Cinderella Dreams of Fire (Fairy Tales Forever #1) (11 page)

P
rince Braedon looked
down at the bottom of another drink. Like the three he'd had before it, it was as empty as he felt. At least it numbed the pain from his shoddily patched shoulder wound. He placed the mug down on the counter, and the only thing that brought him out of his head was a mighty slap on the back from Falstone.

The gargantuan knight bellowed with laughter. “The only way through heartbreak, my boy, is to have about six more of those.” He gestured to the man behind the counter. “Three more of what he's having. Two for me and one for him."

The prince's head began to spin. It appeared that even two days without booze had made him a little more susceptible. “I don't think I should have any more."

Falstone's eyes grew large. “Blasphemy. Utter blasphemy, Your Royal Highness. My dearest friend, let me ask you something. Are you still sad?"

Braedon thought back to the burning building and the deep, painful feeling that he wouldn't see Cinderella again. He'd never felt that way about any of the highborn ladies who had strutted their way around the castle. He'd never felt that way about any of the beautiful servants and other employees of the queen. And now he was drinking his way into oblivion because of a common thief.

The prince wanted to lie, but his face already betrayed his feelings. “Yes, Falstone. I am sad, and I appreciate you continuing to remind me."

"If you're sad, then you should obviously keep drinking. It's the only way to stop it."

The prince wasn't sure which gave him more of a headache, Falstone's loud voice or the drinks that were working their way through his brain and body. “I'm not sure if that's the prescription for me today."

Falstone let his meaty paw rest upon the prince's uninjured shoulder. “I'm not here to pressure you, my boy. If you don't want to drink, we can go paint the town red in plenty of other ways. Why, I know this brothel–"

Braedon shrugged Falstone's hand away. “Maybe I don't want to get my mind off her just yet."

Falstone chuckled softly. Then the laugh grew and grew in volume until the man's face was as red as Braedon had ever seen it. “He's in love. The prince is in love!” Falstone stood up and raised one of his new drinks into the air. “Everybody, my best friend is head over heels in love!"

The dozen or so patrons throughout the room, who were in various stages of intoxication, stood with their drinks in the same position and cheered.

The prince buried his face in his hands. “I am not in love, Falstone. I don't even know if this girl likes me back."

Falstone wrapped his arm around Braedon and pulled him in tight as if he were telling the prince a secret. “You are quite the catch, my boy. Why, if my thoughts weren't overcome by the beautiful bodies of women from sunrise to… well, the next sunrise, then I would even say you are handsome."

Braedon rolled his eyes. “Thanks, I guess."

"Plus, the fact that you're rich and powerful works in your favor. If this Cindy person doesn't see you in that way, then she's probably crazy."

Braedon looked away. “She's different. She might be crazy.” He shook his head. “And I yelled at her."

Falstone nodded. “We've all been there. When in the company of a fine lady, I've probably said more wrong things than right. Maybe only wrong things, and that's why I'm here with you.” He laughed uproariously once again and downed half of his drink in a single swig.

The prince tried to take in enough oxygen to shake the fog from his brain. “Maybe it's not even worth thinking about all of this. After all, there are demons running around town taking my mother's men out of the picture. What's the point of thinking about the future when some creature might slice your throat the next day?"

Falstone pulled at his beard and began to stroke it. “You have it all wrong, my boy. When it looks like the end is near, that is when you absolutely need to take action."

The prince leaned toward him.

Maybe the sloppy drunk is right.

He pushed his drink away. “Okay. Okay, I'll say something to her."

Falstone finished the rest of his drink. “There's a good egg. And after all, choosing a woman is like choosing just one type of ale. At some point you're going to get bored, so you may as well drink as much of that first drink as you can, until the inevitable moment comes.” He took another drink in his hands. “When the next drink is available."

Braedon rubbed at his left temple. “Great advice as always, Falstone."

The old drunk smiled a toothy grin. “I really should charge for it, shouldn't I?” He stared off across the room. “I've changed more people's lives than I can think of."

The prince pushed his drink in front of Falstone. “Indeed you have, my friend. Indeed you have."

The sound of a throat clearing caused the prince to turn around. The Queen's messenger looked as out of place as Falstone would at a fancy tea party.

"I have an important message for you, Your Highness."

Before the prince could say a word, Falstone moved with more agility than Braedon thought possible and snatched the note from the messenger's hand.

Falstone tore off the royal seal. “My good man, I'll be reading this correspondence to the future king. But first, can you tell me if it is good news or bad news? I like to make sure I'm in character."

