Cinderella Dreams of Fire (Fairy Tales Forever #1) (15 page)

A
ll the feelings
of excitement and strength that accompanied the prince as he fought with Cinderella by his side evaporated as soon as he saw his mother up close. One of the beasts had already punctured her skin with its claws, and a thin trickle of red blood spilled down the front of her dress. His mother was the most incredible, strong woman he'd ever seen. He hadn't even been sure she could bleed until now.

He spoke more assertively than he felt. “Unhand my mother, Armenia. This isn't a fight you can win."

Armenia grinned and crossed her legs. “Oh really? I think I have all the power in this situation. And all you have is idle chatter.” She looked at her flaming throne and then back over to him. “I even have the throne. I think it's possible I've already won."

While the prince held his ground, he could feel Cinderella moving toward his mother.

Armenia held up her hand. “Tut-tut, daughter. I think you've gotten close enough."

The prince was surprised when he saw that Cinderella didn't even look up at her evil stepmother. She focused right in on one of the demons.

He was even more shocked by the name she used.

"Kiyara, you don't have to do this. I know that she's forcing you to do it."

One of the two demons who held his mother in check hissed loudly. She even began to form words. “You don't know me, slave girl. This is who I am now."

Cinderella's face showed pure resolve. “No, it's not. I know you better than them. I know you better than anybody else in this world."

The prince now understood why he recognized the eyes of the demon he'd faced. It had been Malina. And the other demon was her sister, Kiyara. He wasn't sure how it made sense, but it did.

Braedon shook off his confusion and looked into the eyes of his mother. “It's okay, Mother. We're going to get you out of this."

The queen's skin started to look pale. “I'm proud of you, Braedon. Maybe not the boozing, but I'm generally proud."

"Don't you go saying goodbye right now!"

Armenia's laughter echoed throughout the chamber as she stood up and stretched. The witch made it look as if it was part of her throne room routine.

She stepped down toward them. “It is time for many goodbyes, Prince Braedon. Of course, you should start to say goodbye to your mother. You should also bid farewell to the kingdom you once knew. Loren will be a very different place without your mother. Without the essence of who you are."

Cinderella and the prince both took a step back with every pace she took.

Braedon held his sword up high. “That's enough, Armenia. Make this between you and me, and leave my mother out of this."

Armenia continued to walk forward. Each stride felt like a dagger scraping against his skin.

"Part of me is glad that I was banished. I had grown weak and predictable. My daughters were maturing in a life of pure luxury.” She smiled widely at Cinderella. “It was time for a change of scenery. It was time to steal someone else's life."

The prince could see how much the thief was fighting her desire to take a stab at revenge. He figured that she knew as well as he did that the numbers and the power were not on their side.

Cinderella breathed heavily. “Kiyara, you need to help me. You know the queen and the prince have done nothing wrong. This is your opportunity to show them who you really are. To show them you are the sister I love."

The demon-form of Kiyara relinquished her grasp on the queen and held her clawed hands up to the sides of her head. “Enough, servant. Stop talking right now!"

"We're not related by blood, Kiyara, but you are my sister."

Kiyara grunted. “Leave me alone!"

Armenia continued to step toward them. “It's no use, Stepdaughter. You may confuse her for a while, but she will always come back to her mother. It's too bad that you aren't able to do the same. I really should have made sure that I burned you to death like I did your mother."

The prince turned toward the thief. He watched Cinderella grit her teeth and fight with everything she had not to give in.

He reached toward her. “She's just trying to rile you up. Everything is going to be okay."

Cinderella was so angry that she couldn't even speak.

Braedon spun back toward the queen. “You're right, Armenia. You have all the power in this situation. You're the one in charge."

The evil fiery witch stopped in her tracks, sneering. “I'm glad you're finally willing to acknowledge this, Your Royal Highness."

Braedon laid down his sword and took a step in her direction. “We don't have to fight. I'm sure my mother and I will be willing to abdicate the throne to you as long as you spare us our lives."

The queen moaned in Malina's grasp. “Don't, Braedon. Don't give in."

Her demon captor laughed. “Quiet. You no longer have importance."

The prince moved ahead once again. “Armenia, I'm telling you that you can have everything you want."

Armenia's grin was pure evil incarnate. “But the only thing I truly want, dear Prince, is your heart."

Time seemed to freeze as Armenia nodded to her daughter. Braedon and the thief both dashed toward the queen, but it was too late. With the stab of her claws through the regent's back, Malina took the queen's life. The prince felt his limbs fall motionless by his sides as he watched his mother drop to the ground, lifeless. He heard Cinderella shout something as she drew her sword, but even as time moved slowly, Armenia was far too fast for any of them. In a magical blaze of light, the witch had wrenched Braedon from his statue-like state and yanked him toward the throne. He felt himself being pulled through the air in a world where he no longer had control.

