Cinderella's Legacy by Shonna Slayton

Author:Shonna Slayton [Slayton, Shonna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amaretto Press

Chapter 19

Instead of yelling out her frustration, Petronela cried into the floor by the open door, clutching the torn sleeve, surrounded by the shattered glass. “I’m sorry Papa. Mama. I’m not strong. You’ve left me alone in this world and I am undone.”

A gust of wind blew her hair and made her tears cold on her cheeks.

“No, dearie. You are giving up much too soon.”

Petronela lifted her eyes to stare at two brown boots standing outside her door. She followed them up to a mountain dress worn by a plump figure with kind eyes and white hair.

“Esmerelda! Where did you come from?”

Petronela blinked as she tried to make sense of a pretty pair of fairy wings sprouting out of Esmerelda’s back, glittering in the moonlight. The wings had to be an illusion from the cold air and her tears. She rubbed her eyes.

“You’ve no time to waste. The ball is about to begin, and you’ll be fashionably late, just like the king and queen, if we get started now.”

“What are you talking about? Why are you here?”

“You are a girl in need of some help. I suspected as much from the moment I first saw you. Why would your stepfamily risk you getting ahead of them?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, dearie. Your innocence is part of your charm, but sometimes you have to pay more attention to what’s going on around you.”

Petronela frowned. “But I do. My cousins are up to something with the Burgosovs across the mountain. I just haven’t figured out what, yet.”

By Esmerelda’s expression, Petronela could tell the mountain woman knew something, and she wasn’t pleased. There it was again. A glimmer of a wing. Petronela tilted her head. “The way the light is hitting the cold air…the fog…it looks like you’ve got wings.”

Esmerelda smiled. “I do. I’m your fairy godmother. I only reveal my wings when there’s a need.”

Petronela gaped. “But those are stories. Fairies aren’t real.” She’d outgrown fairies the day her papa died.

“That’s why I reveal my wings. It helps with my credibility.”

“Where’s Nadzia? Is she a fairy, too?”

“No. You know her story. She was left on my doorstep.” Esmerelda rolled up her sleeves. “Can we get down to business? The ball will be over before we get through the basics here. You do want to go?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then get me something I can use for a carriage. That castle is a ways off.”

“They’ve already taken our old horses.”

“Do what I ask, and you’ll see the power of a fairy godmother. Do you have a garden?”

“There’s not much in it. I had to empty it before I could go to the ball, but I left a few things out there for the animals to scavenge. Aunt Marzena never goes back there, so the far corner still has some of the late fall vegetables. Are you hungry? I can fix you something from the food in the kitchen.”

Esmerelda shook her head. “I need a fresh pumpkin. They last longer.”

Petronela led the way to the garden. “There might be one under here somewhere.

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