Dancing on Glass

Maid for It

Cinderella stared up at the grand gates of the palace and felt her heart crash from her chest, through her stomach and onwards into the ground below, abandoning her as apparently her common sense had done when she'd written the letters gripped in her hand.

How exactly was she supposed to enter the castle?

She wasn't The Duchess. She wasn't anyone. Not anyone the guards would willingly open the gates for at least.

If only she was...

Her hand clenched around the letters and she looked down.

If only she wasn't Cinderella.

"Miss, if you're done gawking, move along."

Cinderella looked over at one of the guards who was eyeing her, in her ragged dress and tangled hair and soot somewhere on her skin – as it always was.

"I'm expected inside," she said with a lot more confidence then she felt.

The guard stared at her, then looked at the others who was also staring at her, before beginning to laugh.

"You?" he said, gaping, "Is this a game of disguise the courtiers are playing?"

"Well it's all the rage after the mysterious identity of The Duchess these last two balls," Cinderella said coolly, folding her arms.

That stopped them.

But only for a moment.

Knowing to comment of The Duchess was one thing, but only a small thing. She was quite the talk of town after all. Every well-do-to person was at the ball with her. They talked about her at home. The servants overheard. They talked about her on the streets. In no time at all; there! Everyone knew.

"Servants entrance is around that way or that way," the guard said gruffly.

Cinderella looked at him, then forced a smirk.

Well, maybe she looked like a servant.

And maybe it was common knowledge that were was a mystery lady around.

But she had clearly carried herself well enough to make the guard question as to whether she really might be someone important.

She hardly begrudged him sending her around the side of course so she just nodded and walked to the left.

"You'll be asked to present your access pass!" the guard called after her and Cinderella had to stop her shoulders from slumping.

She just waved the letters over her shoulder and kept going until she found one of the back entrances through the gates.

And it just so happened a delivery had arrived at the same moment, three covered wagons drawn by horses and surrounded by people waiting at the gates as the guards searched the wagons and spoke to the leader of the group.

One of the guards was just finishing with the last wagon and Cinderella couldn't help but bring to mind stories her mother had read to her as a child where the heroes would sneak into the backs of wagons to slip passed palace guards.

As the group all shuffled forwards to show their entrance slips, Cinderella dove into the back of the last wagon, pulling the curtain back into place and pressing back into the shadows.

Her heart pounded like a horse in gallop and she had to steady her breathing and not think too carefully about what she had just done.

Well if it worked for all characters in stories.