“Don’t lie to me, woman! Cinderella told me that you and your gawky daughters plan to leave the Many Kingdoms. And who do you suppose will care for Cinderella? What kind of woman are you that you could abandon your family?” He came toward her menacingly, and she found herself backing away from him, afraid of what he might do.

“Don’t come any closer, I warn you,” she said, sure he would strike her.

“And what will you do, oh great and mighty lady?” he asked. “Do you really think you can do anything to me? Or leave the Many Kingdoms, for that matter? You will never leave, I will make sure of it.” He slammed the door and locked it behind him.

At the sound of the key turning in the lock, she ran to the door and banged on it, calling out for someone to help her, but to no avail. She was terrified and alone and worried what Sir Richard might do to her daughters. She hated him as she had never hated anyone in her life, but she hated Cinderella even more for telling Sir Richard her secret.

She would never forgive the girl for betraying her.

Later that evening when Sir Richard unlocked Lady Tremaine’s bedroom door, she was standing there waiting for him. In her hand, carefully hidden among the folds of her dress, she clutched the bottle the strange sisters had given her.

Sir Richard barely looked at her, his voice cold.

“Since you seem to have dismissed Nanny and Rebecca, I suppose you’d better get down to the kitchen and make our dinner,” he said. Cinderella stood behind him with tears in her eyes.

He continued. “And keep those foolish daughters of yours in line. They’ve been weeping all evening. I can’t bear the sound of it anymore. I don’t want to lay eyes on any of you in the dining room. I would like to eat in peace with my daughter. You lot can eat in the kitchen like the help you are.” He took Cinderella by the arm and dragged her after him down the hall.

“And where are my girls?” she called after him.

“In the kitchen where they belong,” he muttered, not bothering to look back at her.

She stood there for a moment, then remembered what he had said about dismissing Rebecca. But Lady Tremaine hadn’t dismissed her. Where had she gone? She wondered if those witches had warned her not to come back after Nanny sent them flying out the front door.

Still, something about all this didn’t make sense. The only thing she knew for certain was that she and her daughters were trapped with a man she feared would cause her harm. There was only one choice left to her.

Chapter XVI: The Mouse, the Teacup, and the Invitation