Cinder X Bella ~ Forty-Eight!

Bella was rocked gently to and fro as Bibbidy’s carriage clattered along the cobblestones. Her godmother looked at her, a small smile on her face, “That was quite shocking, wasn't it?”

“She bluntly proposed to me on behalf of her son.” Bella shook her head ever so slowly. “That's not how it's supposed to work, is it? Marriage is supposed to be for love.” 

“Let's just say there are many reasons to get married, and some are certainly more valid than others,” Bibbidy calmly stated, somewhat avoiding the question. “I will say, that’s not the reason I took you under my protection immediately. It’s because you're my goddaughter. Because I loved your parents and you. Now, it certainly doesn't hurt you to know that someone won't be hunting you down and forcing you into marriage.” 

“But wouldn't I just be cast to the side after the system validates our marriage? He’d have his skill; why would they need me anymore?” 

“You see… bloodlines matter, my dear. If you have such a powerful skill, and so does your husband, there’s a very, very good chance any children the two of you have will start out with at least a legendary version as well.” Bibbidy looked out the window, trying to judge their position in the city. “The Royal Family is, as you might imagine, immensely invested in having the most powerful classes and skills possible. Beyond that, offending someone with a Legendary skill by treating them poorly or trying to cast them aside… I'm certain that wouldn’t end well. Not for anyone.”

“I see.” Bella looked down at her feet, where her glass-slipper-encased feet were swinging just above the carriage floor. “Is that a good enough reason? For me? She wanted us to be married by the end of the month.” 

“It certainly doesn't have to be. Their desperate grasping for power absolutely is not your problem.” Bibbidy reached over and firmly grasped Bella's hand. “Until your eighteenth birthday, your guardian needs to give permission for a system marriage to be validated. No matter what happens, you will be traveling with me, or I with you. I’ll make sure you’re learning and experiencing the world.”

She paused for a moment, and Bella thought she might be done speaking, but the Fairy simply chuckled and spoke on. “If you decide to marry the prince, it will be a simple legal formality, then we’ll be back in my carriage and roaming the countryside. Then, after your birthday, there can be a grand celebration to celebrate your nuptials. But, if you decide that's not what you want, believe me when I say they won't be able to say a word against your choice.”

The carriage came to a halt, and the reality of their current situation hit Bella once more. “Are you sure about us doing this, Bibbidy?”

“It's the easiest way to stay in the kingdom's good graces while you’re deciding on your future,” Bibbidy explained as she opened the door. “Cursed objects are not so easy to handle or get rid of. The queen likely has access to a small few anti-magic artifacts, but once they are used, they’re gone forever. Even more rare are the permanent Enchanted objects that can resist and redirect dark power. Now, to combine that with the ability to directly disperse cursed energy? Unheard of.”

Bella took a deep breath and stepped out of the carriage, the glass covering her foot *chiming* as it came down firmly on the stone. “I'll admit, the rewards she promised for my service are more than tempting. If I can get rid of the first object, she'll transfer my father's title and holdings to me. When it's shown that this works, the next object’s destruction will bring in enough gold to live on comfortably for… forever, if I invest it wisely.”

“Yet you know there are at least five.” Bibbidy chuckled softly. “By then, they’ll need you to marry the prince, just so they don't have to empty their vault!”

The sudden joke startled a chuckle out of Bella, and she walked forward with more confidence. Several royal guardsmen were stationed outside the front door of the building, and Bella's smile faltered as she saw wisps of dark energy seeping through the cracks in the door frame. “You need to move farther away from the doors! It can reach you there.”

None of the warriors hesitated, quickly stepping away until Bella nodded. “That's far enough; I'll… I'll take it from here.”

Even her Fairy godmother didn't continue on with Bella as the young woman stepped forward and firmly grasped the doorknob. Tossing the door open released a foul stench of rot and mold, but she ventured forward without hesitation. At first, she was uncertain where to go, but step by step, the dense energy in the air either became darker or lighter.

She followed the darkest path forward, finally pushing through a door into a small closet, where a stone orb was resting gently in the beak of a waist-high statue of a raven. Double checking to ensure that the darkness wasn't pouring into her, Bella saw that the vast majority of the darkness touching her instantly flowed down to swirl around her feet, and the remnants were dissipated as they came in contact with her skin. “Okay… now to do this before I lose my nerve.”

Reaching out, Bella directly grasped the orb and yanked it out of the bird's mouth. It was so lifelike that she was expecting the effigy to move or *caw* at her angrily, but… it really was just a sculpture. Not quite sure what to do next, Bella decided on the most direct course of action. “Matringa handed these off quite carefully. Let's hope it's because they were fragile!” 

She whipped the orb at the ground, where it shattered like glass.

Immediately, the room was completely suffused with energy so dark that the light of day coming through the window couldn't penetrate. Bella let out a sharp gasp as she fell to the malicious, cloying energy trying to destroy her.

*Chi~i~ime!* 

Her shoes began to ring as though someone were swirling their finger along the rim of a crystal wine glass. The roiling energy reacted instantly, dropping out of the air and becoming denser and denser around her legs. Seeing that things were once more going as expected, Bella took a deep breath and sat down in the darkness, which came up only to her chest, leaving her head and face clear of the foul miasma.

The thinnest of layers of clean air surrounded her skin, and for quite a while, it was difficult to see any progress in the purification. Yet, ever so slowly, the darkness at the edges of the room faded away, as the glass slippers pulled the energy in close, and her system boon purified it. Finally, the last of the ick vanished with a crackle like grease spattering from a hot pan, taking the foul odor in the air with it. 

