The Search for Cinderella

Chapter 4

It was raining again.

Luke watched the raindrops as they melted down into nothingness against the stained glass windows. There was a quality about the sound of rain that could drown out any other noise from outside but today that advantage was lost. Even in such a downpour there seemed to be hundreds of men milling outside the palace waiting to be assessed by the Palace officials in hopes that they might gain employment in the Royal ranks. It was quite the honour so Luke couldn't possibly blame them.

The servant brought in his tray of tea and milk as quietly as one entered a room of mourning. His feet sunk into the plush, tan carpet leaving minute indentations behind that only the sharpest eye could spy. The man laid the tray on the desk and cleared his throat.

"Master Elliot is taking the interviews for his replacement. He wishes that you join him after the preliminary written tests are finished, Master Luke," The man croaked like he hadn't used his voice for a thousand years but Luke knew the man was a relentless gossip and could be heard talking his head off when he thought no one important was listening.

Luke nodded lightly before going back to staring into absolutely nothing at all.

.............

.

"Stop slouching," Mister Gepetto urged from one corner as he frantically tried to iron a particularly starched shirt. He grunted when it got stuck to the coal iron yet again.

"I am standing perfectly straight," Jade complained but tried to fix her posture just in case.

"And stick your chest out, no man wants to look wimpish by being elegantly demure like a little lass," He said giving her another critical once over.

"I don't see the point of this exercise," Jade sighed instead of going off in a tantrum like she would have earlier, "They're going to know what I am the moment they see me."

"You're a tall girl, with a strong personality and you have my help. I can't see how this can fail to work. Besides this is the Palace we're talking about. There is bound to be a rush of people applying so you'll blend in with the crowd," Mister Gepetto urged, "And don't forget Bertha's card. It might not seem like much of a reference but what I've heard her words are worth more than any nobles when it comes to references in that Palace."

Jade nodded and clasped the card tightly.

"Put it on the counter. I'll remember to place in your coat pocket," Jade obeyed the man's order still looking quite glum.

"I know I'll do something silly like giggle or expect people to take my arm when I enter, I just know it," Jade's head hit the counter with a thud.

"Stop putting yourself down and go back and wear this shirt with the corset."

"This corset is nothing like anything I've ever seen before?" Jade held up the bulky looking contraption and hung it along her body trying to understand its function.

"Do you think women are only the vain ones? There are plenty of rotund gentlemen out there willing to use any means possible to look smart like their younger peers. These men use shoulder pads, heels in shoes, all sorts of makeup and wigs and finally corsets to pull their bellies in. That corset in your hand is just the thing to make your torso solid and sturdy," Mister Gepetto explained with a wry smile.

Jade sighed, "I'm only doing this because of you."

"And I'm doing this because of you," Gepetto murmured to himself after the girl left the room.

.........

Jade nervously played with her cravat while standing underneath a gaudy archway in the secondary entrance hall. The room was enormous with a large glass chandelier decorating the centre of the carved ceiling. Jade wondered what the main entrance hall, that the Royals actually used, looked like.