A Gown of Spider Silk Read online

  A Gown of Spider Silk

  A Short Story Retelling of Cinderella

  A. G. Marshall

  Avanell Publishing

  Contents

  A Gown of Spider Silk

  About the Author

  A Gown of Spider Silk

  “So do we have a deal?”

  Cinderella looked at the tiny outstretched leg the spider offered. He had introduced himself as Henry and seemed polite enough, but the bargain he proposed was a little strange.

  She wiped away her tears, which had trailed lines in the soot on her face.

  “Let me make sure I understand. You and your family will spin a dress for me and help me meet the prince at the ball. In return, I’ll arrange for you to live safely in the palace if things go well and he proposes?”

  “That’s right,” Henry said. “The palace has more flies than anywhere else in the kingdom thanks to all the food, but also some of the most diligent maids. They destroy our webs and squish us with brooms.”

  Cinderella’s heart raced. How often had she wished for such a chance? A way to escape this drudgery and find something better? The invitation to the ball had seemed the perfect opportunity until Stepmother refused to let her go. And now she had another chance.

  She swallowed, feeling more nervous than ever now that the moment had come.

  “I can’t guarantee I’ll marry the prince. He may not choose me.”

  Henry’s black eyes glittered.

  “It doesn’t hurt to try. Will you guarantee our safety in the palace if you succeed?”

  “If I marry the prince, you’ll have it.”

  She held out her hand. The spider rested four legs on her finger and bowed.

  “My lady.”

  Cinderella smiled.

  By the time she returned from scrubbing off soot in a nearby pond, an army of spiders had gathered in the house. They swarmed over her, weaving a gown of spider silk that rippled in the drafty kitchen.

  Some maidens may have found the experience horrifying, but Cinderella had spent the last ten years cleaning her stepmother’s feet and talking to rats. The spiders were pleasant in comparison. They tickled her skin as they worked, and she did her best not to laugh. The spiders clearly took great pride in their spinning.

  Henry lowered himself down by a thread in front of Cinderella and nodded his approval.

  “I knew those dress designing classes would pay off,” he said.

  “You studied fashion?”

  He shrugged.

  “I hunted flies in the Royal School of Design for a while. You look quite marvelous. Take charge of her hair, Phillipe!”

  Spiders descended onto Cinderella’s head, wrapping her golden curls in silver silk. They pulled water drops from her still-damp hair and draped them along the webs like jewels.

  Cinderella looked at her reflection in a bucket of water and gasped.

  “It’s beautiful!” she said.

  “You deserve better than this,” Henry said, gesturing to the sink full of dishes waiting to be washed. “You’re a kind lass, and it’s a rare soul who is gentle enough to understand animals.”

  Cinderella curtsied and looked down at her feet in dismay.

  “My shoes aren’t nearly nice enough.”

  “Marietta, can you do something about her shoes?”

  “Of course! If you’ll please sit down, miss?”

  Cinderella found the cleanest chair in the kitchen, sat, and removed her tattered work boots. She couldn’t help giggling as the spiders crawled over her feet. It tickled.

  “I made them as stiff as I could,” Marietta said. “Will they do?”

  Cinderella stood and lifted her skirt. A tiny spider perched on the tip of a shoe so shiny it looked like it was made of glass.

  “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

  Marietta bobbed her head.

  “My pleasure, miss.”

  The parlor clock chimed the hour. The sound echoed through the empty house until it found the kitchen. Cinderella counted eleven strikes and groaned.

  “The ball won’t last much longer. I’ll never get there in time, Henry.”

  The spider crawled up her neck and hid in her hair.

  “No worries, Miss Cinderella. You’ll make it.”

  Cinderella couldn’t blame the driver for jumping off the moving coach and running into the night screaming. Anyone would do the same if thousands of spiders swarmed their carriage. She only hoped the owner of the carriage would believe the man’s story so he wouldn’t get in trouble.

  The horses were more than willing to help once she calmed them down and explained the situation. They knew the way and trotted towards the palace as soon as Cinderella was safely inside the carriage.

  “We’ll have to pick you up by midnight if you want a ride home,” the first one said. “The master of the house usually leaves parties soon after that, and we don’t want him to see us.”

  “We were on our way to pick him up,” the second horse said. “But we can’t do it without the driver. We’ll head home after we drop you off and leave him to find his own way back.”

  “You sound rather cheerful about that,” Cinderella said.

  “He buys cheap hay,” the first horse said with a snort.

  “And thin blankets,” the second one added.

  Cinderella decided that, were she to become a princess, she would need to look after more than just the spiders.

  If the guards didn’t believe Cinderella’s explanation that her horses were so well trained that she didn’t need a driver, they were too polite to say so. She climbed the grand staircase to the palace slowly, as her spider web shoes stuck to the granite with each step.

  She whispered her name to the footman at the top of the stairs and smiled when he introduced her to the entire ballroom as Elizabeth. No one had called her by her given name since Father died, so Cinderella felt safe enough using it at the ball.

