THE SWEETEST GIRL IN THE KINGDOM

A Confession by Queen Cinderella

Author’s note: This week I had hoped to bring you the epic series finale of Grady Hart, but a family emergency has forced me to postpone that until next Saturday. In the meantime, have you ever wondered if Cinderella was just a little too goodie-two-shoes? I did. Here’s my reimagining of what reallllly happened—in the fairy tale universe:

I

There is a peculiar pleasure in watching someone die slowly.

Not from violence—no, that would be too obvious. Too pedestrian. It’s better when they don’t realize it’s happening. When their flesh softens, their shoulders bow, their thoughts drift like silt in a slow-moving river.

My husband, the king, is dying. Arsenic takes time, but time is on my side.

He won’t die quickly. Not today. Not tomorrow. But it will come.

And when it does, he will die believing he was loved.

Believing that I was his salvation, his gentle queen, his one true gift from the gods.

I gave him no heirs—so by his decree this very morning, I am his heir. The Kingdom will be mine.

He will never know the truth.