Chapter 5
Cinder watched Silver walking away down the market. She had already spent all day helping Silver. She’d have a full day’s chores waiting for her when she got home. But she had occasionally stayed all afternoon at the market before.
She picked up the flower cart and rolled after Silver. The woman was brusque and sometimes odd, but at least Cinder knew Silver didn’t hate her the way her stepmother did.
Silver lived in a cottage surrounded by flowers at the edge of the dark forest. Her tidy cottage stood in stark contrast to the other houses in town, which were mostly water-stained and dark. Those were houses with dark windows covered by drab curtains. Hardly anyone smiled or wore bright colors. Black had been the height of fashion for as long as Cinder could remember.
The only
