Charm (A Cinderella reverse fairytale) (Reverse Fairytales Book 1) Page 14

  “There, there now, don’t cry.” My father’s tone changed dramatically to one of concern. “I’ll tell the press that you are keeping all of them until after the next date. We should have had five at this point anyway.”

  I didn’t really care anymore, but I nodded my head anyway.

  As he left to tell the press and the public the news, I realized I should have just picked someone. The quicker I got rid of the men, the sooner this would all be over and done with.

  Xavi stared at me in horror when I got to the backstage area.

  “What have you done?” She picked up a mirror and showed me the mess the tears had made of my makeup. Black lines of mascara streaked my face, and my eyes were blotchy.

  “For goodness sake, can someone find Louis?” She cried in panic. With only five minutes to go until I was called to the stage, I could understand why she was acting the way she was. Personally, I’d have been happy to show the world the truth about how miserable I felt, but I could only imagine my father’s wrath if I tried it.

  I listened to the interview of Daniel, the last to speak to Sadie as everyone dashed around me in a panic.

  He had the public and Sadie in stitches over some story about his childhood. I felt my heart lifting as I listened to his story of himself as a boy. Of the four men, he was the most real and if I was honest, the one I felt most comfortable with. How easy would it have been if I wasn’t a princess, and we’d just met in the village square one day? I allowed myself a small daydream, but then Louis was there, powdering my face with vigor and scrunching his own up in concentration. He’d just reapplied my smudged lipstick when I heard Sadie calling me to the stage. With my head held high, I swallowed my nerves and climbed up to the stage to the most riotous applause I’d ever heard. In front of me, thousands of people filled the palace driveway. The crowd stretched out right to the palace borders and beyond. It was rare for the public to be let in, in such numbers but today was the second time in two months, the last being Grace’s funeral. I noticed that metal fences had been erected close to the palace, and the number of guards had trebled in light of the attack at the ball.

  Sadie stood to welcome me. The four men were still on stage on a long sofa, and as I approached them to sit at the end, they staged a pretend shoving contest so they could be the one to sit next to me, much to the hilarity of the audience. In the end, I sat right in the middle between Luca and Daniel. Sadie grinned at the horseplay.

  “It seems they like you,” she began as the noise from the crowd died down.

  “I guess so. I’m a very lucky lady.”

  “You are the princess to be envied right now,” agreed Sadie. So tell me, why didn’t you make a choice between these four gorgeous men today?”

  Because I wasn’t allowed! I wanted to say it, but instead, I turned to the audience.

  “Would you be able to choose between these four men, ladies?”

  A roar came up from the crowd as thousands of women screamed. I looked out and saw banners being held in the air, sporting such phrases as “Do me, Daniel” and “Let me be your princess, Luca.” There were about an even number for each man, so I guess the crowd was as split as I was.

  “I couldn’t either,” admitted Sadie, “although I’d like to be in your position to try. How have the dates been going? Any kissing yet?”

  I could feel my cheeks redden. Had someone told her or was she just reaching?

  “Not yet,” I lied. Not only did I not want the public to know, I also didn’t want Cynder to either. I had no way of knowing if he was watching this. I fingered the charm bracelet nervously. It was turning into quite a habit.

  “Well, I hope you make your mind up soon because your wedding is approaching fast. The queen mentioned a date has been tentatively booked for September the twenty-sixth, which gives you just over four months to whittle these four beautiful men down to one. The next elimination is in a month which means one of these delicious specimens will be free for the rest of us, and I personally can’t wait.”

  There was another roar from the audience. Sadie really knew what she was doing. I could see my mother beaming out in the wings. She gobbled up this talk show vibe.

  “Could you give us any hints as to who you might pick next?”

  “It has been such a difficult decision, so much so that I haven’t made it yet. They are all such wonderful people, and I don’t want to make any mistakes. I have to think about my country to which I have a responsibility, as well as to myself. As you have so rightly pointed out, they are all very attractive young men, and beyond that, they are wonderful people, each with his own special attributes. Whoever I choose, it’s not going to be an easy decision to make.”

  “I’d like to see some of those attributes.” She winked at the audience, “but unfortunately we are out of time. Tune in next week when we resume the catch-ups for each royal date.”

  The lights on the cameras went off, and I was led off stage by a member of the crew. My mother hugged me as I passed.

  “You did brilliantly,” she smiled. I smiled back, but unlike hers, mine did not reach my eyes. It was still only morning, and I was already exhausted. The wedding was five months away. Less, really. In four and a half months, I would be walking down the aisle and pledging my life to one of the men on the couch. Right now, I didn’t even want to see any of them. I wanted to be alone. I headed back to my room and stripped off the tiara and expensive dress, throwing them in a pile on the floor. Xavi would be horrified if she knew, but, hopefully, Agatha would pick them up and sort them out for me.

  I ran to the shower, knowing it was one of the few places in the palace I could truly be alone, and spent a good hour in there until my fingertips wrinkled.

  The only good thing about today was that I had a day off from my duties. Now that the show was over, I could do with my day as I wished. There were no dates and no interviews. I decided to spend it at the library. It had been such a huge part of my life before all the madness, and now I realized, I’d not been in there since the day Grace died.

