Free Cinderella and the Colonel by K.M. Shea

from leading soldiers on long, merry chases whenever they happened upon you clawing your way inside the library,” the Colonel said.
    “ What? Do you mean—? No, I would never attempt to break and enter! Why, I was trying to secure the open window, of course. Do you know how much damage the wind and rain could do to the books? It surely is an oversight to leave it open,” Cinderella said, gravely shaking her head as she planned her exit. It made her uneasy to be alone with him.
    The Colonel narrowed his eye. “ It’s impressive you’ve evaded attention so long with your illicit actions. Although I suppose I cannot blame my men for not finding you. I hardly recognized you myself with your hair covered so skillfully.”
    “What? Sir , I am offended by your presumptions,” Cinderella said, looking down her nose at the Colonel as he gathered up her basket.
    “Don’t tell me you go in there to actual ly use the library?” the Colonel said, going over the contents of her basket: a bottle of cheap, ash-based ink; two quills; matches; and curls of birch bark.
    “I , sir, am a law-abiding citizen. As such, I would not enter the library as it is currently outlawed ,” Cinderella said, brushing off her skirt. “But as you are here, I imagine you can deal with the unsecured window yourself. Would you be so kind as to give me back my things, sir?”
    “Friedrich ,” the Colonel said, setting the basket down. “Come here.”
    “I beg your pardon?” Cinderella asked.
    The Colonel wriggled his fingers in a come-closer gesture.
    Cinderella minced over to the Colonel. “What ,” she started. “Do you want—put me down!” she shrieked when the Colonel picked her up by her waist.
    “What are you do ing?” Cinderella hissed as the Colonel climbed the crate.
    “Help ing you break the law. Can you reach the ledge?”
    Held higher , the ledge was shoulder-height. “Yes,” Cinderella said, scrambling to grasp the ledge. She set her feet against the stone exterior wall and tried to climb in. She shrieked when the Colonel pushed against her backside—boosting her up and touching her posterior. “Sir! This is highly improper!”
    The Colonel on ly chuckled.
    Cinderella purpose ly booted him in the neck before she squirmed through the window, falling inside. She landed on a narrow walkway set a foot or two down from the window.
    Cinderella poked her head out the window. “My basket?”
    “Com ing up with me,” the Colonel said, tying the basket to his belt. The Colonel made the climb much more gracefully. He jumped and grabbed the sill before pushing off the wall with his feet like Cinderella had attempted.
    A few graceful , slithering movements, and the Colonel eased his way inside.
    “Wow . It’s a disgrace in here,” the Colonel said, squinting at the dust-coated walkway and railings, and the dusty shelves of books that extended before him like a wooden army.
    “What do yo u expect? No one has been allowed in since the takeover,” Cinderella said, snatching her basket from the Colonel’s belt.
    She marched down the walkway , taking a set of rickety stairs to the base floor.
    “It’s gett ing dark. Will you be able to see in here well enough to read?” the Colonel asked.
    As he had all but thrown her inside, Cinderella estimated the Colonel wasn’t likely to drag her off to jail. His manners seemed to promise that he would not do anything indecent, even though they were alone, either. So she replied, “There are candles,” as she orientated herself in the library and looked for the places where, in previous trips, she upset clouds of dust.
    “Funny , you don’t strike me as the reading type,” the Colonel said.
    “I’m not ,” Cinderella said, leading the way between two rows of books.
    “You must be . Why else would you break in a library? Unless…do you hawk the books?”
    “What? No! First of all , what kind of lowlife steals from a library ? And secondly, all the books have the Trieux royal