Glass

Part Seven

Kam continued, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. "So when you walked off that day, I couldn't get the thought out of my mind. Lately you've just looked so sad...I know you try not to show it...I noticed anyway, and I wanted to do something nice for you, since I don't know how long it's been since someone's done that." He looked at the ground, at the trees, at the sky-anywhere but her face. He looked so adorably embarrassed that Ella wanted to laugh and hug him at the same time.

"I don't know what to say," she managed instead. "Well, thank you, first of all-it's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. But how did you-and the dress, and the shoes-"

"The dress I received from Lawrence," Kam said, and Ella laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. "So it was you? And all along I thought it was my fairy godmother. Unless, of course, this means you are the fairy in question..."

"I didn't plan on you finding out this way," Kam said, managing to look serious for roughly three seconds before cracking a grin. "Anyway, I was planning on paying for it, but when I mentioned it was for you, he insisted on doing it free of charge." He tapped her foot with his own. "The shoes I got from Liana."

Ella bit her cheek. Liana was a servant who used to work for her family's old household-back when her mother was still alive.

Kam glanced at her nervously before continuing. "She found out what I was planning for you and gave them to me to leave with you. Told me your mother wanted you to have them on your twenty-first birthday, but Liana thought that the time was right now." He leaned his head toward hers conspiratorially, and her heart leaped a little at his closeness. "She said that they're fairy shoes. They'll only fit the girls in your bloodline." He smiled. "I've no idea if it's true, but I thought you'd like that bit."

He was right; that little detail would've normally made her grin. But panic seized her, lacerating her elation. "I-I lost one of the slippers running away from the prince and-" she stammered, wanting to pretend the awful truth didn't exist, that when she stepped back inside both parts to her mother's precious gift would be waiting for her in their little chestnut box.

To her surprise, Kam's mouth twitched into a smile. "Well, it's certainly an interesting way of losing it. Don't worry-I'm sure we can go back for it and request that it be given back. "

"But to get it back I'd have to prove my identity, and I don't want to do that."

Kam raised an eyebrow. "Why? Did you make a side trip on your way home to set someone's house ablaze?"

Ella raised her own eyebrow, mirroring his action in what she hoped was a very obnoxious fashion. "I'd rather not say." Then she sighed, feeling the desire to jest leave her in one fell swoop. "I don't want the prince to recognize me." She gazed past Kam's shoulder, focusing on the stars. "For some reason...I want to forget that it happened...but no, that's not quite right." She smiled. "I suppose you could say I simply don't want to be found by Prince Alexander Philip Duke Leonard William the III."

Kam slipped his rough, strong hands into hers and grinned. "You know, I rather agree with you on that." He bowed. "Would you care to dance?"

At the words, Vincent startled to action and plunged the clearing into another cheerful romp. Laughing, Ella followed as Kam pulled her into the circle of dancing couples. Somehow, this ball was infinitely more beautiful than the one behind the glittering castle walls.

~~~

Ella woke the next morning to the sound of pounding footsteps.

Her first thought was that Kam had sneaked in to prank her and say hello, but she quickly filed this idea under ridiculous. Kam had been in her thoughts near constantly as of late-especially the magic of last night. She couldn't help the smile that curved her mouth at the memory-a smile that evaporated as she spotted the shaft of sunlight glowing near her head.

Oh no. Ella was on her feet so fast that the world twirled about her briefly. By the time her vision had steadied, she was out the door and in the corridor.

She slammed into Anemone with the force of a runaway carriage.

Both girls reeled back and tumbled to the ground. Cursing her rotten luck, Ella rocketed to her knees and crawled over to her stepsister. "I am so sorry, Anemone, please don't tell your mother that I-Anemone?"

Anemone didn't reply. She was too busy sobbing, one arm thrown across her face as it was prone to be when she was truly upset. Her shoulders heaved in time to the sound of her sticky, shuddering intakes of breath.

Ella went into full panic mode. Had she truly hit her that hard? She quickly assessed Anemone's prostrate form for any major injuries. She saw no blood, no limbs twisted into grotesque designs. But what if she'd rattled her brain? What if that was the real reason she had her arm on her face? "Stay here," Ella told her over the roar of blood in her ears, scrambling to her feet. "I'll call for the physician."

Ella sprinted down the corridor and burst into the front room so fast that she nearly ran into someone else. Someone with dark hair. Someone with blue eyes.

Someone named Prince Alexander.