Cinderella Assassin Read online

  She pulled out a yellow tube. “This holds a magic ointment for wounds.” She put the tube in and took out a white box. “And this is a first aid kit for human and majik.”

  My mouth dropped open. I peered in the clutch and only saw normal items a girl would carry, lipstick, comb, and mirror. “How do all those things fit?”

  “It resembles a normal purse with normal items inside. With your fairy blood, you can access whatever you need. It’s a Necessary Bag.”

  My stomach jiggled. “How will I ever get past the detectors at the palace with these magical items?”

  The clutch, the dress, and my very own fairy blood would betray me.

  “That’s what the shoes are for.” She held out her hands and two glass-heeled shoes appeared.

  The clear shoes sparkled in the light. Two-inch heels led to a slender sloping arch. A decorative green jewel topped off near the toes.

  “I enjoy shoes as much as the next girl but how are high heels going to help?” I’d decided on the dress based on practicality. I couldn’t run in high heels.

  “These shoes are made with Elfin glass and they aren’t only high heels.” She pinched the gemstone and the heels lowered. The shoes became flats. “The shoes will be acceptable at the ball, and when you go to find Arbor you can make them more comfortable.”

  I’d known this would be a dangerous quest. Getting past the sensors at the palace, searching for Arbor. If I got caught, I’d be arrested or worse. I might need to run, but Arbor was worth it. “Clever.”

  Gardenia’s arched eyebrows asked what else would be expected. Wearing no make-up from what I could tell, she had a natural beauty. Rosy cheeks, pink lips, white-flawless skin smelling of flowers and cut grass. “The shoes also have deflection technology. Magic and majik.”

  “So, the SCUM won’t detect I’m half-majik.” Nodding, I let confidence seep into my skin. This deal was definitely in my favor.

  “Or the magical items in your possession.” She snapped her fingers and another item appeared in the palm of her hand.

  A knife.

  I flinched and my skin prickled.

  “This is the Dagger of Justice. It weighs the guilt of the intended target.” She reached up toward my head. “You will wear it as a hair ornament.”

  The sharp steel point glinted. The ruby-encrusted handle reminded me of blood. Blood I might make flow.

  “W-what do I need a dagger for?”

  “To complete your end of the Binding Promise.” Her pupils flashed with a winning gleam, yet her expression stayed deadly serious.

  The words Binding Promise sizzled between us having a life of its own.

  My muscles tensed and the hairs at the back of my neck stuck up. This wasn’t like the bet we’d made earlier today. How bad could my end of the promise be if it didn’t include fairy academy? But if it wasn’t bad, why would I need a dagger? I should’ve asked before I’d agreed, except I hadn’t been thinking because of my guilt about Arbor.

  My throat tightened. “What do you want me to do with the dagger?”

  Gardenia’s lips lifted in a slight smile. “Assassinate Prince Zacharye.”

  Chapter Seven

  Kill the prince?

  The single thought circled around my brain getting tighter and tighter, cutting off my circulation, and sending shafts of pain across my forehead. “Are you crazy?”

  The prince was my age and the girls at school swooned whenever they saw his image on a vid screen. If he was related to Regent Theobald, then his view of majiks was skewed and I didn’t want anything to do with Prince Zacharye even if he was the cutest male in the kingdom.

  But kill him? I shook my head making myself dizzy.

  Gardenia’s eyebrows rose in a superior way. She didn’t say anything.

  Wiggling my shoulders, I held my hand against my chest. The same spot she’d pointed the wand when I’d agreed. “I can’t kill anyone. Especially the prince.”

  That would be a crime against cuteness and a crime against the state.

  Her gaze narrowed, and she pointed one of those strangely, long fingers. “You made a Binding Promise, Ellery.”

  Inch by inch jagged lines etched into my brain. “No. I didn’t know…didn’t understand.”

  I’d realized the moment was significant, just not how significant. Binding? What did that even mean?

