Another Cinderella Story

19. Disguises ~Lily~

Ella was unrecognizable.

We had raided the house searching for anything to help disguise ourselves. The king and queen would check every house in the kingdom for Ella and Liam and we needed to be sure she wouldn't recognize any of us.

We had taken all of the ink from Angus's study and blackened Ella's hair, then put a black veil over her face. We came up with a sound story that she was mourning the death of her father. Now came me and Jessie. We put dirt and dust all over our faces and acted as servants. Liam was the hardest, but we found a way to turn him into a butler (as if our old house would even have a butler), but it was all we could do.

Now we just had to wait. Ella, Jessie, and I were holed up in the attic while Liam guarded the door. Conversation was sparse, and we didn't have anything to talk about the hours ticked by slowly, and we all held our breaths as a knock at the door came.

Jessie peered out the window. "It's them!" she said.

Ella scrambled to look, but when her head came down from the window, her face was white. "They'll find me!" she said.

"Ella, you have the best disguise. Plus, you're hidden," I said.

"No! They brought the slipper we gave to the guard!" Ella said.

Jessie gave her a puzzled look. "How is that important?"

"I wished to go to the ball in a beautiful dress! If I ever put the slipper on, I'll look exactly like I did last night at the ball!"

"She'll know exactly who you are," I said, realization hitting me.

"There's still hope," Jessie said. "They might not find her."

"We can only hope," I said.

"Brenda! Elise!" Mother called, using the fake names we had come up with.

"Coming, Mum!" I said in a cheerful voice.

We walked down the stairs, and at the sight of the queen, I dropped down into a curtsy.

"Ah, such a polite girl," the queen said. "I'm afraid our visit will be quick, though. We just need them to try on this slipper and we'll be off," she said.

"Sure thing," Jessie said. She fit her foot into the slipper, but it looked much too tight and there was no ballgown on her.

"Next," she said.

I stepped up. Just like Jessie, my foot was too big.

The queen pursed her lips. "Well, I am terribly sorry, my dears, but you aren't the ones we are looking for. Have a good day."

I almost let out a sigh of relief, but as one of the royal guards was waling out, he stopped at the attic window.

"My lady," he addressed, "I think I have found another girl."

"Where?" the queen asked.

"Up in the attic," he said.

Mother rushed in. "She's our cleaning lady. She wouldn't have gone to the ball. Spent the night 

mourning the loss of her dead father."

"Nonetheless, we have to check," the queen said.

With worry in her eyes, Mother called, "Deborah! Come down!" Her voice wavered.

Ella came down slowly.

"This will just take one minute," the queen said.

I held my breath, praying that the magic of the slipper would suddenly stop working, but it was for nothing. The slippers fit perfectly, and as soon as Ella's heel slipped into it, a change came over her.Ella's dress shimmered and slowly turned blue, sparkles appearing left and right. Her hair tied itself up and her unwashed face brightened. Ella looked exactly like she had for the ball except for her ink stained hair.

"Ella, Ella," the queen said. "What in the world have you done to your hair?"