Page 6 of Cinder's Trial

I wanted love, true love, and respect. Apparently, too much to ask for.

Upon arriving at my desk, I noticed the invitation to the ball sitting atop my keyboard.

My lips pinched. Bloody magic trying to force me to its will.

Too bad. I still wasn’t opening it. By lifting my keyboard, I dumped it into the waste bin beside my desk. With it out of the way, I went to work. The Grimm Effect had been in overtime of late, as we’d been seeing a surge in cases.

Pigs, swans, rats, and a bevy of creatures had been spotted in our city causing trouble. We had some Rumpelstiltskin wannabes making bargains for babies. Rapunzels looking for princes. Fiddlers fiddling and sly foxes scheming. We’d even had to ban apples since they kept putting people into magical comas.

In the early years, it used to be that only the original Grimm stories and some adaptations were re-enacted. But no one could deny anymore that the repertoire of curses had expanded to include more stories.

So many stories that at times I wondered why we even bothered.

My gaze went to the corner of the envelope peeking from my trash bin. Given most of the field agents were currently handling cases, and I had no new data to work with yet, I found myself doing a search on Prince Killian. Ruler of Corsica, a small European island that separated from France in the early 1900s, he was the only heir to his mother’s throne.

To my surprise, the image on file showed he wasn’t hideous. On the contrary, his golden hair went nicely with his olive skin tone and brilliant green eyes. A fit prince, he played polo, swam, jogged. Or at least the paparazzi had posted pics of him doing those various physical activities. They also had him in uniform, inspecting his army.

Someone snuck up on me to remark, “Oh good, you’re already studying Prince Killian.”

Surprise had me whipping around in my seat to exclaim, “I wasn’t studying him.”

“You should be since he’s your next assignment,” Hilda, my boss, stated in that no-nonsense tone she liked to use with her staff.

“Excuse me?”

“Prince Killian is arriving today and will be conducting some meetings with government officials to hammer out some treaties between our countries. As well, he will be the guest of honor at a ball being thrown for his fortieth birthday at the Classica Hotel. To ensure his protection while on U.S. soil, we’ve deployed the Grimm Knights.”

“Alright.” I nodded. The Grimm Knights were Grimphers—people caught by the Grimm curse—who’d been turned into heroes and now thrived on saving the world while working for the bureau. “Do you need me to do some reconnaissance?”

“No. I’m assigning you to act as the liaison between the prince and the bureau.”

“You can’t be serious,” I huffed. “He’s a bachelor royal.”

“I’m aware.”

“Are you aware I’ve gotten a very insistent invitation to his ball?” I pointed to the garbage can, where the edge of the envelope peeked.

“Well, of course you are invited. How else would you be able to assist him?”

“Assist him doing what?” I squeaked.

“Making sure none of the attending Cinderellas snares him in a trap,” Hilda explained with a slight roll of her eyes.

“Wait, he doesn’t want to get married?” That would be a first. Most princes loved the adulation and attention of prospective brides.

Hilda smiled. “Like a certain employee of mine, he’s determined to escape the curse. However, that won’t be easy. For one, the ball was his mother’s idea. Apparently, she wants some heirs.”

“Wait, she wants him to follow the story?” How appalling. You’d think his own mother would want him to choose the woman he’d spend his life with.

“Oh yes, Queen Melania is quite determined to see him wed. And she might get her wish. According to the most recent reports, the number of Cinderellas suddenly showing up in our city has been increasing daily. The curse is transforming them left and right. The office that handles legal name changes can’t keep up.”

I blinked. “Exactly how many Cinderellas are we talking about?”

“At last count, the curse has invited one hundred and thirty-six.”

My jaw dropped. “That many? That’s insane. There aren’t even that many bachelor princes in the world.” Princes didn’t stay single for long these days, given they were in short supply.

“Hence why the prince requested aid.”

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