I awoke with a groan. My eyes were reluctant to open and all I could smell was a damp musk in the cool air. I turned, feeling the strange comfort of a thin bed, and the memories of yesterday came back as I stared blankly at the iron bars ahead of me.


    In my dreary state, I had convinced myself that I was in my bedroom, but when reality kicked in, I started upwards and suddenly felt the chill of my cell.


    I knew this place, although I had only visited twice against my father''s orders, and even back then, it had been emptied of all the monsters that used to lurk there, chained to the walls, biting and growling. It had become eerily silent. Even the barred window above, level with the cobbles of the guards'' training grounds, had no sounds of people passing by. I was left completely alone. But yet, I felt a chilling presence surrounding me; as though the spectres of the monsters were still there, watching my every move.


    "Hello?" I called out, knowing it was futile. I was back at the palace, and no matter what I did or said, I would be staying there for my rebellious escapade. I felt my fists clench as I thought of how foolish I was; I had let my guard down at the very last moment, allowing my father''s men to locate me. Of course they would be near the scene of the feathered serpent''s massacre, and of course they would be lurking at the places I had been leading up to it. In my determination, I had lost my sense, and it was time that I paid for it.


    I heard the door open, and I leapt out of bed. The cold footsteps echoed in the chamber, but I knew their pattern well.


    "Mother!"


    I didn''t even know what to say to her. She had imprisoned her own son, and despite the sadness in her eyes, she did not act on her emotions.


    "Your father doesn''t trust you. We thought it best to contain you here until the matter is settled."


    "What if you never find the serpent?"


    She did not listen.


    "You will be given the same meals as us, and provided with better conditions than this. This will not be a cell. Just a… temporary accommodation. I am sorry that we must do this."


    I was sick and tired of my parents suggesting that the palace was anything but a cell. I gripped on the bars.


    "No! You have to let me out! Please!"


    She turned away and wiped an eye. The moment she took a step to walk away, I interrupted her movement.


    "Gloria Del Flores is hiding Cinderella!"


    A picture of confusion, she pierced her eyes into me.


    "How could you suggest such a thing?"


    "The glass slipper. We tried it on every woman in Mendessa City. And we were going to go beyond, as well. But the Del Flores family…they are hiding something. I just know it."


    "I have met Countess Del Flores many times. She is an esteemed philanthropist - a pillar to our community. And yes, she is hiding much, and has been for some time…" her eyes were downcast, "...she is hiding a deep pain. One that I would wish upon nobody."


    She explained herself, "Countess Del Flores has been through much grief. It is difficult for a woman to appear entirely normal after such a thing."


    I paused in thought, taken by my mother''s saddened tone.


    "Whatever happened to Count Del Flores?"


    My mother sighed.


    "It was tragic. He was to come to us at the palace for a feast to celebrate his efforts to restore tamanduas to the region. But he suddenly fell ill and had to decline our offer. The very same day, he was discovered in his own cellar… dead at 43. A heart attack, they believe. He left behind a daughter."


    "A daughter?" I asked, leaning so close that my forehead touched the chilling iron bars. Laelia and Dahlia were not the Count''s daughters. All that left was Cinderella.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "But the daughter, too, died soon after. So stricken with grief she refused to eat or sleep."


    I heard the story, taken by guilt in not immediately believing it.


    "Gloria loved her and Fabián so much. It is a great shame to see such tragedy happen to such a noble woman."


    I opened my mouth to fight her certainty, but anything I said would be met with accusations of callousness. For that, I stayed silent, trying to find the words to convince her that my suspicions were right. But a shoe that formed into a map was beyond believable speech, even after all the talk of Fae and magic she had endured from Queen Rosaline over the past few days.


    "Someone will be here soon to serve you lunch. I love you, my son. This will be over soon. I promise."


    As she left, I felt the gloominess of the cell creep back in, alongside the eyes of the monsters'' vengeful ghosts. I waited, angered at myself for not changing my mother''s mind, as impossible as such a task would be.


    I reached into my pocket to find the serpent''s feather had been taken from me, but I remembered it well. It could not have been a coincidence, placed at the foot of a manor filled with rare creatures.


    "You give me back my brother. I know it was your kind who stole him away from me. You give him back!"


    My blood suddenly ran cold.


    A door swung open, crashing against the wall, and two shadows came marching in. One of them, judging by the sounds of struggle, was resisting, but their attempts were nothing against the giant man restraining them.


    I watched as the shadows turned into people.


    "You can''t do this! Rafael, please!"


    It was Zolin. I had to shout.


