After Cinderella Read online

  “Well... you tried. You gave it your best. At the end of the day, you can't be ashamed of yourselves.” Rank muttered the words of consolation as he shoved a crossbow into the knights' horrified faces. It was the tiniest crossbow Cinderella had ever seen. It was roughly half the size of Rank's palm.

  Derren chuckled at Rank's weapon. “Should we really feel threatened by that tiny thing?” he asked.

  Rank didn't like to be heckled, so he released a bolt into Derren's leg.

  “Oww!” the knight howled. “Why did you do that?”

  “You wanted to know if it hurt, so I showed you,” Rank explained as he reloaded his weapon. To everyone's surprise, he spun around and aimed at Cinderella. “Now... I need you boys to leave. Vanish. Walk over that hill and disappear, please and thank you. If you don't obey, Princey's fiance is getting a bolt in the eye.”

  “You wouldn't!” Terra gasped.

  “You know nothing about me, love. Why do you think I wouldn't?” Rank asked.

  “And after all those flowers you gave to her? Really?” Terra disapprovingly clicked her tongue. “I'm disappointed in you, quite frankly.”

  As Derren and Lewis retreated, Rank called to them, “I want to see you dance! Flap your arms like a chicken, please! Amuse me.” When they turned around, Rank shook the crossbow, reminding them of the threat. They had no choice. They had to comply.

  A fit of mad giggles exploded from Rank's mouth as the knights chicken danced over the hill. “So much for your failed heroes,” Rank lamented. “I've got to give them credit for trying, though. They gave it their best. They really did.” He lowered his crossbow and grinned. “Well... now that that's over, are you ladies ready to shove off?”

  “I'm ready to shove you... over a cliff.” Terra whispered to herself. For aiming a bow at her best friend, she was tempted to knock him on the head with one of her crutches.

  “We've got quite a journey ahead of us,” Rank warned them. “I can't tell you our destination yet, but... I promise... it'll be good.”

  “This is awful,” Cinderella grumbled. “Just awful. What does he have in mind for us, I wonder?”

  “If I had to guess, I'd say he intends to ransom you to the prince... and dump me on the side of the road,” her stepsister replied. “So... I'm more worried about you, to be honest.”

  “Ransom?” Cinda gasped. “Do you really think so?”

  “It's only a guess, but it seems plausible.”

  “Hmm.” Cinderella sat back and crossed her arms. “If that's the case, do you really think Prince Sharman would pay up? He barely knows me, after all. I'm practically a stranger to him.”

  “A stranger who happens to be his fiance,” Terra pointed out. “If he cares enough to marry you, he should care enough to want you safe.”

  Cinda heaved a seemingly endless sigh as she leaned toward the window. “Everything's a mess. I'm so sorry, Terra. I shouldn't have asked you to come.”

  “Well, if nothing else, it's been an adventure. It's been a--” Terra's voice trailed off when she got her first glimpse of the passing caravan. As the covered, colorful, horse-drawn wagon zipped by, she scooted toward the window. “Help!” Terra screamed at the passing vehicle. “Help us, please! We've been abducted!”

  Cinda decided to join her. “Heeeeeeeelp!” she cried. Her screams were twice as loud and twice as sharp as her stepsister's. “Help uuuuuuus! Pleeeeeease!”

  “My god!” Terra's hands flew to her ears, protecting her from the dissonance. “You've got quite a set of lungs on you, Cinda! I had no idea!”

  Cinderella took a deep breath and tried again. “Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!” When her lungs were completely empty, her cheek collapsed against the carriage wall. “I think they're ignoring us.”

  “Clearly,” Terra snorted in agreement.

  A moment later, a carriage-rattling clap of thunder made Cinda sit up in her seat. Once again, she turned her gaze to the window. In a sea of purplish swirling clouds, a ribbon of lightning skipped across the sky. “The weather's bad...” she whispered.

  “How bad?” her stepsister asked.

  Cinda's answer was silenced by an earsplitting shriek. All of a sudden, a massive, orange bird swooped from the clouds, narrowly avoiding a brush with lightning as it spiraled down to earth. It was at least twice as large as an eagle, and its wings were wrapped in fire.