  I dressed in simple cotton pants and a shirt that I found in my wardrobe and headed to the vast room that I once considered home.

  The library took up two floors with wooden staircases spiraling up to a balcony.

  I loved it in here. The smell of the leatherbound volumes never failed to make me feel at peace. I’d not read every book in here—that would be impossible; there were just so many of them, but I’d certainly read a lot. I wandered through the rows of books, fingering the spines as I went, hoping to find a treasure I’d not yet read. I was walking down the extensive fiction section, looking for an escape from my own reality when a thought struck me. I didn’t know the history of the Magi. It was not something that had been taught to me in all my years of schooling. If there was a book on them, it would surely be here.

  I ran up one of the spiral staircases to the second floor where the nonfiction was kept. I knew exactly where the history books were, I’d had to retrieve one for my tutor on many occasions when he was teaching me the history of royalty in Silverwood which was essentially my own family tree.

  I perused the shelves, looking for anything that might have the Magi in it, but all I could find was a thick tome, which covered the whole history of Silverwood. I carried it downstairs and sat in one of the winged chairs designed for reading. I was checking the appendix when I heard a noise behind me.

  It was Elise. I don’t know who was more surprised, her or me.

  “Hey,” I waved at her. “It’s not like you to be in here.” And it wasn’t. In all the time I’d spent reading in the library, I’d only ever seen her in here when she was forced to be by our tutor.

  “I was just looking for a book.”

  “Well, you’ve come to the right place. Do you need help finding one?”

  “Actually, I’m not that interested. I think I’ll go for a walk instead.” And with that, she was gone. Very mysterious!

  I found what I was looking for and fli
pped to the correct page. The Magi were only described briefly as being immigrants to Silverwood, first appearing about two hundred years ago from places such as Thalia and Laidys. No wonder Thalia was ok with them. That’s where they originated. Apparently, their magical powers were first brought to light when weird things kept happening in a small mountain village between the kingdoms of Thalia and Laidys. The villagers blamed the spring that erupted near the village. After a while, they realized that they could control their powers, and thus, the Magi were founded. Every Magi has a history that traces from that one village, but non-Magi who travel there and drink the spring water cannot replicate the Magi’s powers. It was thought that there were only about a hundred and fifty Magi originally, but these numbers increased over the generations, and the magic was passed down from father to son, from mother to daughter. Eventually, they spread out into the world, and some settled in Silverwood. Right from the start, they were considered outlaws, with the royalty trying to send them back on a number of occasions. Eventually, they were just a part of everyday life, no longer illegal, but considered beneath everyone else and living on the fringes of society. I was surprised to learn that it was only in the time of my grandfather’s reign that they were allowed to get jobs. Maybe my father wanted to go back to a time before that.

  I closed the book and sighed. The Magi had always had it hard. How could I change a century and a half of mistrust by myself? I thought back to what Luca had said about wanting to change things. Maybe, with him by my side, we could finally change things for the better.

  I heard the door open behind me. Thinking Elise had changed her mind about the book, I didn’t bother to turn.

  A pair of warm hands covered my eyes.

  “Is that you, Elise?”

  The hands withdrew quickly. “It’s me. I came looking for you.”

  Leo came around the front of my chair and sat opposite me. “I saw that you were upset this morning, and I wanted to see if you were alright.”

  He’d noticed? “I thought Louis; my make-up artist had covered all that up? Was it really bad?” The thought of being on TV in front of hundreds of thousands of people with a blotchy face left me feeling embarrassed.

  “No, you looked perfectly stunning. I’m just more perceptive than most.”

  “It’s nothing, really. Just a little stage fright.” He didn’t have to know the truth.

  “I have to admit I was surprised you didn’t pick someone to leave. If I may be so bold, you really don’t seem into this whole thing.”

  “I’m not. I’m sorry. I feel bad for saying it, but how am I supposed to pick from four strangers, knowing that if I make the wrong decision, I have to live with it for the rest of my life?”

  He came over and hugged me. What is it with these men? They were all so perfect. How could I complain when any one of them would be a good choice?

  “I’m not taking it personally. In your position, I’d hide in my room and lock the door.”

  “I’m sorely tempted.”

  “I just want you to know that if you didn’t choose one of us to spare our feelings, you shouldn’t worry. We are all grown-ups, and we all know what we signed up for. I will not hold it against you if you pick me to leave first.”

  “Are you hinting that you want to leave?” I smiled through my tears.

  “No, not at all. I feel very honored to be here, and I don’t want to go. I just don’t want you feeling the way you do.”

  “That’s not really it, but thank you.”

  He really was a nice guy, and I could see he would make a good prince and husband. I thought back to our trip out into Silverwood. He and Prince Luca had a lot in common. I wondered if they talked much or if the men avoided each other? Apart from the occasions that called for them to be together such as today, I’d never seen them in the same room.

  “What are you reading?” Leo nodded at the book in my hands.

  “I was looking for a book about the Magi, but I could only find this. It doesn’t say much.”

