They found a small pond on the side of the path and splashed some water on their faces.
“We look so tired,” said Alex, looking at their reflections in the water.
The twins heard a galloping sound coming from behind them on the path. They turned to see a small cart of firewood being pulled by a gray horse. It was steered by a man with a big, floppy, green hat.
“Let’s ask him how much farther until the palace!” Alex said, and ran over to the cart. “Excuse me, sir?”
“Whoa,” the man said, slowing his horse to a stop. “May I help you?”
“How much farther until we reach Cinderella’s palace?” Alex asked.
“Are you traveling by foot?” the man asked.
“Unfortunately,” Conner said.
“Then it’ll take you days to get there,” the man said.
Alex and Conner looked at each other, completely exasperated.
“I’m delivering this firewood near the palace tonight,” the man said. “I can give you a ride if you’d like.”
Before he could finish his sentence, Conner had climbed aboard the cart.
“Thank you so much!” Alex said. “That is so kind of you!”
The twins traveled with the man for the rest of the day. Conner made himself comfortable on top of the firewood and napped almost the entire trip, waking up every so often whenever they hit a bump in the road. Alex, on the other hand, took full advantage of having an actual human to talk to from the fairy-tale world.
“What’s your name?” Alex asked the man.
“Smithers,” the man said.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
“I grew up in a small village in the northeastern part of the Charming Kingdom,” Smithers said.
“What’s it like here?” Alex said dreamily. “My brother and I… um… haven’t been around this kingdom very much.”
“The Charming Kingdom is a quiet place,” Smithers said. “It has many small villages on the outskirts of the kingdom and many wealthy estates in the center, near the palace.”
“Have you ever been to the palace before?” Alex asked.
“Oh, yes, I make many deliveries there during the year,” he said. “In fact, tonight the king and queen are having a huge ball.”
“They are?” Alex’s eyes doubled in size. She shook Conner awake. “Conner, did you hear that? Cinderella’s having a ball tonight! Isn’t that wonderful? What are the chances?”
“What? Oh… er… that’s great,” Conner said, and then immediately fell back asleep.
“Why are they having a ball?” Alex asked.
“They’ve had one every month since their wedding,” Smithers said. “It’s a celebration of their marriage.”
“What’s Queen Cinderella like?” she asked.
“Absolutely beautiful, and the best queen our kingdom has ever had,” Smithers said with a big grin. “Not too many people were eager to accept her when she first moved into the palace, though. Many of the aristocratic families were upset that Prince Charming hadn’t chosen one of their daughters to wed. But she’s overcome all that since.”
Alex could tell they were getting much closer to the palace. They passed more small villages, which grew in size and population as they went along. She was so excited to be so close to people, actual people, who had spent their entire lives in the fairy-tale world. She wished with all her heart she could say she’d grown up in the Charming Kingdom.
“Do you ever find it overwhelming?” Alex asked Smithers. “Does it ever get frightening living here and knowing that at any moment a fairy could fly by and grant you a wish, or an ogre could run up and eat you?”
Smithers looked at her curiously. “Does such a place exist where people can’t unexpectedly be helped or hurt?”
Alex couldn’t think of any. Maybe this world and the world she was from weren’t so different after all.
The cart began passing large estates. Everywhere they looked, they saw another huge, elegant home. They were all so bright and colorful, with pointed roofs that curved on the sides. Some were made from wood, others from brick, and some were covered completely in ivy.
It was something straight out of a storybook, and Alex kept reminding herself that she was in one.
“We’re almost at the palace,” Smithers said.
The cart began to vibrate as the dirt path beneath them turned into a cobblestone street. Shops and markets started popping up on the sides of the street as they traveled into the city. They shared the road with other carts and carriages. Villagers and townspeople alike walked alongside them and went about their day-to-day routines of shopping and trade.
“Are we there yet?” said Conner, stirring back to life.
The cart rounded a corner onto a very long and wide street. At the end of the street was an enormous palace.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Conner said.
The palace took Alex’s breath away. It was perfectly symmetrical and smooth, as if it were made out of sky-gray porcelain. Three prominent towers in the middle of the palace shared a base with a gigantic clock large enough for the whole kingdom to see. The palace almost seemed fake, it was so majestic, and was grander than they had ever imagined.
“This is where I’ll drop you off,” said Smithers, pulling his cart and horse over to the side of the street. “Best of luck to both of you youngins. Enjoy the town!”
“Thank you so much!” the twins said together.
They tried to offer him a few gold coins as a thank-you, but Smithers insisted that they save their money, and then went on his way.
The twins walked around the town for a good while. Everyone seemed to be buzzing with anticipation for the ball later that evening.
They found a small market and were able to purchase fresh fruit, vegetables, and breads. Alex kept trying to make small talk with every person she encountered, but most of the townspeople ignored her.
Conner kept rolling his eyes at his sister; everything she saw excited her.
“I don’t know how I’m going to survive traveling with you if you keep up this constant state of excitement,” Conner said. “It’s exhausting, and it’s really getting on my nerves.”
