Sinful Cinderella

Edgar and I drive back to the palace. I can’t see much outside the carriage window, just dark houses, dark pastures, dark trees. Edgar sits across from me, obscured in shadows, his foot raised comfortably on his knee.

“The wedding will be a week from today,” he says.

I nod.

“And I think I would like it if you wore a black dress. It suits you, you know?”

I nod again. I will always wear black after this.

“After which, my mother will instruct you in your duties as princess. Nothing much, of course. Your biggest challenge will be my daughter.”

I stop nodding. I forgot about the daughter.

“Tomorrow I’ll let you have breakfast with her. I’ll introduce you as her new mother, though she’ll probably hate you for that. She’s a stubborn girl but not without her charms. You will have to be firm with her, but loving, always loving. Is that clear?”

A new idea creeps into the back of my head. I resist the urge to smile.

“As for tonight, you’ll sleep in the chamber formerly used by my wife. It’ll be your room now. I think you’ll like it, it’s quite luxurious. You’ll have plenty of freedom in your new life, most of the time I won’t trouble you at all. But when I knock-” he looks right at me, “I expect you to let me in.”

I smirk at him. “You won’t be the first.”

Edgar leans forward to pat my knee. “And you won’t be the last. But we’ll make a good team, Crow. You wait and see.”

“What about my stepmother?” I ask.

“Oh, that was terrible wasn’t it? Grabbing your throat just because I didn’t choose her daughter as my bride? It’s a good thing you had that spike in your hand or she would’ve strangled you right there!”

I sit back and smile. “That’ll work.”

“Ironic though, isn’t it? Now you get to be a stepmother yourself. It’s almost like your taking her place.”

My insides curdle at the thought. I don’t want to be a stepmother, especially not for that nasty little princess. She’ll do her best to make my life hellish, that I know.

“What’s your daughter’s name?” I ask.

Edgar snickers. “It might seem odd to you. She was such a beautiful baby – hair black as ebony, skin white as snow. So we called her Snow White.”