Armenia tossed the new ruler of Loren into his throne and placed her hand on his chest. Everything he ever knew and loved and hated drained out of him, and the scream that left his mouth was the last thing he remembered.

C
inderella couldn't believe it
. The sequence of events that had seen the queen fall dead and Prince Braedon pulled from her grasp was the worst-case scenario by far. Despite drawing the Heartstone sword, Armenia continued to pull life from the prince's body. Cinderella let out a war cry and ran toward her stepmother.

Red flames shot through Armenia's eyes as she tossed a ball of flame toward the thief. Cinderella rolled to the side to avoid it. She continued running. Armenia threw another fireball, this one larger than the first. Cinderella rolled and ducked and kept on sprinting.

As Armenia kept working Braedon over, she threw a third, carriage-sized fiery blast in the thief's direction. With no chance to avoid it, Cinderella tightened her grasp on the sword's hilt and the fiery death was averted. The fireball dissipated before it could reach her.

Cinderella growled. “Let him go, or I swear–"

Malina tackled her stepsister and clawed at her face. Cinderella's back landed hard on the stone ground, knocking most of the wind out of her. As she struggled to breathe, the sword was the only thing that prevented an immediate mauling. Malina's demon body pressed down hard on the thief's chest. She was too heavy to shake off, and Cinderella's best efforts to roll were for naught.

She glanced sideways for a moment to see Armenia standing over a dead-eyed Braedon. Anger and remorse went through every part of her body, giving her the strength she needed to push the massive creature off her. Malina flew back and landed with a thump. When Cinderella looked up, she saw the prince standing. She knew the look in his face immediately. The man she knew was gone. Like her father and the blacksmith before him, he would never feel anything again.

As much as she hated to do it, she turned her attention away from mourning and toward winning the battle. Her eyes leapt towards Kiyara, who stood over the dead queen's body.

Her voice quivered. “If you feel remorse, my sister, it means that is the real you. It doesn't matter what your mother made you into. What you choose to do is who you are.” The thief screamed the final words. “So do something about it!"

Kiyara got the message. With a primal yell, Cinderella's sister dashed across the room and attacked Malina. She watched the demons grappling for position, a mass of gray muscle and bone.

The thief stepped toward the throne, which now featured a lifeless prince standing before it. To the side was her stepmother, just asking for an opportunity to exact revenge upon her.

The thief seethed with anger and stepped toward the witch, but her stepmother was no longer the size she remembered.

Flames started to spill their way down her body, as Armenia laughed. “His heart was so delicious. Never tasted anything like–"

Armenia yelled with power as her body started to grow even bigger. She quickly passed the demonic size of her daughters as the red and orange flames continued to lick her body. She was becoming massive, but Cinderella held strong.

"I will not let you intimidate me, Mother."

Armenia's voice boomed. “It doesn't matter if you're scared. You'll die either way."

A deep, unsteady voice entered the fray. “Nobody does that to my boy!"

Cinderella turned to see Falstone running forward and tossing a full bottle of pure alcohol directly into Armenia's face. The spirits caught fire and gave a flash of light. Unfortunately, Armenia seemed unfazed by the momentary light show.

"Stupid fool.” She threw a fireball in Falstone's direction. The thief rushed over and made the projectile fizzle before it could sear the large knight to death.

Cinderella pulled Falstone behind the base of a massive sculpture.

Armenia's laughter continued to echo through the room.

The thief looked over and saw Kiyara fighting blow for blow with her sister. Their demonic shrieks were loud and would have been terrifying to most.

Cinderella looked back to Falstone. “You need to get out of here. It isn't safe for you."

"I'm not leaving him."

She took him by the shoulders. “He's gone, Falstone. He's like the others. He's gone."

As the realization hit the inebriated Falstone, it trickled through the thief as well. The man she trained with. The man who leapt from rooftop to rooftop with her. He would never return. All that remained was the same husk of a person that her father and Tristan and all those soldiers had become.

She fought off the darkness and tried to internalize what the Godmother had told her earlier. This wasn't about her anymore.

"Just stay here in the corner."

Falstone nodded and crouched by the wall. She didn't want to see the pain in his eyes.

The thief stepped out from behind the sculpture and held her sword high. “Mother, if you want to take this kingdom, you're going to have to go through me first."

The gargantuan Armenia ceased her laughing. “Gladly."

