Sinful Cinderella

Nobody moves. Nobody speaks. They all stand there and stare at me, waiting....

I stare at Stepmother. My chest lifts and falls, lifts and falls, breaths quickening rather than slowing. I just killed my stepmother. Someone that moments ago was moving and speaking and blinking. Now she looks like a fallen branch, arms poking out, eyes blank. Blood is pooling through the front of her dress, staining it black. She was alive and now she’s dead. Dead forever.

From the corner of my eye, I detect motion. Godnutter is slowly shaking her head. When she looks at me, I feel her emotions as if they were my own. Shame. Sorrow. Pity. Her eyes have become a sea of sunken hopes.

“I wanted to spare you this,” she says. “But I failed... and so did you. I’m sorry, my child. I cannot help you anymore.”

And just like that, she’s gone.

“Wait!” I throw out my hand. But nothing remains of my fairy godmother except a drifting tendril of smoke. I feel like the wind was knocked out of me again.

And then Edgar laughs. He claps his hands together in slow, mock applause. “Beautiful!” He strolls toward me with a proud smile. “Must say, it’s quite fun to witness a murder. Better than theater, you know? Didn’t I say you were perfect for me?”

I glare at him through my tears. “Leave me alone!”

Edgar steps close to me, dropping his voice to a murmur. “Where will you fly to now, little crow? There is nowhere you can go, except the gallows. Murder is a hanging offense, you know.”

I do know. My mouth goes dry as ashes.

Edgar pokes out his lower lip, pretending to feel sorry. “Whatever shall we do? I don’t want you to die. So... how about this? If you accept my offer of marriage and come quietly, I might be able to smooth this over. I am the prince, after all.”

“What!” Loony shouts. She stomps over to us, her red cheeks slick with tears. “She just killed my MOTHER! She has to die NOW! Tonight!”

“We’ll do it ourselves, if you don’t,” Moody says. She isn’t crying but her face is sickly gray.

“Huh.” Edgar strokes his chin and winks at me. “They’re awfully troublesome, aren’t they? What should we do with them, Crow?”

I look up at him

“It’s your call, my queen.”

I clamp my teeth together. “Lock them up!”

Edgar turns and nods at his soldiers. Immediately, they head for my stepsisters who gasp and flee from the yard. I hear them shrieking as the soldiers pursue them out to the street.

“How nice. Now we can talk.” Edgar smiles and cradles my cheek with his hand. We’re alone now – if you don’t count my stepmother’s carcass.

Edgar slides his thumb over the cut he made on my cheekbone. “What is your name?”

I close my eyes. “Cinderella.”

“Really! I think I prefer Crow. Well – Cinderella – do you consent to be my wife?”

I don’t want to go with him. But I know I have no choice. I am Edgar’s prisoner now, bound by chains that I forged for myself. I must wear them bravely.

“Yes,” I whisper.

Edgar tilts up my face and presses a soft kiss to my lips. It’s a nice kiss. I suspect this is how Edgar will be, a dove one moment, a wolf the next. I will have to get used to it.

“Now, just for formality’s sake....” Edgar takes a step back and lifts my crystal slipper off the ground. He must have set it down while Godnutter was here.

I sigh and lift my skirt to mid-calf. Edgar bends on one knee and offers the shoe. I slip my toes inside the cool crystal, my heel settling down.

And of course, it fits perfectly.