The Pumpkin Carriage

The week between interviews flew by at such a pace, it was the day before the next one before I knew it. As I had the last time, I was expected to go on dates with both men and report back. In truth, I’d been keeping my distance from both men all week. Confusion filled me whenever I thought about either of them. I’d avoided Luca because I just wasn’t sure how to deal with him. And if I spoke to Cynder, I’d have to ask about his wife, and I wasn’t ready for that yet. I’d spoken to Leo to see if he’d found out anything else, but his informant hadn’t come back to him yet. I knew I needed to broach the subject to him, but no matter how I put it in my head, it sounded wrong.

When the time came round for our official date, I’d still not spoken to him about it.

I decided to hold our date in the bowling alley on the ground floor of the palace. I’d had a date down there before with Daniel and enjoyed it, although that might have been because he’d gotten me drunk on mojitos and other cocktails. As it was so far out of the way from any of the other rooms in the palace, I knew we’d be able to talk without being overheard. I wasn’t sure if I wanted anyone else to know he already had a wife yet. Leo had promised me he’d keep it a secret for now while I decided what to do. Once Cynder came clean about the whole thing, I’d have to make a decision whether to tell the public now or later. I’d also have to tell Luca who was sure to be happy about the whole thing.

I headed out of the palace to Cynder’s guest house. I felt the nerves creeping up on me as I neared his door. It dawned on me that this would be our first real date. An official date! It felt strange after everything we’d already been through together. It felt stranger knowing he already had a wife out there somewhere. I was ready to hammer on his door angrily. The tension had been building up in me all week and had now reached a crescendo.

I marched right past the guest house that Luca was staying in and headed to Cynder’s door. There was a small envelope pinned to the door. It had my name on it. I looked around to see if anyone was watching me, then pulled it down. It was one of the palace’s official envelopes. He must have asked my mother if he could have one. I fingered the royal crest before ripping it open. Inside was one sheet of paper—another bit of palace stationery.

In neat handwriting were the words “My Lucky Charm. I still remember where we danced. 7pm.”

I looked at my watch. It was only 4pm.

Where we had danced? The only place I could think about was the palace kitchen, but back then it had been late. At 7pm, the kitchen would be bustling with staff, getting dinner ready.

He surely didn’t want to meet me there?

I walked back to the palace slowly, feeling perplexed. As I had a few hours to kill, I decided to take a walk around the grounds. The grass was wet with rain, but the skies had cleared, and it was unseasonably warm. As I walked around the palace, a thought occurred to me. There had been one other place we had danced. I let my eyes gaze up at the apartment that used to belong to Cynder’s parents. It was still light out, so there was no illumination coming from the window, and yet, I knew I was right. Cynder was meeting me outside the palace. It was risky, but nothing compared to the last time. I’d managed to sneak out of the palace and meet him there twice last year. He’d been on the run from the police then. This time, I’d only have to worry about paparazzi spotting me.

Excitement flooded through me. The brief time I’d spent in his apartment classified as the happiest in my life.

He’s married, you idiot!

Damn that little voice in my head!

I ran back inside and up to the dressing room. Xavi was ready and waiting for me. My guess was that she’d been waiting all day in the faint hope I’d show up, but not really expecting it. A broad smile passed her lips as she realized she’d have her chance to make me up after all.

My plan was to ask her to find me a nice, but understated, dress. Something simple.

“Before you say anything,” said Xavi as I walked through the door I’ve already got a dress picked out for you.”

I wanted to argue, but I was intrigued.

“Why have you picked me a dress? You don’t even know what I’m doing for my date. I could have been going to the swimming pool.”

“Cynder came up earlier and picked one out for you,” she said, clicking her fingers. Immediately two of her helpers ran into the huge closet at the back.

“Cynder picked a dress?” I asked, a small smile on my lips.

“Not quite.” Xavi was obviously enjoying teasing me.

“So did he or didn’t he?”

“He asked us to order it in. It came this morning.”

