Categories > Original > Fantasy > A different Cinderella Story
A.N: I busted my A-double-S on this chapter and its LONG. The next one should be up shortly (yes I know you've heard that from me a lot, but this time it will! I swear!
Anyway, here we go...
The news of the "grand slipper" spread through the kingdom faster than water through a river. By the time I even got home the whole house was abuzz with the news. The moment I got in Ella intercepted me and yanked me into the cellar with her.
"Chrysie, Chrys this is it! When he comes here I can try the slipper on! It's mine! It will fit!" she hissed excitedly.
"I know I know." I replied, looking through the crack in the old wooden door at Madame lecturing at the piglets on putting their best foot forward (preferably the left of course, since that was the slipper they had.).
"Lucinda said everything would end happily! And it will!"
"I know, but I can think of two problems: the Old hag and her little apprentice."
"Don't you mean apprentices?"
"Somehow I'm not worried about twig girl. I have a feeling she doesn't have eyes for the prince."
"What are you talking about?" Ella asked in a suspicious tone (still whispering of course)
"I didn't do anything to her if that's what you think." I hissed defensively. "Anyway, we have to come up with something to get them to let you try it on..." just then there was a small squeak as a mouse ran out from the larder and a small thump. Putting my finger to my lips in a gesture of silence, I peered around the corner. I didn't see anyone, but I was still suspicious. I would have checked it out further, except that Stepmother screeched for us at that second and we had to leave.
All through the day as we started running around doing extra chores to be ready for some Grand Count or Duke or something's arrival with "the slipper" that scene at the top of the cellar kept running through my mind, especially the suspicious end to it. The more I thought about it the more nervous and irritable I became, and all the more sure someone had over-heard us.
Much to Madame and Ruby's disappointment (Annelise seemed most relieved) the Crown official didn't reach our house that day. Nor the next in fact, but I am not going to skip over the time that elapsed on that second very long and difficult day as several things occurred then.
As I started to head into the garden to fix and beautify the fountain I stopped short just at the door when I heard Stepmother's furious screech. While cautiously approaching the drawing room the conversation became quite easy to make out.
"How dare you! You...you insolent little chit! How dare you! How dare you eve think of even looking at that-that great dirty oaf!"
"You don't even know him!" Annelise trilled
"You will not go near him again!"
"I will marry him!"
"No daughter of mine will EVER fraternize with a lowly servant! I am ashamed of you." Madame hissed. Looking through the keyhole I noticed her nose in the air. Typical.
"Try and stop me! How did you find out anyway?" Stepmother smiled evilly and stroked that little devil beside her.
"Lucious alerted me last night and I saw you...with that-that-"
"Don't say it!"
"Leave her alone!" Someone piped up. But before you say anything, it wasn't me! It was...
ELLA??!!???????
Yeah. It surprised me too.
Apparently she had been cleaning and had hid behind the curtain. She couldn't take Stepmother's cruelty anymore and had stood up to her. *Sniff I was so proud!
Ella stepped out from behind the curtain, standing straight with her head held high in a defiant position (not as good as mine, but she's had a lot less practice, cut her some slack!) Stepmother was flabbergasted. Ella had NEVER stood up to her!
"Stay out of this wench!" Madame snarled. Hmm. That seemed to be my queue.
"Why the heck should she?" I asked as I threw open the door. "Like it or not when you married our father you thrust you and your daughters on us insisting that you were 'family'" (I did air quotes with my fingers and made a face for that last word. Just in case you want to know)
"You!" Stepmother shrieked as she whipped around to face me. I had to bite back a chuckle. You had to hand it to Annelise. She'd managed to make the witch loose it way more than I ever had, and I'd been trying for years! It's just not fair the amount of talent some people had...
Anyway, back to what was going on.
To make the 'feel-good family moment' (you guys had BETTER pick up the sarcasm there!) complete, Ruby walked in with a smug grin on her face that looked to much like mine to not make me suspicious.
"Oh Mamma..." she said in that irritatingly high-pitched sing-song voice of hers, "You'll never guess what I found out."
"Don't say it Ruby!" Annelise snapped. Her sister ignored her.
"You know that mysterious girl the Prince is looking for? I know who it is." My blood ran cold and Ella visibly paled.
"It seems our dear little Cinders has a taste for MY future husband!" For a moment there was stunned silence, which yours truly decided to break.
"Yeah." I scoffed then drawled mockingly "right...Hey there Madame, you might want to watch your kid's obsessive/compulsive-uh-Paranoia!" Unfortunately, my efforts were wasted and not paid any heed. Stepmother advanced on Ella who was quivering in terror.