  Conversations hushed as everyone stared at the beautiful newcomer. The water droplets on the spider webs reflected the candlelight, and more than one lady decided she must discover where Elizabeth had obtained her diamonds.

  Grenelda, Cinderella’s oldest stepsister, was dancing with the prince. When Cinderella reached the middle of the staircase, Grenelda shrieked and sprinted away from his royal highness. He blinked at the retreating girl, then turned his attention to the beautiful maiden coming down the stairs.

  Henry chuckled.

  “My cousin promised to hide on the prince’s clothes and scare the young ladies away. She seems to be doing a marvelous job.”

  “Is it safe for her?”

  “We are willing to take risks to ensure your success.”

  Cinderella swallowed, suddenly feeling the weight of her bargain. The spiders were risking everything to help her. She couldn’t fail them.

  And then she was at the bottom of the staircase, taking the hand the prince offered.

  “Colin at your service,” he said.

  “Elizabeth at yours.”

  Since he was ignoring titles, she would as well. It was for the best. She had no title to give.

  He bowed, she curtsied, and he swept her across the ballroom in a rush of music. The spider shoes glided easily on the polished wood floor. Her dress spun and glistened as only spider silk could, and everyone wondered which dressmaker had concocted such a creation.

  A small spider sat on the prince’s shoulder. She blended in nicely with his brown velvet tunic, but she would be visible enough to scare away other maidens if she stepped onto the sapphire button nearby.

  It was a brilliant plan.

  “Your gown is quite unique,” the prince said.

  “Thank you, Your Highness.”

  �
�Please, call me Colin. I’m here to get to know people, not rule them.”

  Cinderella smiled.

  “And how has that been going? I arrived late, so I’m afraid I’ve missed a lot.”

  “You haven’t missed anything. Everyone has been jumpy tonight. I expected that ladies would be overly friendly and make it difficult to see their true nature, but instead they keep flinching or screaming about spiders when they dance with me.”

  “Indeed?”

  Cinderella fought the urge to look down at the spider on Colin’s tunic and instead looked deeper into his eyes.

  “And how do you feel about spiders, Colin?”

  His eyes widened.

  “Is this your idea of polite conversation?”

  “I have no idea how to make polite conversation. If all the other girls are talking about spiders, perhaps I should follow their example to be safe.”

  Colin laughed out loud. The sound rang through the ballroom, making more than one girl glare at Cinderella. No one else had made the prince laugh that night.

  “Where do you come from?” Colin asked. “Who is your family?”

  “My parents are dead. My stepmother is… difficult.”

  “Is that why I haven’t seen you before?”

  Cinderella didn’t answer. A group of women at the edge of the ballroom were giving her malicious looks. Her stepmother stood at the front of the crowd.

  “I’m really no one important, Your- Colin.”

  “I wouldn’t have invited every eligible maiden in the land if I only wanted to meet the ones other people consider important.”

  “That was a rather generous offer. Why did you make it?”

  “Why did you come?”

  Because she had made a deal with spiders. Because for once in her life she had dared to dream that she might escape and be more than a scullery maid listening to rat gossip to pass the time. Colin’s bright eyes and warm smile made her think she might be right. That in spite of what Stepmother told her, she might be worth something.

  “Elizabeth? Are you well?”

  The name caught her off guard, and she stumbled a little. Her true name said kindly brought back memories of her father. Even on his deathbed, he had found the strength to say her name one last time and squeeze her hand.

  Tears filled Cinderella’s eyes.

  “Keep it together,” Henry whispered in her ear. “He likes you, and he’s nice.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cinderella said.

  “Pardon?” Colin said.

  “I mean- That is-“

  She tried to find the courage she had felt when she accepted the spiders’ offer. Tried to regain her composure and believe all this was possible and not just a foolish dream.

  “Cinderella?”

  Her stepmother’s outraged voice echoed through the ballroom. Colin kept smiling as if nothing was wrong. Of course, he didn’t know they were talking about her. He thought she was Elizabeth.

  “It is Cinderella!”

  “It can’t be!”

  Grenelda and Roberta sounded more outraged than Stepmother if that were possible. The three women bustled across the ballroom, closing ranks on Cinderella and the prince.

  “He’ll protect you from them,” Henry said. “I’ve watched him when I hunt flies at banquets. He’s kind and fair.”

  “Are you well, Elizabeth?” Colin asked.

  Stepmother would reach them any moment. Her face was furious. She would tell Colin the truth, and all Cinderella’s fantasies would crumble to dust. The entire ballroom would see who she really was.

  “I’m so sorry!”

  Cinderella pulled away from the prince and fled. The clock struck midnight as she did. Would the horses still be waiting for her?

  They were. She breathed a sigh of relief and quickened her pace.

  Her cobweb shoe stuck to the granite stairs. She shook her foot free of it and kept running.

  “Go back!” Henry said. “You’re so close! You can’t leave now.”

  She most certainly could. Cinderella pretended she didn’t hear Colin calling her name as she jumped in the carriage and asked the horses to run as fast as they could.

  It didn’t matter, anyway. He was calling for Elizabeth, and she was Cinderella.

