42. Ella
ELLA
MAIER MANOR
I’ve run out of excuses, and there’s nothing to stop me from slipping on the wedding dress.
“You can just fly away and leave this all behind,” Fiona offers as she helps me with the back buttons. “If he’s a monster, no servant’s job is worth your death.”
“He promised to pay a year’s salary to every one of the servants we let go.
” I frown at myself in my looking glass, hardly recognizing the woman who stares back at me.
My dress billows up at my ankles, and the sides don’t even touch my waist since it’s one of Bertha’s everyday dresses.
Dark circles rim my eyes, and my face looks as ashen as Dr. Wissen’s trees in his orchard.
Not that I care. If I’m to marry Dr. Wissen, the last thing I want is to look beautiful.
“You need to find a way to see the prince again,” Aunt Fiona insists. “If you’re worried about your servants, he has more money to pay them than Wissen ever will.”
“Don’t worry, Fiona. The moment he pays the servants, I’ll transform myself into a bird and fly away. It’s the perfect plan.”
“It’s not a perfect plan, Ella, and you know it. Not once have you transformed on command. Also, I flew by the house last night while you were dancing with your prince. It was as silent as a grave, chilling abomination of a place.”
“Perhaps the Grimm brothers managed to get rid of him. Also, he’s not my prince.
” I smile thinking of Fritz—I mean the prince—turning into a ribbiting frog the second things got scary at Dr. Wissen’s house.
If I hadn’t tucked him into my pocket, who knows what would’ve happened to him.
“But it was fun going to the ball. Thank you for that.”
“You should go to the ball tonight. Hide in the forest until it’s time to leave.” Fiona’s eyes flash with excitement. “I’ve an idea for another gorgeous gown. It would make this dress look like a burlap bag in comparison.”
The summons bell rings, yanking me back to reality. My heart patters with nervousness.
“I can do this,” I tell my aunt, willing my words to be true. “I can be just as sneaky and conniving as him.”
“You are the master of your future,” she says as she cups my face between her two palms and stares into my eyes. “Never let others determine who you are or what you should be. Do you understand?”
My heart stutters. Why am I really marrying this monster? To fill my father and stepmother’s coffers? To ease the guilt of watching my former servants be sent off with nothing but the clothes on their backs? To ensure my stepsisters are well-presented to society?
“Yes, I understand,” I finally say and kiss her on the cheek, her soft feathers tickling my face.
I slip on my boots, feeling secure in their sturdiness, and hike up my skirts as I face the door Fiona opens for me, bowing to me as if I’m a princess. A wobbly laugh escapes me, but I step out onto the long spiral stairway and head downstairs.
When I enter the main hall, my stepsisters and stepmother are decked out in even more stunning dresses than the night before. True to his word, Dr. Wissen had sent a fleet of servants parading in with boxes filled with dresses and accessories to help my stepsisters prepare for the ball.
“Your dress—” Marianne pauses from clipping on an earring to make a face of disgust, only to compose her complexion. “Looks…clean.”
“Why, thank you.” I suppress a laugh. Leave it to Marianne to find a positive thing to say in an impossible situation.
“I still don’t think it's fair she stole my dress,” Bertha pouts as she adjusts her slippers.
“We all must make sacrifices.” Stepmother waves her hand dismissively. “Besides, one of you will marry the prince, and then you’ll not need that old dress.”
“Where’s Father?” I ask, trying to ignore the emptiness threatening to swallow me as I prepare to marry a monster.
“He’s outside by the coach.” Stepmother slips on her fox gloves, muttering about how chilly the air is.
I push past the haze of perfume to find Father in front of the coach, speaking with Peter.
“Father,” I say.
“Ah, Ella.” He smiles, but when he takes in my dress, pooling up on the dirt road, he frowns. “What’s wrong with your dress? Are you really such a small stunt of a thing?”
“I didn’t have time to hem it.” The memory of the golden gown I danced in last night floats through my mind, sending a pang through me. “Are you escorting me to the church?”
“Herman will,” Father says, just as my stepmother and stepsisters sashay past me.
Peter opens the carriage door for them. “I’m needed at the ball.
With Marianne catching the eye of the prince, we can’t risk missing such an opportunity.
You have your man wrapped around your fingers already. You’ll be fine.”
