As always, for previous chapters, please refer to the masterpost.
Posting this because the epilogue got too honkin’ big!! Have some ‘Meet the Parents!’
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Cinderella’s arrival at the castle is very quiet. Like, mostly, everyone is aware how volatile a situation like, “Hey whoever fits this shoe is going to marry the prince” is. So it’s like… 4 gardeners, 3 maids, and the butler see an absolutely filthy girl sleepily slump out of the royal carriage with the prince supporting her in her descent, and they carry about their business. If there’s an announcement, they’ll hear about it later. This is just a perfectly normal instance of some weirdly dirty rando showing up the castle in the company of the captain of the royal guard, the royal valet, and an almost-equally dirty footman who is certainly not the prince in disguise, no sir! Still, a royal messenger is discreetly sent to the king and queen, and they both hurry to the foyer just in time to catch the prince and the supposed shoe-fitter quietly trying to make their way through. In their company is, of course, Gabe the Valet and Guard Captain Brad.
“Chaz?” The queen calls out.
Both the prince and Cindy look up.
“Oh—Mom, Dad, this is Cindy. Cindy, these are my parents.”
“Hi,” Cinderella gives a small wave, “I mean—” she’s been a little thrown off by the whole ‘these are my parents’ thing and remembers this is the literal fucking king and queen and she quickly curtsies, “Your majesties.” She stands up straight again and brushes her hands down her skirts, sending a dusting of ash onto the palace floor. “I—um—“ she stuffs her hand into a fold in her skirts—oh it’s a pocket—and pulls out the slipper, “I have the shoe. The other shoe.”
“Ah,” the queen blinks and she gives a glance over towards the king, who like, he’s not upset, but you can definitely kind of hear the laptop fans whirring on him seeing this girl. Like… Is that a rat? On her head?
“Darling,” the queen places a hand the king’s shoulder, “Do say something.”
↳ day 4 – favorite film: EMMA. (2020) dir. Autumn De Wilde
“I cannot make speeches, Emma…If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.”
I’m inclined to think this is a dark-eyed junco singing. At least that’s what I’d think if I heard that where I live, and I think DEJUs should also live where you made this recording. But it’s possible there’s some other species I don’t know that sounds similar.
Nope. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. It’s a chipping sparrow. Which I have heard, and even have heard in the eastern Sierra not far from Great Basin National Park, so I should have known better. But I don’t hear them a lot, and I was being lazy. Apologies.
How I figured it out: I actually looked at the video, and realized I could see the bird. Not particularly well, but well enough to be pretty sure it wasn’t a dark-eyed junco. So I tried playing the recording for Merlin Sound ID, which initially had no suggestions, but when I updated the location of the recording to Nevada it immediately suggested chipping sparrow.
I’m inclined to think this is a dark-eyed junco singing. At least that’s what I’d think if I heard that where I live, and I think DEJUs should also live where you made this recording. But it’s possible there’s some other species I don’t know that sounds similar.
