Cinder X Bella ~ Seventeen!

Thanks to her furry friends, missing dinner with the family was nowhere near the punishment her father had intended to be. Then, after the first night of being stuck in the cellar, she was not just allowed but expected to be out of the underground space working again. 

Thanks to the plethora of help in the house, she had to volunteer for a particularly tedious task—weeding the garden—and used the time away from prying eyes, especially around dinner time when she knew her family would be otherwise engaged, to sing to the outdoor animals. Crows, magpies, any creature under five pounds, yet strong enough to carry heavy coins were given the same request: find shiny things and put them in a hollow tree at the very edge of the property.

For the entire week, she repeated this request to any animal that would listen,  imprinting into their minds her need. There were small issues, as the wild animals had never before done something of this nature. For instance, a large black bird dropped a gaudy ring onto her head as she was bent over, causing Bella to suck in a sharp breath through her teeth and grab at a now-throbbing part of her skull. “Put it in the tree, bird!” 

*Caw.* The crow replied with a call that sounded a little too close to laughter for it to be an accident. When Bella bent down to pick up the ring, her eyes went wide, and she nearly refused to pocket the jewelry. It was lovely, and indeed very shiny as she had requested, but the fat teardrop diamond in the setting was absolutely enormous—there was no way she could sell this without someone considering it stolen. 

Seeing as this was the very first shiny object which had been given to her, Bella had high hopes for what the animals would be able to find and collect on her behalf. Much to her amusement, or perhaps bemusement, on the sixth day of her banishment from the dinner table, she sneaked to the hollow tree and found a large assortment of everything from buttons to nails and hairpins. Letting out a soft grunt of disappointment, she was about to drop out of the tree when she saw a silver coin half buried under the other trinkets. 

“Success! A dozen more of those, and I'll be able to pay for a class advancement. If the price hasn't gone up in the last five years… better make it fifteen.” She placed the huge diamond ring in the hole as well, just to have some distance from it in case news of stolen jewelry began circulating. She spent the rest of the evening lounging in the sun, singing to small creatures, and generally relaxing. 

It was strange to remember how, in the distant past, this had been a fairly normal way for her to spend her evenings. On the seventh day, she was honestly disappointed that the week of relief from dinner was almost up, as she had grown to prefer even working instead of the silent, tense dinners she was forced to endure with her step family. “Sure, the food is good, but I always leave feeling empty. What does it say about Matringa and her daughters that literal vermin are better company, by far?” 

That night, barely an hour before dinner, there was a knock on the front door of the manor. To Bella's great surprise, instead of waiting for someone to let them in, the door flung open, and a lovely woman of indeterminate age practically danced into the building. 

“Yoo-hoo! I've arrived, and all is right in the world once more! Bella? Boo-boo? Where are my two most favorite people in this whole wide world?” The beautiful voice seemed to fill all the empty spaces of the house, wrapping around Bella with the same warmth of a cat snuggling into her lap and falling asleep.

“Bibbidy!” Bella rushed through the house, nearly slamming into the woman as she wrapped her in a very tight, informal, unladylike hug… just as her father appeared at the top of the stairs. 

“A-hem.” The fact that Bella's eyes went wide, and the joy in her face drained away in an instant was not lost on their guest as Alaric cleared his throat in disapproval. Both of the women looked up at him, only to see the man standing with his hand holding onto the railing tightly, as though he were expecting to fall at any moment. “This is quite an unexpected visit, Maestra Bibbidy.”

“Such formality, Alaric! Does one expect a sun shower in the middle of a cloudless day? Twins from a cow? How could anyone expect me? Still, such unexpected things always cause those who receive them to thank the system anyway!” A bolt of lovely silver fabric was pulled out of… somewhere… and dropped into Bella's arms. “You see, when one's godmother appears, the only thing expected is a good meal, companionship, and, naturally, gifts!”

At the same moment she said ‘gifts’, an intricate bottle of fine wine appeared in her hand, and she waved it back and forth to entice her long-time friend to come and have a drink with her. Alaric’s stiff expression melted slightly, and he raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. I'd be more than happy to allow you to stay for a night. Bella, have BeBee fix up a room for her. Maestra-”

“Just Bibbidy, darling,” the exotic woman chided her old friend, a serious expression now on her face as she stared at the man. “How long have we known each other?”

“Sometimes I think too long… Bibbidy.” Alaric gave her a sharp nod, turning on the stairs and speaking over his shoulder as he climbed back to his study. “Dinner will be in an hour; I'm sure you can get yourself settled. BeBee!” 

The shout rang through the house, but he was gone by the time the maid arrived. Bella quickly gave her the instructions to make up a room, then turned back to her godmother and found Bibbidy staring at her, her eyes jumping from the maid to the young woman, clearly noting the fact that their dresses matched in form, function, and coloration.

