Cinderella Is Dead(74)

He stops as the music carries on, and couples around us continue their dance. He crushes me to him, and I wince. People are watching us, whispering among themselves. His jaw clenches and then goes lax several times in a row. He steps away from me. I judge the distance to his neck. He bows slightly and turns on his heel, leaving me alone in the middle of the floor.

Something is wrong.

The music stops, and Manford’s voice calls out again. “If you would, please move to the rear courtyard.” The room clears out almost immediately, but even that isn’t fast enough for him. “Hurry!” he barks.

People trip over themselves in their haste. As the last of the guests file out, a tall young man with sandy-blond hair and kind eyes stops to stand next to me.

“Will you be joining us outside?” he asks. “Your dress is lovely. Can I get you something to drink?”

As I turn, a guard sweeps in and strikes him on the top of the head with the hilt of his sword. The man collapses in a heap. Before I can speak, the king appears, scowling down at the man like it’s his own fault he’s just been knocked out cold.

“Get him out of here,” the king orders. The guards drag the man away, and the king turns to me as if nothing has happened. “You’d like to see the rest of the castle, wouldn’t you?”

He extends his hand to me. Everything in me screams to run, but I can’t. He reaches out and takes my arm, tucking it tightly under his. From the ballroom, we proceed down a long hallway lined with mirrors and more paintings of the king. A chill emanates from him, his arm is stiff, and his grip iron tight. No warmth. I wonder if his heart still beats in his chest.

“You’re very fond of your own image, aren’t you?” I can’t contain my resentment.

“I have every reason to be, don’t you think?” he asks, holding his chin up and sneering.

I let my gaze sweep over him. I think about flattering him, playing to his vanity, but I cannot bring myself to do it. I stay quiet.

He stops abruptly and opens one of the many doors that dot the hall. I peer inside and see that the walls are lined with shelves filled with books. A fireplace big enough for a person to stand up in sits at the back of the room.

“Do you like to read?” he asks.

“I do,” I say, which sounds like an act of defiance.

“And you’ve read Cinderella’s tale, as all girls are required to do?”

“I have, though I’m not a fan of such outrageous works of fiction.”

He pulls the door shut harder than necessary and looks down at me. “You have a very free way of speaking. It may get you into trouble.” He leans over me, and I take a step back, even as he holds tight to my arm.

“It’s not in my nature to lie.”

He wrestles with something inside himself again, readjusting his jacket and taking long, slow breaths. “You think I am disingenuous?”

“I know you are. You claim to be some benevolent leader, but your treachery shines through. You can’t hide it.”

“Is that so?”

“You think any of the girls who come here for the ball are happy about it? You think they look forward to it?” I wonder if maybe, after all these years, he’s begun to believe his own lies.

He looks thoughtful for a moment and then turns to me. “I don’t care if they do or not. They come because I tell them to. I hold this annual ball because I can, because I want to. It’s not nearly as complicated as you’re making it out to be.”

“I didn’t think you could be any more of a—”

He tightens his grip on my arm. “A what?” He glares at me. There is an unnatural echo in the timbre of his voice.

I stare up at him. His face is completely blank, devoid of any emotion. Even the twitching at the corners of his mouth has ceased.

“A—a monster.”

“There it is again. That fire. It will be stomped out completely when I’m done with you.” He stops to rein in his emotions yet again. He still grips my arm as we continue down the hallway. “I used to know someone very much like you.”

“I doubt that,” I say.

He digs his fingertips into my arm. It hurts, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much. I bite the inside of my cheek instead.

“Do you know where she is now, the woman you remind me of?” He puts his face so close to mine that I can smell his sour breath. “Dead.” A shiver runs through me. Realizing he’s rattled me, he laughs softly. “She loved me deeply. But not once she found out—” He stops short. He could be speaking of no one other than Cinderella.

“Found out what you really are?” I ask. I imagine what must have gone through her head when she saw him as I am seeing him, with the fairy-tale exterior chipped away, with the reality of his monstrous deeds laid bare.

He clears his throat and looks away from me. “The rules I have set forth are meant to keep troublemakers like yourself out of the way. A girl like you is simply too disruptive to the natural order of things.”

“A girl like me? And yet you’ve taken me aside, planned this grand event to lure me in. You can barely control yourself in my presence, so really, who has power over whom?”

His face changes into a mask of pure amusement. He raises an eyebrow. “Do you have no fear of death? Are you that stupid?”