The Next Cinderella

Chapter 3--Fairy Godmother to the Rescue?

As reality of the debt set in, the king began pacing whilst rubbing his belly in a counter-clockwise motion, his coping strategy for whenever life was getting too real.

Without any warning he raised his arms in the air. "A tax!"

Gianni and Fairy Godmother exchanged an uncertain look. "That wasn't the plan!" she whispered.

Fredrick timidly approached. "A tax, your highness?"

The king returned to his seat and rubbed his hands together excitedly. "We can add another tax on the citizens!" He was salivating now, overtaken by the juicy prospect of corruption.

Fredrick's thoughtful eyes began to glow in indignation. If he was honest with himself, he knew the king would sleep just fine no matter how much his people suffered, but another tax? When they were already on the brink? He was tempted to toss the king out the window and watch him roll down the hill to his death, but he carefully guarded his rage behind the filter of royal servitude.

"The citizens, your majesty..." he calmly said, "...they are barely surviving as it is. A revolt is imminent."

The king immediately burst into belly-shaking laughter, a reaction that showered his guests with drops of spittle; Gianni was traumatized by the spit-shower, while the drunken Fairy Godmother didn't even notice.

"Ohh...are the citizens barely surviving?" the king mocked. "Then what about that lemon-cake-eating contest when they were stuffing their faces with glee? Were they barely surviving then?"

It was times like these when Fredrick wasn't surprised that this idiot king had run the entire kingdom into the ground. "Your majesty...a year has passed since then."

"A year?" The king could barely believe it. "Then aren't we due for another contest?" He licked his lips as visions of lemon cakes danced about in his head.

"But lemon cakes are no longer available," Fredrick awkwardly reminded him, "at least not for the regular citizens..."

The king smiled as if remembering a secret mission. "Yes...that really was a savvy move by yours truly." He gestured to Fredrick. "See to it that the baker makes a dozen lemon cakes for tomorrow."

Fredrick internally seethed as he thought about the peasants who were deprived of simple pleasures, and if it wasn't for the coin this position provided he might've been a little more candid. "A dozen?" he asked politely. "Are you planning a lemon-cake-eating contest within the castle?"

The king laughed. "I said a dozen not a hundred!" He suddenly went serious. "They're mine and don't let anyone else touch them."

The queen elbowed the king and he snapped to attention. "No tax then eh? Hmm...then what about selling their possessions?" He shook his head. "But they don't really own anything of value..." Fredrick clenched his fists as the king continued to brainstorm. "Or how about instead..." His eyes lit up as he noticed the famous legend sitting across from him. "How about you?" he mused, his eyes locking on to Fairy Godmother. "You could simply erase the debt with your magical powers!"

Fairy Godmother felt herself directly under the spotlight, and by the look on her face she would've preferred to hide in a dungeon. "Yes...well...you see...the magic...as it were..."

"A flick of the wand and then poof! Is that how it works?" The king flailed his arm around, wielding his imaginary wand. "What if we used it to conjure up magical food? Then I'd never go hungry again!"

"You mean the kingdom," said Fredrick. "The kingdom would never go hungry again."

The king shook his head. "One in the same my boy...one in the same."