The first night of the festival was over. It had ended quite abruptly after the girl in silver's mysterious disappearance with the prince and princess.

Sheriff Cinder stood in front of King Castellius and Queen Cordelia in their study. Hera Blanc sat next to him, looking rather confused as to why she was in front of the king and queen.

"So you believe you know who this mystery girl is?" Queen Cordelia began, sitting across from the two commoners, a desk between them.

"Indeed I do. She has the same green eyes and brown hair as Miss Rosella Hadley, a young lady I happen to be in need of catching." Sheriff Cinder straightened up. "She ran away the second she caught my eye. I can't imagine any other reason someone would feel the need to run unless they feared I would get them into trouble."

Hera gulped, avoiding the royal's gaze as she raised her hand. "With all due respect, I saw her too. Cinderella- sorry that's what we call her- isn't that stunning. She's quite plain and I'm not sure where she would have gotten the dress and accessories from. See I have the woman's glove! I can't see how it could be hers."

"How'd you get that, Miss...?"

Hera stood up and curtsied. "Hera Blanc of Anwen. Cin- Ella is my stepsister. The man who was with the mystery lady had it after it slipped off her hand. He ran into me and dropped it." She sat back down, playing with the glove in her lap.

"That man was our son. Whoever that mystery lady is she's taken the prince and princess. We must find her immediately." King Castellius exclaimed.

"You don't think she could have been a witch, do you?" Queen Cordelia suggested.

"I fear... If it is Ella, she might as very well be. See something strange happened to the Blanc family just yesterday. Hera, why don't you explain it?" Sheriff Cinder nodded towards the girl.

Hera scrunched her nose in thought, looking a bit like a pig. "Well... It was the strangest thing... My little sister, Zera, has always been quite comfortable with Ella. Ella's always sort of been the odd one of the family, you know. Well that night Ella went into the woods to tell Zera that it was dinner time and when she returned home, she had an unconscious Zera with her! We've done everything to try and wake my sister, but alas! Nothing has worked. She doesn't need to eat, but she's clearly still breathing. So honestly there can only be one conclusion-"

"Magic." King Castellius grew pale at the thought.

Hera nodded and Sheriff Cinder spoke up. "Ella Hadley may be our best guess as to who the mystery lady is. Hera, did anything else strange happen that day?"

Hera thought about it. "Well... Ella and Zera went into town to get the dresses for the festival. Zera returned without Ella, but when Ella returned, nearly an hour later she had a man with her. He was quite the gentleman, introduced himself as Chase. And then-"

Queen Cordelia now went white, whiter than her husband. "What did he look like? The shop- where did they get the dresses?"

Hera frowned, confused by the queen's panic. "Alessia's shop of course. I believe it's the closest one, after all. The man- Chase- had brown hair, which was a bit messy, and these charming cornflower blue eyes. He was probably just under six feet."

The king and queen shared a look, startled beyond belief.

"This can't merely be a coincidence." Castellius mumbled to his wife.

"I can't say it is." She fanned herself with her hand.

Castellius straightened up. "I fear you may be right, Sheriff. This Ella woman... I believe she's enchanted our children. I want you and the girl to do whatever you must to bring her and the prince and princess back here, preferably within the next week. You may have as many knights and supplies at your disposal as you need."

Hera straightened up. "And when we do?"

King Castellius looked her dead in the eyes. "We will be in your debt."

Hera took a deep breath and nodded. If the sheriff was up to it, so was she.

The race was on.