Chapter Sixteen:

An Unlikely Ally

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Clara couldn't fully remember coming home as she had been so tired, but nonetheless, she was startled awake from her slumber by the shouts of her stepfamily. Blinking to rid her eyes of blurriness she looked around her, squinting, and was about to get up when she realized something peculiar about her feet.

She looked at her feet and had to contain a gasp so as not to wake her sleeping siblings who were not far away. She was still wearing the glass slippers! Clara hurriedly took them off her feet, gritting her teeth as the cool glass brushed against the heels of her feet. Placing the shoes down, she sat on one of the chairs and inspected her feet.

In hindsight, she probably should've figured that glass slippers wouldn't be the most comfortable shoe choice, but looking at her aching, blistered feet, she couldn't help but hope that tonight's choice of footwear wasn't the glass slippers.

She had just placed the glass slippers into one of the cupboards for safe keeping when the kitchen door burst open to reveal Estella. Her black hair was probably as messy as Clara's and she looked about as tired as Clara felt.

"Clara, you'd better go get mother's breakfast, she's not in a good mood. Here let me help," Estella said, and Clara couldn't help but feel puzzled. What was this all about? Estella didn't like helping anyone. Granted, she had been nicer as of late, but Clara couldn't help but feel suspicious

"Why are you doing this?" Clara asked in a hushed whisper as Estella tried to help her, albeit clumsily. Estella stilled in her movements before looking up at Clara, some of her dark hair hanging lank in front of her face.

"I just-" Estella paused, her shoulders slumping. "I just wanted to say that I disagree with Mother. She should be trying to help you, not stop you." Clara's head snapped up abruptly. What? Clara met Estella's eyes, but all she could see in them was sincerity.

"You don't agree with your mother?"

"No," Estella said, biting her lip nervously, "I don't, and I, um, I know how you wanted to go to the ball to try and help pay for medicine for James, and I just, well." Estella paused, her mouth twisting downwards as if puzzling over what to say. "Mother wants me to try and find a husband, or at the very least a suitor and if I do, I want to help."

Clara stared at Estella, completely flabbergasted. "Are you sure? This could really get you in trouble with your mother."

"I'm sure," Estella said and Clara nodded hesitantly before going back to her own work. The two girls were both quiet before Estella spoke up again. "Do you want to hear about the ball?" Clara nodded, not trusting her voice to answer without giving herself away. As Estella began to talk, it was as if someone had replaced the quiet and solemn girl with a much happier one.

"You would've loved it, Clara! The ballroom was huge, with a massive chandelier made of what looked like crystal. Everyone was dressed so beautifully, even more beautifully than Mother and Edina!" Estella seemed to be rather pleased about this. Clara raised an eyebrow at her stepsister and Estella had the decency to blush.

"What? It's true, not that I don't want Edina to have luck with finding a husband, she was just so sure of herself, she was driving me insane on the carriage ride!" Estella exclaimed. Clara could definitely imagine that. Estella and Edina were fighting almost constantly. "Not to mention, you should've seen her face when this princess arrived late!"

"Princess?" Clara asked, her nerves almost bubbling to the surface.

"Oh yes, she was gorgeous! She had this lavender gown made of silk with pearls! And Mother didn't believe me, but I could swear that I saw she was wearing shoes made of glass!"

"That sounds awfully uncomfortable," Clara said, and Estella nodded.

"I know! I certainly don't envy her feet this morning," Estella agreed. "I could've sworn Mother was going to have a fit when she saw her, she was probably the most gorgeous person there. Mother said that it was her fault that so many of the men were distracted. If the prince was actually there, I bet he danced with her."

"The prince wasn't there?" Clara questioned. Clara had just assumed she had missed the introductions since she was late.

"No! He wasn't even introduced. Mother was livid, she didn't even know who to set Edina on!" Clara gave a startled chuckle at her stepsister's comment.

"I'm sure Edina wouldn't like to be likened to some sort of dog," she quipped, causing Estella to laugh as well.

"I don't know why she wouldn't, we already know she is one!" Clara's jaw almost dropped. Where had this side of Estella been for the past four years? Suddenly, another loud shout came from upstairs and the girls exchanged a look before hurrying along.

"It's probably best you go upstairs and get decent, Estella. I don't think your mother would take kindly to the idea that you helped prepare breakfast."

"Good idea. I'll see you in a bit, Clara," Estella called over her shoulder as she closed the kitchen door behind her. As soon as the door closed, Clara released a breath she hadn't known she had been holding.

If Clara had been told yesterday that she would be offered help by Estella, she would not have believed it, at least not right away. All of the time she had known them Clara's stepsisters had been self-centered and firmly under the thumb of their mother. To think that Estella not only had offered her help but also had openly stated that she didn't agree with the actions of her mother, was almost unbelievable.

Except maybe it wasn't. Clara remembered all of Estella's little frowns of the years when Linette scolded Clara. She remembered the way Estella had listened to her advice about talking to people.

Could she have misjudged her? It wouldn't be the first time.

