Cinderella Soldier, page 1
Cinderella Soldier
A Glass Slipper Adventure
by
Allie Burton
Allie Burton
Cinderella Soldier
A Glass Slipper Adventure
Copyright © 2020 by Alice Fairbanks-Burton
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, downloaded, transmitted, decompiled, reverse engineered, stored in or introduced to any information storage and retrieval system in any form, whether electronic or mechanical without the author’s written permission. Scanning, uploading or distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without permission is prohibited.
Please purchase only authorized electronic versions, and do not participate in, or encourage pirated electronic versions.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Table of Contents
CINDERELLA SOLDIER
Copyright
Stay in Touch
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
A Note from Allie Burton
About CINDERELLA SPY
What to Read Next
Also by Allie Burton
About the Author
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Acknowledgements
It’s hard to condense an 88,000 word book into 150 words. Thanks to Lorraine Heath for her advice and editing on the book descriptions for this series. I really appreciated the help. Thanks also to Addison Fox and Tracy Garrett for general advice and camaraderie. And to Carolyn LaFevre for her insightful critiques and for reading this book twice.
Chapter One
Sharp steel pressed against my neck. “This is the way to win, princess.”
I sucked in a bitter breath, and not from the closeness of the blade. Perry Moss couldn’t know the truth, few did. Because princess wasn’t just a taunt, it was a title.
My title.
Locking gazes with him, I glared at his attempt to best me. His silver eyes flashed with what looked like hatred, and then went hard and cool. Cute, but a total stranger and one of my new classmates. Had he forgotten we were on the same side training for a real battle? To be soldiers in the fight against Regent Theobald and his cronies?
The blade pressed harder against my throat. Perry was one of a few students who chose to spar against me. His long, dark hair had been braided away from his forehead. His thin, angular face always appeared in a superior pout. “Concede, Ellery.”
Why did it sound as if he was asking me to give up more than this fight?
“No.” I wrapped my fingers tighter around the coiled carbon lasso, a connection of magical notches that did my bidding. And its own. The weapon had found me on my first adventure.
My weapon whipped forward, wrapping around the hilt of his blade. The blade clattered onto the weapons training ground in a puff of dry dirt.
Perry scowled and backed away, disgust written across his face. “You’re using magic, not skill.”
He seemed to feel the need to best me in weapons and in magic class. It was as if he needed to prove his superiority in every aspect of fairy training. Which I didn’t doubt. I’d received my fairy magic a few months ago when I’d turned sixteen. The weapons training was completely new.
And yet, I held my own. Real battle experience counted for something.
My chin tilted up and power thrummed through my veins. Yanking the whip back, I took a deep inhale. I coiled the shiny rope with care and held it at my hip. “We’re fairies. Magic is what we do.”
I was only half fairy. A fact the other students consistently pointed out. Snickered at. Talked about behind my half human back. They didn’t know the truth about me yet. I’d known for a week and couldn’t accept the truth.
I was a princess. A fairy princess.
What would these kids say when they learned?
I remembered the moment Commander Gardenia, also my fairy godmother, had first told me. We’d returned from destroying the auraguillotine under the human palace and had been escorted to Queens Academy. It had taken me awhile to process the ridiculous statement. Actually, I still didn’t fully comprehend it.
I’d stuttered the word. “P-p-princess?”
“You’re the lost princess, Ellery.” Gardenia twirled a large ring around her finger. I’d never seen her nervous before. “Your mother was a third princess. When she fell in love with your father, her mother, the queen, let her live the life she wanted. The queen had two older daughters who would have children of their own so there was no reason to keep your mother bound to the realm.”
“The two princesses died before they had children.” Gardenia’s calmness belied the havoc she’d created inside me.
My head whirled, making me dizzy. The churning dropped to my belly and I felt sick. My lungs struggled to take a ragged breath. I had a grandmother—who was the queen, and aunts whom I’d never meet and who had died.
She placed a flat palm on my shoulder. “You became next in line for the throne.”
The havoc ramped up and twisted similar to a tornado. Everything I’d known or understood became uprooted like my family tree. The limbs of what I’d believed to be true crashed to the ground, metaphorically blindsiding me. I sank to the floor.
I was pulled in two different directions, both against my will. “No. No. Noooo.”
