Maiden of the Forest

Chapter 13 - Who are you?

The manor was quaint, the objects inside proclaiming that those who lived here lived comfortably. The trinkets and various objects scattered about caused Kit to surmise the lady of the house may be in the trade business. Walking into the drawing room, Kit couldn't help but sense that the dwelling was a little under kept just like the outside. The floors were swept and the place had been dusted but cobwebs could just be visible in the corners, almost as if the housekeeper had neglected to remove them. The grand rug upon which he now stood was faded and old but the pattern was rather attractive, the roses a dull pink and the green vines a grayish green.

Kit listened as the singing continued to fill the house. It sounded as if it were coming from the attic.

"Lavenders green, dilly, dilly, Lavenders blue, you shall love me, dilly, dilly, for I love you…"

The singing stopped. Kit surmised the Captain had found where the girl was. His heart began to pound in his chest. He'd taken the shoe from the pillow a footman was holding when he went inside. As he caressed the slipper, the glass seemed to sooth him in a strange way. He'd held it so many times in the past but it had never given off the faint warmth it was giving now. If Kit didn't know any better, he would say it was radiating with heat because it recognized its owner was near. He didn't know where that strange thought had come from but it oddly made sense.

He heard a faint conversation and then silence. Twisting around, he looked at his reflection in the mirror hanging over a large fireplace. The man staring back at him had a hopeful look in his eyes and a slight frown. Inside, his body was experiencing a strange array of chaotic harmony. While his heart was pumping uncontrollably fast, his stomach was churning uncontrollably. And then everything stopped as his ears picked up the shuffle of soft steps on the rug. His eyes landed on the reflection of a girl in the mirror and he twisted around.

Her blue dress was covered in dirt, particularly at the bottom, and her pale skin seemed to be lightly caked in ash. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy braid, stray pieces hanging out everywhere. Her appearance was definitely not one of a princess but of a servant. She looked worse for wear, covered in dirt and dressed in rags, her brown eyes large, displaying to Kit that even though she was putting on a brave face, inwardly she was petrified. Even so that didn't deter her from smiling and dipping into a gracious curtsy.

Despite the drastic change in her appearance, Kit's heart recognized her immediately.

"Who are you?" he implored, hoping that now, after everything, she'd finally tell him what he desperately longed to know.

"I am Cinderella," she said confidently, her eyes never leaving his.

Finally he had a name! Strange as it was, Kit couldn't help but feel relieved.

"Your Majesty," she breathed, "I am no princess." That much was obvious but Kit didn't care about titles. He could only think of how gorgeous she was as she walked towards him. She continued, "I have no carriage… no parents… no dowry. I do not even know if that beautiful slipper will fit."

Kit grinned at this for he knew it would. Why would it not? From the moment he saw her he knew that this was the girl he had met in the forest and danced with at the ball.

"But," Cinderella paused, "if it does… will you take me as I am? An honest country girl who loves you."

Kit's heart swelled near to bursting. "Of course I will," he said without a hint of hesitation. "But only if you will take me as I am, an apprentice still learning his trade."

She smiled and Kit couldn't help think it was the most adorable expression in the entire world. Only she could understand the reference and he was happy to see her eyes dance a little from it.