Chapter 6

Two days had passed since the dance. Prince Charming was no closer to knowing who it was that he’d danced with. The only clue, it seemed, was the glass slipper. He had emailed every girl he could think of asking about that glass slipper. He still knew nothing.

He had decided that he would now personally go and meet every girl he had invited. He would go with the glass slipper and check them out.

***

Ella was disconsolate. Her best friend was missing.

Snow had dropped her home after the party and made to go home. Something must have happened on the way back because no one knew where she was. The King’s absence made everyone more worried. The Palace was in chaos. Even Artemis seemed strangely out of control. She had refused to contact her husband on Jupiter. He must not be disturbed, she said.

What had happened was this: Artemis had sent a pre-programmed robot out to lie waiting for Snow. It would intercept her, take her to the nearby forest and finish her off. But apart from being breathtakingly pretty and with etiquettes and charms to match, Snow was also an accomplished programmer. Artemis had no idea. She’d always liked to keep her distance from the girl who played with the servants.

She had quickly undone Artemis’ programming and sent the robot its way and gone her way – out. It was quite unfortunate that Snow had not been wearing her GPS-enabled watch that time because she was soon lost. No, really, what use would the watch have been in a dance party?

She walked deeper and deeper into the forest. It was past midnight, she was lost inside a forest and there seemed to be no way out. She had been in the forest once on a picnic, but at that time, the sun had been shining. And, she hadn’t been so deep inside either.

At night, every friendly bird seemed to be staring at her. Every crunch, every echo, seemed like a strange animal. And, there were bats swooping over her head. She didn’t even want to think about Count Dracula.

She was hopelessly lost and dance shoes didn’t quite seem too appropriate given the situation. She almost cried out in desperation. But she resolutely kept on walking. After all, what else could she do?

The trees appeared to be thinning in front of her. Something dark was looming up ahead.
She stumbled on in the dark. She swore she’d never wear heels ever again.
The structure, about a few hundred yards before her, looked like a house.

She walked up, reaching out for the door. The sensors in the doormat triggered a camera and a mic-cum-speaker.

“Snow? What are you doing here? It’s past midnight.” A male voice spoke out to her. It was a very familiar male voice. It was Hansel. Snow was so relieved, she could hug him.

The door opened and there stood Hansel and Gretel. It looked like they had just returned from the party because they were both still dressed.

“So this is your famed chocolate house, is it?” asked Snow.
“Yeah." An uncomfortable silence filled the air.
"You’ve never cared to visit us before. Why at such an odd time?”

Hansel and Gretel had been Snow’s childhood playmates before their parents had died and they had shifted to the chocolate house that they had taken over from the old Witch. Unfortunately, neither Hansel and Gretel, nor Snow had kept in good touch, relying only on the odd instant-messaging ever since they had shifted out. And then, they met at common events like Charming’s aforementioned birthday party.

But they were still friends nevertheless and after the initial pissing off, they did ask her inside. No matter how many years it was since anyone had initiated contact, they couldn't leave her outside, could they? It was decided that she would return to the Palace only when the King returned.

The day after, inevitably, MyrorMe still showed Snow to be the prettiest.

That, was why Artemis looked shaken and out of control.

***

Charming had reached Ella’s house. Ella heard sounds of him being welcomed inside by her step-sisters. They insisted on trying on the shoe even though it was quite apparent that their feet would just not fit.

One's feet were too long and the other’s was too fat. So that was that. Prince Charming would walk away, and Ella would be left behind and he would never get to meet the girl he had danced with. And perhaps, some girl would get her feet cosmetically modified and fit into the glass shoe and they would marry and live unhappily ever after because they were obviously not meant to be.

Or so it seemed.

Because, right then, Ella came in.

“Why don’t you try, lady?” asked Prince Charming.
“Erm. There’s no need. She hadn’t even attended the party”, her step-mother offered.
“But I believe everyone was invited. Why don’t you go ahead anyway?”

She did. And of course, it fit her foot like a glove fits a hand. What’s more, Ella had the other shoe in her hand. There was no denying it. She was the girl Charming had danced with.

Her step-sisters were shocked.

“How did you get there? Where did you get your clothes?”

All that Ella said was that her fairy godmother had helped her.

Prince Charming wanted to cart her away and take her to live with him. She didn’t look like she had any qualms either. She had had enough of living a life of poverty in a rich step-mother’s house.

Chapter 5

Ella was sitting by the electric fire, her usual place. It had earned her the name of Cinder-Ella, even though cinder was non-existent. Her step-sisters and her step-mother were getting ready. It was Prince Charming’s birthday party that night.

She heard the door slam shut, their vehicle, a Ferrari rolled away.

And then, there was Snow before her.

“Okay, hurry, we don’t have a lot of time.”
“Where’d you come from?”
“I told you that we will go to the party, so hurry up. I bought you a dress.”
“Hold on. This is just the one that I’d wanted! How did you know?”
“Ctrl + H, silly girl. So go now, wear it.”
“This is so awesome! It’s like magic. It’s like you’re my fairy godmother. Thank you, thank you!!”

The two girls left in Snow’s car. Ella knew that she would have to return before midnight so that her step-sisters did not suspect a thing when they returned. For extra measure, she and Snow had worn masks. Snow had no need to, of course.

The party was a splendid success. It was to be expected. All of Charming’s bashes were always a success. He was turning eighteen. Therefore, this one was even grander than usual. Every girl and guy in the place had been invited. A live band – Prince Charming’s favourite – was performing. The place had just the right kind of lighting and ambience.

Ella and Snow had arrived just a little after Ella’s step-sisters and step-mother. As Ella had walked in, she could feel everyone’s eyes on them. Even with the mask covering her eyes, it seemed that she looked stunning. One mustn’t forget that Snow too was looking beautiful.

But she was a bit of an attention-avoider. She was contented to be in Ella’s shadow. She had refused most dances and just had a few with Hansel.

Ella reveled in the anonymity and went all out and danced to her heart’s content. It wasn’t long before the Prince noticed her and asked her for a dance too. That, thought Ella, was the cherry on the pie.

Too bad that as soon as they’d begun, the clock struck midnight. Ella could have killed the clock, she really could have. She pecked Charming on the cheek, thanked him for the wonderful time, dragged Snow and ran. Charming was left speechless. He was feeling just a little disgruntled at having been brushed off so smoothly. He ran after Ella.

But when he reached the car park, all that he found was a glass slipper.