*Hiss.* 

The sound came from the opposite side of the room, drawing Bella's attention to a large, sickly rat staring at her and bearing its teeth. Her eyes went wide as she saw wisps of dark energy collected on and in the creature, but as she reached forward to try and entice it closer, to cleanse the beast, it spun and fled into a hole in the wall. 

“Plague rats.” Bella shivered in disgust. “At least I know how the plague has been spreading so rapidly. And… and I can do something about it!” 

Several things began falling into place quickly in her mind, and Bella felt her lips curl in a snarl. “That's how she was going to control the spread of the plague using my voice. Matringa was going to control the rats, not the disease. Well. If she believed she could use my skills to make people sick, I know I can use it to keep them from getting sick.”

The immensity of the work ahead of her if she chose to directly scour the kingdom of plague rats fell over her, and Bella felt her shoulders slump. “I can't do this alone. Even just me and Bibbidy, Fairy and all, is just too few. I'm going to need help, resources, and… and… oh. Is this what she meant? That some reasons for marriage are more valid than others?”

“Becoming the person in charge means giving up doing only what you want to do or what’s best for only yourself.” Bibbidy's voice cut in as the Fairy walked down the hallway and offered her hand to Bella. “Good work destroying that curse, Bella. I knew you could do it.”

“Thanks. I’ve gotten pretty good at cleaning over the years, and this was even easier. Just had to sit there.” The young woman responded distractedly. “It's plague rats, Godmother. That's how this disease is being spread. Could I fix this problem by myself?” 

“Potentially.” The Fairy started to lead them out of the house, which was already smelling cleaner. “I admit having the resources and authority to make the necessary decisions would be quite beneficial, but you may be able to gain that simply by working in conjunction with the crown.”

They stepped out of the building, pausing in surprise as a group of men on horses came to a stop, with one of them carefully hopping off and walking toward them. “Bella! I've been looking everywhere for you.”

“Prince Cinder.” Bella gave a polite curtsy. “What can I do for you today? I have good news; I was able to destroy the first cursed object.”

“Oh! That's wonderful!” A bright smile appeared on his face, and his eyes began swirling with light. “I wanted to tell you in person, I managed to achieve Mastery with my skill, and the requirement to reach Perfection is practically laughable in comparison. I'd estimate two, maybe three years at the maximum before I have my own Breakthrough Skill!”

Bella waited for anything else, only politely nodding at his words. Cinder frowned, looking over his shoulder at his guards before returning his eyes to her, puzzlement clear on his face. “I'm sorry, I thought you would be more enthusiastic about this news. Our conversation at the ball… both of us are pursuing Perfection, are we not?”

“It's not that. Apologies, the queen had already told us about your skill increase.” Bella smiled at him more sincerely. “Really, that's wonderful! Congratulations.” 

“What's going on here?” Cinder swallowed hard, seeming to be working against his instincts. “Why are you acting so… cold? I hate cold. I thought that after all we've been through in the last few days, we would at least be friends?”

“Friends?” Bella scoffed and chuckled. “Prince Cinder, is it possible you don't know that your mother asked me to marry you and is demanding an answer by the end of the week?”

“She what?” Cinder yelped and physically recoiled, managing to control himself after only a flinch of reaction. “I… I… Bella, it's not you, it's just that… I’ve been eighteen for less than half a week. I'm in no rush to wed.”

Taking in a deep breath, Bella let it out in a long sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, I thought maybe you were putting her up to it.”

“No!” 

Bella cocked her head to the side slightly, her smile fading into a frown. “Do I disgust you so much that even the idea of marrying me is abhorrent?”

“No-what-you’re… oh.” Cinder sputtered to a stop as he saw the mischievous smile on her face. “You're teasing me! So we are friends?”

After a few more moments, Prince Cinder and one of his guards joined Bella and the Fairy in her carriage. Getting serious, the Beast Singer explained the interaction between the rats and the cursed objects, at the end of which, all parties lapsed into shocked silence.

“Rats…” Cinder shook his head in frustration. “They’re so small, and they're everywhere. How can we possibly hope to destroy them in time to save the people of the kingdom? I hate to admit it, but the Witches chose their vector for disease well.”

“There are a couple options to make it happen, actually…” Bella gulped as the Prince looked at her with eyes full of hope, and Bibbidy slowly turned with a raised eyebrow. “One of the options even offers excellent odds.”

“Bella. Are you sure about this? Is this the choice you want to make?” Bibbidy interjected sharply.

“It's not only my choice to make, Godmother,” Bella replied firmly. Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and explained to Cinder exactly why the Queen wanted the two of them to wed. The five-modifier skill each of them would gain, how the kingdom would become more powerful by having stronger heirs in the future, and how two people with a skill able to control enormous numbers of creatures and fire might tip the scales in favor of the kingdom’s survival.

At first, Prince Cinder was shocked at the revelation, but as she finished her explanation and fell into silence, he slowly began to nod. “I see. That’s… there are some very good reasons for her blatant actions. But… a system marriage is different from just being married. Beyond that, someday I will be king. You would be queen. Do you want that kind of responsibility? You want to travel, to see the world. And, and! You just got to safety. If you go out there, destroying curses and rats, the Witches might come after you.”

“There has to be a world left to see, Prince Cinder,” Bella calmly stated, all of her thoughts coming into alignment with each other. “If the Witches have their way, there won't be anywhere safe in the world… not for anyone. All of this to say… if you’re willing to take the gamble that we might eventually be able to grow together and someday have a proper marriage, would you… Prince Cinder, I want to save everyone we can.”

Licking her suddenly-dry lips, she met his eyes and flushed as she forced out her question.

“Would you please marry me?”