  The spiders tried to hide their disappointment when Henry reported how the ball had gone. They crawled over Cinderella in silence, eating the dress to reclaim their silk, then disappeared into nooks and crannies around the kitchen.

  They forgot to eat the shoe.

  Cinderella hid it under her blanket by the fireplace and changed back into her work clothes. She rubbed soot on her face and hands and combed tangles back into her hair until she looked as she had before.

  Then she began to wash the dishes.

  She was still washing them when her stepfamily returned. She smiled at them when they stormed into the kitchen.

  “Did you enjoy the ball?”

  “Don’t toy with me, Cinderella,” Stepmother said. “I saw you there. Prince Colin was quite taken with Grenelda before you arrived and distracted him.”

  “He danced with me too,” Roberta chimed in. “Then a spider crawled onto his neck, and he wouldn’t listen to my explanation about why I slapped him.”

  Cinderella choked back a laugh. Stepmother scowled.

  “There is nothing funny about this, Cinderella! We would all have a better life if Roberta or Grenelda married the prince!”

  “What would you do? Make me a servant in the royal scullery instead of here?”

  The words surprised her. She had never dared speak back to Stepmother before. Apparently, not all of her courage was spent.

  “If you’re lucky,” Stepmother said. “Or perhaps I’ll turn you out on the street. I should have done it years ago, you ungrateful wretch.”

  “Is she expected to be grateful for a chance to work in the royal scullery? I’m sure it’s nicer than this, but not by much.”

  Cinderella whirled around and stared. So did her stepmother and stepsisters.

  His Royal Highness Prince Colin stood in the kitchen doorway. He held a somewhat misshapen shoe that looked like it was made of melted glass.

  “Your Highness!”

  Stepmother, Grenelda, and Roberta curtsied deeply. After a moment spent staring into Colin’s eyes, Cinderella did the same.

  “Perhaps we should move into the parlor to chat,” Stepmother said. “This is hardly an appropriate place for Your Highness.”

  “But it’s appropriate for her?”

  He nodded towards Cinderella. Stepmother glowered.

  “A scullery is exactly the right place for a scullery maid, Your Highness. She is a lazy girl, good for nothing. I let her stay out of the kindness of my heart.”

  “My invitation said every eligible maiden in the kingdom was to attend the ball. Are you not eligible?”

  He directed this question to Cinderella. She curtsied.

  “I am, sir.”

  “You have no sweetheart? No previous engagement?”

  Grenelda scoffed.

  “A previous engagement? Who would want her?”

  Colin crossed the room, holding the shoe carefully as if it really were made of glass. As if it might shatter and frighten Cinderella away again.

  “If you are eligible, why did you run?”

  “I was ashamed. You’re so kind, and I am nothing.”

  Stepmother grabbed Cinderella’s shoulders.

  “Ashamed? You have every reason to be ashamed, girl! It isn’t enough that you eat me out of house and home, but now you’re stealing dresses and carriages and bothering the prince?”

  She lifted her hand. Cinderella flinched, but the slap never came. Colin caught her stepmother’s wrist and held it.

  “Is this how you treat your hired help?”

  “Hired?” Roberta scoffed. “As if we would pay her.”

  Colin’s eyes narrowed.

  “All of you get out before I lose my temper. All except Elizabeth.” />
  “Who?” Grenelda asked.

  But Stepmother knew when she was beaten. She pulled her daughters from the room without looking back.

  Colin knelt and slid the shoe onto Cinderella’s foot.

  “A perfect fit,” he said. “As if it was made for you. It is a shame you don’t have the other.”

  As if by magic, the other shoe rolled across the floor and stopped by Colin’s hand. Cinderella stared at it. How had it fallen from under her blanket?

  Henry lowered himself from the ceiling on a strand of silk, waved his encouragement, and pulled himself back up into hiding. If Cinderella looked closely, she could see glittering black eyes watching from the shadows. The spiders were cheering for her.

  Colin placed the other shoe on her foot and stood.

  “Would you like to return to the ball?”

  “The dress is gone.”

  “I don’t care what you wear. Will you come with me, Elizabeth?”

  She lowered her head.

  “Is that not your name?” he asked.

  “It is, but no one has called me that since my father died. They call me Cinderella because I’m always covered in cinders from tending the fire.”

  “Do you want to be Elizabeth again?”

  She thought for a moment, then nodded.

  “Yes, I would like that. How did you find me?”

  “You’ll think I’m crazy, but a voice gave me directions.”

  “A voice?”

  “A tiny voice in the air. Perhaps it was magic like your dress and shoes.”

  Cinderella smiled at Colin’s shoulder, where a tiny brown spider still hid in the velvet.

  “Perhaps it was.”

  “So will you come back? Let me sweep you off your feet and away from all this?”

  She took a deep breath. Her courage had abandoned her once tonight. That wouldn’t happen again.

  “I have a few conditions.”

  “Oh?”

  “We must be kinder to every living creature. Horses must never be given cheap hay.”

  Colin raised an eyebrow.

  “Is that all?”