The messenger shrunk in discomfort. “I'm afraid it's bad news. Very bad."

The prince felt his pulse quicken. “Has there been another attack?” He chewed his cheek. “I knew I shouldn't have come here. I should have been out in the city protecting people–"

"It's your mother.” Falstone fumbled with the paper and handed it to Braedon. “Maybe you should read it after all."

The prince's eyes scanned the message and his shoulders slumped even more. He looked at the messenger. “Where is she?"

"In her chambers. I can take you to her right now."

The prince stepped off his chair and stood up straight. “Okay."

As the two of them made to leave, Falstone called after them. “Braedon!"

Braedon turned back.

"Are you sure you don't want one for the road?"

The prince sighed. “My mother is dying, Falstone. I think I should be sober for this."

C
inderella let
a calm settle over her body and mind as she considered the approaching guards in the cave. She thought back to all the lessons the Godmother had taught her over the last decade. She'd use the wise words of her mentor to take down groups of three, like the men who lingered on the ground, and angry mobs of up to seven in her time. But a dozen was a new story. A dozen in a dimly lit cave might be even more of a challenge.

She let the Godmother's voice play in her head as the world slowed down around her. “It's the vanity of men that makes them weak. They always feel the need to show themselves as stronger than their compatriots. When a fight presents incredible odds, exploiting this weakness is your only path to victory."

Cinderella internalized the wisdom and let her cloak fall to the ground, leaving just her light leather tunic and pants. Her long blonde hair untucked itself and fell down upon her shoulders. The charging group of men stopped in their tracks. The lead guard, who sported one of the most disgusting smiles the thief had ever seen, put his teeth on display.

His yellowed grin contrasted against the glow of the bird. “Hello, pretty thing. Wander in from the whorehouse, did you?"

Cinderella stepped into the middle of the cavern, the area with the most space possible.

Please, please, fight me one at a time.

She raised the pitch of her voice to sound more feminine. “Maybe I did. But it looks like you're not enough of a man to take me on by yourself."

The unpolished smile turned into a growl. He put one arm up and gestured for the other men to back away. “This one thinks she's funny. I think I'm gonna be the one to teach her a lesson."

She crouched down and readied herself, keeping the smile that wanted to form upon her face internal. “I'm ready when you are."

The man with the ugly smile came running, his sword held high. As he came to thrust it down at her, she easily sidestepped his lumbering swing. She kicked him hard in the midsection, and his unpadded tunic wasn't nearly strong enough to withstand the blow. She let her leg fly unencumbered straight into his crotch. The man crumpled to the ground in pain as the thief finished the contest with a leaping punch in the back of his head.

She stood up and tried to look more winded than she actually was. “Who's next?"

Another solo competitor, this one with two daggers instead of a sword, circled around her. He was quicker than his disgusting companion, but he relied too much on his weapons. Two expertly placed kicks to his wrists sent the knives scraping across the ground. When he tried to recover them, Cinderella used his momentum to carry him head-first into the unforgiving wall of the cave.

She heard a squawk from behind her as one of the other guards nearly got a hold of the golden bird. The thief took one of the daggers and intentionally whizzed it by the man's head. As he turned to avoid it, he left himself wide open for a blazingly fast kick to the side. The cracking sound made Cinderella know that she'd broken at least one rib. As she stepped back to the middle of the room, she was down to nine guards remaining, but it appeared as though they had learned their lesson.

Three guards approached, attempting to flank her on either side.

Cinderella thought back to the day the Godmother had given her the lesson on male vanity.

As precocious as she always was, Cinderella had asked more than a few questions.

"And what if they start teaming up anyway?"

The Godmother's neutral face was burned into her memory. “Then you divide and conquer."

The thief faked toward one of the men and sprinted at full speed toward one of the others. She caught him completely off-guard and ducked under a halfhearted swipe of his sword. She tucked her arm under his and tossed him across the room and into his two partners. Under the weight of their friend, they stumbled backward and slammed hard into the remaining men who were there to fight her. She took the momentary respite to gesture at the bird to run in the direction the guards had come from. Somehow, the golden creature took the hint and Cinderella followed.

The thief smiled as she ran. “Time to thin out the herd."

As soon as she felt one of the guards approaching, Cinderella darted right and ran with incredible speed up the side of one of the caves. She just avoided his grasp and performed a sideways flip in the air before scissor-kicking him in the neck. The moment she landed, she continued running. When another guard got close, she split-kicked backward right between the man's eyes without stopping her stride. He grunted as his body slammed to the ground.

