Chapter 10
A week later, Cinderella walked the length of the dwindling Sun Skip field, reminiscing on Queen Freja’s smile.
The mystery of Freja and Friedrich’s resemblance was resolved. When Cinderella visited Friedrich the day after the ceremony, she asked about it. Friedrich reported with a wide smile, “You saw it, too? My family is deeply royal. Our lineage goes far, far back—,” Which, as he blathered on about pedigrees and long dead kings, Cinderella took to mean that there was barely any royal blood left in his family, and it was probably more that Queen Freja had mannish facial features.
But the queen’s conduct with the little girl intrigued Cinderella. She thought the queen would scorn any Trieux citizen—regardless of their age. But Freja was soft and almost motherly towards the little girl. Was she really as bad as Cinderella thought her to be?
“Mademoiselle?”
“Yes, Jeanne?”
Jeanne bit her lip. “There is a government official here.”
“He wishes to see me?”
“No, he says he needs nothing. But he’s wandering around and…I would not bother you, but Father is up in the hay fields today,” Jeanne said.
Cinderella frowned. “He’s just wandering around?”
“He said he is taking inventory of future Erlauf Crown assets.”
Anger stiffened Cinderella’s spine. “I will see to him. Where is he?”
“By the milking barn.”
“Thank you, Jeanne.”
“Mademoiselle,” Jeanne said. She curtsied, but Cinderella was already walking away, her gray eyes flashing like thunderclouds.
Cinderella found the greasy-looking fellow—some sort of undersecretary judging by his sweat-stained shirt. “Can I help you, Sir?”
The undersecretary counted the cows. “’fraid not,” he said.
“I think you fail to understand me, sir,” Cinderella said. “I am Duchess Lacreux. How can I help you, or if you need me to use common words, what are you doing?”
“Ah, sorry,” the undersecretary said, turning from the cows. “I’ve been sent to take inventory of your lands.”
“Are all lands being re-evaluated for tax purposes?”
“No.”
“Then why are you taking inventory?”
The undersecretary scratched his dry scalp. “The crown requested it so plans can be drawn for dividing up the lands and stock after Aveyron reverts to the Crown.”
What?
Cinderella forced her expression to remain pleasant. “Did the Crown not receive my first down payment against the fine two days ago?” Cinderella asked.
“No, it was received and recorded,” the undersecretary said. “But it is the Finance Department’s opinion that if it is all you were able to pay off over the first few months of summer, you have no possibility of paying the remaining balance by the end of the month. The queen has plans for Aveyron and wishes to move forward with them as soon as possible.”
That beast! Cinderella thought, taking back the few kind thoughts she had of Queen Freja. That pushy, greedy, flint-hearted witch!
“That may be so, but until the end of the month, Aveyron is mine,” Cinderella said, the controlled coolness of her voice making the undersecretary squirm. “If you have no legal purpose to loiter on my land, I must order you to take your leave. The queen may wait to measure and take inventory until Aveyron belongs to her.”
“Oh, but Her Majesty will be so very disappointed—.”
“Be gone,” Cinderella said, every inch of her body drawing up in nobility and attitude.
The force of her words, although softly spoken, sent the undersecretary scuttling. “As you wish, Lady,” he said before running from Aveyron.
Cinderella watched him go with shaking fists.
Gustav whistled in appreciation as he ducked out from his hiding spot in the barn. “Well said, Your Grace. Even in servants’ dress and dirt, you can issue a command like the Colonel himself. Your Grace?” he said when Cinderella did not acknowledge him and started for Werra.
She had to see Marie.
There was no one in Aveyron Cinderella could speak to. Jeanne was the closest thing she had to a companion, and the young woman made sure to hold Cinderella at an arm’s length.
The servants of Aveyron saw Cinderella go, but they did not stop her, or the three Erlauf soldiers who followed her in the shadows.
Cinderella’s ears were ringing by the time she reached Marie’s residential home. The maid opened the door and took one look at Cinderella before she ran off, calling, “Madame? Madame Marie!” leaving the door wide open.
Cinderella stepped inside, her eyes sweeping through the pleasant parlor situated near the entrance. Her shoulders shook with rage and despair, and she almost leaped out of her skin when Marie came around the corner and said, “Cinderella, what happened?”
