But it wasn't a knockoff and the tailor knew it. The tailor knew that Ella knew. She bit her lip, staring at the dress in her hands. Then jumped when her stepmother snapped at her to get a move on. She scrambled to her room to try it on, breathless. Her heart raced in her throat.

  Lady looked up from her spot beside the fireplace, tail thumping. With shaking hands, Ella pulled the flowing gown over her head. It curved around her flat chest and draped around the rolls of her waist. The hem fell to the ground, a cascade of shimmer. It fit her. It fit perfectly. Ella looked up at her ceiling and took several deep breaths. She couldn't cry, not right now. She'd sob herself silly when this was all over, but right now she had to go back out there and pretend she was ashamed. Pretend a dress made her an embarrassment.

  Pretend she had never felt more like herself than this very moment.

  She walked back to the sitting room where Emily's alterations were finished and Elise was twirling her latest changes to check the flow. Everyone looked up at Ella. Elise's smile was predatory. Emily hid a laugh behind her hand. Even Eleanor appeared smug. The tailor gestured her forward. Ella went, her face red with excitement. She hoped it looked like shame.

  Closer to the woman, and perhaps out of earshot of everyone else, Ella whispered, "It's a perfect fit."

  Equally quietly, the tailor said, "I know." But she made Ella turn around, hemmed and hawed at the slopes and seams, and finally sent her away with a wave of her hand. "It'll have to do."

  Elise cackled, "Mother, you have to let me do his makeup before we go."

  "Maybe." Eleanor narrowed her eyes at Ella. "Go take that thing off before you rip it. Keep it safe or you'll be more than an embarrassment to us.

  Ella bent her head and whispered, "Yes, ma'am." But inside her heart leaped and she couldn't quite believe it wasn't all an elaborate trick. The tailor had somehow brought this all together. Her stepmother thought this was a good idea. Ella couldn't believe this was happening. Her hands shook, her breathing was too fast, and she almost felt sick with excitement.

  In the safety of her room, Ella pulled the dress overhead, carefully aligned it on the hanger, and hung it up in the middle of her room from a hollow knot in the exposed rafter. The sun glittered against it, throwing color and light into Ella's dreary storage room.

  Ella covered her mouth with both hands and screamed as hard as she could. She was going to the ball in a Thea van Lokin. Her vision darkened around the edges and she sat on the ground for a moment, breathing hard. She was going to pass out from the excitement and ruin everything.

  When her vision cleared, Ella scrambled back to the sitting room, ready and willing to assist with anything her stepmother demanded.

  She was going to the ball.

  Chapter 4

  The way Elise snickered every time she leaned back to check Ella's makeup, Ella knew it was going to be a hideous mess. She didn't much care. Basic makeup she could handle once they arrived. Nothing, not even her stepsister's petty humor, could possibly put a damper on this night.

  Ella closed her eyes and let Elise have her wicked joke with huge strokes of liner and impossible dots of color that resembled a clown more than anything. It didn't matter. Ella couldn't even be bothered to worry about it.

  She was going to the ball. In a dress. And no one had a clue how much it meant to her.

  The turquoise gown clung to her curves and felt sexy as much as it did like home. Ella had played with her sisters' skirts before, twirling in circles until she dropped to the floor, but this was something else entirely. This was unmistakable. She was going out in public, among the gentry, in a unique dress. No one would mistake her for a man. No one would call her boy.

  Emily's shoes clicked on the floor as she came up behind Elise and frowned. "You know, you should have a girl's name. Since you're pretending and all."

  Ella popped her eyes open when Elise lowered her hand. "Well…" She tried not to look too eager. "What about Ella?"

  Elise snorted and lifted her hand again with the eyeliner. "More like Cinderella, you're so dirty from sleeping on the fireplace. Your elbows are always covered in ash. It's so obvious with your darker skin."

  "Cinderella!" Emily laughed, "Oh, wow. I have to tell Mother."

  Ella bit her lip. Elise slapped her hand. "Don't do that, you'll ruin the lipstick."