The girls came back with a dress bag on a hanger. I watched as they unzipped and pulled it carefully out of the bag. The top half was a jeweled bodice with a thousand diamonds clustered around the prettiest purple stones. The bodice tapered off in a V shape at the back to a long flowing skirt. The second girl presented me with a pair of matching shoes. They were simply the most stunning shoes I’d ever seen with heels that defied gravity.

“You let him order this?” I asked, thinking of the cost. The shoes alone must have been worth thousands.

“He paid for it himself.”

“He paid for this?”

Xavi smiled. “If you look closely, they aren’t real diamonds. It cost a pretty penny, but nowhere near what you are thinking. Now normally, I wouldn’t let you be seen dead in fake diamonds, but it is a pretty dress, and the poor boy was so insistent. I must insist that you wear these real diamond earrings to make up for it.”

She handed me a pair of pear drop diamond earrings. Alezis swept my hair back from my face so the diamonds would show and the make-up girls did wonders with my face. I looked so much more sultry than I had ever done before with the deep purple eyeshadow they’d picked. As I twirled around in front of the mirror, I felt more than a little naughty. If anyone saw me, they couldn’t say I wasn’t dressed in a proper fashion. The dress reached down to the floor after all, but there was something decadent and sexy about it. The fact that it was the color of the Magi didn’t get past me either. Xavi handed me a long purple cloak with a hood. “He said you might want to wear this too.”

I looked down at my watch and realized it was half past six already. I kissed Xavi and thanked the others before taking off awkwardly down the palace corridor.

At the bottom of the stairs was Luca. I suspected he’d been waiting for me for a while, desperate to know what I had in mind for my date with Cynder. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he took in my sultry makeup. Thank goodness, I’d already put on the cloak, and he couldn’t see what was underneath. The crystals on the bodice part of the dress were sewn onto see-through material, and it was only the delicate positioning of the crystals that hid everything. This was not a dress you could wear a bra underneath.

“You look nice,” He managed to get out. I felt bad for him. I made a mental note to dress up for my date with him next week.

“I’m having dinner out. I’ll be back before midnight, I promise.” I kissed him on the cheek, leaving a perfect print of my lips in the dark shade.

He looked like he was about to say something but then a voice behind me startled the both of us.

It was Daniel. Inexplicably, he was carrying a pumpkin and a cage of mice.

“Could you come and help me with something please, Charmaine?”

I turned to Luca and shrugged. Giving him another kiss, I followed Daniel out of the main entrance to the corridor that would lead us to the back part of the palace.

“Be home by midnight!” I heard Luca call as the door shut behind us.

“What’s going on?” I asked as the pumpkin was thrust into my hands. “It’s not Halloween yet,” I pointed out.

“You’ll see,” said Daniel, taking me to the back door. This was the entrance the staff used to come in and out of the palace.

I glanced down at my watch again. It was a quarter to seven. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I’d like to help you, but it’s going to have to wait. I’m going out with Cynder, and I’m going to be late.”

“Could you put that pumpkin down just there at the bottom of the stairs?”

I looked down to where he was pointing. The long gravel driveway stretched right down to the bottom of the garden to the back entrance. The same entrance I’d sneaked out of so many times last year. I walked slowly down the steps, careful not to trip over my dress in my heels and put the pumpkin down.

Raising my eyebrow, I turned to Daniel.

“This ok?”

“Perfect!” He opened the cage and let the mice run free.

I was going to be late, but something about what he was doing fascinated me so much that I decided to hang around for a couple of more minutes to see what it was.

He pulled out a wand and pointed it at the mice. In a flash, they started to grow. The pumpkin, caught in the blast, did the same. Within a minute, in front of me stood a gleaming white carriage and six white horses. Daniel waved his wand again, and the horses became tethered to the carriage. Daniel held out his hand to help me up the step.

“This is for me?” I asked, astonished. Cynder had told me that Daniel was a Mage, but until now, he’d kept his powers to himself. It was strange to see him using them, especially in such a way.

“Milady, your carriage awaits.”

I grinned at his formality.