Four to go.

Cinderella felt strong. She knew that after all this running and fighting, it should have taken some kind of toll on her body. Instead, she felt ready for anything. As two additional guards approached her from the rear, she lifted her sword sideways and with one fluid motion spun and cracked both of them across the face with it. The two of them were out on their feet as Cinderella took their helmets and bashed them into one another, sending them reeling to the ground.

The thief felt electric as she saw a familiar glimmering light in the direction she was heading. She noticed the bird fly faster, and she did everything she could to catch up. When she finally reached the end of the tunnel, Cinderella's jaw dropped. There, in a cage of bone, was an exact replica of the bird who had led her here. It glimmered in the same gold as the bird that now circled its cage overhead. The two creatures began to chirp at one another.

Cinderella pursed her lips. “If this was all just to get you and your best friend back together, I might be pissed."

Her observation of the friendly bird moment allowed one of the two remaining guards to swing at her. She ducked the blow by less than an inch and then turned to face one of the largest men she'd ever seen. At least, until his slightly bigger compatriot reached his side.

They were out of breath, but she had a feeling their lungs weren't the reason they'd been recruited. Cinderella snapped her leg toward one of the hulking giants and kicked him in the midsection. The man didn't even stumble. She was so surprised at his lack of backward motion that she wasn't prepared for him to swing his fist and strike her in the side of the jaw. Pain cracked through her face as her head whipped back. She rubbed at the forming bruise as the two guards approached.

One of them spoke with a deep, rumbling voice. “You won't be taking her prize. And you won't be leaving here alive."

The thief tasted blood as she let her tongue play against her teeth. “You may not know this about me, but I'm not so good at following the rules."

She waited until the two guards were in perfect position next to one another before she pretended to swing her sword toward their faces. As they reached for the large hammers they concealed behind their backs, Cinderella made her real move. She sliced her blade downward, targeting the ankles of the ridiculously large guards. She truly appreciated how close the two were standing together when the sword met its targets of one guard's right ankle and the other guard's left. The weapon cut deep enough on both to penetrate armor and skin. The guards' deep screams rumbled through the cave.

One of them dropped his weapon and leaned forward. Cinderella threw three quick body blows followed by an uppercut so powerful, she surprised even herself. The punch hit the beast of a man right under the chin and sent him to the ground. The remaining bleeder swung off-balance with his hammer, which sent him spinning away from her as the weapon hit the ground.

The thief took the opportunity to leap upon his back and lock her hands around his neck in what the Godmother had always called an unbreakable chokehold. The guard swung his body wildly, which only put more pressure on his sliced ankle. He stumbled to the ground chest-first and landed with a stone-cracking fall.

Cinderella tightened her grip as the man attempted to reach backwards, but his muscles were far too big, giving him the flexibility of a rock.

She could feel the man starting to slow down in her grasp. “The bigger they are, the harder and dumber they fall."

The guard's limbs slackened until the man was completely unconscious. She relinquished his grasp and wiped the sweat from his neck off on her tunic. She grinned. “If only the old mare could've seen me in action."

She heard the squawking of two very real birds back at the cage. She stepped toward them. Cinderella was amazed that such a magical creature, which she assumed was completely unique, had its own duplicate right before her.

"You better back up, bird #2. I'm gonna get you out of there. And hope this all wasn't just a waste of my time."

The new bird seemed to have the same level of comprehension as the first, and it politely moved backward away from the side of the cage. With a well-placed blow, Cinderella smashed through the bone cage and provided an opening just large enough for the bird to fly out of. She expected the birds to fly around and chirp like crazy. Instead, they calmly perched atop the cage and embraced each other as if they were hugging.

She rubbed at one of her eyes. “Maybe Braedon is right. Maybe I have gone crazy. Bird crazy. The worst kind."

When the two flying friends had finished their reunion, one of them chirped to get the thief's attention. As it did, it held up one of its feet, and Cinderella noticed for the first time there was some kind of binding around its leg. The other bird displayed its appendage as well, which had the exact same shackle upon it.

Without hearing a single word, Cinderella knew exactly what she had to do. She took out her sword and slowly but surely snipped the bindings on each of the birds. In unison, they let out a gleeful squawk as they fluttered to the ground together. With a noise that was almost musical, the birds began to transform. Cinderella stepped backward as she watched the two shimmering creatures turn into young girls with golden hair and dresses.

Cinderella's mouth gaped open. “By the gods."

One of the girls put her hands together and smiled. “You asked if she was my best friend. Actually, she's my sister."