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The day after Cassandra finds out, it's Rapunzel's birthday party. Rapunzel's turning twenty-five, a 'special number' according to her, but all Cassandra can think about are the photos.
“You okay, Cass?” Rapunzel asks. Her gaze lingers on Cassandra's gloved hand. “You've been really quiet today.”
Cassandra is standing behind Rapunzel as she sits at her dressing table, but for a moment she'd been somewhere else entirely. She scrunches her toes in her pointed shoes, feels the weighty fabric of her servant's dress. She is here. She is here, in this room, and that's that.
“I've just been busy, Raps,” Cassandra replies. The once familiar nickname falls from her tongue like a lump of coal. “Gotta make sure everything's ready for your special day.” She fixes the last of the hairpins into Rapunzel's golden braids. They're pink and purple butterflies, made of amethyst. Faith told her that the tips of the antennae are made with real diamonds. “To be honest, though, it feels like you've been working harder than me!” She forces out a laugh.
“Oh, not at all! I just sketched out a few ideas, you and the other servants have been doing all the work!”
Rapunzel speaks so sweetly, with a false modesty that used to make Cassandra's heart sing. She can say whatever she likes (Rapunzel can always say whatever she likes), but her touch is everywhere. She repainted one of the walls of dining room, turning it into a gorgeous mural of a grand castle surrounded by glowing paper lanterns. Paper decorations are strung up around all of the rooms, cute little animal patterns of her own design. She even baked her own birthday cake, a towering pink monstrosity encased in strawberries.
Rapunzel's room is the worst offender. Scrap paper filled with rejected ideas compete for floor space with the pile of dresses she's struggling to choose between, all of it covered in a solid layer of confetti and glitter. It's all so much. It's everything Cassandra has never wanted for herself. She's never been big on birthdays.
There were no birthday parties in the photos.
Cassandra steps back and looks Rapunzel over. She's always beautiful, but tonight she's radiant. There's the makeup, of course, but Cassandra can hardly see it. Rapunzel's bright green eyes get in the way. She looks so happy.
“Once you finally decide on a dress, you'll be ready,” Cassandra says softly. She can't help it, this softness. Rapunzel draws it out of her with oblivious cruelty, doing nothing with it but refusing to give it back.
“Actually, there's something I wanted your opinion on,” Rapunzel says, her smile dropping. “But you can't tell anyone!”
“Whatever it is, your secret's safe with me,” Cassandra replies. She hears the ghost of herself saying those same words back when Rapunzel had tried to dye her hair for the first and last time. They'd come up with so many excuses to hide her hair from her parents. It had felt so good then, a secret chaining them together. Cassandra had been special because Rapunzel had trusted her and her alone.
Rapunzel retrieves a little black box from one of the dresser drawers. She looks up at Cassandra with those big, terrible eyes, and pops open the lid. Inside is a silver ring, embedded with a single opal. Even in the dimness of the box, it is iridescent with every shade of blue.
“I'm going to ask Eugene to marry me,” she says.
“Oh,” Cassandra says. “Huh.”
Cassandra has never thought about getting married. It's not an option for people like her. She can imagine Rapunzel's marriage easily, though. A big white dress, a blushing bride and groom. A chaste but loving kiss. More money spent on the ceremony than Cassandra will make in her entire life. Cassandra's father had never been rich. Cassandra's mother, on the other hand–
Do you recognise that child?
–wasn't there, so it doesn't matter. It doesn't. Nothing has changed. Her path in life hasn't been altered by knowledge of how she got here. She's still the loyal servant, Rapunzel's best friend. Rapunzel, the girl who has everything.
“Cass?” Rapunzel folds in on herself. She speaks hesitantly, like she's afraid of Cassandra's opinion. As if anything Cassandra would say would change her mind. She is acutely aware of the glove on her right hand. “I know you and Eugene bicker, but I thought you two were really getting along now, and–”
“It's not that, Raps,” Cassandra says. That, at least, is the truth. “I was just a little surprised. And I was admiring that ring. I've never seen an engagement ring like that before.”
“Isn't it so unique!” Rapunzel gushes, her concern evaporating. “I thought, because remember that trip we went on? And blue represents freedom, and the sky, so that's the open road, and also it's an opal! So, it'll shimmer! You know how much Eugene loves shiny things.”
It's an odd moment to start relating to Eugene, but how can she not? It's so beautiful, it must cost a life-changing amount of money. The latest text from Zhan Tiri, the notification she hadn't opened, lingers in her mind. Have you thought about my offer?
“I think he'll love it, Raps,” Cassandra says. “Why don't you keep it here until you want to propose? Keep it safe.” She takes the box.
Later, she'll ruin Rapunzel's happily ever after. Later, she'll take Zhan Tiri up on her offer. Later, she'll prove everyone wrong. For now, she admires this delicate little ring and pretends it's for her.