He helped me into the carriage, which had orange upholstery and smelled faintly of pumpkin. It clashed horribly with my purple dress, but anything was better than trying to navigate the gravel path in the shoes I was wearing. A slight movement of the carriage told me that Daniel had boarded the carriage at the front, and a moment later we were off. I marveled at the clippety-clop sound coming from the hooves of the horses or mice or whatever they were. Daniel had done an amazing job. There was no doubt in my mind that Cynder had put him up to this. Cynder had been planning this date ever since he got here, nearly a week before. He must have in order to have ordered the dress in time. Why was he doing this for me when he had a wife back home wherever that was?

The journey was a short one, leaving me little time to wonder where his wife was now. As far as I was aware, she wasn’t working at the Castle in Thalia. Maybe they had separated long ago which would explain why I’d never seen or heard of her. It didn’t explain why he’d not told me about her, though.

I couldn’t decide whether I was more sad or angry with Cynder, or whether I was mistaking either of those emotions for excitement. I hated myself for thinking it, but I was excited about our date, even though I knew it was going to end almost as soon as it had begun.

I’d only just popped my head out of the carriage’s window to tell the guards to let us pass when we were practically there. The door opened, and Daniel stood there to help me to the ground.

I took a few moments to look at the restaurant on the ground floor. I’d not really paid attention to it before now, but after hearing Cynder’s story about his parents, I couldn’t help but think back to how it must have been all those years ago. Of course, there was no hint of the fire that had once gutted it entirely. The current owners had done an excellent job of having it completely refurbished. I watched a couple in the window make a toast. They looked so happy and at ease. I envied them for a second, before realizing that for the first time, I’d be heading up to Cynder’s apartment without having to keep an eye out for police. The last time, I had sneaked out of the palace, and Cynder was a criminal on the run. How things had changed.

The steps that led to the apartments above the restaurant were covered in purple petals.

“Follow them!” urged Daniel. “I’ll be here to take you home. What time do you plan on leaving?”

I remembered what I’d promised Luca.

“I’ll be back down at ten to midnight,” I said, wondering if it was true. I should have questioned Cynder about his wife before now, but I’d not expected him to go so overboard for our date. If the date finished early which I suspected it would, I could easily walk home. I turned and followed the petals right into the building.

I already knew where I was going, but it was so wonderful to follow the purple blanket of violets, delphiniums and hundreds of other different types of flower. I wondered if he’d bought them or got them here by magic. The scent of lavender filled the air as I walked up the stairs. When I came to the top floor, the carpet of flowers stopped. Not at the doorway to the apartment, but at the window.

Ignoring it, I knocked on Cynder’s door, and when he didn’t answer, I tried to open it.

“I think you’ll find it’s locked!”

I turned, expecting to find Cynder but instead came face to face with his neighbor from downstairs, Mr. Frost. I’d met him last year when he’d gotten me out of a sticky situation.

“Hi, Sam.”

He was dressed smartly, just as Daniel had been. I guessed Cynder had something to do with that too.

“Your Highness,” He bowed deeply. I ignored the royal protocol and hugged him, taking him by surprise.

“I’m here to escort you out of the window,” Sam blustered, obviously embarrassed by my over-exuberance.

“The window?” I ran to it and opened it. In the distance, I could see the lights of the palace. I wondered if Luca was watching me right now. It was too far to see clearly without a telescope so I couldn’t be sure.

“The fire escape Your Highness.”

I looked down and saw that there was indeed, a small platform on which to stand. Metal stairs led both upwards and downwards. I climbed out, trying in vain not to get my dress snagged on anything and waited for Sam. The cool air was much keener at this height, so I pulled my cloak tighter. When I was sure Sam was fully out, I began to head down the steps, unsure of exactly where I was going.

“Not that way.”

I looked at Sam. He was pointing up. Turning around. I headed up the stairs, my shoes clanging on every step.

At the top, I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. A thousand fireflies lit up the roof which was covered in so many purple petals that I could barely see the floor of it. A string quartet played a slow melody, and there, next to a table set for two, was Cynder.