“I’m sorry,” Alex said. “We’ve been around so many trees the last couple of days. I’m just so excited to see all the people and their—ooooh! Look at that doorknob on that building! It’s in the shape of a slipper! Isn’t that cute?”
After a busy afternoon of sightseeing, they found a quiet hill that overlooked the town, and they sat under the shade of a large tree. The sun was starting to descend, and the twins grew anxious at the thought of another day ending.
“What’s our plan?” Conner asked.
“Let’s see what the journal suggests,” Alex said, and pulled it out from her school bag. She flipped through the pages until she came across the section about the glass slipper.
Cinderella’s glass slipper is a very difficult item to retrieve. Her slippers, without doubt, are the most cherished possession of the kingdom.
First, you must find a way into the palace. This is rather difficult, as there is only one entrance. One of Cinderella’s first acts as queen was to get rid of all the servant entrances, so that when people come to the palace, they all enter as equals.
Once inside, find a way into Cinderella’s royal display room. This will also be difficult, since no one is allowed in the queen’s chambers without an invitation from her. The slippers are on display in a glass box on the top of a pillar in the center of the room.
The slippers are not hard to remove from inside the glass box, but the room is under constant watch by two guards at its entrance. Find a way to be alone in the royal display room and remove a slipper quietly and quickly.
Leave as fast as you can, because as soon as they notice something is missing, the guards will close the palace doors, and you’ll be trapped and taken to the dungeon to be hung upside down from your toenails. Best of luck!
“How are we goin
g to get into the palace?” Conner asked.
Alex began to think of a plan, but she was distracted by a long line of carriages driving down the main street of the town toward the palace. They were elegant and colorful, and each was of its own design. Each carriage had at least two horses pulling it, a coachman, a footman riding on the back, and a number of passengers inside.
“The ball,” Alex said. “We’ll have to sneak into the ball!”
“Uh-huh,” said Conner, contemplating this information. “And what are we supposed to wear? Look at us! We’re not dressed formally enough! And I bet we smell really fresh after walking for three days straight with no showers!”
“I have an idea,” Alex said.
She opened their bags and took out their blankets. She grabbed hold of Conner and began wrapping the blanket around him, folding it strategically in certain places so it would stay up. Alex wrapped herself in the other blanket.
“There,” Alex said. “Now we look like we’re wearing sensible robes!”
“We look ridiculous,” Conner said.
“Do you have any other ideas?” Alex asked him.
“Do you think there’s a fairy godmother hotline we could call?” Conner asked.
The twins walked down to the main street. They followed the traffic of carriages toward the palace. The closer they came to the palace, the larger it grew and the more real it became.
Many of the coachmen glared at the twins with bewildered and judgmental looks. A few passengers leaned out of their carriage windows to see what the twins were doing.
“Take a picture—it lasts longer!” Conner shouted at them.
“Conner! They don’t know what that means!” Alex said.
They reached the palace just as the sun was setting. As each carriage neared the front steps of the palace’s entrance, its footman would run around the carriage and gently help the passengers out.
Alex and Conner had never seen such beautiful clothing. All the women wore long ball gowns of various colors, fabrics, and stitching. They wore gloves and diamonds; some wore bows and feathers in their hair. The men all dressed beautifully, too, some in formal armor and some in suits with broad, fringed shoulders and square cuffs.
All the effort and flair that the guests had put into their appearance made the twins feel very insecure about their impromptu robes. They stuck out like sore thumbs. They were the youngest people there, they were the only ones not dressed in lace or satin, and they were the only ones carrying bags. They looked exactly like what they were: a couple of kids sneaking into a ball.
An extensive row of steps led up to the palace’s entrance. Alex and Conner began climbing them with the rest of the attendees. It was such a climb, they wondered if they would ever reach the top of it.
“This world has goblins and fairies, but where’s an escalator when you need one?” Conner said.
“Conner!” Alex gasped. “Look at this!”
She pointed to a silver star placed in the steps underneath their feet. It said:
THIS MARKS THE VERY PLACE
WHERE CINDERELLA LEFT HER
GLASS SLIPPER BEHIND
ON THE NIGHT SHE MET
PRINCE CHARMING.
“Can you believe that’s the very spot Cinderella left her glass slipper?” Alex said with both hands pressed against her heart.
“Absolutely,” Conner said. “I wouldn’t have climbed these steps again if I had left my shoe, either.”
The twins caused quite a scene at the entrance. Everyone was absolutely appalled by their clothing. Alex could feel herself blushing from the way everyone was staring at her; she felt like she was back at school.
One palace guard in particular couldn’t stop staring at them—not in a judgmental way, but as if he had seen them somewhere before and couldn’t remember where. He was standing just a step inside the palace entrance, and he greeted all the guests as they passed him. He wore more badges on his uniform than any other of the guards, and he had a very thin, dark beard.
Another palace guard was collecting invitations at the doors. The twins began to panic.
“What are we going to do?” Alex whispered to her brother.