Clara finished getting her stepfamily's breakfast ready and was soon carefully balancing the platter of food in her arms. Glancing backward, the corners of her mouth raised into a small smile. Her siblings had not only slept through the whole breakfast preparation, but also Estella's little visit. Harriet's hair was nothing short of a rat's nest around her head while Amelia and James were both snuggled into her sides.

Clara shook her head at the sight fondly, they must've been tired from staying up all night to wait for her to come home. She'd have to tell them to go to bed earlier next time.

Taking the breakfast tray upstairs to the dining room, she placed everything carefully on the mahogany table, counting her lucky stars that her stepmother wasn't downstairs yet. As soon as everything was situated, Clara left the room briskly, not wanting to wait to see her stepmother and other stepsister.

The more time she had to herself was the more time she would be able to put off helping her stepfamily get ready for the ball. But she had no such luck as not twenty minutes later the calls of her stepfamily could be heard through the walls.

The rest of the day passed much like the day before, with the exception of the large list of chores. Clara was still running around, her stepsisters were still arguing over who would wear what, and Linette was still in a terrible mood. Both Edina and Linette had complained constantly about the lack of a prince and the mysterious princess, effectively giving Clara a headache by midday. However, when Edina had snapped out of her 'misery' long enough to make a snide comment to Estella about how more suitors were going to dance with her and not Estella, Clara was pleasantly surprised that as well as a snide comment in return, Estella also sent Clara a conspiratorial wink. Clara almost dropped the bobby pins she'd been holding.

By the time it was nearly dusk, Clara had helped Edina into a bright red gown, Estella into a light pink gown, Linette into her own gown, as well as helped with all of their hair. Needless to say, she was reasonably exhausted by the time she finished and she had never been happier to shut the front door behind them.

She hurried up the stairs to get into her own dress, but she couldn't hurry too much, as she kept on yawning. If she didn't snap out of it soon, she'd be too exhausted to dance.

"Clara!" Clara brought her head up abruptly from putting on the next of her mother's dresses, to see Harriet beckoning her over. "C'mon, Gardenia is waiting in the backyard for you."

Clara sighed, finished getting dressed, and followed her sister. The dress she was wearing was a dull gray that at one time had been more of a silver, but it seemed like the best choice. It did have a few holes in it from mice but Clara decided it was best not to worry about it. After all, Gardenia would be changing it anyway.

With that thought, she made sure to pause and grab the glass slippers from the kitchen cupboard, even though she hoped Gardenia would come up with a different option.

"Good evening," Clara said as she walked into the garden. Gardenia was smiling at her from where she was standing in front of a carriage, but the appearance of the carriage made Clara pause. It was not made of the same crystal that it had been the night before.

Instead of the crystal, it was what could only be described as a soft white, reminding Clara almost of the petals of a white lily, or perhaps even the rare moon lily.

"You changed the carriage?"

"The element of surprise is much more valuable than you might think," Gardenia stated and though Clara nodded, she wasn't entirely sure what she meant. Valuable? Not to mention, how would a carriage be surprising? "Alright, do a turn for me please, dear."

Clara obeyed, beginning to turn on the spot, keeping her arms away from her body. Whereas the night before the magic had been a pleasant warmth, this time it felt like a bucket of ice cold water was poured over her head. Resisting the urge to gasp from the cold, Clara looked down to see that a glowing light passed over both her and the dress, but instead of the dress changing color, it was as if it had been enhanced.

In the place of the dull gray was now a sparkling whitish-silver that upon closer inspection looked more like pieces of starlight threaded together than actual fabric. Whereas the lavender gown had been embellished with pearls, Clara's eyes widened as she took in the sight of sparkling gems lining the sleeves and scattered amongst her skirts.

Once the transformation was complete, Clara stopped spinning and raised her hands to her head to find that her hair was now up and off of her neck and topped off with a kind of circlet.

"Are these diamonds?" Clara asked, and was surprised when Gardenia shook her head.

"Moonstones actually." Clara raised her eyebrows without meaning to. It seemed that they were going with a bit of a theme tonight.

Once again, Clara turned to look at her siblings for approval. While last time had been more of a solemn, teary-eyed affair, all of her siblings were staring at her with dropped jaws and widened eyes.

"You look more like an angel now," James said plainly, his voice a little hoarse. "Or maybe a fairy."

"A fairy?"

"You sparkle." Clara laughed at that, looking down to see that she did indeed sparkle, or at least the dress did.

"Yeah, I agree with James. You look kinda like a fairy or a fairy princess," Amelia said.

"A fairy princess that is going to be late," Harriet quipped, her arms crossed over her chest. Clara smiled at her before putting her hands up in a sign of surrender.

"Alright, alright, I'm going, don't worry." One of the coachmen opened the carriage door for her and Clara climbed in before leaning out the window to speak to her family. "Make sure to be in bed at a good time, you all need your sleep."

"But I want to wait up to hear about it!"