    "Rafael! What are you-"


    The cell beside me opened and slammed as Zolin was shoved against the wall, unable to reach the door fast enough to flee. I heard the keys twist into the lock as Zolin stepped back in disbelief, tears streaming down his face.


    "Sir Zolin had nothing to do with my escape! Release him at once!" I begged.


    "That''s not why he''s here." Rafael said.


    I looked at them both for an explanation. Zolin was a hero - the one who slayed the feathered serpent. Rafael dubbed him a legendary warrior himself. It made no sense. I was convinced that Zolin had never done anything wrong, and I could never be convinced that anything he ever did was done with bad intentions.


    "You thought you could trick us all. Make us look like a bunch of idiots! You insult not just me, not just the soldiers, but the Queen!" He came up close to the bars, until his breath was visibly blowing on Zolin''s hair. "I''ve half a mind to take you down right here and now."


    "What are you saying?" I stormed forward to separate them, but my own cell bars got in the way.


    "Tell him!" Rafael roared. Zolin stuttered over his words. Rafael grew impatient.


    "This imposter… is not Zolin Gabriel at all."


    I stared at Rafael as though he had gone mad. Alas, he continued.


    "No. He…or should I say she…is Ana Gabriel, sister of Zolin Gabriel!"


    I didn''t want to believe it, but once it was mentioned, I began to see all the things I hadn''t questioned before. Things like how Zolin''s voice and height made him so shunned against the others, how he never bathed with the soldiers; the clean bandages left with his clothes, possibly to bind his chest into a masculine form. And then, before me, Zolin himself, with the untidy self-cut hair and the feminine features I chose to ignore.


    I felt the air in the room quiver.


    "And what of it?!" I dared to ask. Soldiers and guards were always men, even under my mother''s matriarchal rule. The idea of a woman in those ranks has never been a concept raised in Queen Josefina''s court, despite other countries having a variety of people to strengthen their guard. Perhaps now was the chance for that to change, if it meant that a hero such as Zolin Gabriel could be entered without scrutiny.


    "She has acted against the law! She had infiltrated the palace under false pretences! For all we know, she could''ve come to murder you, or the King and Queen! Yet, she has somehow slipped through the cracks. She has found a way to prentrate King Santos'' impervious protections, all made for your sake. She is dangerous. She cannot be trusted. And she will be tried for treason!"


    "Have you forgotten all Zolin has done?!"


    "Zolin has done nothing!"


    Rafael''s voice echoed. He looked at me and Zolin with a hint of regret, and stayed to not tear himself away from the pain he had caused us both. Finally, he avoided our gaze and shook his head.


    "It can''t come out that a girl killed the feathered serpent. It has to be you."


    He and Zolin stared at my bewildered expression. I turned ghostly pale, feeling the sweat of my shirt as it stuck to my skin.


    "Congratulations, Prince Andres. You killed the feathered serpent."


    Words failed me. Zolin''s - or Ana''s - credit would be taken from her for the sake of her gender. And in her place, I was to become the hero that slayed the beast, just like my father once did. I knew at once that that had been his decision; to boost my reputation to consolidate his own.


    "I will deny it. I will deny it to anybody who speaks of it!" I yelled.


    "You''re the son of King Santos. Prince Charming. No one will believe you."


    "Set Ana free. Or I will fight my entire life getting this out! Nobody will ever believe that Ana was a traitor! Everyone will know about you being a traitor to me! And that my father is a traitor to all of his people!"


    "Is that what you want?"


    The consequences were clear. And they would be grim indeed.


    "An uprising. People clamouring to hang your father''s head above their fireplace? Your mother, too. Discourse all over the country. A revolution. All your family''s lies and secrets revealed. Your kingdom crumbling to nothing. Is that what you want?"


    I hesitated. Even with our differences, I did not want my father to die. I felt a spike in my throat as I racked my brain for an argument, the fear of no alternative taking my mind hostage.


    "And say if you father was to survive the ordeal. His life would be ruined. Damn, he may just kill himself. What is a king without his reputation?"


    Despite my anger, I didn''t even have to think of an answer.


    "He is free."


    Rafael clicked his tongue and shook his head.


    "You know nothing of the world, Andres."


    He turned his heel, and grabbed the dungeon door to close it behind him. He hesitated and sighed slowly, before calling directly to me.


    "Please don''t take this personally. I''m just following orders at the end of the day. Alright?"


    I couldn''t believe I was letting him get away.


    "Alright." I breathed. Strangely, I actually believed the pain in his voice. A man like Rafael would never show such an emotion unless it was genuine.


    Me and the person I knew to be Zolin were left alone.


    "Is it true?" I said in disbelief, already knowing the answer.


    Ana could not hide from me.


    "Yes."