  “I bet it doesn’t. You’ll not find what you are looking for in here, but I might have something that would interest you. I’ll see if I can find it. Just don’t let anyone catch you with it, or I might be in trouble.”

  All afternoon, I considered his words. Why would he be in trouble over a book? I waited for him to bring it to me, but it was only as Agatha was helping me dress for bed that Elise came in with it tied in brown paper and string.

  “Leo asked me to give this to you. What is it?” Her usual curiosity shone through, but I couldn’t tell her the truth. I’d made a promise to Leo.

  “I asked Leo for a book about gardening. Apparently, he is a keen gardener,” I improvised. “It must be that.”

  “Is he?” she asked in surprise. “I wonder why he’s never told me that.”

  When both she and Agatha had left for the night, I unwrapped the book and began to read.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The Wedding plans and the newspaper

  I decided to give myself a few days off from the madness. I wanted to read the book that Leo had given me in peace and just clear my brain from everything that had been happening to me. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind, and I needed a breather. I spent the first couple of days out in the garden, ignoring the world and trying to ignore the builders that were still working on the palace wall.

  I’d just gotten to the point where I’d all but blocked out my situation when a white peacock walked past me on the lawn. I turned and saw three more, just strolling about as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It wasn’t so much the peacocks that bothered me, although I did find it strange that they were there. It was the truck full of boxes that were being delivered up to the house that had me on edge.

  “Mother?” I shouted, knowing that she had something to do with it. I found her signing a document for one of the deliverymen. Next to the boxes were reams of white satin and silk. They filled the entrance hall. As if by magic, a dozen or so members of the palace staff appeared and started to carry the boxes away. One picked up the top ream of satin.

  “That needs to go to Xavi in the dressing room,” mother said when she noticed what he was holding.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’m getting ready for the wedding. I know it’s a few months away, but these things take a lot of preparation.”

  “The wedding?” Ok, I’d known it was happening, but I’d managed to file it into a vague time in the future in my mind. Seeing all the white in front of me turned it into reality. A reality I wasn’t ready for.

  “Yes. I’ve chosen white as the main color for your dress, but Xavi tells me that you can add some color to it if you want. Just let’s keep it pretty neutral. I’ve ordered some cakes so we can do a cake tasting next week although I’m thinking at least ten tiers so we can mix and match the flavors. What do you think?”

  “Ok,” I answered bleakly. How could I choose a wedding cake flavor when I couldn’t even choose a groom?

  ***

  There wasn’t a day that went by without me thinking of Cynder, but without any means of communication with him, I had no way of finding out if he was ok. I checked the papers meticulously every day for news of the palace bomber, but it seemed the only thing anyone wanted to know about was who I’d choose to marry. Three weeks passed in a blur as I went on date after date and was subjected to interview after interview. Sadie was beginning to get impatient with the lack of gossip, and as I’d not kissed anyone since Luca, I really didn’t have much to say to her.

  It was the third week since the last elimination and one week until the next when something in the paper caught my eye. As usual, the paper was full of the same speculation as every day. Old school friends and past acquaintances of the four men were coming out of the woodwork to give interviews and, as always, there was the obligatory poll with the public deciding on a daily basis who they liked best. I noted that Leo had taken the lead with Prince Luca slipping into a close second. Xav
ier was next and then with a long drop between them, Daniel. I couldn’t understand it. Daniel was probably my favorite, and he always did well in the interviews. But although he was gorgeous, he didn’t have the dangerously good looks of Xavier, the Royal title of Luca nor the philanthropic history of Leo. In short, he was just a regular boy next door, and according to the paper, that made him boring. In reality, he was probably the least boring of the four, but since when had the newspapers dealt in reality? I was just about to throw the paper to one side in disgust when I noticed something I’d not seen before. It was a small advertisement, hidden between all the other adverts in the middle of the paper. It would have been so easy to miss, and I had almost missed it. It was a photo of a charm bracelet identical to the one Cynder had given me. Above it were the words A CHARM FOR ALL OCCASIONS. I read the copy beneath.

  Tell her you love her with this beautiful charm bracelet. A lucky charm for your Lucky Charm.

  There was no number or address listed as a contact, but I knew it was him. He’d said those exact words to me. It was no coincidence that the last words were capitalized. He was talking about me. This was his way of telling me he’d escaped and he was alright. I pulled out all the old copies of the newspapers that I’d stashed under my bed and flicked through them all. This advert had run every day since I’d last seen Cynder. He’d been trying to talk to me this whole time, and I’d not noticed.

  I scrabbled around in a drawer for a pen and piece of paper. I was going to reply.

  SAY I LOVE YOU WITH PRINCESS CHARMS

  When he gives you a charm, tell him you love him.

  Ok, it was feeble, but it could pass as an advert. If anyone saw it, they’d think it was a rival company to Cynder’s ad. Maybe even the same company. To Cynder, it would tell him that I love him and that I knew he was alright. There was so much more I wanted to say, but those were the only words I had. I put the paper in an envelope, being careful to pick one without the royal crest, and handed it to Agatha along with some money to cover it.