  "Sorry." She remained still as Elise finished her master work. Then she endured the laughter, even from her stepmother, at the image she made. But eventually the ladies left her alone to finish their preparations. She heard Cinderella echoed across the house with laughter. Cinder Ella. So clever.

  Ella prepped for leaving resolutely. She was going to enjoy the party with or without her sisters' blessings. Something elegant caught her eye in the mirror and Ella paused. She'd spent hours last night braiding her tight, black hair and today her braids were done up in coils on her head, studded with flower pearls. She straightened her back, in awe of the bright dress that curved around her hips and flared down to the floor. She was beautiful.

  Well, the makeup was a wretched mess, a casual slight by Elise, but she could fix that. Ella nodded to herself in the mirror. Confident. Her sisters expected embarrassment, but she finally looked like the woman she was. Ella couldn't help a smile.

  "Cinderella!" Her stepmother shrieked to a chorus of hard laughter. "You're keeping us waiting."

  Ella ducked her head, lifted the skirt of her dress, and hurried to the door.

  --//--

  The coach lurched to a stop at the stairs of the palace and Ella was as grateful as anyone they were finally here. Elise and Emily spilled out of the door after their mother, leaving Ella with blissfully empty seats. She stood, balancing carefully on low heels she wasn't entirely confident in. She spotted Elise's tiny clutch stuffed into a corner and snatched it on her way out.

  "Elise!" She held up the clutch in one hand and the skirt of her dress in the other. "Elise, don't forget your bag."

  Elise paused at the steps to scowl at her. "You carry it for me. Make yourself useful."

  Emily looked down at the small clutch in her hand and marched back to Ella to drop it into her hands. "That's a good idea."

  "Girls, today." Eleanor called, already half up the stairs.

  Emily hurried. With her hands full of small bags, Ella stalled. In sudden decision, she turned back to the coach. Ella unzipped the bags and dumped their contents onto the bench. She sorted through the items quickly. An eyeliner, a lipstick, a blush, nothing dramatic, just the very basics. She needed to wipe this clown makeup off and replace it. If her sisters were going to give her the means, she'd take them.

  With a clutch full of choice items, and an excited grin, Ella grabbed her dress up off her toes and hurried across the courtyard. She navigated the stairs much more quickly than the others. Elise's heels were so tall she'd spent the past two days walking around the house, practicing. Emily wore a pair of platforms that made her almost as tall as Elise. Between the two of them, they wobbled more than Ella, who simply wasn't used to such delicate shoes. They were deep, dark blue, and had come from the depths of the tailor's coach. To match, lest she embarrass the family. But Ella knew it was also to accommodate her large feet. There was no way anyone had ready-made shoes for women in this size.

  She caught up with all three just as they reached the podium and Eleanor submitted their invitation. They were waved inside and at the doorway, their names were announced. Eleanor, Elise, Emily, and Cinderella Jones. It didn't matter that the nickname had stuck, Ella was at the ball!

  The doorway opened to a grand room. The ceiling stretched higher than she'd ever seen and it was gilded white and gold. Everything glittered. Ladies with hair piled up over their heads, men with tall hats and long canes—just for show. She came to a stop at the stairs and felt tears well in her eyes at the whirling dancers on the floor. Everyone was so elegantly dressed and beautiful. Everyone glittered with light. And she was here with them.

  Derisive laughter caught her attention. Emily leaned in toward a sharply dressed man, displaying her minimal cleavage. "Oh, that's Cinderella." Laughter bounced around the ladies, mostly behind very polite gloved hands. Ella stiffened. But the group seemed to be done with her as quickly as they started. Before they could change their minds, Ella backed away into the first hall she found. A subtle bathroom sign caught her eye.

  Ella rushed for the men's room and froze as she turned the corner. A man sat in the changing room, pulling a sock up his leg. He blinked at her. Ella blinked back and in a sudden rush of embarrassment realized for once in her life she should be in the other side. She turned and fled into the women's room.

  The powder room was blissfully uncrowded and Ella had a chance to compose herself as the door swung shut. This side of the bathroom wasn't very different, but maybe that was a function of wealth. Ella had never seen the women's room before and this one glittered as much as the ballroom did. It smelled like roses, too. They probably didn't have to burn flowers, either, it was just infused into the walls or something. Ella let her fingers trail down the gold edging of a corner. Then she caught sight of herself in a polished mirror and set her jaw with determination. This clown makeup had to go.

