The Last Weapon

19: Hiding In Fairy Tales

Annice's POV

"You're kidding me," Jeremy said, his voice dripping in pure disbelief. "You're what they based the princess Cinderella on." I giggled and nodded slowly.

"I was in Ansbach, Germany, a couple centuries ago, tracking my family," I explained, and he flinched. I don't think he was used to the idea of me being an Original.

Well, sort of an Original.

I continued, "And I was playing it close, pretending to be the maid of my family, or my sister at least, but I wore my cap so low and was a maid of such low stature that they barely looked at me. The thing is, my family was very rich, very popular, but also well hidden under false names and such, so it was practically impossible to know that they could be the monsters of the night. Unless you already knew what they looked like. Anyway, being so famous, they were looked into by the British Prince George the Second, who had become rather fond of Rebekah. She was under the fake name Caroline." I shuddered, scowling angrily. "I hate her so much. He was sort of undercover, scoping for a princess to marry- and yes, while Klaus and Elijah were posing as aristocrats, Rebekah had a bit of fun and stole the position as princess."

"What happened to the actual princess Caroline?" he asked, slightly aghast. I smiled wickidly and poked him in the chest, almost tipping him while we sat cross-legged, facing each other on his floor, the bedroom and bathroom door locked tight.

"She died a bit early, to put it lightly." He frowned and paled the tiniest bit, which made me just that more amused. "As I was saying, before you rudely interrupted me," I implied, "George numero dos wanted a girl, and his father luckily wanted him to want to marry somebody, not just be forced into it. He came to town to find Rebekah, and instead found me."

Eyes crinkling, he said through a pinched smile, "And- let me guess- it was love at first sight?" I chuckled bitterly.

"Not quite. See, he saw me serving dinner among several others one night when he had been invited to supper to get to know the princess. A fancy dinner, however I don't remember most of it. Except one part. He convinced the royalty in Ansbach to throw a masquerade, and, after the dinner, excused himself momentarily. What he did was find me. He personally invited me to the ball, saying he could smuggle me a beautiful dress. At first, I thought he was joking. I mean, a prince chasing a scullery maid!"

Jeremy looked unimpressed, but then again, he never lived in that time. It probably sounded cheesy and romantic to him. Kids these days.

"Right, so," I spoke on, basically lecturing him on the basics of Cinderella, "I was given a dress later that night, in the darkest hour just before the dawn. A beautiful dress, with a beautiful mask-"

"Your outfit," he concluded, "at the masquerade ball a couple weeks ago, the pink dress and glass mask. That was from Prince George the Second?" I nodded, my gaze turning glassy and cold.

"It took a great deal of anger to break that thing. Pure fury. I would never have otherwise." I cleared my throat thickly, trying to swallow against the growing lump in my windpipe. His eyes softened, as if he knew exactly what I was going through. Then again, he sort of did. "I went, now posing as a distant, forgettable cousin of the princess. Noticing me instantly, the Prince asked me to dance to a sweet tune. I can't remember the name. It was rather wonderful."

I meant it. It was a vague memory, but also rather clear, in an odd sort of way. Men and women dancing around, dresses swirling on the floor like water lillies across a serene, blue lake, men looking positively dashing in their black tuxedoes and tailcoats, and I never knew a soul. Except Rebekah and George.