Chapter 19

Isabel and Floro were married in a small ceremony. Immediately after, leaving a note for Isabel's father, they set sail to see the world, something they had both always dreamed of doing together. Cinderella and Charles saw them off with big smiles.

The duchess had been very unhappy at first, with their engagement. But after realizing that it let her keep Cinderella as a maid, she accepted it without complaint. All of Cinderella's new clothes were split between Jeanne and Catherine. Cinderella didn't mind. She'd grown accustomed to her ragged gray dress. And she still had a few nice dresses that she had made over from the girls' hand-me-downs.

Once the ship had disappeared on the horizon, Charles walked Cinderella back to her house. Neither of them said much. Cinderella wasn't sure what Charles was thinking, but he seemed very deep in thought as they walked. She had considered telling him of her feelings, but she worried about seeming too forward.

When they reached the mansion, she said a quick goodbye and hurried inside to continue her chores. Since she'd had the last few days off, the mansion was a mess and she had a lot of catching up to do.

The next few days passed quickly. Cinderella was so busy cleaning, cooking, gardening, and sewing that she had no free moments. But as she worked, she thought often about Charles. She couldn't hide the truth from herself anymore. She loved him and she hoped that someday they might marry. Of course, she hadn't even met his family yet, and he hadn't met Papa, so that was probably still in the distant future.

She went to town to run some errands early one morning. The errands went quickly, so she decided to take a stroll through the shops and carts. Even though she had no money, she enjoyed seeing the variety of goods available.

As she was strolling along, she saw Charles. He seemed to be in an argument with one of the vendors.

"-stole that apple right off my cart and knocked my fruit all over!" the angry man was yelling.

"I didn't steal anything. This is my apple. I bought it with my own money," Charles insisted. "And I didn't knock anything off your cart."

"What's going on?" Cinderella asked, coming to stand beside Charles.

"This young man stole that apple, then he knocked some of my best fruits onto the ground," the man said, pointing at Charles.

"I've known this man for a long time. He would never do anything like that," Cinderella said. She moved so she was standing between them. The vendor narrowed his eyes, then grabbed her arm.

"I bet you're in league with him, little missy!" He began shaking her. Charles wrenched the man's hand from her arm with an angry scowl. When the vendor began running towards them, they took off down the street.

They ran all the way out of town and down a country road until they came to an abandoned house. "We should be safe here for a while," Charles said, pulling Cinderella towards the house.

"I don't know. What if this is private property?"

"I'm sure they won't mind if we just stop in for a bit. It's pretty obvious that no one lives here."

"Okay." She let him pull her up to the rickety door. It was unlocked, so they let themselves in. The inside was much nicer than the outside. The room was pretty clean, just a little dusty, with a nice couch in front of an empty fireplace.

They sat on the couch and watched out the window, but no one came. "I think we got away," Charles said.

"It looks like it. What a strange house this is. It looks like it's abandoned outside, but the inside is in pretty good shape," Cinderella remarked. "I wonder who owns it."

"I don't know." Charles stood and walked to the fireplace. It looked off for some reason. He realized that the floor around the fireplace was cleaner, and the fireplace itself wasn't very dusty. He found a small knob on one side. Curious, he pulled it.

Cinderella let out a loud gasp as the entire fireplace swung open like a door. She joined Charles and looked down the dark staircase. She shivered as a cold draft came up.

"I'm going to check this out," Charles said. "You can wait here if you prefer."

"Oh no, I don't want to stay up here alone." Cinderella wondered if there might be other secret passages. Someone could sneak up on her while Charles was gone. Instead, she grabbed his hand and held tight as they walked down into the darkness. Charles found a lantern and lit it. At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a large room

"What is all of this?" Cinderella asked, looking around at the shelves full of barrels and boxes. Instead of answering, Charles pulled a barrel and a box from the shelves and pried them open. The barrel was filled with a powdery substance.

"Gunpowder," Charles said. He opened the box to find a selection of guns.

"It looks like someone is preparing for an army," Cinderella said.

"Yes, it does. And I doubt it's aboveboard if they're doing it in an abandoned house. We need to report this to the king."

"What about that door over there?" Cinderella pointed to a large circular door in the far wall. It had two levers next to it. Charles pulled the first and the sound of rushing water filled the room. He pulled the second when the sound stopped and the door swung open.

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Charles climbed into the hole. It led him along a short passage, and then he was looking up at the sky. "I think this is the well out front," he said. "I don't know why they'd want that kind of secret passage, but that's what it is."

"We should get out of here before someone finds us, Charles. I don't have a great feeling about this." He looked over and saw the worry in her eyes. He knew they should leave, but he wanted to make sure he put things back. He didn't want everything disappearing before he could get the royal guard here. This would be the proof his father needed that someone was plotting against them.

