On and on, you dance, almost unaware that you have moved out into the open. Around you, other ladies watch in mixed admiration and consternation. Up on the dais, the king and queen smile. Other girls join in around you, dancing with chaperones and appointed soldiers tasked with entertaining the guests.
Slowly, these details fade into the background as the prince takes up more of your focus. You had never before found men particularly attractive beyond a strictly academic acknowledgement, but the stirrings of your changed body send a very different message to your addled brain. All in all, it leaves you rather confused. If only the invisible puppeteer yanking your strings would allow you to get away and process these new sensations. Instead, you can only go along for the ride as this fog of pleasure eats away your resistance.
As the time drags on, you switch from one dance to another, and each time, the two of you end up closer to one another and farther from everyone else. It seems everyone is politely giving you space. At last, you find your head resting on his shoulder as you stroll through the gardens outside, and you hardly care whether it is by choice or by compulsion. After the day you’ve had, you could use the bliss and security this brings you.
BONG!
The first chime of the clock tower shakes you out of your moment. A tingle runs through you, making you gasp.
“What’s wrong?” The prince asks as you pull away to check the time even as the chime continues.
Midnight!
Finally, you can escape! More than that, you can feel that you are now back in control of your actions. But for how long?
“Gotta go!” You blurt out as you turn and run. Not wanting to go back into that maze of a castle, you circumvent the building. Thankfully, you were in the left part of the garden, putting the front courtyard just around the corner.
“Wait! I-I never got your name!” The prince calls after you, giving chase. Too bad!
In spite of your head start, the young man starts to catch up with ease. After all, he has a longer stride, and he isn’t the one wearing heels. Heels! Lifting your skirt, you kick off the cumbersome footwear and continue on in a sprint, leaping the occasional retaining wall and flower bed in your haste. This gives you a small amount of additional distance, but as you finally come into view of the waiting carriages, the weight of your gown leaves you out of breath. Your pace slows dramatically, and you almost cry in frustration.
Then, from the side, your enchanted carriage comes racing towards you. Lightly jumping the curb, the unicorns leave the paved lane behind to close the distance, kicking up grass and flowers in all directions. The carriage skids to a halt, wheels leaving deep furrows in the royal lawn.
On its own, the door swings open, and you haul yourself inside to tumble headfirst onto the padded seat as the carriage jerks into motion once more. “Welcome back, Cinderella!” May greets you. “Now let’s get out of here before the spell ends!” Flying upward, she does a graceful pirouette, letting out a shower of sparkles that cover the carriage and unicorns.
To your amazement, the entire thing lifts up into the sky. The unicorns, unfazed by this change of elevation, charge forward, pulling their burden up over the castle walls and over the surrounding landscape. Peering out the side, you see the castle falling away into the distance. Around you, the last chimes of the clock tower echo and fall silent. “Uh, May? What happens when the spell ends?”
May turns to you, then looks at where you are, hurtling through the sky towards who knows where. “Oh dear. Perhaps, we should-”
Suddenly, the spell ends.