“Let me handle this,” Conner said. “I saw this in a movie once. Just go with it.”
“Invitations, please,” the guard said.
“Our parents have our invitations, but they’re already inside,” Conner said.
“And who are your parents?” asked the guard snootily.
“Who are our parents?” yelled Conner, causing a bigger scene than they had already. “You mean, you don’t know who we are?”
All the guards and guests looked among one another.
“Conner, calm down!” Alex said. What was he thinking?
“This man doesn’t know who our parents are, Alex!” Conner continued. “I’ll have you know that our parents invented wishing wells! How dare you show us any disrespect!”
Alex wanted to slap him. She looked apologetically at the people around them. They all scowled in the twins’ direction, except for the guard with the thin beard. He was actually smirking at them with gentleness in his eyes.
“I’m afraid you two have to leave now,” said the guard collecting the invitations.
“Leave? You’re making the heirs to the wishing-well fortune leave?” Conner exclaimed loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“Conner. Just. Shut. Up,” Alex whispered directly into his ear.
“Is there a problem?” the guard with the thin beard asked as he approached the twins.
“Not at all!” Alex said, and began backing up, forcing Conner to move with her.
“They don’t have an invitation,” the other guard said.
“We were just leaving!” Alex said. “Sorry for the confusion.”
“Nonsense,” the guard with the thin beard said. “I just saw your parents inside the palace. Why don’t I take you to them?”
Alex and Conner froze.
“You did?” Conner said, and then quickly remembered that he had to keep up with his own lie. “I mean, of course you did!” He threw a dirty look to the other guard.
“Come with me, and I’ll take you straight to your parents,” the guard with the thin beard said.
Before they knew it, Alex and Conner were being escorted into the palace. They were completely in over their heads. Did this guard know they were lying, and was he now escorting them directly to the dungeon? Or perhaps Conner’s lie was truer than they thought, and they were about to meet a couple that were definitely not their parents.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the guard said. “I’m Sir Lampton, the head of the queen’s Royal Guard. Welcome to the palace!”
“Thank you,” Conner said. “I’m Conner Wishington, and this is my sister, Alex.”
“Where are you from, Mr. and Ms. Wishington?” Lampton asked.
“Upstate Northern Kingdom,” Conner said. Even he looked surprised by the words coming out of his mouth. “But our parents have a summer home in the south of the Sleeping Kingdom and a condo in the Fairy Kingdom.”
Alex’s eyes opened so wide that she had to remind herself to blink.
“Ah… I see,” Lampton said with a curious look. “Would you like me to take your bags for you?”
“No, that’s quite all right,” Alex said. “We’ll manage.”
Lampton led the twins down a long hallway behind all the other guests. There were many large portraits of past rulers on the walls, and a red carpet ran under their feet. Alex and Conner were all eyes; they had never been inside a royal palace before. There were so many shiny things to look at.
Lampton seemed to be enjoying their excitement. He leaned between them and softly said, “You’re sneaking into the palace, aren’t you?”
Alex desperately looked to Conner, but he was out of lies for the night.
“Please don’t throw us in the dungeon!” Alex pleaded. “We didn’t mean any harm.”
Conner looked at his sister with
a raised eyebrow. Did she mean no harm besides breaking into the place and stealing a cherished item?
Lampton chuckled. “I’ve seen a lot of youngsters try to sneak into a royal ball before, but never have I been so entertained by such an attempt,” he said.
“So, you aren’t going to throw us in a cell and hang us upside down by our toenails?” Conner asked.
“We stopped doing that ages ago,” Lampton said. “On the contrary, it would be my honor to show you two around.”
“Really?” Conner said.
“That would be lovely!” Alex said, clasping her hands together. “Thank you!”
At the end of the hall, Lampton led the twins through a pair of golden doors into the ballroom.
At first, the sight was overwhelming. There were so many things to look at, it was impossible to focus on any one thing long enough to comprehend what it was. There was so much movement and color.
The biggest chandelier they had ever seen, with thousands of candles, hung from the ceiling above an enormous dance floor. Hundreds of formally dressed men and women filled the space. Some mingled on the sides while others danced to the music played by a small orchestra in the corner.
Everything from the archways to the accents on the walls was golden. A grand staircase descended in the back of the room just behind two empty thrones.
Conner knew it would only be a few seconds before Alex started crying.
“It’s so beautiful!” Alex said, with teary eyes. “Is this where they had the ball where Cinderella and the prince met?”
“Indeed,” Lampton said. “I’ll never forget it. I was just a simple guard back then. The prince was meeting all the young women in the kingdom in hopes of finding a bride. Cinderella was the last to arrive that night. She entered the room, just as we are now, and everyone stopped to look at her.”
“How did she look?” Alex asked.
“Magical,” Lampton said with a smile, lost in his own memory. “She wore a long, violet dress that sparkled as she walked. I remember hearing the soft taps of her glass slippers as she walked past. As soon as the prince saw her, it was love at first sight; the whole palace could feel it.”