  “Is there no end to the madness?” Terra cried. “First... a dragon. Then a madman. Now there's a giant fiery bird?”

  “Um, apparently.” Cinda nibbled her lip as she watched the bird fly alongside the carriage. “Do you think it wants to incinerate the carriage?”

  “Do you really expect me to guess the intentions of a giant bird, Cinda?” Terra asked with a roll of her eyes. “Honestly, you ask some silly questions.”

  When the bird unleashed another deafening shriek, Cinda's palms clapped together in a prayer-like position. “Please!” she whimpered. “Please, Mr. Bird, I don't want to die!”

  “Be calm, Cinda! It might be a... a nice bird?” Terra tried to reassure her, even as the bird's fire-wrapped wings were flapping within an inch of their window. “Or maybe it wants to pluck out our eyes? Who knows.”

  * * *

  When Rank glanced over his shoulder and saw the orange bird, a thesaurus of colorful curses poured from his lips, followed by a disgusted, “Bloody hell, it's you!”

  Rank's right hand was occupied by the horses' reins, so his left hand reached for his crossbow. When he fired the first bolt, his aim was slightly off, and the bird tilted out of range, avoiding the projectile. “Stay still, bastard!” Rank hissed as he reloaded.

  The bird swooped down, swiping the hat from Rank's head. “Hey!” The self-proclaimed master swordsman shook a fist at the feathered beast. “I liked that hat, you little shit! You owe me!”

  Rank's fingers fumbled with the crossbow as the bird distracted him with a series of screeches. When it was finally loaded, he released the horses' reins and gripped his crossbow in both hands, holding it steady. He fired again, landing a direct hit on the bird's chest. “Ha!” he cackled. “That's for stealing my hat!”

  The bird was unaffected by the attack; in fact, its fiery wings flapped harder than ever. It swooped down again, capturing the collar of Rank's shirt in its thin, hooked beak.

  “Get off!” Rank threw a punch, but the bird didn't back off. He was determined to keep his beak on Rank's collar. “I said getoffame!!”

  The bird effortlessly lifted Rank from the driver's seat and tossed him aside. Cinderella was looking through the window when she saw her captor's body drop and roll.

  “Oh my god!” she gasped. “That was Rank!”

  Terra's eyebrows shot up. “Rank? What about him?”

  “The bird just picked him up and dropped him on the ground!” Cinda explained. “I saw it all happen.”

  “Then... who's driving the carriage?” her stepsister asked.

  “No one!” The revelation made Cinda scream. “Now we're really going to die! Or, at the very least, the carriage will crash and I'll have a hundred broken bones.”

  “Why are you always so quick to panic?” Terra criticized her. “Maybe the horses will eventually just... stop?”

  The horses did stop, but they weren't without guidance. A mysterious driver hopped down from the seat. The girls could hear the thumping of his footsteps as he walked around the carriage.

  “There's someone out there,” Cinda whispered. Her blue eyes grew to such an immense size, her stepsister almost laughed at the sight of them.

  “I know. But who? Are you sure Rank fell?”

  “I'm absolutely sure!” Cinda exclaimed, seizing and squeezing Terra's arm. “Why can't anything go right? Why has this entire journey been a series of hardships? Am I being tested? Are we—”

  When the door popped open, Cinderella screamed. The carriage's mysterious driver had a relatively harmless face—but she couldn't stop her scream from slipping out.

  “Oh no! Don't
be alarmed!” the young man exclaimed. “I'm nice, I swear! I'm not here to hurt you!”

  As she pried Cinda's constricting fingers from her arm, Terra replied, “You'll have to forgive us if we're cautious. We've been through a lot.”

  “I understand,” the young man replied.

  When her heart resumed its usual steady beat, Cinderella climbed down from the carriage. She wanted to get a better look at him, and she needed to stretch her legs. Compared to Rank, he was a bit short—a mere few inches taller than she was. He was probably a few years older than her as well. His face was adorable, perhaps even a bit ethereal. His hair—short, brown and wavy—was tousled by chilly winds.

  He thrust out a hand and introduced himself. “I'm Fenix. Fenix Kole. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

  His politeness had her sighing with relief. “It's lovely to meet you too, Fenix. I'm Cinda.”

