Cinderella and the Colonel (29 page)

Lord
Diederick and Colonel Merrich, seated near the front of the cathedral, bowed—although Merrich offered Cinderella a sly wink.

The second and third rows from the front
were filled with foreign dignitaries—mostly ambassadors, but a few princes and princesses had deigned to attend. Prince Severin and Princess Elle were there. It was shocking, but Princess Elise of Arcainia had accepted the invitation—which had been delivered to her thanks to her loan-shark ties to their country—and stood with her youngest foster brother, Prince Gerhart. Prince Viggo from Ringsted attended, as did Princess Astra of Baris.

To Cinderella’s relief
, Lady Klara, Mariska, and even snarky Silla stood in the very first row of seats. Lady Klara offered Cinderella a brief, underwhelming smile, but her eyes were soft and happy. Mariska was beside herself with joy. She cast a handful of flower petals before Cinderella—to Silla and Lady Klara’s horror.

Marie and Armel
were also seated in the first row. Armel looked spooked—marrying a duchess had scared him pants-less, but the fact that his wife’s best friend would one day be queen terrified him to the core—but Marie was crying and blowing kisses in Cinderella’s direction.

Queen Freja
, her Consort Commander Lehn, and Prince Johann stood directly opposite from Cinderella’s step-family and friends.

Commander
Lehn gave Cinderella a warm smile. Prince Johann wriggled his eyebrows—earning a grin from Cinderella—and Queen Freja nodded once, indicating her approval.

Friedrich
was now just a few steps away. His eye was hooked on Cinderella, his expression intent, although there was a customary curl to his lips. When Cinderella hesitated at the base of the dais Friedrich climbed down them, took her hand, and helped her up.

When they reached the top
, Cinderella could see out into the open air courtyard. The shutters and drapes had been removed for the day so anyone who wanted to could see Prince Cristoph Friedrich VI and Duchess Cinderella exchange their vows. It made the cathedral chilly—as winter had arrived—but Cinderella hoped it might be a small step towards mending the country’s bitterness.

The courtyard
was packed with Erlauf and Trieux citizens alike, bundled up due to the weather. It warmed Cinderella’s heart to see the two cultures intermingled, celebrating the day together. Admittedly, the two peoples were a bit stiff, but still. It was progress!

“Are you ready?” Friedrich whispered, squeezing her hand.

“I think so
,” Cinderella shivered.

The clergyman smiled at Friedrich and Cinderella before he cleared his voice and spoke. “Today Prince Cristoph Friedrich VI and Cinderella Lacreux
, the Duchess of Aveyron, come before this fine state to declare their love and intention to marry. Now, who stands for Lady Lacreux and gives her in marriage to Prince Cristoph and acts as her witness?”

Cinderella
had a moment of blind panic. She had told the clergyman specifically he was to skip this part of the ceremony, because there
wasn’t
anyone to give her away! It was enough that Lady Klara and her daughters stood on her side with some affection, she wouldn’t push for anymore. But what did that leave Cinderella with? Sybilla the fairy godmother wasn’t around to magic another goat!

Cinderella winced in the silence and
was about to whisper to the minster to move on when Friedrich touched her arm. When she met his gaze he tilted his head toward the open air courtyard.

When Cinderella looked
, a resounding, almost deafening, “
WE DO
,” blasted in through the open windows.

Cinderella broke ranks and h
urried to the banister—Friedrich at her side.

There
, standing in the courtyard with the rest of the well-wishers, was every servant of Aveyron. They were headed by Gilbert and Jeanne, and all of them—from the head butler to the youngest chicken girl—wore bracelets or bands of scarlet red silk tied around their foreheads and the arms of their coats. They carried flags with the Aveyron crest, and bowed and curtsied when they saw that Cinderella looked down at them.

“They couldn’t all
have possibly fit in the cathedral, so they asked to be outside where they might all stand together as your witness,” Friedrich said, speaking directly into Cinderella’s ear that she might hear him.