Feeling lost, like the ground had dropped out under her feet, Cinderella shrugged. “I hate her, Marie.”
“Who?”
“That wretched queen,” Cinderella said before the tears started falling.
Marie sighed. “My darling friend,” she said before folding her arms around Cinderella in a warm embrace. “Your burden is difficult, and I am sorry for it.”
When Marie led Cinderella to a settee, the story came spilling from her lips in a rush of emotion as wild as the tears that splashed her face.
“She’s so unyielding. And it seems she takes pleasure in this,” Cinderella said after all was told. She wiped her eyes with the linen handkerchief Marie passed to her.
“She might. I can imagine she bears grudges against us for the damages and cost we have been to her country,” Marie said, fussing with Cinderella’s hair before gesturing to a servant.
The servant briefly disappeared, returning to the room with tea and cookies.
Cinderella groaned, a sound that worked its way up from deep in her heart. “She’s hateful.”
“She is,” Marie agreed, her tone tempered, but edged just as sharp as Cinderella’s.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Cinderella admitted. “I was hopeful they would accept a partial payment—perhaps half. But based on my interaction today, I don’t think it is a possibility.”
Marie nodded and served the tea.
“I will have to marry Julien. I summarized that much from our last meeting. Marcus is a sweet boy, and I like his parents better than Julien’s, but he’s terribly smitten with Julien’s sister. He deserves a chance at happiness,” Cinderella said.
Marie pressed her lips together.
“What?” Cinderella asked.
“What about Colonel Friedrich?”
“What about him?”
“Is he not an option?”
Cinderella drank her tea. “I don’t think so,” she said.
“Why not? Do you think he isn’t serious in his pursuit of you?”
“It’s not that,” Cinderella said, setting her teacup down. “I…I don’t want to bring him misery.”
“What do you mean?”
“He might l-love me, but what would happen if we were to marry? So far Erlauf has tolerated our friendship, but what penalty will he pay for marrying me? It could cost him his friends, his post, even his career. I can’t ask him to do that.”
“What if he wants to?” Marie asked. “I know everyone whispers he is a rogue, but, Cinderella, surely you must realize he follows you with the loyalty of a dog?”
Cinderella covered her face with her hands. “I know,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
“Do you love him?” Marie asked after several heartbeats of silence.
“I don’t know.”
“But you would prefer him over Julien?”
“Perhaps.”
Marie smiled sadly. “The problem is you are too noble. You should be self-centered, just this once.”
Cinderella groaned as she pressed her fingers to her puffy eyes. “It’s too late in my life to start thinking of such things now,” Cinderella said with a half-smile when she lowered her hands. “I know what I should do.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I should run away to Loire. I could…join a traveling show or something.”
“I imagine folks would pay to see a noble who feeds pigs, massacres baskets, and runs a market stand,” Marie said.
“I could learn how to ride a trick horse,” Cinderella said.
“Of course.”
“It would be a fine income,” Cinderella insisted.
“Absolutely,” Marie said.
The two girls stared at each other for a moment before erupting into laughter.
“Y-you took years to learn to ride a horse, and now you want to learn trick rides?” Marie laughed.
“Perhaps I could teach a horse to do tricks?” Cinderella said. “Like a dog.”
“That may work better.”
“Or I could make terrible baskets for a living.”
“You know you’re always welcome to live with Armel and me,” Marie said.
Cinderella’s expression softened. “I know, and I thank you. But I am titled and seventeen. I cannot hide from my future forever.”
“I know, but I would be honored to be your safe haven,” Marie said.
“You already are,” Cinderella said.
“Excuse me, Madame,” a maid in a crisp, clean uniform said, bobbing to Marie and Cinderella. “There is a man at the door to see Duchess Lacreux.”
Marie frowned. “What?” she asked as she and Cinderella made their way towards the door.
Out on the front porch, holding the reins of a blood bay horse, was Colonel Friedrich. The Colonel was covered in dust, and the sweeping brim of his hat was cut and squashed. “Sorry, Pet. I would have been here sooner, but I was…indisposed,” he said. He pulled a leather glove off his hand with his teeth. He extended his gloveless hand to Cinderella, gently brushing her cheek bones with his fingers. “I’m filthy, sorry,” he winced.