As Cinderella expected, her giant stepmother's motions were slower. It was easy for the thief to watch Armenia's movements toward her and estimate her timing. There would be no more surprises.

Cinderella could feel the heat from her stepmother's flaming body. But the raging flames that extended far beyond the witch's reach met a protective bubble around the thief. The sword was doing its work.

Cinderella prepared to strike. At the moment Armenia swung a large and fiery fist toward the thief, Cinderella swung her sword as well. As the blade and hand met, a blast of energy shot in every direction, sending sparks and the light skyward. The thief and the blade held their ground against the much larger witch. Armenia growled and pressed her hand into the sword, but the thief would not yield. At a stalemate, Cinderella pressed her stepmother back and did a series of backward flips to put some distance between them. Cinderella caught a glimpse of Malina on top of Kiyara, trying to claw caverns into her body. She also looked over at the motionless prince.

It's all going to hell.

Armenia screamed and dashed across the room toward her adversary. With expert timing, the thief leapt above the outstretched hand of her stepmother and swung down upon the fiery shoulder. Armenia cried out in pain, but there was no blood. The fire she momentarily extinguished came right back afterwards. Cinderella landed and rolled to the side to avoid a fiery projectile.

Armenia cackled once again. “I've grown too powerful for that stone to have an effect on me anymore. The fight is lost, little girl."

Cinderella went for one last rush at Armenia's legs, but the giant flaming creature swung her hands so quickly, she didn't have time to react. The attack burned her hands and caused her to drop the Heartstone sword. Armenia let the flames on her right hand dissipate as she grabbed the thief by the neck and hoisted her high into the air. Cinderella felt her throat constrict as she attempted unsuccessfully to let the air pass through. As she swung her legs wildly, she spied her sister on the ground. No longer in the form of a demon, Kiyara had reverted to human form. And she wasn't breathing.

The thief squealed and kicked and did everything she could to get out of the creature's grasp. It was no use.

Armenia had joy in her eyes. “The sister you love is dead. The mother you loved is dead. And neither your father nor your beloved prince will ever remember you again."

The thief did everything she could to shut out the emotional daggers that sliced at her heart. She fought hard to remember exactly what the Godmother had said.

Armenia moved her giant hand down Cinderella's body, allowing the thief to breathe once more. With all her stepmother's might, she pressed Cinderella against the wall and placed her palm over the thief's chest.

"Now let's take a look inside that grief-stricken heart of yours."

Armenia pushed into Cinderella's body and began to draw out everything from her heart. The thief's world went black.

C
inderella's eyes opened wide
. She still saw flames to the left and the right, but she was no longer pinned against the wall in a massive, decadent throne room. She couldn't see the dead-eyed prince or her deceased sister anywhere. Even Armenia had vanished from her view. All she saw was a room that she'd memorized every corner of. Every wall and every flame was familiar, because it was the room where her mother had died. In the familiar spot, Cinderella saw the body of her mother. But something was different about all of it. The flames usually let off so much heat that it made the thief sweat in her sleep. But she didn't feel anything. In fact, something about the flames and smoke around her made her feel almost stronger.

"What is this place?"

When nothing answered, she walked toward her mother. The flames around her continued to have no effect. She noticed that in her dreams she would often have the body of a child… the child who watched her mother die. And yet, she was her exact right age in this place. She wore her typical black thieving cloak and could feel the Heartstone sword in her scabbard. Whatever realm she'd stumbled into, it certainly wasn't the same old dream.

Cinderella knelt beside her mother. She looked over to the side of the room that in recent nights had featured the golden bird leading her into safety. That's when she realized that the bird was standing beside her. Not in its typical form, but as the little golden child. Cinderella blinked and saw that both twins were standing beside her.

Cinderella pursed her lips. “Aymee. Tressa. What is this place?"

The twins smiled in unison before Aymee opened her mouth. “Your mother is ready to speak to you now."

Cinderella's hand absently rubbed her thigh. “Am I dead? Am I with my mother?"

Tressa let out a giggle. “Just talk to her. It's why you're here."

Cinderella pulled her focus from the golden twins and let her hand lightly touch her mother's shoulder. She expected it to be cold and dead. But she was overwhelmed when she realized this woman beneath her had a pulse. She was very much alive.

Cinderella's chest tightened. “Mother?” She lightly shook the shoulder. “Mother?"

The thief's mother turned toward her, but she did not wear the face Cinderella remembered. The woman didn't seem to be her mother at all.

It was her mentor. The Godmother.

Cinderella forced herself to breathe. “What's happening here? I don't understand."

The Godmother smiled and took her fingers. “I think you do. I think if you search deep down, you do."