  “Cinda, hm?” His straight lips were twitched by a temporary smile. “Unless I'm mistaken, Cinda... you were in need of a rescue?”

  “Yes! We were taken by a strange man named Rank. Before that, we were almost eaten by a dragon! It's been a... difficult day.”

  Terra stuck her head through the window and forced her way into the conversation. “There's something I don't understand. We were attacked by a big, red bird, and then you--”

  “Orange bird,” Fenix politely corrected her. “And he wasn't attacking you. He was rescuing you.”

  “Right. So you say, but... how did you suddenly appear?” Terra asked. “And what happened to the bird? Did it fly away?”

  Fenix's eyes snapped back and forward between the faces of Terra and Cinda. Would they believe him? People rarely did—until he proved it. “The bird didn't fly away,” he told them. “I am the bird.”

  “You're... the bird...” Terra apathetically repeated. “Right. That doesn't sound absurd at all. Now that we're revealing things about ourselves, I should probably tell you... I'm a bear.”

  Terra suspected her naive stepsister would be much more apt to believe his nonsensical story, and she was right.

  “You were the bird? Really?” Cinda gasped. “That's amazing!”

  “Thanks.” When Fenix smiled again, the expression stayed on his lips a little bit longer. “Currently, I can shapeshift into seven different creatures. The bird is one of them, of course. I can also morph into a fly... which is more useful than you'd think... as well as a mouse, a bat, a horse, a wolf and an Onocentaur. If you haven't heard of the last one before, I'm not surprised. Basically, it's a cross between a centaur and an ass.”

  “But you can't morph into a bear, which means I'm better than you,” Terra teased him. She didn't believe a word he was saying—but Cinderella swallowed it all.

  “I'd like to see your other shapes!” Cinda exclaimed. “That would be incredible. I'd really like to know what an Onocentaur looks like and... oh!” Her eyes fell to the dark stain in the center of Fenix's red tunic. “What's that?”

  “Ah. I was... shot.”

  “In the middle of your chest?” Cinda shrieked. “Are you alright? Are you dying?”

  “No. Unfortunately.” Fenix lifted his shirt to check the wound. The tiny crossbow bolt was lodged in his heart. Every time the organ pumped, fresh blood seeped from the hole in his chest. With a weary sigh, Fenix yanked the bolt from his flesh.

  “Oh no!” Cinderella squeaked. When he removed the bolt, a stream of blood gushed from the wound. Clapping a hand over her eyes, she cried, “You are dying!”

  “No. I'm not,” Fenix corrected her. He almost sounded a bit disappointed. “I can't die. I'm immortal. Look.”

  Cinda opened one eye, but only slightly. Her other eye was tightly shut. To her surprise, the grotesque sight was gone. Fenix's wound was entirely healed.

  “As I said, I can't die. Ten arrows could strike me and have no effect. I might get knocked down for a bit, but I always bounce back. I've been cursed with immortality,” Fenix explained. “It's one of two curses I have to live with.”

  “What's the other curse?” asked Terra, whose skepticism was erased by his vanishing wound.

  “I... would rather not speak of the other one.” Fenix's hands disappeared into the pockets of his oversized tunic. “But I do want you to know, you have no reason to fear me. You're safe with me. I promise.”

  As her chin raised, Cinda declared, “I believe you.” Terra was glaring at her again, but she tried to ignore her stepsister's disapproval. Fenix's gentle face and warm, blue eyes made him difficult to distrust.

  “I'll take you anywhere you'd like to go,” Fenix said, sliding backward to the horses. “I assume you had a destination?”

  “Indeed. The Winter Palace in Westerwood,” Cinderella replied. “I'm Prince Sharman's fiance.”

  “Ah... wow. That's amazing. I had no idea.” Fenix felt his eyelashes fluttering, so he quickly changed the subject. Turning to the other girl in the carriage, he said, “I don't believe I ever got your name.”

  “Terra,” she answered without inflection. “In case you didn't know, I actually can't morph into a bear.”

  “I guessed as much.” As he returned to the driver's seat, Fenix told them, “Well, we're off to Westerwood, then. We'll have to make a couple of stops along the way, but we should get there by tomorrow. From now on, I'll try to make your journey a bit more pleasant.”