  A pitcher beside a bowl and some scrubbing later, Ella blinked at her unpainted face in the mirror. This was better than that mess of a joke Elise had left. Ella upended her small clutch on the counter. The few items she'd taken tumbled out, clinking and rolling. Then a woman at the far end of the room tsked.

  Ella hesitated. She'd been found out. She was going to be kicked out. Or worse. She looked up, tense and almost ready to fight for her space here. But the dark woman wasn't looking at her. She wasn't even aware of Ella. She leaned over the counter to be closer to the mirror, the shimmering folds of her dress wrinkling, and made a face at the errant dark line stretching under her eye. She threw the pencil responsible into the bowl in front of her, where it bounced around and fell to the floor. "Stupid thing. Can never get the right eye the same." She scrubbed her face clean with a cloth that looked like she'd been struggling here a while. It carried all manner of colors in its folds.

  Ella focused on the task at hand. Eyeliner. Blush. Lipstick. She started at the top and worked her way down. The blush she dusted on as lightly as she could. The color didn't work well for her, though, and she removed it again. Just the lipstick, then?

  "Hey, help me out." The woman leaned on the counter next to Ella, two sticks in her hand, her mouth an annoyed twist. "Do I go with the thin liner or the thick one?"

  Startled, Ella marked herself with the lipstick. As she wiped it away, she turned to look at the woman questioning her. With a jolt, she recognized her. This was the woman who'd followed the princess out of her coach that day. Her lady-in-waiting. Royalty was speaking to Ella in the bathroom, asking for advice, and clearly didn't recognize Ella. Her dark skin shined under the lights like it had been oiled or creamed, soft and supple in a way that Ella's wouldn't ever be with the work she did. She met the woman's bright amber eyes and smiled a little. "Um," she cleared her throat and set the lipstick down. "The thin one. Probably. You have colors, too?" Ella tried not to let her voice croak. What had the princess called her? Lin?

  The woman waved a hand at her large bag on the counter. "Yeah, but none of them are working."

  "Can I take a look?"

  "Knock yourself out." The woman turned back to the mirror to try her hand at the liner again.

  Ella opened the bag and stifled a gasp. Piles of pens, inks, powders, and more made a mess of the inside. They weren't organized, or even sorted, like someone had taken their entire drawer and dumped it into the bag on the way out the door. Ella dug through the collection, pondering. She eyed the woman's gown. It was a gorgeous swirl of dark, woody brown, and bright gold. It hung off her shoulders, exposing miles of the woman's gentle skin, even darker than her dress.

  Her eyes needed something that would make them stand out. They were already bright amber, like the glass of a streetlight, but they were in competition with her dress.

  Ella fished out a liquid ink she thought would do the trick. Gold like the dress, but if applied around her eyes, would draw attention there instead.

  The woman tsked at herself in the mirror. Ella put a hand on her bare shoulder and found it warm to the touch. Or maybe Ella was just cold with all the excitement and nervousness bouncing around in her stomach. The woman turned. Ella took the cloth and gently wiped both attempted lines away. She accepted the small pencil and took a long look at the woman's face, the planes and dips of her beauty. Hills of dark glory. "Ok," she whispered, mostly to herself. Less was always more according to the pamphlets she'd read.

  With gentle hands, she traced the bottom of the woman's eyelids, extending the line just so off the corner. She felt her fingers warm as she worked.

  "So what's your name?"

  Ella bit her tongue, almost spilling her stepsister's awful nickname. She swallowed it down and willed her heart to settle. This was an important moment. For the first time she could introduce herself how she wanted. She got to define her own self. And no one was going to stop her. "Ella," she said quietly, as if saying out loud what had been only in her head for so long would break it further.

  "Ella, oh, that's really nice. I'm Lily, like the flower? But my sister always says it's because Mom wanted me to be delicate." She snorted.

  Ella smiled. An unfamiliar warmth bloomed in her chest and she had to look down to recover herself. She switched to the pigment and said earnestly, "It's really great to meet you, Lily."

