Cinderella vs. the Fairy Godmother (sequel)

Chapter 30

            The men stopped well short of both of their reaches, staring at the pair. Or rather, they glanced at Amorrt then stared at Valerie. She lifted her chin and held her defensive stance. The black-haired man in the lead took half a step forward and asked, “Who are you?”

            She looked down her nose at him. “My name is Valerie Ash. Now who the hell are you and what the hell do you think you’re going to Amorrt?”

            The man drew himself up. “I am Lord Orell of Schwarzwald. What we intend to do to that…creature is none of your concern.”

            “It is my concern! Amorrt’s a prince of Armith. If you think his family will stay quiet if you hurt him-”

            “He is an exiled prince. His family will thank us for ridding them of an embarrassment.”

            Valerie sent a scorching look at the man. “His exile is being revisited. New information has come to light and the King and Queen are considering cancelling the exile. As for him being an embarrassment, he is nothing of the sort! People like who go and gang up on one person just because you don’t agree with his life choices are the embarrassment.”

            Orell leaned back as if pushed by the force of her words. A moment later his face turned a dark red and he glared at her. “It’s unnatural! He has bewitched Prince Konah.”

            “The hell he has! I was there when Konah woke Amorrt up. There was no bewitching going on. Just your prince not waiting until I finished talking before acting. Which worked out for all of us in the end.”

            “Your words are suspect. You are nothing but a jumped up harlot!”

            Valerie’s eyes widened as she screeched, “What did you just call me?”

The sound of metal sliding out of leather stopped her from pulling her own blade. She turned her head to see Amorrt glaring at Orell, his sword pointed directly at the red-faced lord. “You will apologize to the lady. Immediately.”

All five of the men unsheathed their own blades in response. “You, an unnatural creature come here to destroy us, dares to give me orders?”

“I will not stand idly by while you insult a lady.”

Valerie sighed and shook her head. “What is with you Armith boys and attempting to defend my honour? One, I am perfectly capable of kicking their asses myself, and two, you know as well as I do that I’m not a lady.”

“You are a Cinderella. That makes you a lady,” Amorrt said, eyes still on Orell.

One of the other lords made a choking sound. Lord Schwarzwald stared. “That is no Cinderella,” he cried, pointing at Valerie.

She nodded. “I agree with you there. I’m not Cinderella. Just because I threw my shoe at Darren’s head and he brought it back doesn’t make me Cinderella any more than having a stepfamily does.”

“She is princess to Darren of Armith. You should all be well aware of the reputation Armithian princes have. I can assure you, it is not an exaggeration,” Amorrt said as he flicked his hair out of his eyes so he could see them better.

“You-”

The rest of what Orell was trying to say was cut off by the loud shout that came from behind the men. In minutes, a massive figure strode up to them, eyes sharp with annoyance. “What is happening here?”

Valerie grinned. “Hey Konah. It’s been, what a month? How are you?”

“My lady,” he said, looking startled. “Whatever are you doing here?”

She shrugged. “It’s a long story.”

The prince glanced around, taking in the drawn blades. His frown deepened and his voice rumbled as he said, “What are you doing? If I did not know the oaths you had taken, I would believe you were all attacking Amorrt and a lady.”

“Your highness,” Orell said, bowing low. “We were merely discussing Amorrt’s future here.”

Val snorted. “The hell you were. You were trying to drive him out if not kill him.”

Konah froze for a moment, his hand twitching near his sword as if contemplating using it on the assembled lords. “I believe I have made myself abundantly clear on this matter. Amorrt is mine. I will not accept any substitute and should anyone attempt to harm him, I will personally hunt that individual down and gut him. Even if his death were natural, I would still have no interest in your daughters. Now, will you press this matter and force me to use you as examples, or will you halt this foolishness?”

She flicked her eyes to Amorrt. The prince’s lips kept twitching as if he was fighting back a smile. She leaned over and whispered, “If he gets too overprotective or stupid, punch him. It works wonders on Darren and I’m sure it’ll work on him.”

Amorrt flinched slightly at her sudden closeness. He held himself straight and replied, “I am not a mere damsel.”

Valerie nodded. “Neither am I. Sometimes these big fairy tale boys forget that. That’s when you need to punch them.”

The Armithian prince said nothing else, only frowned at her. She shrugged and turned her attention back to Konah and the lords. Orell seemed to be grovelling as he bowed. “A thousand apologies, your highness. I promise you, it will not happen a second time.”

“It had best not,” Konah growled.

The others hastily bobbed a few more bows before scuttling off en masse. Val chuckled. “Glad to see you’ve got those SOBs under control. I’d keep them on a short leash from now on, if I were you.”

He shook his head. “I will ensure they do nothing similar in the future,” he said, watching them turn the corner. Then he looked at her. “My lady, might I ask why you are here?”

“It’s a long story. It boils down to the fact that your godmother is nuts.”

Konah frowned. “I am afraid I do not understand.”

Before she could reply, there was a puff of silver smoke and suddenly Izolei was standing in front of them.