"I promise to tell you everything first thing tomorrow," Clara said, earning affirmative nods from all three of her siblings. "Is there a time I have to be home by?" She directed the question to Gardenia.

"Two in the morning, dear." Gardenia said, "I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow night will be at midnight."

"Midnight?"

"Yes, my magic is degrading faster than I thought it would," Gardenia said apologetically, twirling her wand in her hands.

"That's alright," Clara said, "Thank you for doing this," she called as the carriage began to move. She was just leaning back when she noticed something. Lifting her skirts, she leaned back with a groan once she saw the shoes. She had forgotten to ask to change them! There on her feet were the blasted glass slippers.

It seemed she was doomed to be stuck with them.

Dropping her skirts back down, she tried to wait patiently for them to reach the palace. Part of her was excited but most of her was almost dreading it. She was late again, so chances were she would have to suffer through having the full attention of everyone on her, and not to mention, as nice as Gus was, she hadn't forgotten her little worry. What if they did fall for each other, but he didn't want to help?

Clara's stomach churned as the carriage pulled up to the palace. Getting out, Clara couldn't contain a groan. She'd forgotten the stairs.

It took her forever to just get up the stairs, her feet aching with every step. It was official, she did not like the glass slippers. Once the stairs gave way to polished floors, it was a little better, but her feet still hurt. How on earth was she supposed to dance all night in shoes like these?

Beautiful they may be, but clearly beauty wasn't everything.

She reached the hallway before the ballroom and rested against one of the walls momentarily to give her feet a break. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a flash of blonde. Turning her head, she smiled at the sight of a slight-figured, blonde-haired girl hiding behind one of the pillars.

Looking up and down the hallway to see if anyone saw her, Clara walked up to the girl as quietly as she could.

"Trying to sneak into the ball?" she whispered, causing the girl to jump and whirl around, but as Clara saw her face she almost jumped herself. The girl would be instantly recognizable to anyone in the kingdom. It was the princess, Adelaide!

"My apologies your highness, I didn't mean to startle you," Clara said, feeling a blush start to spread across her face.

"Don't worry about it, also, you don't have to call me that," Adelaide said, her eyes sweeping over Clara. "Call me Adelaide."

"I'm Clara," Clara said, feeling a little awkward. She had never introduced herself to royalty before.

"I know."

"You do?" Clara tried to not appear shocked. How would the princess know about her?

"Ah, um, yes," Adelaide said, not going into detail about how she knew. "Are you going into the ballroom?"

"Yes, that's why I'm here," Clara said, though it came out sounding more like a question. "I am a little late though." Adelaide seemed to be inspecting her. Clara shifted from foot to foot but stopped when she remembered her hurt feet. What was the princess thinking?

"I can help you if you want, so you don't have to have the late entrance like last time," Adelaide stated.

"That would be wonderful, but you don't have to-"

"Don't worry about it, trust me, you'll be helping me too," Adelaide responded, cutting Clara off.

"How?"

"You will be, just trust me," Adelaide said, her face breaking into a bit of a grin. "Here, follow me!" Adelaide moved away from the pillar, pulling Clara with her. Clara found herself being shoved in front of Adelaide as they walked past the guards and moved in what looked to be the opposite direction of the ballroom.

"Where are we going?"

"Shh!" Clara's brows furrowed as she allowed Adelaide to guide her, or rather, drag her down the halls of the palace. She had a feeling Harriet and Adelaide would probably get along famously if they ever met.

After a few more instances of Adelaide hiding behind Clara's skirts whenever a guard passed, Adelaide pulled her through archway and Clara gaped openly as she realized where they were. They were in the royal garden.

"If you go through there, you'll see a side entrance to the ballroom," Adelaide said, pointing towards a pathway lined with red and white roses. "Better hurry though, I'm sure he's already waiting."

"Wait, what? Who is waiting?" Clara asked, but she trailed off as she realized Adelaide had already disappeared to another part of the garden. She didn't move for a moment, contemplating how strange the whole experience had been.

How did the princess know her name? Why had she helped her? And more importantly, who was waiting for her? Starting to move down the pathway that Adelaide had motioned to, Clara puzzled over the idea of the young princess. Why had she even been hiding in the first place? Surely she wouldn't need to hide in her own home?

As the strains of classical music began to reach her ears, Clara started to see the lights of the ballroom shining through the white roses. Clara had no doubt she was more than a little late now, but at least she wouldn't have to go through the same embarrassing entrance as last time.

Ahead of her, Clara could see stone steps leading to the ballroom, and she felt more than a little relieved. If she was honest with herself, she had been certain that she would get a little turned around in the massive garden.

She had just reached the stone steps when she heard something strange coming from her left. It sounded almost like sobbing...Clara hesitated, before turning away from the ballroom. She was already late, what hurt could it do?

Clara moved closer to the sound but she stopped suddenly as she saw a hunched figure of a girl in a light pink gown sitting on one of the benches.

"Estella?" she asked before she could stop herself.

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What do you think of Estella's offer to help? Did you expect it? Do you think she would actually do it? Let me know in the comments!