  “When I pointed the wand at your heart and you promised with no coercion from me, it bound you to your word. Fairies can’t lie. And they can’t break a Binding Promise.” Gardenia tucked her finger into the fist of her hand. “If you’d been trained as a fairy, you’d have recognized a Binding Promise.”

  The taunt packed a wallop about my choices.

  Since I was only half-fairy, I could lie. Could I break a Binding Promise?

  My mind searched for anything I’d heard about fairies and promises. I came up blank. I’d learned nothing about Binding Promises when we’d studied fairies in class, and Arbor had never mentioned it. I had to know, even though I’d promised myself not to learn more about my fairy half. “What is a Binding Promise? How does it work?”

  Gardenia fiddled with the four-leaf clover necklace around her neck. “Well, the Binding Promise is a magical contract between two fairies where a deal is agreed upon and each of the parties must execute.”

  “Execute?” I gulped. Sounded a lot like assassinate. “What will happen? Will it force me to kill the prince?”

  “Well, um…the Binding Promise,” she fiddled with the necklace again, “in this case will recognize your target and take control of your actions. You’ll have no choice. You’ll have to complete the task.”

  My blood pressure rose, and I snorted loudly. I might not understand fairy promises, but I understood politics. This promise was going to force me to murder creating a national incident. “Why would you even want to kill the prince? He has no authority.”

  The gate was open, and a few transport pods zoomed by the lane. Few people walked and if they did, they wore hover shoes and moved too fast to eavesdrop.

  “He will soon. He’s now of age at sixteen That’s what this ball is celebrating.” She made it sound as if the entire event was nonsense. Except nothing she said was non-sensical. She was completely serious.

  I had to make her see reason. “The ball is so Prince Zacharye can meet the girls of the kingdom.”

  “Perfect excuse for you to meet him. And assassinate him.”

  “I’m not a normal girl. I’m half-fairy.” Exasperation came out on a loud sigh.

  “Finally, you admit you are fairy.” Her amusement grated.

  “This is ridiculous. I can’t kill the prince. I can’t kill anyone.” My belly threatened to spew. To stick a dagger into a person. Hear the squelch of skin and muscle and blood. I wasn’t a killer.

  Her lips pinched and turned blue. “The Kingdom of Alandaska has changed during the last decade. The majiks, who once owned this land and shared with humans, have been shuttled aside. Prejudice against our kind has become rampant and infiltrated the law of the land. Atrocities have been occurring and the human world either doesn’t know or doesn’t care. This must be stopped.”

  None of this had affected me so far. I’d heard more horror stories since Arbor had become my friend. The disappearance of fairies, the bigotry at the mall and the market, the general fear of majiks to be out in public in case the SCUM arrested them for no reason.

  “That’s his uncle, Regent Theobald’s doing. Not the prince.” I defended the prince only because I didn’t want to kill him. “Prince Zacharye is innocent.”

  “As is your friend, Arbor.”

  My throat thickened cutting off my oxygen. My fault, my fault, my fault seesawed in and out of my ears. I’d do anything to save my friend.

  “The prince has gone along with the regent’s policies. Do you think he will change the laws when he becomes ruler? When the regent is by his side, whispering the decisions in his ear? Telling him what to do?” Gardenia lifted her pointy nos
e. “I think not.”

  I’d learned in school how the prince apprenticed with the regent since the age of two, learning how to rule fair and justly. But if he was being trained by a regent who wasn’t fair and just, what exactly was he learning? Probably nothing favorable for majiks.

  A worm wiggled inside me. “Why don’t you assassinate the regent? It’s his policies you’re against.”

  “I’m against?” Her cheeks colored a bright red. “Everyone who has any sense, human or majik, should be against these bad policies for the kingdom.”

  “So kill Regent Theobald.”

  “We’ve tried and failed.” She slashed with her hand causing a gleam of glitter to spray through the air. “This action will prove to the regent that he and his cronies are not untouchable. That they can’t do as they please. That they can’t get away with murder.”