He put the levers back up. The door swung closed and he heard water rushing back into the well. Interesting.

Just as he turned to go, he heard loud footsteps. He rushed to Cinderella's side just as three men with masks covering their faces appeared. "What are you doing here?" the first man asked in a menacing voice.

"Oh, hello! This is quite a storage of supplies you have here," Cinderella said in a calm, innocent voice. "Do you supply one of the vendors in town?"

Charles almost laughed, but he tried to keep his expression neutral and curious. She was giving them the perfect out. These men might not hurt them if they thought they were just innocent, curious passerby.

"Uh, yes," the first man said. "Yes we do. How did you find our little stash?"

"Oh, we were just out for a walk and decided to explore this old, abandoned house. It's a very clever place to store things. I'm sorry we came in without permission."

"I'm sure you meant no harm." The man's voice had lost a lot of its roughness. Charles felt himself relax. It looked like they were going to make it out without a fight. The men led them back up the stairs. Just as they were about to leave, one of the other men piped up.

"Wait a sec, boss! I think this pair is two of them what got the others almost locked up for the false Prince scheme."

"What?" the leader said. He looked at Charles and Cinderella. "These two? You sure, Pip?"

"Yes sir. I was there, you know. Bruno and I escaped. This guy, he's pretty flashy with a sword, and the little lady has a good arm."

The leader growled and glared at them. "Trying to pull a fast one on us, eh? Tie 'em up and throw 'em in the well."

Pip and the other sidekick tied their arms behind their backs and carried them out to the well. It was full again. Tossing them in, they closed a heavy metal cover over the top. Charles' heart sank when he heard the click of a lock. How were they ever going to get out of this one?

He began kicking to keep himself afloat. Cinderella was doing the same. The fear was back in her eyes and he hated seeing it. This was his fault. They shouldn't have come at all, and then they should have left sooner, but he was only thinking of himself and his need to prove himself to his parents. He should have thought about Cinderella's safety. He turned himself in a circle, looking for a way out.

"Oh! There's a knife tucked into your wrist bindings," Cinderella said softly.

"What?" He felt around with his fingers but couldn't find it.

"Don't move. I'll get it." He kept himself in place and felt her gentle hands on his. Soon he heard the metallic clang of a knife sliding from a sheath.

"Stay there," she commanded again. He stayed as still as possible until he heard her give a triumphant laugh and felt his bands loosen. Pulling his hands free, he turned and took the knife. Once her hands were free, he looked around again. There had to be some way out. Perhaps at the bottom he could trigger the passage into the basement.

"I'm going down," he said. He dove to the bottom and felt around, but it was smooth. He couldn't find any levers or even cracks to poke the knife in.

When he came back up, she was watching him with a worried look. He shook his head. "I'm sorry Cinderella."

"Let me try," she asked. She took the knife and dove. He watched her form move to the bottom and feel around. When she came up, she also shook her head. "Looks like this might be the end of our adventures," she said sadly. "Unless whoever gave you that knife manages to take out these men and come back for us."

"We still have hope," Charles said. He didn't like hearing her talk about endings. He pulled her into his arms and held her as they both kicked. Eventually they were going to run out of strength. Then he didn't know what they'd do.

Cinderella snuggled into him. It felt good holding her so close. She tucked her head under his chin and held him tight.

"I love you, Cinderella," he whispered into her wet hair.

"I love you too, Charles," she whispered back.

He pulled back so he could see her face. Leaning down, he gently kissed her. When he pulled back, she smiled at him. He tightened his arms around her again, holding her to him.

They were holding each other, just enjoying the feel of each other's arms when a familiar, teasing voice floated down to them.

"I hate to interrupt you two lovebirds, but do you have any ideas on how I can get you out of there? This lock is too strong to break and I couldn't find the key anywhere."

"Alex!" Charles cried. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to meet you at the market. I ran into some goons who looked like trouble, so I swapped places with one of them. I've got the other two tied up now. I just need to figure out how to get you two free."

"There's a lever in the basement," Charles said. "It's next to a large wooden door."

"Got it." Alex left. Soon they were sinking as the water drained. It drained right into the basement.

"I guess I pulled the wrong lever," Alex said as they floated into the room. It was flooded with water. "But it looks like we don't have to worry about anyone using these supplies anymore."

"True. Let's take the men back to the castle and get the royal guard out here," Charles said, standing. He helped Cinderella up as well. Together, the three walked back up the stairs and out into the sunlight. Cinderella and Charles shivered as the cool breeze hit them.

"Maybe we need to get you two dried off first," Alex suggested.

"Oh, I need to hurry home. Mother will be furious if I'm late for lunch," Cinderella said. "I'll dry off as I go. You two take care. I'll see you again soon, I hope."

Charles gave her a lingering hug. "You can count on it," he said softly.