Faeiria Glassboria's Arc

Chapter 11 of 11

The mage dismissed the guard and turned to Faeiria with controlled urgency. He kept his voice low, though the corridor was empty. The woman in the tower had betrayed Cinderella's name to save herself, and now the guards would carry that information to the prince within the hour. Faeiria needed the prince to understand what he was hearing. A name alone meant nothing without context. She followed the mage up the spiraling stairs of his tower, where books lined every wall and instruments tracked stars she could not see. He pulled a heavy tome from a locked chest and laid it open on his desk. The pages showed illustrations of celestial beings, their forms rendered in careful detail. He pointed to one marked with the word seraphim. "I will tell him what you are," the mage said. "He needs to know she had help from something beyond mortal magic." Faeiria watched him prepare his words, selecting which truths to reveal. The mage would tell the prince that Cinderella's godmother was no simple fairy. He would explain that a seraphim had been sent to ensure the girl reached the ball. He would speak Cinderella's name aloud in the throne room and reveal that the woman in the tower was her stepsister, the one who had stolen the glass slipper for herself. The prince would understand then that the magic was real, that Cinderella's confession at the ball had been truth, not performance. Faeiria felt the pieces sliding into place without her direct intervention. The mage closed the book and tucked it under his arm. He met Faeiria's eyes one last time before descending the stairs. She did not follow. Her work here was finished. The prince would receive knowledge he could act on, and Cinderella's name would reach him through channels that carried weight. Faeiria had defied her orders to anchor the slipper, and now mortals were carrying her mission forward in ways she could not. She accepted the shift. Her fierce love for Cinderella had not required her presence in every moment. It had only required her to make the girl visible, and now the prince was looking.