  “Killing the prince is murder.”

  “He’s a stupid, vain kid who has been absent for the last year doing nothing to stop his uncle and his actions.” She glanced at the sky as if searching for assistance explaining her warped motivation.

  “He’s been on secondment learning every aspect of the kingdom.” That’s what the official news vids said.

  She brought her gaze back down and pierced me. “The political assassination of Prince Zacharye will make a strong statement at the beginning of a revolution.”

  Whoa. Revolution to overthrow the government?

  The glitter seeped into my lungs, floating through my midsection, swishing around and churning. Twice tonight I’d been shocked by terms. First, terrorists and now, revolution.

  “I don’t know how to assassinate anyone.” Using a different word didn’t make it more palatable. Murder was murder.

  “Something must be done to spark the revolution. The prince’s assassination will be a clear signal to humans and majiks change is coming.” Her dark tone spoke of dark times.

  Shivering, I tried to bring the conversation back to my needs. “If I get caught, I can’t save Arbor.”

  If the prince was killed, the palace guards would go on high alert. We’d never get away.

  “Save Arbor first. You might need her help. Then return to the ball and kill the prince.” Gardenia’s vehemence became a brick wall I couldn’t climb over.

  That didn’t stop me from trying, and I threw out any weak excuse. “I don’t even know what the prince looks like.” Desperation clawed at my throat making my voice go higher.

  She waved her fingers and an image of a clean-cut guy with short blond hair and pale face wearing an ostentatious uniform emerged in the space in front of us. Sashes, medals, jeweled collar and crown. “May I present Prince Zacharye.” Her formal tone was at odds with her request.

  I took a cursory glance. The same image I’d seen on multiple vids and hanging in girls’ lockers at school. The same image I’d seen in my dreams. “It’s not a very good image.”

  “Find the handsome young man surrounded by young ladies competing for his attention at the ball.” She sounded so cynical. As if the royal family was of no consequence.

  Her disrespect was opposite of how I was raised. Between Dad’s deference to royalty because of his noble birth and the teacher’s training about being loyal to the crown, I believed the royal family had an unalienable right to rule. But because of the fear I faced every day and the loathing of the SCUM, I understood change was needed.

  But assassination? By me?

  Short, shallow breaths puffed out of my chest. I’d made this Binding Promise without knowing the task or understanding the commitment. I didn’t have the heart, or the non-heart, to complete. “I repeat. I don’t want, and don’t know how to kill.”

  Her eyes lit up with what seemed to be malicious glee. “I can help you.”

  Sure, now she wanted to help. As a fairy, she had spells and magical items at her disposal I didn’t even know existed. “What do you mean?”

  “You have your bag of goodies, a Binding Promise that won’t let you fail your task once you meet the prince, and a dagger making the final decision. If you can’t find Arbor, I’ll send assistance.”

  Gardenia was willing to break out a smoke sprite of no consequence to start her revolution. What was really going on in the kingdom and what did my tiny life have to do with a war?

  * * *

  The ride to the palace was short. Too short.

  I wanted to linger in this in-between land of innocent teen and assassin.

  While trying to remember everything Gardenia had said, I’d gotten into the transport pod in a daze. The protocols of the palace, the layout of the ball, and the stiff smile of Prince Zacharye. I patted the bag on the seat beside me. Between the long shimmery dress and the updo hair and the dagger stuck in my hair braid, everything felt out of place. I felt out of place. As if something had taken control of my body.

  Which was possible if the Binding Promise took charge.

  Taking a deep gulp, I tried to settle my nerves by talking to myself. “I might not know how the Binding Promise works, but if I never meet Prince Zacharye, I can’t assassinate him.”

  That was my plan. Not a great plan. A plan all the same. Find the prison and save Arbor, and then leave the palace before ever running into the prince. I’d deal with Gardenia’s anger later.

  If my plan didn’t work, I’d be riding in style to my own execution.

