Broken Glass

Chapter One

The town square was as lively as ever. Ella had a hard time keeping her packages safe from the grubby hands that reached for her skirts and pockets. There would be no end to the scolding if the meager funds her stepmother had given her for the shopping went missing without a proper record of every piece.

As if to test her, two men crowded her from either side and she felt a hand brush against her gold pouch. A moment later she had that hand in hers twisted at an unnatural angle. "Go steal from someone who won't take a finger for each coin in return," she warned. He pulled back and she let go so that he tumbled back into a puddle.

Droplets of the questionable liquid splattered across the bottom of her skirt but it didn't matter much. It would blend in with the rest of the brown stains. Every shade of muck was another layer to keep people away. Even now, bystanders were eager to look the other way and let the maid deal with the thieves on her own.

Ella readjusted her load again and fished out the list of tasks she'd been given. Most of them were the same weekly tasks. There were eggs to sell, meat to buy, and loans to be paid. Below all of that was the order for Anastasia's new dress. Her birthday was in just two weeks and her official debut to the upper social circles would follow soon after.

Spring was nearly in full swing. It was lucky Annie would have gorgeous weather to attend all of the tea parties the other ladies would surely invite her to. An ache in Ella's back reminded her of the cold night spent sleeping in her attack room without any heat. Just because the snow had melted didn't mean they were free of it's cold. She'd have to add to their firewood stock if she wanted to get to summer without another cold.

How long had it been since she'd reach the age to have her own debut into high society? Hardly anyone knew about Marquis Fletcher's oldest daughter. Most people assumed it was Drizella, and why wouldn't they? They heard Ella and let themselves believe they were one and the same. There were some days even Ella herself believed it.

She'd been told she was nothing long enough to see the truth in it.

The dressmaker was as charming as she always was. The Fletcher family had brought her plenty of business over the years. Even when Ella had begun to sell off her own dresses from Madame Coffey it was excused as spreading her name with out of date fashion that still held up to the wear and tear of new parties.

Ella didn't see the point in telling her the low prices she'd sold them at. These days her eyes were set on feeding her family and the animals at whatever cost she could haggle her way down to.

Maybe it was the smell of the first warm bit of food she'd seen in over a week that made her stop in front of the patisserie. Round pies decorated the glass display cases spread across the front window. A faint whiff of fruit compote, maybe mango or perhaps apricot, filled the air. The light scents floated above the steady smell of bodies in such close proximity.

The grumble her stomach made was as quiet as the fuss she made at home when only the scraps made their way onto her plate. Ella broke away with some effort and blindly stumbled away with thoughts of selling off a pair of her mother's earrings for just one sablé cookie.

Their hands were on her before she could get a scream out. It wasn't hard to recognize them from earlier. The calluses on their hands were rough but no different from hers. They weren't strangers to hard labor any more than she was. But she was outnumbered all the same.

She was just weighing her options between losing the eggs to take out their sight and tossing the few remaining coins to distract them when another body slammed into the one in front of her. All four of them went tumbling to the ground in a heap. Ella didn't waste time looking around. The first man still had a hold of her arms and he'd cushioned her fall. She could hear him trying to catch his breath even as she jammed an elbow into his ribs.

Another scuffle was going on beside her. Suddenly, footsteps pounded against the ground as the would-be thieves ran off. A pale hand reached out to her and the man attached to it lowered his head to meet her gaze, "Are you hurt, my lady?"

Ella took his hand and pulled herself up. Nothing felt broken, though she'd be sore and bruised tomorrow. "I think I'm alright. Thank you for your help, my lord." She dipped into a lazy curtsy. Once upon a time she'd cared enough about what people thought of her to be proper. Today, a strange man in an alley didn't qualify as someone to impress no matter how much he'd helped her.

"You hardly needed my help," he said. His hair had become completely disheveled in the fight and floated around his head in a tangled mess. When he tried to push a hand through it his fingers caught on the knots. "I'd hate to run into you in a dark alley."

"I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news for you then," Ella whispered. She gestured at the close walls on either side of them that made up the alley. She laughed at his sudden alarm. "I'm only joking, of course. I wouldn't attack my gallant rescuer." A cat knocked the top of a garbage can askew, making her stomach clench into knots. Stepmother would be expecting her home to make dinner soon enough.

The packages lay in disarray around her feet but she gathered them back up easily. "I should be on my way now. Thank you again," she called out as hurried back the way she'd been dragged from.

"Wait, you must let me escort you home," he insisted. No one paid any attention to the dirt covered pair as they hurried through the crowds. The only looks they got were those filled with disgust when they veered too close to a noblewoman.

Ella tried to wave him off and finally had to stop dead in her tracks. "Truly, good sir, you have done plenty. I am quite capable of returning home on my own but I thank you for your help," she explained slowly.

Something in her tone seemed to finally get through to him because he stopped and nodded. "Then I shall have to find you the next time you are in town and be your personal escort," he decided. The midday sun glinted off of his blue eyes with a mischievous twinkle.

Reluctantly, she offered him a smile in return. "I suppose that would be acceptable. I'll be back again this time next week, but I won't hold it against you if you can't make it."

"I could never let someone so lovely run around town unaccompanied."

"I've been managing just find these last twenty years," Ella corrected him.

There was one good thing to be said about the long walk home in the cold; the heat of the sun didn't reduce her to a pile of sweat soaked wool. In the summer she wouldn't be so lucky. Last year she'd nearly collapsed along the side of the road a few times. If only the horse wasn't such a prime target for thieves. Leaving the prancing stallion unattended was asking for trouble and she couldn't afford to lodge him in the stables while she meandered around town.

The horse in question was running free in the pasture when she finally reached the chateau. "Dammit,' Ella muttered. If he'd been let out of his stall it was likely the other animals were on the loose. If anything had happened to the chickens she'd be in hot water.

Ella's threadbare shoes slapped against the loose gravel path as she ran up to the front door where her stepmother was already waiting for her.

"You certainly took your time, Ella," she snapped. The constant frown had left its mark on her face more than any smile ever could. The deep lines could have been streets on the road map of her life if there had been any adventures worth talking about.

Wordlessly, Ella held out the receipts and the goods to be checked over. She was only released once every coin was accounted for and the precious dress had been tucked away out of sight. By then, Ella had little time to think of the aches and pains from the scuffle, and less time to think of the man who'd stepped in to rescue her. Late at night she spared a moment to whisper a prayer that one rescue was a sign of greater things to come.