“A room would be good, I suppose a light snooze would not go amiss. I'm getting on in my years, after all.” Her smile was back in full force as she winked at Bella, a shimmer playing over her skin and leaving behind deep smile lines and white hair pulled into a tight bun. Then the vision vanished, and she was once more ageless, regal, exquisite. “It's good to see you looking so well, so healthy. I've heard… rumors.”

At that moment, as the godmother’s voice struggled to contain her emotion, the sound of distant thunder rumbling echoed into the room, though it had been a perfectly cloudless day only minutes before. Bella swallowed her discomfort, knowing all too well what the current gossip was—Rosa, the Duca's niece, had been telling anyone who would listen how wonderful Matringa was to care for such a misshapen, unfortunate creature as her stepdaughter. “It's good to see you again, Bibbidy. Things have been… hard, wrong, since Mother died.”

The exotic merchant slowly bobbed her head. “I'll make sure to visit more often,  sweet girl. I'm going on another trip soon, but I should be back before your eighteenth birthday. Years away, but not half a decade or more between visits. Now, I'd love to  meet your new family, as well.” 

“Dinner would be an appropriate time for that; please make yourself ready,” Alaric called out as he reappeared, descending the stairs to come and speak with his oldest and most excitable friend. “Your room is ready. Allow me to show you the way.”

“Has the house changed that much since my last visit, Alaric?” Bibbidy questioned him with a knowing look at his daughter. “Have even the places people sleep shifted?”

The master of the house cleared his throat uncomfortably, offering an arm, which Bibbidy took. They spoke together quietly as they ascended the stairs, and going by the sounds, Bella assumed their guest was being led to her old bedroom. As the door creaked open on the floor above her, the whole house seemed to darken for a moment as thunder rumbled once more. 

“That sounded closer this time.”

She peeked out the window, frowning slightly as she saw only clear skies. Alaric appeared at the top of the stairs a moment later. “Prepare yourself for dinner, Bella. Wash up and change; you will be joining us tonight. As for that cloth, put it in your room.”

Even though she opened her mouth to protest that the bolt of cloth was far too fine to be put in the cellar, her father cut her off with a wave. “I want no backtalk tonight. I know what I've said before, but this is a special occasion, and you will be present. Go.”

Walking slowly, feeling intensely uncomfortable, Bella started walking toward the servants’ entrance, only for the main door to fly open and bounce off the wall. Matringa and her daughters, who had been out for an afternoon stroll, piled into the room, looking around frantically. Her stepmother’s eyes landed on Bella, and she snapped her fingers at her to stop the young woman from walking out of the room. “What's happened? What's going on here? What did you do, you filthy little brat?”

The words came out in a rush, and Bella froze in place as her sweating, out of breath stepmother advanced on her menacingly.

“My dear, what happened? Did you sprint home?” Alaric’s voice impacted Matringa like a physical blow, and she whirled around and stared up, her face pale, sweat beading on her brow. “Are you quite all right?”

“D-don’t worry, Alaric, I'm just suddenly not feeling well.” Matringa certainly appeared as though she were on death's door. Bella stared at the panting woman, willing that hope into reality. Her stepmother spun to face her, catching her eye and frowning deeply. “Are you wishing ill on me right now?”

Luckily, her father butted into the conversation. “Matringa! That's quite enough. We have company for dinner this evening, and… do you often speak to my daughter this way?”

Matringa went even paler, if that were possible, taking a deep breath and running her hands over her rumpled dress. “Company? I'm in no state for company… who is here?”

“An old family friend. Bella's godmother and Elara’s before her. I'm sure I've mentioned her before, Maestra Bibbidy B-” Alaric rushed down the stairs as Matringa’s  knees buckled, and she only stopped herself from falling by gripping Cattiva, nearly taking both of them to the ground. “Matringa!”

“We need to leave.” His wife sternly turned to her daughters, who had remained silent up to this point. Looking at them, Bella realized they were far paler than usual as well. 

“Leave? You're in no state to leave. At any rate, we have company. Do you have any idea how it would look to the public if my wife knew we were having dinner with a fairy and refused to meet her?” Alaric gaped at his wife, reaching out hand to steady her, only for it to be slapped away.

“It has nothing to do with her.” Matringa was clearly lying, but it came out smoothly enough that even Bella nearly believed her. “The reason we had rushed home was because we had forgotten we are scheduled to be fitted for dresses this evening and needed a carriage immediately. We've been waiting weeks for this appointment; we cannot miss it. I'm sorry we'll miss dinner, but… her arrival wasn't scheduled, was it?”

“No…” Alaric admitted quietly, his usual demeanor returning, now that everything seemed logical once more. “She is unrepentant in her refusal to conform to the calendars of other people.”

“Well, proper guests send word ahead of time. There's nothing for it, Alaric; please send my apologies.” She turned and swept her hands at her daughters, all but shoving them out the door. “We will return tomorrow, hopefully by dinner time. After the fitting, we will stay in town and have the dresses altered for us upon the morrow.”

In moments, Bella and Alaric found themselves alone in the entryway, blinking at each other in confusion at the sudden turn of events.