Whispers and groans ring out. Some people in this crowd have no idea what the king did behind the walls of the castle. All they have are rumors and hearsay. The man glares at me with contempt.

“Leave,” I say to him. “Leave. Or stay. You have choices now, but I suggest you make the right ones. Your actions will have consequences from now on.”

The man scrambles back, tripping over himself as he flees. Some of the others follow him. Some stay. An uneasy calm settles over the crowd. I turn to Constance and sigh.

“They’ll be back,” I say.

“I know,” Constance says. “But we will be prepared.” She nods at Émile, who tilts her head and gazes up at the sky. I wonder how long it’s been since these prisoners have seen the stars.

As I look out over the gathering, two familiar faces emerge. My parents. My mother’s knees buckle when she spots me, but my father catches her, and they push through the crowd toward me. My father seems to have aged ten years, and my mother looks as if she hasn’t slept in days. I search my father’s face for the anger I’d last seen when I left home, but find only sadness.

“I thought you were dead.” His voice breaks as tears roll down his face.

I’ve never seen him so broken. I don’t know what to say or how to feel. I look at my mother, who is unable to speak.

“I had to put a stop to this,” I say.

My father stares up at the palace. “You did this?”

I nod. I wait to see if he’ll chastise me, but instead he holds out his hands. I hesitate, then slip my hands into his.

All I’ve ever wanted is to be seen by them, to be precious to them. I don’t know if what has been broken between us can be fixed, but this feels like a good start. I hug my father, and over his shoulder, I see Luke in the embrace of his parents and his sister. Constance comes to stand at my side, and I gently pull away from my parents to take her hand. They look at each other and then at me. My mother smiles. Something I haven’t seen her do in a very long time.

“Your family would be proud,” I say to Constance. I hand her Cinderella’s journal.

“Your grandmother would be proud,” Constance says.

Tears come again, but she wipes them away with the tips of her fingers, kissing my hand and pulling me close.

“I couldn’t have done this without you,” I say. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

She leans in and kisses me, but it’s no longer a sorrowful goodbye. It’s full of hope and tenderness. This is what all our planning has come to. She and I at the edge of an uncertain future, but one that is bright for the first time.

38

THE TRUE STORY OF CINDERELLA

People’s Approved Text

• • •

Recorded this First Day of the Growing Season

by Sophia Grimmins

Once upon a time there were three young women: Gabrielle, Isla, and Cinderella. The sisters loved each other dearly, but in a land ruled by a ruthless king who was cursed by dark magic, love was not enough to save them. The sisters were brave, and each of them did what they could to stand against the king, but forces outside their control made that an impossible feat.

Cinderella’s father had been the favorite to rule Mersailles before Prince Charming came to power. He should have taken his place on the throne, but fate had other plans.

King Manford, in his many guises, ruled Mersailles for two hundred horrid years, until a time came when the people of Mersailles stood up for themselves and broke the curse. It was then that a new ruler emerged.

Constance.

As the only kin to Cinderella, the rightful heir to the throne, Constance presided over Mersailles as head of a council made up of six individuals, handpicked by her. They care only for the safety and well-being of Mersailles’s people.

Constance and the council immediately abolished every single law Manford had set forth and put in place new rules that allow all the people of Mersailles access to the same privileges once only afforded to men.

The transition was fast, and of course, some rebelled. The council considered making changes slowly over time, but ultimately decided that the equal treatment of Mersailles’s citizens was far more important than some people’s inability to handle those changes.

The faction of angry townspeople who’d confronted us the night of the cotillion came back and burned down several houses in an attempt to seize power. Émile, a member of the resistance before she’d been captured by Manford, led the effort to push them back. With a well-armed battalion at her side, she drove most of them out past our borders into the Forbidden Lands. The others, including the prominent Baron Marcellus Moreau and his sons, Édouard and Morris, were rounded up and sent to a tribunal for their abuses. No amount of money or power would allow the mistreatment of Mersailles’s people to go unchallenged ever again. Constance made sure of that.

We record here the true history of Cinderella and her family, who fought hard to ensure that the people of Mersailles could live their lives in the way that brought them the most happiness. They began a movement, a resistance that persists to this day in the hearts and minds of all who seek justice and equality. King Manford tried very hard to deny the people these things. But we will not be denied. We will not be silenced.

Let Cinderella’s truth stand as a testament to her persistence and her bravery even in the face of oppression. Understand that what King Manford, in all his incarnations, feared the most was the will of the people he so desperately wanted to control.

Do not be silent.

Raise your voice.

Be a light in the dark.