Pumpkin Patch Princess

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Excited, Yet Nauseated

Cynthia sagged with relief when we entered the village bed-and-breakfast. As soon as she found her room, she flopped onto the bed, leaving dirt marks on the rose-patterned comforter.

"I have to check in with my trainer at headquarters. Do you want to come?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"Oh, no, I'd much rather stay here." Her eyes swept the flowered walls for an excuse and lit up when she saw the porcelain tub in the bathroom. "I'm in ever so much need of a bath."

Well, I couldn't argue with that. "All right. I'll be back in the morning."

I returned to C.A.F.E. and found Maud studying in the reading salon. She was relieved when I told her I would take Cynthia's case.

"Preparing the princess for the festival will keep you nice and busy," she said, looking stressed out as she shuffled through piles of paper. "I won't be able to come, since I'm preparing for my defense, but I think Muffet might want to join you."

The cat accepted the invitation readily. "I'll have to ask Valentine if I can get a new ribbon for the occasion," he said.

The next morning, I returned to the bed-and-breakfast, ready to make my client look like the princess she was. It was a lot trickier than I had anticipated. Despite her bath, Cynthia still had stubborn patches of dirt and grease in her hair that took hours to comb out.

"It was so much easier turning a frog into a prince," I grumbled, wrestling with a large clump of mud.

The princess gave me a sheepish grin. "I never really had time to wash my hair. Anyway, Octavia discouraged it."

"I'm sure she did," I said, for when her hair was finally clean, it gleamed like rich summer wheat. We washed her face with honeysuckle soap and I made her soak her callused hands in a basin of rosewater.

When she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she gasped. "Is that really me?"

"This is normal you," I told her. "We haven't seen dressed-up you yet. I guarantee Prince Christopher will have eyes for no one else!"

Seeing how stressed out Maud was had made me more determined than ever to help her land that seat in the House. And I had a fool-proof plan.

It didn't matter that every other fairy godmother in town had the same goal.

I was going to get Prince Christopher to fall in love with Cynthia, and no one - not even the Snapp-dragon - would stand in my way.

I had already imagined their entire wedding in my head. I pictured the prince overflowing with joy as Cynthia floated down the aisle in her glass slippers. I would be in the front row, fresh from Maud's induction ceremony into the House of Godmothers, smiling modestly while people congratulated me on making such a fine match.

"Do you really think I've got a chance with him?" Cynthia asked, clinging to the door of the bed-and-breakfast before we went out to go shopping. "There will be so many beautiful girls at the festival, and I bet they aren't scaredy-cats like me."

"You are not a scaredy-cat. You just need to get out more, that's all," I said, prying her fingers from the door frame.

"I need to get out more," she echoed, looking queasy as we stepped into the cobblestone streets. She gazed at Irisia Palace, resplendent against the brilliant November sky. "That's where the prince lives? I don't think I'd ever leave that castle if I lived inside."

"That's the spirit!" I said encouragingly.

Our first stop was Anne Azalea, a high-end village dressmaker. The owner was busy with customers, so we browsed by ourselves.