  By the time they reached the nearest town, it was late. Countless stars had emerged to pepper a cloudless night sky. Fenix hopped down from the carriage with ease, unhitched the horses, and left them in the care of a pimply young stable boy. Like a gentleman, he offered to help the ladies from the carriage. Cinda alighted first, then Terra timidly showed him her crutches. Without a word, Fenix scooped her from her seat, planted her on her feet, and he didn't let go until the crutches were back in her hands.

  Cinda was secretly impressed by how gentlemanly he was. He even held the door for them as they entered The Straw Dragon Inn, where they had chosen to stay for the night. He was certainly different from Rank. Cinda's skin was plastered in goose pimples when she tried to recall the madman's partially painted face.

  “Are you ladies willing to share a bedroom?” Fenix asked as they approached a portly innkeeper.

  “Of course,” Cinda responded first. “Although... perhaps I shouldn't speak for both of us?”

  “It's fine,” Terra chimed in. Her eyes were pulled to the inn's loudly cracking fireplace, where a pair of orange kittens were embracing as they enjoyed the fire's warmth. The cats made the inn look homey—which was a relief after a tiresome day.

  After Fenix booked rooms and claimed the necessary keys, they made their way to the inn's restaurant. It was Terra who demanded food. Her stomach had been gurgling ever since their encounter with the Bronze Belcher—which felt like ages ago.

  “I'm so sorry, Mr. Kole!” Cinda apologized as they claimed a table. “You're using your own money to purchase rooms and food, and I feel terrible about it! As soon as we reach the Winter Palace, I'm sure Prince Sharman will compensate you.”

  “No worries,” Fenix breezily replied as he pulled out a chair for Cinda, and then for Terra. “I'm happy to help. Besides, it's a rare honor to escort the prince's fiance across the country. I'm happy to do it.”

  They were late arrivals at the restaurant. In fact, it was due to close in thirty minutes. Their waitress was smiling, but tired. She yawned three times as she scribbled down their orders.

  “So, ladies...” Fenix's hands folded behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. “I'd like to learn more about you. Tell me something interesting.” He directed his next question to Cinda. “What's it like to be the prince's fiance?”

  “What's it like? Hmm.” Cinda chewed her lip as she mulled it over. “I don't know. It's like... nothing.”

  Fenix's eyes narrowed. “Nothing?”

  “I mean... I can't really describe it because I barely know him,” Cinderella confessed. “We danced once and then he... proposed.”

 
; “Prince Sharman proposed after one dance?” When Fenix grinned, he looked a bit wolfish. “You must have been an amazing dancer.”

  “I'm not, actually. I can barely waltz without stumbling over my feet. However, despite my lack of coordination, I somehow managed to impress him.” Her story continued a moment later, after drinks were served. “The prince was looking for a wife. That's why he had the ball, but... to be honest, I didn't expect to have a fiance so quickly.”

  “Do you like the prince?” Fenix asked as he raised his mug. When the swig of ale was down his throat, he added, “I always assumed he would be spoiled and obnoxious.”

  “Sharman doesn't seem too bad,” Cinderella vouched for him.

  Her stepsister quickly added, for Fenix's ears only, “He doesn't seem too good, either.”

  “So... basically, you're marrying a man who barely knows you. That seems odd.” Fenix shared his unsolicited opinion as he took another sip from his mug.

  “And I agree,” added Terra. “Their courtship could have lasted a bit longer. Call me a cynic, but I think the idea of love at first sight is a load of rubbish.”

  Cinda defended her absent beau. “You're being too hard on Sharman! Both of you! If he says he cares about me, should I really doubt him?”

  “No, but you should be cautious,” Terra went on. “Personally, I think he seems a little mad. What sort of man goes door-to-door looking for a foot to fit a shoe? It sounds like he was obsessed. He's a bit too smitten.”

  Fenix requested more details. “What? He went door-to-door?”

  “Indeed. After Cinderella danced with him, she lost her shoe. It was a lovely little glass slipper, specially made for my petite stepsister's tiny feet. Well, Sharman found the shoe. To find Cinderella, he had every woman in the kingdom try it on.”

  “Wow.” Fenix's eyes were wide. “That's very dedicated of him.”