Shut Up, Cinderella

This Is Reality

Welcome to the real world, Your Highness.

The sentence lingered in Gem's mind long after Cinder had spoken it, long after silence had fallen on their traveling group once more. It resounded in his ears, hung in his head, never fading, never quieting; and the more he thought about it, the less he understood it.

The real world. How could Cinder be so nonchalant about the whole thing? This was a family struggling to get by, a little old lady about to lose her daughter, little children left without a mother! How could this be normal? How could anyone watch this scene and treat it as something normal?

And if it was normal, why hadn't he heard about it? Why had nobody ever bothered to tell him what was going on in this kingdom he was supposed to inherit? How on earth was he supposed to make things better if no one ever cared to tell him what was wrong?

If he had come in there as a prince, he realized, most likely he wouldn't have found out about any of this. They had all been intimidated enough of Cinder disguised as a nobleman. The heir to the throne couldn't possibly have heard their story, let alone convinced them to accept his help. And why? Because it was improper? That was ridiculous!

How many more stories were out there, he wondered?

How much more suffering, how much more fear and misery was hidden under these thatched roofs and behind wooden doors? How much more sadness was out there that he wasn't supposed to see?

Why wasn't anyone doing anything?

He wondered if his father knew about all this. Had he heard the stories, or were people hiding this from him like they had hidden it from Gem? And if he did know, why wasn't he trying to help?

He'd have to confront him once he got home, he thought. No other way to find out the truth.

But for now, he had something more important to do. More important than calling out his father. More important, even, than finding his beloved quickly. And he couldn't believe he had thought that, but it was true. Most likely the masked stranger wouldn't die if he waited another day or two. But for these people help couldn't come soon enough.

He was a servant right now, a commoner.

And he would put that to the best use he could.

~ ~ ~

"Hey," Gem said when they had reached the next village around noon, "let's not go any further today."

The others stared at him in obvious disbelief. Of course they did. They still thought he wanted to find the masked stranger more than anything else. And it wasn't like he had forgotten about him. He had just realized that some things were more urgent, that was all.

"I need to talk to the people more," he declared, ignoring their looks of confusion. "There might be more stories like that old lady. I need to see how people are doing."

Cinder raised an eyebrow, though he didn't look displeased. "Starting to care," he said, "are you?"

"Who wouldn't?" Gem burst out. "I'm not a monster! I just had no idea all this was happening!"

Sighing, Cinder shook his head, muttering something about sheltered royalty. "And your beloved can wait this one more day?" he added mockingly.

Gem nodded. "These people need me more."

Cinder raised both eyebrows but said nothing. His expression was hard to read, and he didn't give Gem much time to study it. All too quickly he turned away, gazing ahead into the village.

"Fine by me," he said. "Try not to get too nosy, or people will get suspicious."

Gem cracked a small smile. He already knew he would probably hear a lot of sad stories today, but all the same he was glad to have this chance to help.