Four

1.4K 59 4
                                    

Chapter four:

My stepsisters and my stepmother came back from the Palace marketplace well after lunchtime. In fact, I was starting to prepare supper by the time they threw the door open and demanded loudly that I help them with their purchases.
I hurried to help them, wanting to keep them in their joyful mood.

"What was it like?" I asked in awe when I saw the beautiful lace fabric Drusella held. The girl smiled and stroked the fabric fondly.
"It was like nothing I've ever seen before! Men and women everywhere, all dressed like royalty, there were shops at every turn and everyone was buying something!"
"And don't forget the Royal Guard!" Anastasia chimed in, pushing her sister to the side as I helped her with the pearls she had bought.
"The Royal Guard?" I asked innocently enough. "What did they do?"
"Oh, they came charging into the marketplace in their way to the Palace! They must have been in quite the hurry, the Duke didn't yell at a single person."

I stifled a laugh at Anastasia's dramatic telling. But I thought of Kit when she mentioned the Guard, and I wondered if he had been caught. Or as he might have put it, if he let the Guard catch him.
My stepmother exhaled loudly and walked into the parlor where she lounged on the couch.
"Yes, it was all very exciting, wasn't it? The Royal Guard?" She shot me a look that made me think she suspected something, so I frowned slightly.
"Madame?" I asked.
"You've been to the marketplace today, I assume?"
"Yes of course, Madame, why?"
"Did the Royal Guard pass through at any time when you where there?"
I blinked and shook my head.
"No, Madame, they didn't."

It wasn't a lie, the Guard hadn't passed through the marketplace while I was there with Dulcy. But I didn't dare speak of my encounter with them in the forest. My stepmother hummed thoughtfully and didn't break her stare. I was starting to get uncomfortable, so I turned back to my stepsisters, who were still rambling on about everything that happened.
"The food there was magnificent!" Anastasia said loudly, strutting into the kitchen where I had started making supper. "Everything was sweet and melted in your mouth! Once I am Queen, I will be able to eat as much of it as I want!"
"Not if I become Queen." Drusella snapped at her sister. Anastasia scoffed, insulted, and the two of them launched into yet another argument.

I went back to the meal as the two fought, and tried not to look like I was daydreaming. But I was, in fact, daydreaming. I was thinking about Dulcy and her kindly going to the Palace marketplace for me, I was thinking about her excitement when she retold all her experiences there, and how I wished to be able to go with her. But I was also thinking about Kit. It seemed like that was the only thing I was ever thinking about since the day I met him. He was just so kind, and he left an impression that would leave any maiden breathless, I was no exception.

The warm thoughts were momentarily pushed out of my mind as my stepmother strutted into the kitchen and placed herself at the head of the table. She wordlessly motioned for me to start serving the food as my stepsisters sat down as well. I hastily set the food out of the table, wanting to finish my chores as quickly as possible so I could eat my own dinner and set to working on my mother's dress.

Drusella, however, wasn't in the mood for hurried actions or another person with high spirits.
"What's the rush, Cinder-Soot? Are you meeting someone?" Her and Anastasia laughed loudly with each other but I ignored her. They quite often teased me about how I would never find a husband. I didn't particularly care that they did, it was ignored like all the other ones.
"After you finish, I want you to tidy my room." Drusella went on as she ate. "My clothes are everywhere, and I want all of them washed and ironed before morning. And make sure to put my lace fabric away so it doesn't get a tear!"

My heart sank at all the work she gave me, but I couldn't do anything about it. So I just nodded and placed the plate on the table.
"Yes, of course. Anything else?"
Drusella turned to me and looked me up and down before responding.
"Do make yourself a new dress." She said cruelly. Anastasia laughed her high pitched laugh again as I turned away from the table.

