Page 23 of If the Shoe Fits (Rainbow Tales #2)

“No. No. No.” Xander kept saying it as he stared in the mirror. In horror. “I can't do this.”

“Yes, you can. Listen to yourself.” Nevan motioned to him. “You even sound like a woman. The glamour is impeccable.”

Xander glared at him.

“Aren't you just adorable?” Nevan lifted Xander's chin with a finger—his pert, cute, feminine chin.

Xander jerked it out of Nevan's grip. “I feel gross. All squishy.”

Nevan burst out laughing.

“Shut up! Look at me.” Xander waved his arms about. “I look ridiculous. All this hair.”

“You have long hair normally.”

“But this is even longer!”

“It's piled atop your head. What do you care how long it is?”

“That's my point!” Xander turned back to the mirror slowly. “I feel as if I'm going to topple over.”

“You'll be fine.”

“This dress is nearly as wide as I am tall. ”

“Well, to be fair, I made you petite.”

“I can't move in it! It fucking rustles!”

“But isn't the hoop skirt nice? It keeps all your lady parts cool.” Nevan barely held back a snicker.

“I don't want lady parts!”

“Oh, for fuck's sake! It's just an illusion. You're letting yourself be fooled by my magic. Look deeper.”

Xander blinked. Frowned. Stared. Then he felt his way through the magic.

Nevan was right; he was still himself under the illusion.

The dress and all the adornments were real—transformed—but they were in his size.

He was wearing all of that sparkly stuff as a man.

The illusion made him look like a woman and made all that female stuff look as if it fit the glamor.

It was a complicated combination of spells, and he was damn impressed by Nevan.

But he wasn't about to say that to the Shining One man. His ego was big enough as it was.

So, Xander only grimaced. “I don't know if it makes it better or worse that I'm still a man, just dressed in women's clothing.”

“It's only temporary. Stop being such a child. You'll look like yourself again by midnight—the agreed-upon hour.”

“But then I'll have to do this again!”

“It will be fine. Trust me. Glamours feel more comfortable when you cast them upon yourself.”

“Nevan, I'm going to break my leg in these slippers.”

“I'll heal you.”

Xander rolled his eyes. “And what's with these shoes anyway? It's hard enough for me to walk in heels, but did you have to make them out of glass? ”

“They are not glass!” Nevan held a hand to his chest. “Glass is common. Those are crystal shoes.”

“Isn't crystal a type of glass?”

“Yes, smarty pants. But the difference lies in the composition. Glass is made of sand, while crystal has minerals added to it, like lead, to enhance its clarity. It is like the difference between a stable boy and a prince. One is more refined than the other. And stronger.”

“A stable boy and a prince,” Xander murmured and looked into the mirror again. “Or a princess.”

Nevan waved a hand, and the mirror vanished. It had been much too fine for the stable anyway. Like a prince.

“You are a prince, Xander. Acknowledged or not. You were born to a princess, and that cannot be altered.” Nevan pointed at Xander's face. “You are crystal, not glass. That boy you fuck should have recognized you right away. Like knows like.”

“He believes I'm a nobleman.”

“Uh-huh.” Nevan smoothed back a golden blonde curl and tucked it behind Xander's ear.

“You kept my coloring the same. Why?”

“This is the female version of you. It makes the glamour stick better. But it will also attract your prince. He will think it's a sign that you look like his lover. Either that or he will be drawn to you without realizing why. Whatever the case, he will notice you.”

Xander sighed and stared at the woman Nevan had created.

The suitable lady for the Prince to wed.

Xander had never seen a more beautiful woman.

Her skin was as smooth as glass and the color of cream with hints of roses.

Her blond hair was long, past her waist, but it was pinned up into a pile of curls with diamond combs.

Her face was something out of a dream. Or heaven.

It was a face to make men fall to their knees in worship. Most men.

“This isn't me, not even a female version. She's too beautiful. This skin is smoother, these lips fuller, and this jaw is . . . it's fucking delicate.”

“Yes, as I said—you, but as a woman. That's your face, Xander. Your hair. Your coloring—as you noted. I just softened things, padded you a bit, and shortened you to an appropriate height for a human female.” Nevan moved his hands in an hourglass motion and then pushed one down.

Xander looked down at himself. At Cinderella.

“You see?” Nevan stepped closer. “Not only will your little prince notice you, but you won't feel like a complete stranger to yourself either.” Nevan waved at Xander. “Sweet magic, you remind me of your mother. It's rather hard to look at you, to tell the truth.”

“What? Why?”

“No reason.” Nevan waved it away. “Just know that you are perfect tonight. No one will be able to resist you. Not even a gay prince. He will be smitten.”

“What?!” Xander growled.

“Well, not sexually smitten. Maybe a little. Only because you will remind him of, well, you. He won't be able to figure out why he feels so comfortable around you. Trust me. This face is perfect.”

Xander's stomach clenched. Not because he worried about Leo falling for the female facade.

No, he worried about everything going as planned.

Because if it did, it would mean that Xander had tricked Leo and his parents—the King and Queen of Trellone.

It would be a terrible betrayal. And then, after all that deceit, after making Leo and his father search for Cinderella, Xander would have to blackmail the King.

“I can't do this.” He met Nevan's stare. “I can't start a marriage like this. Leo will never forgive me.”

“If he doesn't, he's a hypocrite and a fool.”

“I think this deception is much worse than his.”

Nevan shrugged. “It's all in perspective. Now, what's it going to be, Princess? Do you make a bid for your man or do you give up when what you want is finally within reach?”

“You're an asshole.”

“Mentors have to be assholes. It's how we get you little shits to learn. We push you.” Nevan let out a long breath and took Xander's dainty female hand.

“If you don't want to do this, you don't have to.

But I can't think of another way to get you that boy.

This was the best plan I could come up with, and believe me, I'm good at plans. Do you have any ideas? If you do, by all means, we shall entertain them with utmost seriousness right now.”

Xander looked down at the frothy layers of his glittering dress, and then up at Nevan. “Fine. Summon the damn carriage.”

“Oh, it's here already, darling.” Nevan looped his arm with Xander's and escorted him out of the stable.

The house was dark, Xander's family already at the castle, and the servants getting some rest while they could. No one saw the white coach and matching horses that waited outside the stable for Xander. No, they waited for Cinderella.

“Where did you get the horses?” Xander looked at Nevan. “You said you couldn't transform living things. ”

“I can't. I borrowed the horses.”

“You stole those horses?!”

“Uh-huh.” Nevan grinned. “It's brilliant, actually. I stole them from the castle! ”

“What?! Are you mad? How is that brilliant?”

“Because at the end of the night, when you run off and your coach returns to the pumpkin I transformed it from, those horses will be back where they belong. You won't have to worry about them. Just run along and leave them behind.”

“Oh. I suppose that is rather brilliant,” Xander admitted. Then he noticed that there wasn't a driver. “Um, who will drive the carriage?”

“I will, of course.” Nevan waved at himself.

That's when Xander finally noticed what Nevan was wearing—a uniform. A pretty white uniform with gold cords decorating the shoulders. To be fair, Xander had been a bit distracted by his own clothing. And body. And face.

“Come now, my lady.” Nevan opened the carriage door, folded his free arm behind his back, and bowed.

“Great fuck, I must be insane.” Mad or not, Cinderella got into his royal carriage.

His fairy mother-sent mentor closed the door, grinned to himself, and jumped up into the driver's seat.