Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 51

            Valerie froze for a moment before her training took over. Up came her sword, slashing across the godmother’s chest. Izolei fell back, a cry of surprise escaping her lips. Val followed through, her fencing paying off as she lunged in, the point of her sword sliding into the fairy’s chest.

            Izolei stumbled backwards, Valerie’s sword still sticking out of her chest. Her mouth opened and eyes wide in what Val guessed was shock, she said “You stabbed me. In all six hundred years I have been alive no one has ever dared stab me.”

            “Clearly no one has ever gotten to know you,” she snapped, backing up and falling into the karate stance Isaac had taught her. “You tried to have me kidnapped, tried to kill Darren and invaded an entire country to chase after me. If I could, I’d do a hell of a lot more than just stab you.”

            The godmother yanked the sword out and dropped it to the floor, only a few drops of red visible on its blade. “It is good your fire has not dimmed but your manners are in need of work. I will retrain you when we return. Now, move away from the prince. He has served his purpose and I may finally dispose of him.”

            Val turned and jumped onto the divan, wrapping herself around Darren before turning to glare at Izolei. “You’ll have to kill me first,” she hissed, trying not to shiver as the prince radiated cold into her. “And you know I’ll do my best to take you down with me.”

            The godmother let out a little growl. “You are being foolish. You have lost. My people control the palace and the people in it. The prince is enchanted and one touch from me will properly put him into ice this time so that not even you will be able to awaken him.”

            “So you failed already to freeze him solid,” Val said, heart rising. “You aren’t anywhere near as strong as you pretend to be eh? And my army is currently taking care of ridding the palace of you invading cockroaches.”

            “I am far stronger than your mortal mind can comprehend, princess. And if it had not been for the interference of his godmother, he would be encased in ice. I should have sealed her before I attempted to deal with him. That has always worked in the past,” Izolei replied, head rising.

Then a thought occurred to her at the same time it occurred to Valerie. They both turned to look at Satinka who hadn’t spoken or moved since the stabbing. Not that she’d been idle. She stood facing them, hands alight with snapping purple energy she’d summoned, her eyes glowing with it. “I told you,” she whispered, even the quiet of her voice almost painful with the amount of power it contained. “That I would see you suffer if you harmed my godson. It is time for your reckoning.”

Izolei stepped back, her features, and Valerie had to look twice to be certain, twisting into fear. “You-I am Fae, the same as you. You would use that on me?”

Satinka smiled, even her mouth was shining with purple light. “With pleasure,” she whispered. She cupped her hands in front of her so Izolei was between them in her vision. The other godmother summoned another ice shield, trying to run behind it.

Darren’s godmother didn’t let her. The light blazed brighter still, temporarily blinding Valerie. She did feel the room rock as the palace was shaken down to its foundations by the force of Satinka’s spell. Val spread out on top of Darren, trying to protect him from any of the hundreds of falling rocks and icicles she imagined were about to fall down on them.

The gentle clink she heard made her flinch but after a minute, when it wasn’t repeated, she lifted her watering eyes to look. Satinka was lying flat out on the ground, eyes closed and chest moving shallowly. Valerie shifted herself up, looking around for Izolei. Only when she half slid off Darren could she see what was behind the ice shield.

A cloudy silver crystal sat on the floor, looking like a close cousin to the icicles that had been smashed in the corner by the godmothers’ battle. Val glanced back at Satinka, then at the crystal and finally at Darren. She frowned. Then she sighed, patted Darren’s still cold cheek and walked over to Satinka.

Kneeling beside the godmother, she checked for a pulse. She found one but it was far slower than her own and the skin over it felt hot, making her frown deepen. She looked around the room, wondering if using Izolei’s ice on Satinka’s feverish skin would make it better or worse.

She was saved from making the decision by the opening of the violet eyes below her. “You alright?” Valerie asked.

Satinka shivered before slowly heaving herself into a sitting position. Valerie grabbed her arms when it looked like she was going to fall again and pulling her all the way up. “Thank you,” the godmother whispered, her voice hardly more than a croak.

She shrugged. “What did you do? I don’t see that crazy bitch anywhere.”

“I trapped her in a crystal. It should be nearby. Bring it to me, I must send it to the Assemblage at once,” she said, leaning forward and trying to push herself into a standing position.

            Under normal circumstances Valerie would have balked at the order but she decided that Satinka getting rid of Izolei allowed her to be bossy for the day if she wanted to be. She grabbed the crystal tossing it between her hands as it was so cold it almost burned.

            The godmother took it with a nod of thanks and disappeared into another of the puffs of smoke that Valerie was getting used to. She made a face at the disappearing violet wisps then turned back to the divan.

            She sat on the edge, leaning back over Darren as she’d been before Izolei had interrupted her. She took one deep breath then pressed her lips against his frozen ones, holding the kiss for as long as she had air for. She broke it and smiled down at him.

            Her smile faded as he remained frozen.