Cinderella's heart opened wide. The Godmother had looked different. Had acted different. Even though it seemed absolutely impossible, her mentor had the spirit of her mother with her all along. Somehow, the woman who'd guided her all these years was actually her mother.

She held her breath and intertwined their fingers. “Why didn't you tell me? How did I not know? How did you find a way to reach me?"

The Godmother sat up and wrapped her arms around Cinderella. The thief felt herself sink into her mother's touch for the first time in a decade. It was like coming home.

Her mentor squeezed tight. “Not every question needs an answer, but you don't need to die today like I died so many years ago."

Cinderella pulled back to look her mentor in the eye. To look her mother in the eye. “I'm not dead? I can still win this fight?"

"I may have trained you to be strong. To be fast. To be resilient. But you always had the thing you needed to defeat your greatest enemy."

Through all the unanswered questions Cinderella had had over the last decade, this was one she was able to answer herself right away. She nodded and smiled.

The Godmother let her hands slip down to meet Cinderella's. “It's time for you to go."

Cinderella knew that this was true. She sighed. “Will I ever see you again?"

"I'm not sure. But I'll do my best to stay in your thoughts."

Cinderella didn't want to ever leave this place, but she knew she couldn't live in this strange world forever. A single tear rolled down her cheek and made contact with the wood below. She gripped the Godmother's hands and smiled as the vision began to fade away.

T
he thief's
eyes opened once again. This time she was back in the throne room, but now she was on the ground. She looked up to see Armenia in unparalleled distress. Her stepmother's shrieks seemed to rattle the stone walls.

Armenia's screams were so loud and full of pain, Cinderella wondered if the fire on the outside of her body had finally gotten into her veins for the first time. The gigantic woman started to shrink and lose her fiery exterior. By the time the thief had reoriented herself and got to standing, the witch was back to normal size. Her stepmother gritted her teeth and pointed all her ire toward Cinderella.

She balled up both of her fists. “How? How were you able to resist me?"

At the very same moment, the thief and her stepmother both spied the Heartstone sword from across the room. Without hesitation, both of them ran for it. Armenia was quick, but Cinderella had something else working for her. As she grew closer to the weapon, she rolled forward, picked up the sword in one motion, and held the jeweled part of the blade up to her chest. “How did I resist? My love is stronger than your hate."

The second the jewel made contact with the area above the thief's heart, a light brighter than anything she had ever seen radiated out from it. Cinderella squinted against a light as powerful as the sun, which fired a constant beam across the throne room and directly into her stepmother's chest. The screams before were no match for the sounds that came out of Armenia's mouth just then.

Deep, dark, guttural sounds bounced against the walls of the throne room as Armenia twitched within the throes of the light. Cinderella watched with some difficulty through the brightness as her stepmother's body began to cave in on itself. The screams continued until the proud, heartless woman blinked out of existence, leaving nothing but a faint wisp of smoke behind. The light from the sword extinguished itself, and the thief fell to one knee, breathing harder than she expected.

She clutched at her chest and tried to will oxygen back into her lungs. “It's done. It's all done."

Cinderella used the sword to prop herself back to standing. With some difficulty, she walked straight ahead and through the puff of smoke that used to be her stepmother. It completely dissipated as she walked through it. She stepped past to what was now an empty throne and looked down at her fallen sister.

She shook her head. Kiyara was long gone, but there was a strange look upon the girl's face. She didn't look as though things had been cut short. She looked at peace. She looked as though, in the last moments of her life, she finally lived her truth.

"You were always my sister. That is how I'll remember you."

Gingerly at first, but then at an unwieldy gallop, Falstone emerged from behind the face of the sculpture he'd hidden behind. He placed his hand on the back of her neck. “I thought you were done for a second there. I think I owe you more than a few drinks, my lady."

Cinderella smirked. “I need a nap more than I need a drink.” She looked back to the empty throne and around the expansive chamber. “Have you seen Braedon?"

Falstone's grief-stricken look spoke volumes. “I don't understand. I don't know what that witch did to him."

Cinderella rubbed the bridge of her nose. “The same thing she's done to so many others. But, at least she'll never do it again.” She sighed. “Tell me where he is. I want to see him."

The hefty knight would make a terrible card player, as his eyes immediately betrayed the location of the prince. Cinderella kept the sword held high and walked quickly into the hallway. Her heart momentarily stopped when she saw him. The sword clattered loudly to the ground below.

Just outside the room, and in plain sight of the partygoers who had walked toward the ruckus of the throne room, were Malina and Braedon hand in hand. Her lips were pressed firmly against his.