I tapped upstairs where Drusella's room was and saw that she did have almost all of her dresses laying either on her bed or on her floor. I sighed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She probably did that on purpose.
But I collected all of her dresses laying on the floor and hung them up neatly in her wardrobe. Then I placed her new lace fabric on her bedside table so she wouldn't loose it or have any reason for blaming me for anything that happened to it.
Next, I gathered all her dirty dresses and went down to the basement to wash them. Anastasia's dresses had been washed a few days ago so they were still hanging up by the fire to dry. My stepmother insisted on me washing her dresses only a few times before she bought new ones, something that I thought was incredibly wasteful.

I filled a basin up with water and grabbed a bar of soap that was on the counter. I went about washing Drusella's dresses and finished the ironing that also needed to be done to Anastasia's.
The whole process of washing and ironing took a while. My stepsisters insisted that if I did it more often then I would get better at, which was true, but they used it as an excuse to give me even more clothes to wash, dry, iron, or repair. The only reason I was thankful for it was that I now knew how to make my own clothes.

After I had hung Drusella's clean dresses up by the fire to dry and had taken Anastasia's dry dresses down, I went back upstairs to hang Anastasia's dresses in her wardrobe.
As I walked to the room that used to be mine, I passed my stepmother and my two stepsisters in my stepmother's room. They were trying on shoes and jewelry that they could potentially wear to the ball, and my stepmother was demanding that they each looked unique.
"How will you capture the Prince's attention if you look like very other maiden there? No, Drusella, those earrings are too small. They need to stand out!"

My heart sunk as I passed them and went into my stepsister's shared room. I slowly hung Anastasia's dresses in her wardrobe and thought about what my stepmother told me a week ago.
"I will not have anyone associate you with my daughters, you are only a servant girl!"
I was beginning to think that there wasn't a way they would allow me to go to the ball. Even if I made my own dress and bought my own shoes and did all my chores and minded my manners until then, my stepmother could still turn her long nose up at me and sneer at the thought of me going along.
Perhaps I could just tell them I didn't want to meet the Prince. After all, I only wanted to see Kit, not the Prince. But I had the feeling that my stepmother couldn't care less about why I wanted to go, she only cared that I wanted to go, and because of that she would deny me the right.

I shut Anastasia's wardrobe and tapped downstairs where I could finally eat my own dinner. My stomach rumbled hungrily as I saw the small bits of food on the only plate left on the table.
They had saved some for me, which surprised me. Usually they just give me what they couldn't eat themselves, and if they had been hungry that particular night, then I would have to either make something else or go without dinner.

I quickly ate the small portions of food, thankful I wasn't that hungry.
Then I returned upstairs where I climbed the stairs to the attic so I could bring out my mother's dress again.

The beautiful white fabric was still spotless and shining, like the first time I had taken it out of its box.
My spool of thread and extra fabric lay on the only small table in the attic. I pulled a chair up to the table, laid the dress on the table, and began to mend it.
As I sewed and hemmed and replaced the jewels around the bust, my mind wandered. Even though I was scared of asking my stepmother to allow me to go to the ball, I couldn't contain my excitement at the thought of me actually attending.
Most of all, I couldn't contain my excitement about how Dulcy and I were to meet in the morning where she would give me the shoes she had purchased at the Palace marketplace. Then the next day, I was to meet Kit again, something I was unbelievably happy for.

It was late when I finally stopped sewing and carefully placed the dress back in its thin box.
My stepmother's loud voice had stopped being heard a few hours ago and I figured that she and my stepsisters had gone to bed by now. The crickets were chirping outside my window, and if I looked out far enough, I was able to see the bright full moon in the clear sky.

I let myself smile a little bit as I breathed in the fresh night air. I closed my eyes and let a tiny breeze waft across my face.
Then I pulled my head back inside and crept over to my bed. I laid down tiredly and pulled the sheets up to my neck. I was exhausted from all the excitement and work today, so my eyes easily slid closed and soon I was fast asleep.

•••••
This makes two updates in two days! I feel really productive, I'm proud of myself.
Feel free to leave a vote and/or a comment!

NovaFey

MidnightWhere stories live. Discover now