Charles paused briefly before he stepped up beside her. “I see no reason why a couple of soldiers might not escort a fine young woman to town and back. I mean, now that the horses are cared for.”

Genevieve glanced back once at the two men following, one old and one young, before she looked up at Charles who kept grinning at her. “You are their captain?” she asked and Charles nodded. “A bit young for a captain,” she concluded and started walking before her feet froze in that spot.

“I’ll be twenty-eight in a week—maybe a month or so,” he said defensively. “How old do you think a captain should be?”

Genevieve shrugged. “I will be eighteen in a month or so. Ursula is already eighteen. Gisela won’t be sixteen until the fall. We are not married, though. Mother Ingrid keeps talking about making an advantageous marriage.” Genevieve shrugged again.

“Your sisters? Mother Ingrid?”

“Stepsisters. Mother Ingrid is my stepmother.”

“You are not a servant in the house?”

Genevieve shook her head this time. “Father Flaubert explained it all to me just three Sundays ago after Mass. Mother Ingrid and my sisters went into the market while Father Flaubert pulled me aside. He has a copy of the papers in the church, and he showed me. Father left everything to me, the land, the house, and all. That technically make me the countess, though Mother Ingrid uses the title, even if it is not hers to use. You see, my mother died when I was four, and father remarried before he went off to fight for King Pepin and got himself killed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Long time ago.” Genevieve returned Charles’ smile.

“So, why are you fetching the eggs?” Charles asked, honestly enough.

“I like to eat?” she tried, but Charles shook his head in a definite no.

“It is a long story,” Genevieve said. He indicated that he would listen, a good sign in Genevieve’s book since she liked to talk. She began with the phrase, “Stop me if you heard this one…” and proceeded to tell the whole Cinderella story, including the part about the fairy godmother, the ball, and the slipper. She ended with, “Of course, I don’t expect Prince Charming to show up any time soon, so I get to be servant for a while longer, anyway.”

“That is not right,” Charles drew his own conclusion. “I would not blame you if you threw the woman and her daughters out and took back your home.” Genevieve shook her head, so Charles asked, “What?”

Genevieve looked down. They had reached the town and stopped walking so it was easy to watch her slippers shuffle in the dirt. She had to shuffle them to keep her toes from freezing. “First of all, I’m not grown up yet. I’m old enough to marry and have children, but not exactly what you would call full grown. Father’s will says I get the house and property when I am eighteen, and the outlying farms and serfs and the rest of the county when I am twenty-one. I am sure he imagined I would be married by then, and Mother Ingrid’s daughters would also be married. Secondly, Mother Ingrid has sold everything she can and spent all the money on frivolous things for Ursula and Gisela, so there is not much to inherit. And third,” she looked up at Charles. “I could not do that to them. That would be cruel. They have nowhere else to go.”

Charles smiled. “I can see your heart is as beautiful as your face and form.”

Genevieve’s face turned a little red, easy to see beneath her blonde locks. “I can see your tongue is as glib as you are tall,” she responded.

Charles coughed and put on a more serious face. “So, there is one part of your story I do not understand. The fairy godmother part. The way you tell the story makes it sound like one of those fantasy stories they tell little children. I was never a big fan of those stories, even when I was a little child. I believe there are enough miraculous things on God’s green earth, things we hardly understand. We don’t have to go making up more things like fairies and elves and such.”

“A realist,” Genevieve called him. She gave him a knowing look, so once again he asked.

“What?”

“Would you like to meet my fairy godmother, well, my fairy friend?” Her smile turned to a big grin. “Are you brave enough to let your whole view of the world be shaken?” He looked at her, not sure what to say, and she called, “Edelweiss.”

A young woman stepped out from behind a building. She was fairy beautiful but she did not appear at all fairy-like.

“Fairy?” Charles said in his skeptical best.

Genevieve ignored the young man. “Edelweiss. Would you visit my shoulder please.”

“Lady. Is that wise?” Edelweiss asked. She looked around the area near enough to the market where plenty of people were coming and going.

“It is safe,” Genevieve responded. “This is Charles. He’s a friend.” She looked up. “You are a friend.” She made the question into a statement.

“I hope to be a very good friend,” he said.

Genevieve secretly smiled, but tapped her shoulder and said, “Come, come.” Edelweiss needed no more encouragement. She took her fairy form, and wings fluttering flew to Genevieve’s shoulder and took a seat where she could at least hide in Genevieve’s hair.

Charles shrieked, as Genevieve spoke.

“As a future friend of mine once said, there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Genevieve took Charles’ hand and his smile returned. “And just to be clear,” she said. “Margo and Nelly. They must be around here somewhere. I met them about eighteen months—almost two years ago when I was at a very low point and feeling very sorry for myself. I’m not like that, normally. I am usually very upbeat and positive. Only sometimes, I find my life circumstances rather depressing. Margo. Nelly.” She called.

“I don’t blame you, given your circumstances,” Charles said, as he looked down at her hand in his.

“Here we are,” two more young women shouted and came running.

“Lady. You have company,” Nelly said.

“We weren’t sure if it was safe to show ourselves,” Margo added.

“They are elves,” she said frankly to Charles. She lifted her free hand so he could see them without their glamours of humanity. She lowered it again while Edelweiss hung on by pulling gently on her hair. “Just to be clear,” she added with a grin, glad that he did not shriek that time.

“I see you have some interesting friends,” Charles said and looked up. It had begun to drizzle. “I’ll have to ask you more about that, later. Right now, we need to get under shelter. I also need to find an inn where we can house Bernard and the others. I assume your home might not be the best accommodations.”

“I know just the place,” Genevieve said, and did not hesitate to drag him half-way across town. They got inside just before the rain started in earnest. Genevieve had to let go of Charles to shake out her shawl. Edelweiss had to get down and get big. She did so behind Margo and Nelly so as to be hidden. Genevieve raised her voice. “Beltram.”

“You are good at calling for others I see.”

“My captain. You know asking quietly gets you nowhere. Beltram! Oh, there you are.” The man came sleepily from the back room.

“Ah, lovely Genevieve. Always a pleasure. How can I help you?” the man said, as his wife came up behind him to peek around his shoulder.

“I have a captain here who wants to rent your entire inn. All ten rooms.” she turned to Charles. “You do want the whole thing, yes?” Charles paused and looked up like he was counting before he nodded. “The whole inn,” she repeated. “And I want a good price. I don’t want you to gouge my friends.”

“For how long?” Beltram began to wake up.

Genevieve paused to look up at Charles. “For how long?”

“Month,” Charles said. “First of April we need to move to Basel and first of May, or at least sometime in May we move into Italy.”

“March,” Genevieve said with a bit of a smile. “I am sure you can accommodate them for the whole month.” She pulled out two silver coins that Bernard gave her and told Charles. “Bernard slipped me some extra for the eggs and other things Mother Ingrid wanted.” She grasped them and returned to face Beltram. “So, can you get everything ready by morning. They are presently at the manor house, but I doubt they will come down here in the rain before morning.” Genevieve and some of the others looked out the window in the main room.

“Ruppert,” Beltram’s wife, Liesel called. It started to come down hard and Beltram’s young son had to go out to close the shutters.