Cinderella walked into Friedrich, pressing her face into his shoulder.
The collision made dust puff like a cloud, but Friedrich slid his arms around Cinderella after passing off the reins of his horse to Gustav.
Although he cradled Cinderella, Friedrich looked past her to Marie. “Thank you,” he said.
Marie raised an eyebrow. “She was my friend first before she became your heart’s desire. There is no need for you to thank me.”
“All the same, I still thank you,” Friedrich said.
“I am not a dog to be cared for,” Cinderella said into Friedrich’s shoulder.
“Of course you aren’t, Pet. What do you say to a brief ride? We will share my mount,” Friedrich said.
Cinderella stepped back from Friedrich’s embrace, her composure regained. “Where are we going?”
“Out of Werra for a bit,” Friedrich said, adjusting his horse’s saddle.
“Very well,” Cinderella agreed before she turned back to Marie. “Thank you.”
Marie smiled. “I am glad to help in whatever way I can. And I am trying hard not to feel resentful for being replaced.”
Cinderella laughed. “He could not replace you. Not ever. You will always be my closest, dearest friend, Marie.”
Marie arrogantly tilted her head up as she looked to Friedrich.
“Alright, I admit defeat,” Friedrich said before picking Cinderella up and sliding her on his horse. A moment later he was mounted up behind her. “I will never dare to try and come between you two beautiful ladies.”
“Enjoy your ride,” Marie said.
“We will,” Friedrich said before nudging his horse forward.
“Did Gustav tell you everything?” Cinderella asked.
“Yes,” Friedrich said, his eyes glued to the bustling streets.
“I’m more hardened than ever towards your queen.”
“She seems horrible because you’re only hearing one side of the orders.”
“Do not try to reconcile her to me,” Cinderella said, her voice sharp.
Friedrich sighed. “I know she has been unusually hard on you.”
“Hard? Hard? She has done her best to make me her legal slave,” Cinderella hissed.
Friedrich was quiet until they left Werra. They lingered within eyesight of his regiment’s camp, but dismounted and walked through a hay field.
“You have a right to hate Queen Freja, and to hate the royal family,” Friedrich said.
“Naturally.”
“But is it the right thing?”
Cinderella tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve gotten over your hate for Erlauf soldiers and commoners, right?”
“Yes,” Cinderella said with great hesitation.
“Why?”
“Because I have grown to realize and accept they are people too. I’ve known all along about Erlauf citizens, but it was difficult to reconcile the thought with soldiers—who killed my neighbors and associates,” Cinderella said.
“And you also admit Trieux was in the wrong?”
“Yes,” Cinderella said, her mouth forming an unhappy slant. “Where are you going with this?”
“Why can’t you extend the same sort of forgiveness to the queen?”
“You can’t be serious,” Cinderella said.
“I am.”
“Very well. Then perhaps it is because Erlauf commoners do not trek all over Aveyron, eyeing it greedily. Erlauf soldiers do not lie and steal from me, nor do they blackmail me and press me with such hard fines I will lose everything but my own body and my title. I can forgive them because their actions are forgivable. This queen of yours? She will not rest until I am destitute. For such cruelty, I have no forgiveness.”
“Does a person have to act sorry in order to be forgiven?” Friedrich asked. “I know you have encountered cruelty from others, and yet you forgive them.”
“Why does my attitude towards your queen bother you so?” Cinderella asked, placing her fists on her hips. “Whatever I think about Queen Freja isn’t of great importance. I am not going to rise up against her in rebellion—surely you must realize that. So what does it matter?”
“Forgiveness takes a great deal of personal strength. A weak person cannot forgive, and their actions will keep them captive and fester like an infected wound,” Friedrich said.
Cinderella stared at Friedrich. “What?”
“Of everyone in this rotten country, you, Cinderella, are the nearest to grasping forgiveness. You are so close to bridging the gap between us. Hate cannot drive out hate. As long as those from Trieux hate those from Erlauf, our countries will be in an eternal struggle. If you can forgive us, you will set not only yourself free, but your countrymen as well. I want you to have the courage to forgive. I want you to be the person to save our countries.”
