Cold Hearted (Villains 8)

The Tremaines

Not too long ago and rather far away, but still within the Many Kingdoms, there was a moldering old château. This château had two distinguishing attributes: the first and most remarkable was that Cinderella, the queen of her land, once called this strange, foreboding place her home. The second was that it was the subject of wild rumors—that it was haunted by Lady Tremaine and her two daughters.

The lady’s daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, were said to roam the château in white dresses, and the specter of the lady was said to have been seen talking with the ghost of her beloved cat, Lucifer, as she lamented the loss of her one true love.

The rumors told a tragic ghost tale, filled with misery and deception. But the truth was far more interesting. The fact was, the lady and her daughters were very much alive, despite their wraithlike appearance, and they were indeed trapped within the old crumbling château with no hope of escape. You see, unlike Cinderella, the Tremaine sisters did not have a fairy godmother to look after them.

We probably don’t have to tell you about Cinderella’s past, before she became queen, back when she lived with the Tremaines. If you picked up this book, then you are already well acquainted with Cinderella’s story, but just in case you’ve been living outside the Many Kingdoms, and you have somehow managed to go a lifetime without hearing Cinderella’s story, I suppose it best I tell you a little bit about her family.

Like most princesses in the Many Kingdoms, this poor girl lost her mother at a young age, and it was left to her father to find a proper stepmother to make a happy home for his daughter. It seems the lives of mothers in the Many Kingdoms are often cut short, and the stepmothers who replace them are almost always cruel and selfish creatures, but that is a story for another time. We could speculate that something supernatural was at work in the Many Kingdoms, or that the blame should almost certainly be placed on the widowers’ poor choices in stepmothers. One might even argue that the lives of these women were predestined by the prevailing misguided notion in fairy circles that all stepmothers are evil.

Cinderella’s father didn’t think much beyond the care of his daughter when he chose his new wife, aside from making sure she was a lady from a good family, well respected in her community, and that she had a large dowry. This lady seemed like the perfect choice, really. She was a stately-looking woman, still rather handsome, and most importantly she had a fortune of her own, which of course would become his upon their marriage. This was, and remains to this day, a rather unfortunate and antiquated custom in the Many Kingdoms: all of a woman’s possessions become property of her husband upon marriage. But this didn’t concern the lady. She thought the young girl’s father to be very handsome, with a title far greater than her own, what she assumed was a substantial fortune, and a beautiful home in which she could raise her own children alongside his daughter.

However, this lady’s hopes for the marriage went beyond practical concerns. She sincerely loved this man and looked forward to having a beautiful life with him, even if she didn’t say so when he was courting her. He seemed like the sort of man who desired a pragmatic woman, and the lady was indeed very sensible and far too proper to mention such things. She prided herself on her stoicism.

But we’ll get to that part of the story soon. For now we’ll concern ourselves with the lady’s unfortunate daughters, who have been withering away within the confines of their home, under the watchful eye of their domineering mother. The situation attracted the attention of their stepsister, Queen Cinderella, who found she couldn’t ignore her stepsisters’ sad circumstances.

My dearest Fairy Godmother,

I am so sorry to have learned the Fairylands have been in a state of turmoil, and though I do not wish to trouble you at such a time, I must write to you about a gravely important matter that has me in great distress.

You see, my stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella, are in a desperate situation, and for reasons you understand all too well, I am unable to help them. If the Fairylands can spare you, won’t you please come to me as soon as you are able? Drizella, Anastasia, and I need your help.

Sincerely,

Queen Cinderella

The Fairy Godmother crumpled up the letter from Queen Cinderella, which took great effort since it was rather large and written on the sturdy parchment used for official royal correspondence.

“Honestly, I don’t know what Cinderella is thinking! What in the Fairylands are we supposed to do about Anastasia and Drizella? The fairies are not in the business of helping the likes of them!” The Fairy Godmother’s wings twitched violently as she waited for her sister to respond.

Of course, the Fairy Godmother’s sister, Nanny, wasn’t listening to her. Lately, Nanny had been in the Fairylands much more often than usual. She had spent many years on her own adventures, only recently deciding to return to help her sister when the fairies were in great peril. But that is another story, one that you can find in the book of fairy tales. This story finds the sister fairies in the Fairy Godmother’s blossoming garden, where they were just sitting down for their afternoon tea when they were interrupted by the queen’s message.

“Cinderella is your charge. You have to go to her. She’s asked you for your help!” said Nanny, giving the Fairy Godmother a withering look. The Fairy Godmother had always thought that her sister would be more pleasant to be around if she smiled more often. Nanny had silver ringlets and sparkling eyes. She was a round, cute little woman, with powdery soft skin that felt like vellum paper. She was far older than the Fairy Godmother and used it to her advantage as often as it pleased her, including bossing the Fairy Godmother around.

