Fractured Fairytale: Ch 4 Cinderella, Part 3

Part 3 of Cinderella

Arthur tried to separate the two women and get at the glass slipper. Another woman appeared but she was taller, and older. She had a pointed face and the sort of cold presence that made people shiver and move away. The woman glowered at Cinderella and said "Cinders what are you doing here, you should be at home, cleaning the fireplace." Cinderella blushed.

Then in one moment everyone froze. The glass slipper flew high into the air before plummeting back towards the earth, everything happened in slow motion. Arthur dived for the slipper; one of the other women pulled him back and tried to dive over him. The other woman just watched helplessly. Gwen dived to catch the slipper. Her fingers wrapped around the glass at the last second and she crashed to the ground.

Gwen dragged herself to her feet and said "I got it" The other women promptly tackled her. The slipper was knocked out of her hand and smashed on the pavement at Cinderella’s feet. Cinderella closed her eyes and seemed as if she was about to cry. The cold woman next to her hit her on the head, hard. "You stupid girl, now your sisters will never be queen" She said angrily as if this was all her fault.

Cinderella didn’t move; the two ‘"sisters" begun to cry. The cold woman snapped her fingers and they followed her away. Cinderella collapsed to the ground in tears. "What am I going to do?" she wept. Gwen comforted her. Arthur paced. He stopped clicked his fingers and said "Gwen, ask her where the other slipper is, we can use it to prove she’s the girl." Gwen smiled. She asked Cinderella who stopped sobbing long enough to choke out a reply. "Well?" Arthur asked. Gwen helped Cinderella to her feet. "She knows where it is, but you’re not going to like it"

"I don’t like this" Arthur said. Gwen smiled. The two of them were standing in front of a large, thick cluster of the plant known as Red thorn. It grew as high as a hedge and had thick vines covered in thorns. Normally that wouldn’t be an issue, but these thorns broke off and stuck in the skin where they administered a poison, although not deadly, stings and would become inflamed if an ointment was not applied to the skin. He hacked at the thorns with his sword but it made no real difference. "How did she get the slipper so deep?" Arthur asked.
"She threw it" Gwen replied.

Arthur looked at Gwen and sighed heavily. "Will you look after me?" he asked. Gwen held up a pot of the ointment. "Of course" Arthur hesitated for a moment. Then he looked at Gwen and plunged into the plant. Gwen heard him yelp and whimper in pain. The bush moved for a minute as he cursed like a sailor.

Then Arthur fell out of the bush. Gwen pulled him upright. He had the slipper but was covered in the long needle like thorns. She walked him to the trees nearby. He sat down on a rock and let her pull off his tunic. She pulled the thorns out one by one. He grimaced as she removed them. When she was sure she’d got them all she started rubbing the ointment over his chest and arms. Arthur relaxed.

Her hands moved over his bare skin rubbing the ointment deep into his skin. He sighed and leaned back giving her greater access. Her hands felt wonderful gliding over his skin. He closed his eyes and imagined she was Guinevere, it didn’t work very well, her hands were too good and he could only think of Gwen doing this to him in bed. His mind wandered.

It took a while to cover all the stings but Gwen was sure she’d gotten them all. She stood back and offered Arthur his tunic, he slowly opened his eyes. He starred at her with an expression she was not familiar with, it was not quite hunger, and looked similar to adoration, Lust. Arthur stood up and put his tunic back on. Gwen was blushing. Arthur chose to ignore this. He gave her a moment to compose herself as he fiddled with his belts. When he turned around she was leaning against a tree with her eyes closed. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. She nodded.
"I’m just tired" she murmured. Lies. Gwen was reliving the past five minutes and how it had felt to- you don’t need the details, so moving on.

At the palace they saw Cinderella sitting near the gates on a rock. She still hadn’t gotten rid of her basket. "Cinderella" Gwen said softly. She glanced up and Arthur showed her the glass slipper. Her eyes lit up. "We now have the left glass slipper." Arthur said. Cinderella seemed to understand.
"Let’s go" Gwen said. They walked through the palace gates and into the palace. They found the King in the throne room. The Prince was sitting on the windowsill watching the last rays of sunlight.

"Your majesties, I present to you the girl who fitted the slipper." Gwen said pushing Cinderella forward. The Prince turned and then froze when he saw Cinderella. Gwen showed them the glass slipper and then slid it on her foot. It fitted perfectly. The king was stunned, but the prince however was on his feet in a moment. He swept Cinderella off her feet and danced around the hall with her in his arms. Gwen and Arthur moved out of their way and stood beside the king who had a gleeful look on his face.

"Your majesty; is Arthur free."
"What oh yes, you may go, but I want you both out of the city tonight. Your horses should be waiting for you." Gwen and Arthur fled the room. They jumped onto their horses and rode off at a gallop. There wasn’t many people around. They reached the gates and saw a line of people. "What is it?" Gwen asked as Arthur stood up in his saddle.

"That damn troll" Gwen looked around and grabbed a polo mallet. "Gates close in one minute" The gateman called. Gwen hefted the polo mallet and urged Artemis forward. Arthur followed on Duke. She rode straight at the troll. He looked at her in horror as she swung the polo mallet. The troll flew ten feet in the air. Gwen and Arthur rode out of the city as the gates closed behind them.

Arthur pulled up Duke and looked at the troll who was wandering away his cursing carried to them on the wind. "Where did you get that?" Arthur asked.
"Polo is the national sport; everyone plays it, well almost everyone. They break their equipment a lot, so it’s sold everywhere" Gwen looked fondly at the polo mallet. "I think I’ll keep this" Arthur just smiled. They listened to the trolls cursing for a moment. "Pleasant fellow, so, eloquent" Gwen said as another string of profanities reached their ears. Arthur laughed "He has such a way with words" They let the horses wander as they continued a commentary on the troll’s language skills.
---
Comments appreciated.