“But I don’t want to do this alone.” I search his face for the father I once knew.
“It’s quite easy.” Father shrugs as he adjusts his hat. “I’ve done it twice now. Just stand by Dr. Wissen, say yes, and that’s it. So simple my horse could do the job. Now, be a good girl and go with Herman. Jesse will be your escort.”
He climbs inside, closing the door firmly behind him. Marianne and Bertha wave from the window as the carriage jerks into motion, sending a splatter of mud across my white gown.
I stare down at the mud and can’t help but chuckle. “How fitting.”
“Ella,” Herman says from the doorway. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
Standing here, my determination to be selfless wavers. What if my aunt is right and I can’t transform into a bird? Or what if that’s exactly what Wissen is expecting me to do and has a plan?
You are the master of your future.
It’s a long shot, but the prince could choose me, right?
Aunt Fiona seems to think he will choose me.
Plus, he only danced with me last night, no one else.
Fiona had a point. If I married him, I could not only pay all my servants but also hire them to work at the castle.
I’d escape my family and Wissen. Besides, if I don’t marry the doctor tonight, what will my father do? He’s already done his worst.
“Would you be so kind and wait?” I ask Herman and point to my mud-streaked dress. “I need to freshen up.”
“Of course,” he says.
Picking up my dress, I race to Mother’s grave. I search for Fiona, but she’s nowhere in sight. I bite my lip, knowing time is running out. I decide to sing the tune she used last time. “Shiver and quiver, my little tree. Silver and gold, throw down over me.”
Falling from the branches like a blanket of leaves, a gown and slippers, even more stunning than yesterday, drop into my arms. The tree opens for me, and I hurry inside and slip into the dress.
It’s pale as starlight with dove-white feathers edging the hem and a long train that flows as if it had wings.
The sequin bodice shimmers like ice on a cold winter’s day with sleeves hanging off my shoulders.
“Oh my,” Aunt Fiona says after fluttering into the room and transforming into her half-human form. “I’m so pleased you changed your mind. The prince will choose you, and you’ll live happily ever after in the castle, far from your stepmother.”
“I hope you’re right, but I was thinking I’d be an idiot to waste this opportunity.”
“Pssh.” She waves her hand. “You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for. Now stand very still while my friends assist you with your hair.”
A flock of doves swirls into the room, landing on my head. Their beaks tug at my strands and yank so hard that tears pick at my eyes.
“Tell them not to poop in my hair,” I say, and when a beak nips at my scalp, I flinch. “Ouch!”
“Don’t move!” Fiona scolds, brushing that magical powder over my face.
“This powder isn’t foolproof, you know. The Grimm brothers recognized me.”
“Did they now?” She purses her lips. “Hmm…I suppose anyone could if they were looking beyond the surface of a pretty face and sparkling dress. You know how I disapprove of those boys. Stay away from them. They’ll only break your heart.”
My spirits soar as I stroll through the castle doors and into the grand ballroom.
To think that right now I should be at the church, marrying Dr. Wissen, and yet here I am in disguise, dancing among the most powerful lords and ladies in the land.
I wish I could see Wissen’s face when he realizes he’s been stood up.
I scan the room. Whispers ripple behind opened fans and gloved palms.
“She’s back! And that dress. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
“The prince won’t dance with her again, will he?”
“How did she do her hair? It’s simply divine.”
That last comment causes my lips to curl into a smile.
If they only knew. On the dais sit the king and queen on their thrones, looking quite pleased with themselves.
At first, I don’t spot the prince, but then I see him dancing with Marianne.
He has this glazed look, but Marianne is positively glowing.
A tinge of worry tugs at me that Marianne is thwarting my plans, but then I feel bad.
Marianne deserves happiness, too. What woman here wouldn’t want to marry a prince?
My dress takes up so much space, especially with all the layers of my train, but I don’t need to worry.
The crowd parts for me, and my silver slippers take me closer to the dance floor.
The prince’s eyes catch mine as I hover at the edge of the dancers. A smile bursts on his face, and warmth fills me. He can be endearing at times, I decide. I may never love him, but we could be friends. Not to mention he’d be a far better husband than Wissen could ever be.
The bigger question is, will he still feel the same for me once I take off this dress and clean the powder from my face?
“Ella,” a deep voice says from behind me. “Would you be so kind as to dance with me?”