Shut Up, Cinderella

Begin of a Journey

A gust of cold wind blasted in Cinder's face as he stepped outside, squinting his eyes against the bright sun and snow. He shivered, tightening his coat around him as best as he could. What did anyone ever see in this weather? All it did was look pretty. For people who had things to do, people who didn't have the luxury of free time for basking around in the landscape, it brought nothing but woe.

For a short moment he wondered if they shouldn't take the carriage after all; it would be faster, and less freezing. He quickly dismissed the idea. The snowy roads were in no state to be traveled in anything other than a sleigh. They could ride horses, of course, but a horse would only be a hindrance on the shortcuts he was planning to take.

Beside him Prince Gemstone looked quite pleased with the weather. Stomping merrily through inches of snow, he eyed everything around him like a winter wonderland, not seeming to care about the cold. Naturally, Cinder thought. A prince wouldn't have to worry about staying warm and fed in this freezing, inhumane cold.

At the side of the road Cinder stopped, pausing and waiting for the prince and Olive. The knight was the first to catch up with him. "What are you waiting for?" she asked.

Cinder looked around. "Are you the only bodyguard?" he asked. "No other guards?" It seemed a bit meager for the heir to the throne, no matter how skilled this one knight was.

Olive, however, snorted and smirked. "Of course not," she whispered. "There are guards trailing us on every side, but they're keeping out of sight."

He raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Oh, Gem doesn't like having too many guards up in his face," Olive answered. "He says it messes with his freedom."

Cinder glanced over his shoulder at the prince. He didn't look like a person who lacked freedom. Sure, he had to have the same duties as every heir to the throne. But could that truly compare with the life that commoners led? Who was more free, this boy or all the people who had to use up every waking minute for work to be able to feed their families?

"Freedom, huh."

Turning back towards the road, Cinder strode on ahead, scanning his surroundings for any traces of the hidden guards. He saw no one. Wherever they were, they had to be good at hiding.

With a few quick steps the prince caught up to him, his cheeks flushed from the cold, his stride vigorous. "Where are we going?" he asked, adjusting the straps of his pack as he went. "How far is the first place?"

"Just on the other end of the town," Cinder answered, picking up his pace. "About an hour from here."

He led the way, walking in silence, trying not to look at his companions' faces. In his head he was back at the workshop again, hoping Hestia and his stepsisters had informed the customers that he was away. He only hoped the whole thing had been a little less sudden; he had tried to complete the urgent orders in time, but some people would doubtlessly still be displeased. Customers and all that.

Cinder sighed quietly. He just hoped the others wouldn't spend too much in his absence, or he would come back to a pile of debts. Not so much that the prince's pay wouldn't give him the opportunity to pay them off, of course...if the prince paid him. If his pay was tied to actually finding his masked self...

Well, in that case he had a problem.

Was it too late to ask now, and quit if his suspicion was right? And would he be able to escape the questions if he did?

"Hey, shoemaker, I'm talking to you!"

Cinder jumped. "What?" he asked irritably, spinning around to glare at the prince. "This better be important!"