  "Yeah, you too. So what are we trying?" She gestured at the ink.

  "Just a little color to bring attention to your eyes. Look up for me?" Lily did so. Ella slid the pigment from the corner of each eye, straight out to a dagger point. Then she added two dots on the inside corner of each eye to soften the look just a bit.

  Lily blinked at her. "That's it?"

  "Yeah, take a look." Ella stepped back so she could spin around.

  Lily gave the new style serious consideration. More thought than Ella expected, if she were honest. Finally, she nodded. "I like it. It's a little bit dramatic and my sister will probably think I'm about to throw a tantrum."

  "So… it's good?" Lily smiled at her and Ella felt a bit like the two of them were conspiring together. She covered a laugh with the back of her hand.

  "It's perfect," Lily insisted.

  They grinned at each other. Then Lily grabbed her hand and dragged her back over to the big bag on the counter. "What should we do for you? You can't go running around with that awful yellow blush—yeah I saw that. It really doesn't work with you. Ah!" Lily presented a very small lipstick in one outstretched hand. "Go on, do this. It'll be great."

  Ella opened the tube and her eyes widened. It was bright blue, nearly the color of her gown. "This… how do you have this color?" It had to be obscenely expensive. "I can't wear this."

  "Absolutely you can. Go on. Do it." Lily turned back to her bag, effectively denying Ella any way to give her the stick. "I think I have some liner that will match…"

  Ella took a deep breath. She watched carefully in the mirror to apply the color across the broad stretch of her lips. She closed the cap and pressed her lips together, letting them part gently. Her entire face changed with this lipstick. The black liner she'd used under her eyes didn't quite carry the weight it needed to anymore.

  "Ah, this is it. I didn't think I'd ever use it." Lily handed her a blue powder with a small brush.

  "Aren't shadows supposed to be dark?" Ella popped the small square open and gasped softly. "Is there gold in this?"

  "I know this tailor, she comes by every now and then and sells all kinds of things I've been wishing for. She insisted I have this one but I just don't think it works for me. It'll be perfect for you, though. It's like she knows these things."

  Tears threatened behind her eyes. Ella recognized the way her skin tightened and her cheeks heated up. She took a sudden, deep breath to stave off ruining the work she'd just done. Wishes she didn't know she had were coming true thanks to that woman.

  When the almost-tears ebbed back, Ella brushed the bright powder across her eyelids and blinked at the difference it made. Bright pigments against her dark, work-rough skin with the bright color of her dress—the picture was complete and Ella had never felt more beautiful.

  She closed the powder and tried to give it back, but Lily just waved at her. "Keep it. It worked with you a lot better."

  Ella held it tightly in her fist. "I don't know what to say."

  Lily slung her stuffed bag over her shoulder. "You say thank you," she chirped.

  Ella smiled. "Thank you." It was inadequate. She returned her few items to the clutch and saw Lily waiting at the door to the powder room.

  "And now we escort each other back to the dance," she said, her hand out and waiting.

  Ella's cheeks were going to cramp from all this grinning. She hurried to take Lily's hand and together they marched out of the hallway and back to the gleaming throng.

  Chapter 5

  Lily left Ella standing at the top of the stairs, having spotted someone she knew. As the princess' lady-in-waiting, it was likely Lily knew most of the people in attendance. That Ella had an opportunity to be with her, alone, in all the ways Ella had ever wanted to be with a friend, left her trembling a little. Now that the moment was over, it felt fleetingly short. Ella stood at the top of the stairs, watching the lords and ladies as she tried to memorize every possible detail. Lily thought she was a woman. No—she was a woman and Lily was the first one who'd been able to see it. How did someone repay that kind of world-shattering point of view? Ella was in her debt for life.

  Ella worried her hands together, frozen at the top of the steps. This night had already become far more than she'd ever dreamed. She didn't want to screw it up. A woman bowed slightly and offered Ella a tray of the smallest sandwiches she'd ever seen. Abruptly, Ella's hunger made itself known. She hadn't noticed it. She ate two triangles in a blink. "Is there more?"

 

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