By Kirsten Nicole
June 16, 2023
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
Happy Friday! Today I have a little treat for you: some trimmings that didn't make the final cut of Midnight. Kind of like deleted scenes. But first, a little explanation...
In the first draft of my book, I wanted to create more suspense by putting in the perspectives of both "evil" mothers in my story to contrast the loving mother found in Eveline.
For a multitude of reasons, it didn't end up working, but I did keep the snippets, as both were excellent exercises in character development and helped me understand the motivation of my antagonists a little better!
So, now I'm sharing with you! Enjoy the scheming of Sabella's (Cinderella's) stepmother....
Sabella’s Stepmother stormed down the halls, her black heels clicking against the hard wood of the floor, not interested in lightening her steps for those who had already retired for the evening.
Sylvia could not sleep. What was more, she could not bear the thought of Sabella sleeping peacefully in the cottage, protected by her ever-guarding nursemaid. The one her husband loved more. She marched toward the window, throwing back the curtain, allowing herself an unimpeded view of the small cottage, merely a shadow in the retreating light of the sunset.
Everything else was under control. Every nook and cranny was under her supervision and in her domain. Every room, full or empty, every bedpost, doorknob, speck of dust, and shadow was hers to command. Why could she not hold a stubborn girl under her thumb as she could everything else?
She was the disruption in the order, the chaos in the pristine, and like swine in a diamond shop, Sabella didn’t belong.
She didn’t belong in this kingdom Sylvia had created ever since her second husband passed. Sabella was a servant, but the only thing she served was as a reminder of her dead father. Her eyes were so much like his.
Sylvia let the curtain fall over the window, clenching her fists. She’d known when she married Devon de Thevenét that she did not love him. She’d known when she’d married her first husband that she did not love him. Both marriages of convenience were worth little more than the dowry offered to the lords. For some reason, however, she’d hoped that perhaps one of them loved her too.
But neither had. Her first husband had only loved himself. Her second husband had only loved his daughter…and that seamstress.
Sylvia turned the room again, heels clicking once more in her aggravated pacing. There must be a way to get rid of them both.
Yes….
A wicked thought simmered in Stepmother’s mind, bubbling and brewing as she smiled.
Perhaps she could not be rid of both, but she could most certainly be rid of one.
Taking a quill pen from the desk and resuming her patrol of the room, she considered who she might contact who would take the willful girl off of her hands. She could easily provide a handsome dowry to attract a number of suitors.
Since Sabella had provided her with little reason to be concerned over trifle matters like love or affection, the list of potential suitors was greatly expanded.
As the plan continued to form, a wry smile turned up the corners of Sylvia’s lips as she set herself gracefully at the desk and dipped her pen in the inkwell and set to writing a letter which would, mercifully, put Sabella away from her forever.
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