Wicked Steps

Chapter 28

Emberlee had been left in peace to prepare for the disastrous tea party, but as expected after her little lethal demonstration she found herself inundated by unwanted company. Oberon the Pretty had stayed at her tea table until the end of the party, ensuring that neither of them was entirely sober by the time it wrapped up. Sir Ludwig had silently fussed over her wounded hand, unable to do more for her than offer a clean handkerchief unless she allowed it. After the careful exiting to dry land, Prince Damien came to her side, seeming neither concerned nor annoyed by her actions, at least not where the entire Adaban High Society could see. If it been just their small argent from Xutia, maybe he'd have let a trace of his opinion out but Oberon the Monolith and Titania both joined them while Méabh stayed to be admired by her Court.

"How did it feel to murder someone in cold blood?" the Monolith demanded as they approached the Mirror, still under the watchful eye of Méabh and her Court.

"Her blood wasn't cold," Cinderella pushed eye contact, not at all willing to back down after all she'd already done. "And mostly I felt her eyeball pop as the porcelain pierced it, and then a squishy crunch as I pushed deeper," this time when she stepped closer to the Monolith she could see him finally assess her like the threat she was. His aura glowed with luminescent lightning, ready to strike if she moved to attack, "Are you going to try to tell me your hands are clean Monolith, or are you concerned for the state of my conscience?" She tilted her head in consideration, still holding them in Fairy honesty. "We both know neither of those facts are true, Oberon the Monolith, so tell me what it is you're really scared of?" This time Cinderella could feel the Monolith try to pull free from her gaze to escape the compulsion to answer.

His will was strong, his experience far greater than hers, and yet they both knew she had been resolute in the fate of Méabh's power while he'd succumbed to it; his insecurity held him as a prisoner to her now. "That you are exactly what your Prince declared you to be; inevitable," the answer was pulled out of the Monolith like an abscess being purged.

"Keep worrying," she promised, looking from his great height to Titania's petite gaze, "and you Titania, what do you have to say to me on the matter?"

"The spell was Boidae, it would crush him like the giant snakes to the south," she answered an unexpected question. "Ask your Hound when you're alone and he'll tell you that every time he breathed it would crush down on him harder. It would have kept going as he struggled and then crushed more until the bones of his rib cage caved in, splintering his lungs in a rather terrible way to die if he hadn't suffocated to death yet. And the spell would keep crushing his corpse until it was a messy ragdoll of shattered bone and desiccated flesh." Titania's smile was filled with the horrors she'd known the spell enacted, "in return, you were quite merciful in providing a swift and comparatively painless death." It was her all but tacit approval, though Titania was a people pleaser by nature, she'd also been the one to teach Emberlee about spells and casters. It must have been satisfying to see her put even that brief lesson to good use.

Cinderella didn't fight to hold Titania when the other woman tried to free herself from their shared gaze. Titania stood next to Oberon the Monolith, both watching her with wariness or reserved respect, and Oberon the Pretty stood with Prince Damien, neither one of them looking surprised by the proceedings. The Mirror awaited, so without further ado she finally stepped through it to return to the Pretty Palace.

And from that moment on she was never left alone.

Titania insisted that she wanted to dress Cinderella for the second day of celebration, and as Emberlee's measurements had been previously provided so gifts could be prepared, there was a literal wardrobe for Titania to choose from. When Titania wasn't being astonishingly critical of Adaban fashion on Emberlee's height and more slender frame, Oberon the Pretty was plying her with food and drink to try and distract from a few particular absences. Prince Damien, Sir Ludwig, and Oberon the Monolith had all gone off to some private conference.