Now
that she was closer to the courtyard, Cinderella could see almost all of her market-stall friends and neighbors had come as well. The milkmaid and ropemaker stood together, waving scarlet swatches above their heads. The baker, the cobbler, the potter, the tanner and his wife, and the mousy woman who had correctly warned Cinderella of Friedrich’s intensions months ago cheered and shouted with abandon.

Cinderella covered her mouth with her hands to keep from cry
ing. Once again, she had underestimated the love and loyalty of her servants. Her shoulders shook with effort, and Cinderella’s face hurt, for she wanted to laugh and cry at once.

“Thank you
,” she finally shouted, blowing kisses to her staunch supporters.

“I am so lucky
,” Friedrich said, curling his arms around Cinderella.

“Not as lucky as I am. Luck doesn’t even begin to describe it. I am blessed
,” Cinderella said, smiling up at him.

Friedrich’s smile
was so warm it made Cinderella’s toes curl. “Can we spend the rest of our lives arguing who is more blessed?”

“Let’s.”

Friedrich chuckled and kissed the tip of Cinderella’s nose.

“AHEM
,” the clergyman said.

“Hmm.
We should get back to the ceremony,” Friedrich said.

“
That sounds right. Shall we?” Cinderella said.

“We shall
,” Friedrich agreed, sweeping Cinderella back to the clergyman.

The ceremony
was over faster than Cinderella’s dazed mind could take in. She felt so loved and so lucky, the thing she mostly remembered was the intensity of the cheers when the clergyman declared Cinderella and Friedrich married. It was an explosion of noise, shouts, and bells when Friedrich kissed Cinderella, and all of it was happy.

As Friedrich led Cinderella down the
aisle, he wiped tears from her eyes. “What’s wrong, Pet?”

“It’s a storybook end
ing that I don’t deserve,” she said. “I have everything I wanted. I have you; Aveyron is finally safe; my servants love me, and we get to build our country together. It’s so perfect.”

Friedrich smiled. “You deserve
every happiness you receive, darling. Although I’m sad to say, it won’t always be like this. Some days our people will get along; other days they won’t. And sometime soon, we will have to deal with the threat of darkness.”

“
But we will move forward. We are
proof
our countries can move forward,” Cinderella said.

“You are right
,” Friedrich relented when they reached the church doors. “I love you, Princess Cinderella, even if you have an answer to all my pessimistic thoughts.”

“And I love you
, Prince Cristoph Friedrich VI, even if you do have a name that is unnecessarily long,” Cinderella laughed.

The footmen opened the church doors
, avoiding their kissing, future monarchs and the four collared mice that scurried around the royal pair.

If darkness came to Erlauf
, it didn’t stand a chance.

For an extra chapter of Cinderella, please visit
http://kmshea.com

[Fluffer Nutter]

Other books by K.M. Shea

Life Reader

My Life at the MBRC

Red Rope of Fate

Princess Ahira

Robyn Hood:

A Girl’s Tale

Fight for Freedom

King Arthur and Her Knights:

Enthroned

Enchanted

Embittered

Timeless Fairy Tales

Beauty and the Beast

The Wild Swans

Cinderella

Coming
Fall 2014

Rumpelstiltskin:
When Gemma’s drunken father tells King Torgen of Verglas she can spin straw into gold, Gemma assumes her life is over. King Torgen has her imprisoned in a tower filled with straw, and orders her to spin it all into gold. If she does not complete the task in one night he will behead her the following morning. In the tower, Gemma finds that she is not alone. A strange man who calls himself Stil is there as well. The mysterious Stil offers to help Gemma, for a price. Will Gemma survive King Torgen’s demands and Stil’s unusual deals?

About the Author

K.M. Shea is a book lover, champion web surfer, and all around geek. She’s been writing for over ten years and has worked as librarian and a newspaper reporter. K.M. lives in the quaint countryside with her pets: Perfect Dog and Fat Cat.

Follow K.M. Shea on Twitter: KM_Shea

Visit her blog:
www.kmshea.com

Visit her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005ANPMZU

Please visit the blog for information on upcoming books, free chapters, contests, scheduled freebies, and more!