Read Cinderella and the Colonel for Free Online

“Filthy-rich dandy,” Cinderella scoffed, angrily stuffing carrots back into the basket.
    “Mademoiselle?” the ropemaker ventured.
    “What?” Cinderella hissed.
    It rankled her that an army officer could treat such a sum like it was nothing when Cinderella—a duchess —clambered for every copper coin she could get.
    The ropemaker winced. “Are you well?”
    “I’m fine ,” Cinderella said, calming as the officer slinked out of sight. “Just…irritated.”
    The ropemaker hesitated. “Are you go ing to be alright?”
    The anger left Cinderella like a cloud on a windy day. “I think so ,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “He doesn’t seem…terrible.”
    “None of them do , until they reveal their true colors, Mademoiselle,” the ropemaker said.
    “I know ,” Cinderella said. “But he’s a Colonel. I dare not offend him; the risk isn’t worth it. I can only try to bore him in hopes that he will move on.”

    “Here lie the remains of the Sanct Pavilion, which saw the signing of the Griford Agreement. The Griford Agreement, as you may recall, was the third piece of the Glitter Accords, the articles that gave jurisdiction over magical matters to the Veneno Conclave,” Cinderella said, indicating to a pile of rock and rubble. “Trieux, Erlauf, Kozlovka, and Loire were the first countries to agree to the Glitter Accords.”
    “Hey ,” the Colonel said.
    Cinderella ignored him and pointed the white flap of cloth she fixed on the end of a thin, whip-like willow branch to a beautiful but abandoned stone building. “Next door is the historic Lutenau. Most recently, it was used as the capital offices for Trieux nobles when conducting governmental business. It was built over two hundred years ago, however, as a summer home for an Erlauf lord who was madly in love with a Trieux princess.”
    “Cinderella ,” the Colonel said.
    “The Lord , Lord Worgl, built it as close to the Trieux Royal Palace as he could,” Cinderella said, spearing her makeshift flag in the direction of the palace. The prism-like points of the palace towers could be seen from just about anywhere in Werra, but they were especially close now. “He desired to be close to his lady love, although the princess scorned him. One day when he approached her in the public gardens, the princess’s dog bit him. The bite grew infected, and Lord Worgl was rushed home to his manor in Erlauf. He nearly died from the bite, and he lost a finger in the process. It was not all in vain, for he fell in love with and married the woman who nursed him back to health, earning him the nick-name One-Less-Worgl—the man who is credited with inventing the Erlauf tricorner hat, which can be adjusted without a thumb.”
    “Do you plan on d oing this the whole time?” the Colonel said, his head lolling to the side.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    The Colonel indicated to Cinderella’s flag. “The history lesson. You cannot possibly mean to take me on a guided tour all afternoon.”
    Cinderella batted her eyes. “I only want you to get your money’s worth, sir.”
    “So this is your part -time job? Historic tours?”
    “Historic Tours of locations from Erlauf Lore , yes,” Cinderella said.
    “So if I pay you another silver coin , can we stop the tour, discard the chaperon, and go eat?” Friedrich said, turning to stare at the Aveyron housemaid that trailed approximately five feet behind him.
    Oh yes . I really hate him for being rich , Cinderella thought as the housemaid sniffed and fanned herself with a paper fan.
    Cinderella kept her expression pleasant as she spoke. “Forgive me, sir, but it would be improper for us to be without a chaperone, and I could not stand to see you overpay me so.”
    It was amazing how intensely the Colonel could stare with one eye. “I see,” he said, the two words dripped with sarcasm. (He must have known she overcharged him a great deal for the “tour,” and that her maid was no proper chaperone, but was there to