  The magical transport pod was the height of luxury. Nicer than the rental transport my stepmother and stepsisters took to the ball. The chair-turned-transport had better and more efficient lighting than the original item. Cushioned seats, eco-emissions, and driverless interface with a locked in destination. I couldn’t veer from course if I wanted.

  Because if I killed the prince, how could I escape? I don’t think my fairy godmother had fully thought out her scheme. As a fairy warrior, why would she send an inexperienced teen who didn’t even know how to access her magic? Now that I had time to think about it, the entire scenario didn’t make sense.

  But it was too late to question.

  Glancing out the window, I stared at the sights. I didn’t visit the technology area of the city surrounding the palace very often. Dozens of skyscrapers climbed toward the top of the dome. The companies that had created the myriad of technological innovations used in the kingdom including the Magic Blocking Fixatif and various majik detectors. I furrowed my brow wondering what other advancements they’d made.

  Neon vid screens flashed product advertisements. Everything from cyborg components to the latest fizzy drink. Transport pods zoomed in and out and around the buildings. Tubes shooting people from one skywalk to the next spread blazing streaks across the dark sky.

  When I was younger, I’d traveled by tube with my dad to the outer ring where we’d hiked into a forest for a picnic close to my mom’s natural homeland. I remember stroking the petals of an unusual flower, releasing the violet pollen, and watching it spread.

  Sniffling, I twisted my head to face forward. The mountain range rose from behind the castle. Dark and foreboding. The dome trapped in a mystical fog that shielded the castle as it came closer and closer.

  My stomach muscles tightened. I was almost there.

  I clicked the glass heels together. The clinking didn’t settle my doubts. The encapsulated elf jamming system better block the magical sensors or I was doomed.

  Everything about my outfit was magical. From the dress to the hair accessories with its tip sharp enough to penetrate deep into someone’s skin, to every object magically stowed in the purse. And I had to remember how to use each and every item. While avoiding my stepmother and stepsisters and the prince.

  Sure, this would be easy. My own sarcasm strangled me.

  The transport came to a stop and I peered out the window. The palace’s glass spires rose high into the sky. Metal antennas stuck out of the spires giving the castle a tipsy birthday cake appearance. An enormous disc hovered above the castle like a crown. The gleaming metalloid gleamed in the moonlight. The
disc kept the kingdom a secret from the outside world.

  I’d seen the palace from a distance with the spires and mysterious hovering disc. I’d never been this close. Never noticed the intricate metal stylings combined with old-world architecture. Never saw the solid rock foundation the glass and metal building was built upon. Never realized the reason the castle seemed so high in the sky was because of the mountain of earth beneath the walls.

  Wide marble steps led from the base to the main doors. A red runner ran the length of the steps from the top to the old-fashioned port cochere where the transport pods alighted with their guests. Gargoyles carved from stone stood sentry near the top of the stairs in front of the main door where only a couple of people awaited entrance.

  The transport door lifted upwards on silent hinges and a liveried palace cyborg servant held out a metal hand to help me exit.

  With trembling legs, I stepped onto a long red carpet. I kept my head down and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I probably resembled a newborn giraffe I’d studied in biology class. Wobbly and unconfident, as if I was about to topple.

  “Do you have your invitation, miss?” The servant still held my arm leading me toward the entry.

  My stomach jittered even with no food inside. I was so late and clearly didn’t belong in these heels or this dress. “Um, yes. Sorry.”

  Fumbling in the clutch, I willed nothing magical to fall out. I only needed the invitation.

  The paper slipped into my hand and I pulled it out and held it up. “Here’s the invitation.”

  “Show it to the guard at the doorway near security.”

  The red carpet was empty because of my late arrival. The entire kingdom had been excited about the ball and most wanted to soak up every minute. I had been excited too, until I’d been given my killing task. At the top of the grand staircase leading to the thick wooden doors stood a glass-fronted machine. It was a clear cubicle with metal rimmed edges, and it was lined with the same gleaming metalloid of the castle’s hovering ring. Weapons or majik check?