I breathed a sigh of relief. If that’s all they were here for, then maybe they would just ignore me altogether.
“Help yourself. I have no need for such shoes.” I smiled sweetly but felt a twitch at the corner of my eye. Actually, I could have used the shoes now that I was planning to attend the ball. I hadn’t even considered proper footwear…
“I was already planning to.” Brielle commented in a bored tone. “I wasn’t asking your permission. Everything in this crummy house belongs to Mother anyway, and she decrees that these slippers belong to me. Ah, there they are!” She pulled out the untouched box and tore it open. The silver shoes were extremely flashy, which was probably why Sapphira bought them for me. There wasn’t a single gown in my cupboard that could pair with such shoes. Brielle’s eyes sparkled as she held the glittering shoes up to the light. “These should work beautifully with my dress, don’t you think, Odelia?”
The older sister eyed the silver shoes for a brief moment, before she turned her gaze back to me. “Yes, I believe they will…” she replied vaguely, her eyes now cast upon the package to my side. “Kalina, what is that you have there?” She narrowed her gaze in on my package and I felt my body stiffen.
“Oh, this?” I gestured at the paper as nonchalantly as I could. “It’s just some old stockings I need to throw out. I was doing some cleaning,” I lied as calmly as I could, but Odelia only glared further.
“I see. Well, if that’s all that it is, then why don’t I dispose of it for you?” Her tone challenged me, testing my lie.
I swallowed uncomfortably. “That’s quite alright, Odelia. I can handle it myself. Besides, I didn’t think a proper young lady such as yourself would ever belittle herself to play with trash.” I raised an eyebrow, matching her challenge.
She straightened, then passed a silent glance to Brielle as if trying to convey an unspoken message. The younger sister gave her a confused look for a moment before a wash of understanding flooded over her. She turned her gaze to me, and I tried to maintain my relaxed composure, despite my pounding heart. Brielle’s gaze fell to the unguarded package, and within an instant, she lunged forward and snatched it from the bed.
`“No!” I reached forward, trying to retrieve the bundle, but Brielle was already fleeing down the stairs with Odelia close behind. Racing down the stairs, I followed them as quickly as I could. Their covered feet gave them the advantage of being able to sprint down the coarse attic steps. I did my best to keep up with them, but a sharp sting in my heel alerted me that I had acquired a new splinter. Ignoring the digging pain, I pushed past the servants until I found them both standing in the parlor, smiling, with Sapphira standing between them.
“Brielle, give that back.” I demanded, my patience long-gone. “You got your shoes, so leave the rest of my belongings alone.”
“Mother, Kalina is trying to hide something from us; she even chased us down the stairs for it,” Brielle said with feigned innocence as she passed the package to her mother.
“Brielle! You’re the one who snatched it out from under me!” My voice grew louder and Sapphira rolled her eyes.
“Girls, we do not have time for this. There is a ball to prepare for.” she said in annoyance, dangling the package loosely from her fingers.
“Mother, she’s only getting defensive because she has something she shouldn’t,” Odelia chimed in. I wanted to rip out her pretty blonde hair.
“I wasn’t hiding anything! You both came barging into my room and ran off with my belongings!” I cast my gaze desperately toward Sapphira, hopelessly pleading with her to return the package to me. My sights narrowed in on the concealed dress that held my last chance for a real life. “Stepmother, please, I just ask that you return what’s mine.”
“Don’t give it to her, Mother,” Odelia snarked. “She’s been disobedient enough as it is. Whatever it is, I’m sure she doesn’t deserve it.”
I clenched my fists, trying to restrain myself from blackening her eye. If I lunged at her now, I could kiss my dress goodbye. Instead, I directed my attention to the vile woman who dangled my last shred of hope from her dainty fingers.
“Please, Stepmother,” I begged, praying that just once, she would show an ounce of sympathy toward me. However, she looked entirely annoyed with the whole situation, and proceeded to roll her eyes once more.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, girls,” she huffed impatiently and stepped over to the fire. I watched my dreams shatter as she tossed the paper bundle straight into the blazing hearth.
“No!” I cried out, running to the smoking fireplace. I smacked my hands down on the stone hearth as I stared brokenly into the blinding orange flames.
Sapphira stepped aside in complete ignorance as she addressed her daughters. “There. Now go back to getting ready. We don’t have time for any further foolishness.”
“Yes, Mother,” the girls said in unison, a sick smile creeping onto both of their faces. The three of them followed each other out the door as I was left staring hopelessly at my burning dreams.
I scrambled around the room looking for a fire poker and grabbed the first one I found. With rapid movements, I scooted the burning paper out of the heart of the flames and pushed it onto the stone front. The paper was still ablaze after I got it out, so I grabbed the nearest cushion and batted at it until the flames were fully smothered. Smoke filled the room, causing my lungs to stir and cough. My eyes stung from the thick smoke as I set aside the singed cushion and gingerly inspected the smoldering bundle in front of me.
The paper was entirely burned off, but the dress still seemed to be mostly intact. I gathered up the warm bundle into my arms and raced back up to the attic to view it further. When I laid the dress back out over the bed, my heart sank.
The lace that once covered the strapless bodice was now completely singed and even entirely burned off in some places. The satin underneath seemed to be intact, but the black soot had left stains everywhere, even beneath the lace. The majority of the skirt had been folded up in the middle of the package, so it came out mostly unscathed, but the entire hem had a fresh line of black char encompassing it. In a few places, the burn had even trailed up the skirt a couple of inches. Overall, the top and base of the dress were utterly ruined by the flames and ash. I sat back on the bed, staring at the mess in front of me.
How could this have happened?
I bit my quivering lip, trying to hold back the fresh tears that threatened to fall. There was no way I could go to the ball in a dress like this… They wouldn’t even let me past the front gate, even if they couldn’t recognize me. And now that it has been damaged, I wasn’t even sure if the magic still worked. I touched the burned lace, wondering if its power had been scorched away with my dreams.
As I wallowed in my own self-pity, I found myself longing to visit my garden. The peace of my father’s memory had always been a comfort to me, and now at my worst hour, it was gone. Never again would I be able to look at my mother’s pink roses and remember what life was like when she was still with me... before Sapphira ever infested our home.
For the first time since its destruction, I allowed myself to gaze out the window and mourn what had been lost. Tears instantly stung at my eyes as I saw the uprooted mess of dirt that replaced my beautiful flowers. Stems and leaves lay scattered across the ground in stripped pieces, each one too destroyed to recognize what it had once been. As I scanned over the carnage, I noticed something peculiar about it. Amongst all the wreckage, I could only spot a few loose petals on the ground, the rest of the mess was made up of roots, stems, and leaves. I looked again with a more focused eye, but only a handful of petals could be seen littered across the ground.
Where had all the flowers gone?