “You don’t fool me,” he called in a sing-song voice.

            She made a single fingered gesture that set him to laughing again. Miette, walking behind them, help her lips twist against the giggle she was holding in. She knew, because she felt the same, that their clowning around and easy descent into laughter was covering their real worry. She’d heard a ting of hysteria to Valerie’s laughter and worried about how long she’d be able to hold herself together. Miette could feel herself fraying at the edges and she didn’t have several countries looking for her.

            They walked until the sun had become an orange ball, matching the colours of the leaves of the trees that had closed around them again after only minutes on the path. Even with their newly enchanted packs and a road of sorts to follow, they were all still foot sore and tired when they reached the next village.

            Backed against too tall hills, almost high enough to be called small mountains, this village was surrounded by twice the farmland that Berrymeet had. In the light of the setting sun, they could see the few animals still out being herded back to their barns by children waving sticks and dogs jumping and snapping at heels. Human and animal voices melded with the last of the birdsong, twining its way around them as they trod the last half a kilometre in.

            Bigger than Berrymeet in more than just farmland, this village held a two-story inn currently spilling out warm light, delicious smells, and laughter. They looked at one another and then headed straight it. Already others were making their way inside, talking and shouting as they entered through the wide double doors.

            Like the last village, this one too was made almost entirely of wood. The inn was no exception, rising above them in its white painted state, the unshuttered windows looking like smiling eyes as they walked inside.

            Valerie soon saw why so many people were piling in. The tables were almost all full of people but only a handful had plates of food in front of them to join the mugs of drink in front of them. The loud voices and louder laughter told her, even without the faint smell, that the mugs were all full of some kind of alcohol.

            Miette moved past the people at the nearest tables, winding through the crowd with Isaac and Valerie on her heels, aiming at the bar. The man, tall and wearing a long apron, standing behind the counter gave them a once over, taking in their backpacks and unfamiliar appearances. “Looking for rooms?”

            She nodded. “Two rooms please, master. Adjoining if that is possible.”

            Her accent made him look them over again. “Travellers?”

            Isaac could feel his lips moving even as he knew it wasn’t a good idea. “No. The backpacks are just for fun.”

            Valerie kicked him. “I’m sorry. He’s an idiot.”

            The barkeep nodded, pulling out a rag to soak up what looked to Val like beer off the counter. “We’ve got the rooms. Six copper sparks for the both,” he said holding up a hand to stop a protest he expected. “But that includes your dinner. Take it or leave it.”

            The other two turned to look at Miette, the on in charge of their money due mostly to the fact that the two non-natives had no idea what was what still. She looked the innkeeper up and down. “I will give you five which will be generous. Six is far too much. Even with our food. I will give you six if you include our morning meal as well and I will expect us to be presented with large meals at both.”

            The grin he sent her showed one missing tooth and creases all over his face. “Well I think that suits me, miss. And here I was thinking you were a country lass not used to being anywhere but your farm.”

            Snorting, both Val and Isaac had to look at the ground. They both pictured Miette as a ‘country lass’. Valerie’s version involving her in one of those porcelain shepherdess outfits and Isaac’s making her look like a Russian babushka. Val brought her fist to her mouth, biting down on the first knuckle to keep from laughing out loud.

            Miette gave them both a stern look before handing the square copper piece over to the innkeeper who handed her two keys. “Numbers are on the keys. Rooms are upstairs. Come down and I’ll send our girl out with your food.”

            She nodded her head and said “Thank you,” before grabbing the other two and dragging them behind her, both still shaking with repressed laughter.