The Fairy Godmother tapped her wand on the edge of the table, agitated, as her sister went on. They were in her garden, after all, and Nanny was fussing at her, as usual.

“Aren’t you the least bit interested why Cinderella is so upset? Somethin

g awful must have happened to Anastasia and Drizella to have her so worried. And you are fairy duty–bound to go to Cinderella if she calls you. I don’t think this is something you can ignore,” said Nanny in her usual superior fashion, which the Fairy Godmother had grown to detest even more now that her sister had been spending so much time in the Fairylands.

The Fairy Godmother was still recovering her nerves since their latest ordeal. They had just survived an attack in Fairyland by the Odd Sisters. And before that an attack by Maleficent.

“Here we are, hardly able to catch our breath after the near destruction of the Fairylands at the hands of your old charges, the Odd Sisters, and now you’re trying to drag us into another battle. I can’t go flying here and there just because Cinderella is worried about her stepsisters. They’re not fairy-worthy,” the Fairy Godmother said. Her hands shook as she poured herself a cup of tea to calm her nerves. She hated being so rattled by all this, especially in front of her sister, but she couldn’t help it. From the moment she’d received the letter from Cinderella pleading for help, her heart had not stopped fluttering. She was now regretting sharing the news with Nanny.

“Well, I don’t see you have any other choice! Cinderella has asked for your help, and it’s your job to do just that! And why exactly are you so rattled by the Tremaines? They’re non-magical and hardly a threat,” said Nanny, eyeing her sister in a way the Fairy Godmother hated.

The Fairy Godmother cleared her throat, steeled her nerves, and spoke in the slowest, sternest voice she could muster. “I will not help Anastasia and Drizella, and that is the last word on this topic, Nanny. Now, if you’d like to continue having our tea, I’d appreciate it if we could talk about something else. The subject of Cinderella and her wicked stepsisters is closed.” The Fairy Godmother took a sip of her tea and put her teacup down gently on the saucer, never taking her eyes off Nanny. “Besides,” she continued, “I know what this is really about. You feel guilty about everything the Odd Sisters have done, not to mention the sacrifice Circe had to make to stop them from destroying the Many Kingdoms.”

Nanny looked as though the Fairy Godmother had slapped her in the face. She got up from the table abruptly and violently, causing her chair to make a horrible scraping noise on the cobblestones in the Fairy Godmother’s garden.

The Fairy Godmother felt terrible. Yes, her sister was annoying, domineering, and rather eccentric for a fairy. (After all, she hated wearing her wings, and only did so begrudgingly at the Fairy Godmother’s request. The Fairy Godmother could never fathom it since wings were so glorious and their fairy-given right and honor.) Still, she loved Nanny and felt sorry for bringing up a topic that hurt her.

“Nanny! I’m sorry! Where are you going? I shouldn’t have mentioned Circe. I know you’re grieving. I am so sorry!” she said, but Nanny didn’t answer, and the Fairy Godmother could tell she’d broken her sister’s heart, even with her back turned to her. Nanny’s wings were hanging low.

The Fairy Godmother knew she should have never brought up the debacle. That’s what the Fairy Godmother had been calling it. And that’s exactly what it was, a debacle. And as far as the Fairy Godmother was concerned, Circe and her mothers, the Odd Sisters, were perfectly fine where they were, in the Place Between, far away from the Fairylands and the Many Kingdoms, where they couldn’t hurt anyone. It wasn’t her business if Circe chose to go beyond the veil with her mothers, or come back to the land of the living after she said her tearful goodbyes to those horrible witch mothers of hers. This was a matter for witches, not fairies—it was no longer their concern. As long as the Fairylands were safe and as long as the Odd Sisters were as far away from them as possible, she was content. Oh yes, there was some way the ancestors could bring them back if they chose, but the Fairy Godmother felt Circe would make the right choice. For all Circe’s failings, the Fairy Godmother thought she was a brave young woman. She had, after all, sacrificed her own life to stop her mothers from destroying the Fairylands. Circe had saved the Many Kingdoms, and for that the fairies would always be grateful. And the Fairy Godmother knew Circe wouldn’t make the mistake of bringing the Odd Sisters back into the world again. So as far as she was concerned the matter was put to rest. What they all needed now was to tighten up ranks and make sure nothing like that would ever happen again, even if that meant not entangling the fairies with the likes of the Tremaines. Of course her sister, Nanny, didn’t agree, and as usual she was Hades-bent on flying them into the face of danger.