How could I have gone from being a servant in my stepmother’s home to being a princess? By coming to the fairy school, I thought I’d gotten rid of my shackles. Being a princess would mean a new set of restrictions, handcuffs made of diamonds, or whatever fairies put on their crowns. I wanted to fight in the war on the side of the majiks, not be pampered and protected. I did not want to be forced into a role I didn’t want to play.
“You need to learn how to fight without magic. That’s what weapons class is about.” Perry stepped forward and swiped at his blade, bringing me back to the present.
He was right. If I wanted to prove my worth, I’d need to become the best fighter in school. To show Gardenia I was meant to be a soldier, not a princess. I’d known Queens Academy would be worse than human school. And then Gardenia had thrown this entire princess thing at me.
Battle training had been combined with magic training—because I needed help with my newly-forming powers—and she’d added on fairy etiquette and history. I didn’t need the last two to win a war.
The weapons training ground resembled a large sports field, but this wasn’t a game. Not to me or to my opponent. The smell of grass and dirt stuck in my nose and I found the earth scent comforting. Natural elements were attractive to fairies and since coming to the academy my fairy side dominated.
“Weren’t you beneath Regent Theobald’s royal palace where magic is suppressed?” The strange twist in conversation showed Perry had heard rumors about my mission the night of the ball.
Many of the students had. They didn’t know the truth, the full scope of what I’d been through, and I didn’t plan to enlighten them. If they couldn’t like me for who I was, why should I give them the information they sought?
“No comment.” Swiveling away, I strolled to the portable arsenal and perused my choice of weapons.
He had a point about learning to fight without magic. Not that I’d admit it. There’d been times under the human royal palace I’d wished I’d had access to my malfunctioning powers. The humans had developed technology to contain majiks’ magic, and grit and determination had been our battle weapons.
I fingered the notched coil whip—my favorite weapon. It understood what I needed and anticipated my enemy’s next move. The humans couldn’t suppress the magic in the entire Kingdom of Alandaska.
This war would be magic versus technology.
Why study the ancient arts of fighting and weaponry when we had magical power deep inside us? Now that I was learning to control my magic, I didn’t see the need to use other weapons.
Still, I picked up a sabre and ran my gloved hand over the blade. Perry wanted a fair fight with no magic, so I’d give him one.
I slash ed the weapon and a zing traveled through my arm. Pivoting, I faced my opponent. “En guard.”
“Allez.” He lunged, his blade glinting with sunlight.
I feinted to the right.
He lunged again, and our swords clashed.
The impact shattered up my arm and shook my spine. The weakness and fear brought me to a different place when I’d been feeble and unsure. I wasn’t that person anymore.
I charged forward.
He attacked with intent, as if relishing the need to hurt or embarrass me. To make me lose this fight. My muscles hardened. Most of the kids at the academy treated me differently. They were suspicious or downright hated me. Nothing I hadn’t dealt with in my past.
“Not so confident without your magic.” Smirking, he parried, forcing me to take several steps back.
A guffaw shot out of my mouth. If he had seen my use of magic a week ago, he never would’ve made the statement.
“Fairies have magic. You have magic. We should be able to use it.” A new attitude for me. I might’ve agreed to fight without my powers this time, but I believed in using everything at my disposal to win.
When I first received my powers, my magic misfired whenever I attempted, and sometimes when I didn’t. Since starting at Queens Academy one week ago, I’d been learning and studying. I’d gotten better.
“You should learn the hard way.” Perry jabbed at my chest and I jumped, withdrawing into the shadows formed by the academy’s balcony. “Then, when you use magic it’s easy.”
He arced his sword down in a smooth move showing how simple it was for him.
I wished I’d been trained in fighting since birth, not washing dishes. But I hadn’t and I’d learn to live with it. Or die trying.
Blocking his sword with my sabre, the clanging of metal rang in my head. Sweat formed on my upper lip. Even though the day was chilly, I wished I’d worn a single layer of clothes. I was about to wish the outer jacket away when I remembered his challenge.
No magic. I could do this.
He swung at me again and I ducked.
This wasn’t a friendly bout or practice. This guy was going for me. Which was okay. The hard training would exhaust me, and I’d forget…
Don’t think about the prince. Don’t think about the prince.
I hadn’t heard if Prince Zacharye, or Rye as I called him, had survived the one night we’d spent in the palace dungeon. My heart shattered and tears burned my eyes as I remembered the explosion. I had to pull myself together.
Perry’s assault continued, blow after blow.