“Friedrich, I am not capable of saving anyone. I can’t even save my own servants. I’m about to lose my lands. I don’t know what hope you see in me, but I am not capable of it,” Cinderella said.
“You are much stronger than you know,” Friedrich said, stepping closer. “You can conquer a country with forgiveness,” he said, lowering his head towards Cinderella.
When he was a hand away, Cinderella covered her mouth with her hands. “Do not even dream of it,” she said, her voice muffled.
Friedrich sighed. “Still not yet?”
“It will be not ever, I suspect.”
“Why not?”
“I said it before. Above all, I will honor my marriage.”
“Even though we aren’t married yet?”
Cinderella removed her hands from her mouth so she could smack Friedrich on the chest.
“If only you could apply this same sort of loyalty towards Erlauf,” Friedrich grumbled as Cinderella minced away from him.
“If only your queen had a heart,” Cinderella said.
Friedrich gathered up the reins of his horse. “Shall we return to my camp? I will see you home, but I would like to check in with some of my men first.”
“That sounds agreeable,” Cinderella said.
Friedrich caught one of Cinderella’s hands and held it as they walked back to the camp, Friedrich’s horse trailing behind him.
They rounded the corner of the camp and entered the stables.
Two soldiers saw them and violently shook their heads, motioning for Friedrich and Cinderella to backtrack.
“What?” Cinderella said, tilting her head.
“Drat,” Friedrich said.
Out of a stall came an Erlauf officer. He wore a uniform identical to Friedrich’s, but without the eye patch. His hair was a chestnut shade of brown, and he had good-humored, gentle, hazel-colored eyes.
“Friedrich, so you are here. Your men insisted you were out for the day but—,” the man cut off when he set eyes on Cinderella.
The stable was shockingly silent.
The two lower-ranked soldiers looked as though they wished the ground would swallow them alive. Friedrich wore a dark scowl on his face, and the unknown officer gaped at Cinderella as if she was a three-headed goat.
Cinderella cleared her throat and decided no one seemed prone to introducing her to this stranger, so she may as well do it herself. “Good afternoon, sir. I am Lady Cinderella Lacreux, and you are?”
“Colonel Merrich of the Second Regiment in the Dragon Army,” Merrich said, his voice just as dazed as his expression.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Colonel Merrich,” Cinderella said, performing a sweeping curtsey.
“There’s no need to be nice to him,” Friedrich said.
“What? Friedrich, you wound me! Has he said nothing of me?” Merrich asked.
Cinderella shook her head. “I don’t believe Colonel Friedrich has ever mentioned a Colonel Merrich.”
“Well, this is a fine mess,” Merrich said. “You lied about her beauty, and then you don’t even tell her about me?”
“I said she was exotic. You were the one who decided she must resemble a troll,” Friedrich said, curling an arm around Cinderella’s shoulders.
“I beg your pardon?” Cinderella said, her voice dangerously pleasant as she stepped out of the gesture.
“It was a joke,” Friedrich said. “I did not tell him how breathtaking you are.”
Cinderella looked down at her rumpled dress and ran a hand through her windswept hair. “Oh yes. Breathtaking,” she said, her voice devoid of emotion.
“But you are,” Colonel Merrich said with a charming smile. “I have never before seen hair so red and stunning before in my life,” he said, taking Cinderella’s hand.
He almost brushed it with his lips before Cinderella pulled her hand from his grasp. “I am charmed,” Cinderella said in the same tone one uses to announce the sight of a dead rat. “If you will excuse me, gentlemen. I believe I will go wait in the mess hall until you are ready to leave, Fred,” Cinderella said before making her exit from the stable.
As she left, she heard Colonel Merrich say to Friedrich, “She is a tough one to crack, isn’t she? I understand why you whine and complain so.”
“Thank you for your sympathy.”
“Yes, I figure I ought to share some with you before I kill you for setting me up as the fool. That lady could stop the sun if she smiled. You said she scuttled.”
“I have no idea what you are referring to,” Friedrich said.
Are all Erlauf Colonels so roguish? Cinderella wondered, shaking her head as she made her way to the mess hall.