Panting, I kept maneuvering further and further back. He had me pinned against the balustrade.
A dark shiver passed through me. Perry didn’t like me, wanted to best me. However, he was the only one who’d train with me and I desperately needed training. Would he take the contest too far and cause injury? He’d come close minutes ago.
My opponent conjured a second sword from mid-air.
My heart raced and the sweat on my lip formed a thin layer of ice. “You said no magic.”
“I said you should learn the hard way. I’ve learned. Now it’s your turn.” His wings spread, adding to his strength.
The fluttering of his brown and gold wings distracted me. Glittery gold lined the edges and pulsed from the iridescent veins. His wings gave him leverage to fight.
My head spun, and my gaze tried to follow the swirls of his weapons. I pressed against the concrete of the balustrade and my weapons hand fell to my side. Defeat set in. No wings, terrible magic, average fighting skills. Would I ever be good enough to become a soldier in the queen’s army?
“Why did you have to come back?” Perry’s almost inaudible whisper was followed by a slash. His blade came at my face.
I twisted my head, but I was too late. The blade sliced my cheek. Pain radiated from the wound. The spot felt tingly and sticky and numbed my body and my mind.
He raised the weapon to strike again.
Bracing my foot against the balustrade, I pushed out and into him. Adrenaline surged through my bloodstream. I wouldn’t sit back and let him injure me. My chest bumped into his and he faltered. I raised my sword, ready to do damage.
His expression showed shock at my attack, and maybe a little admiration.
“Perry,” a high-pitched female screeched. “Commander Gardenia is looking for you.”
His skin went pale as if he’d suffered a wound. His lavender blue eyes appeared dazed and then refocused.
My shoulders slumped, and I let out a long, slow sigh. I pulled the blade back. Saved by my fairy godmother again.
Another reason the kids hated me. The commander had singled me out for special attention since I’d arrived. They didn’t know she was my fairy godmother, too. When Gardenia spoke, fairies listened.
Including Perry because he retreated. “Sorry about the scratch. Adrenaline got the best of me.”
Adrenaline, huh? I knew the other fairies hated me. I didn’t think they were out to kill.
He shot a glance at the person who’d interrupted our battle. He scrunched up his upper lip, showing he didn’t like her either. “I’m on my way.”
Huffing, he tossed his weapon down and spun on his pointed boots, hurrying inside the castle-turned-school. He wore tight brown breeches and a leather vest similar to most of the male fairies. A take on the regular male school uniform.
I lifted my hand to my cheek. Liquid warmed my fingertips and I pulled my hand away. Blood. Had he truly wanted to hurt me? His hatred had been palpable.
“He tried to kill you.” The high-pitched voice reminded me I wasn’t alone. “Are you okay?”
She’d saved me as much as Gardenia because the guy had hatred on his face and a sword at my neck.
The student fairy was taller than me, which was unusual. Long, curly blonde hair accented her heart-shaped face. Her skin appeared smooth and perfect and her lips were a bright red. It didn’t seem natural, which was rare for a fairy. Her wings held at a stiff angle. Her breasts popped out of the sleeveless green and purple plaid vest. The pleated skirt stopped high on her thighs.
I’d altered my uniform, making the plaid skirt longer and wearing a white blouse under the vest. Other fairies needed room for their wings. I didn’t. Another way I stood out.
She hurried toward me. “You’re bleeding.”
Leaning away, I swiped at the spot on my cheek. I’d seen worse.
“I’ve got fiddle leaf in my bag.” She dug in a small bag, taking several seconds to root around before she pulled out a bright green leaf.
I took a step back. Why would one of the students want to help me?
She quirked her head. “The fiddle leaf will stop the bleeding.”
I snatched the leaf from her hand and pressed it against my bleeding cheek. Another thing I needed to learn, natural healing methods. For whatever reason, I came in contact with injured majiks a lot, or I became one.
“Thanks.” My tone wasn’t quite thankful because I was suspicious of anyone being nice.
“I’m Bee.” She held out her hand.
Narrowing my gaze, I examined her hand for any tricks or magical devices. “Ellery.” Slowly, I placed my hand in hers for a quick shake.
“I’m new to the academy. I enrolled late because when my powers finally manifested, my parents were away.” Her expression appeared open and honest and her bright green gaze flashed. “Any advice on how to get along here?”
“Stay away from me.” I spoke through gritted teeth.
“What?” She pursed her lips, showing her offense.