"Unfortunately for you," she snarled, "My precious Ruby has only confirmed what I have long suspected. And now, you are going to pay the price of DISOBEYING ME!" her voice rose steadily as she first struck my sister extremely hard and then grabbed her hair and was pulling her around by it. As all of you should know already, I was heading for the evil old croon (with the intent of inflicting extreme bodily ~harm~ to her) the moment I saw her hand rise, unfortunately, her Butler(who was actually quite young, big and strong) grabbed hold of one arm while her monster of a cook grabbed the other. My anger rose to and past boiling point. She'd had this whole thing planned! Needless to say my captors had their hands full, but never-the-less, Madame was going to have her say.
"By the time I'm done with you two you'll wish you had never been born-" she was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Ruby rushed to the window.
"Mother! It's an envoy from the King!" she cried excitedly. Her mother joined her at the window
"You little fool. That isn't our seal! That's-Oh my." She turned to her staff that were rounding me and Ella up "Lock them away in one of the rooms or closets! I'll deal with them later." She exited the room with her head held high and proud to answer the door with Ruby trailing behind her...
Prince Derrick waited very IMpatiently at the door where that girl had been traced to. A middle-aged-to elderly woman answered it. He remembered her. The Countess de...something! She had been making several hints to him about one of her daughters whenever she could during his brief time in the ball room on the nights of those balls.
"Prince Derrick." She said in feigned breathlessness. "What an honor this is. Allow me to formally welcome you to my humble estate..." she prattled on but he didn't pay attention after that line. He was busy looking past her shoulder at the commotion down the long hall. There was that girl!
She was being pulled along by the hair off to somewhere crying and whimpering and clutching at her head from the pain her scalp was clearly in. That didn't seem like her though...going along so docilely...
Then he saw her. A second girl who looked almost identical to the first one only wearing breeches and a tunic was being dragged past him by two large servants struggling fiercely. Now that was more like it! But hold on a moment...two of them? His cousin's mystery girl! He had to tell Conrad-
"Your Highness?" Madame Laea said to get his attention, shifting over so that she blocked his view of the hall.
"Sorry." He said with a shake of his head as he snapped out of his thoughts "What?"
"I said, was there something you wanted?"
"Uh...no. Just to look in and see if you are ready for my cousin to arrive. I had nothing better to do so..."
"Ah." She said, he could almost see the gears churning in her head "Then he is coming soon?"
"The envoy will, yes. Whoever fits the slipper will be his bride. Good day Milady." The Prince said with a tip of his hat. However, instead of leaving once he passed through the gate Prince Derrick doubled back through the wood and began prowling around. When he didn't see anyone in the windows the resourceful young man took out a small shell. It was magic and could locate a sound within a short distance very accurately. His spirits lifted when he heard the whimpers of one of the two young women. The Prince followed the shell until he could hear it himself. There was a very small, barred window that clearly led to some sort of cellar.
"Oh Chrys are you alright?" One voice asked between soft sobs.
"I'm fine. Ouch! Its just a bruise...a bad bruise, but just a bruise. Ughhh. If I ever get my hands on the guy who built this cellar with STONE floors I'll kill him." Said a very familiar female voice.
"But Chrys, he died years ago."
"The I'll go the underworld and kill him again." The "spirited one" said jokingly. This managed to produce a soft giggle from the "quiet one"
"You okay Ella?" The Prince's friend asked her (well he assumed she was her) sister. He guessed she must have nodded or something, but chose that moment to make his presence known.
"What are you ladies doing down there?" he asked with genuine concern. The one in boy's clothes, Chrys, (the one he lo-really really liked) whipped around.
"What the-What are you doing here?" she sputtered as she pushed a small pile of crates over to the wall and climbed on top of them so that her face was pressed against the bars.
"Apparently I'm here to save you."
"What, just 'cause we're girls we have to be damsels in distress?" he shrugged at that
"Hey I'm not the one behind bars."
"Technically, we're in a cellar!"
"And technically you're still trapped." Derrick retorted Chrys rolled her eyes. Her next words were a clear struggle.
"Wait...I'm...sorry okay? Maybe we could...use a hand." She grumbled, somehow managing to swallow her pride.
"What can I do?" he asked
"I don't know, tell your cousin or something." Just then there was a commotion coming from behind the cellar door.
"Chrys-they're coming back!" Ella cried. Chrys's eyes widened and she leapt from her perch and shoved the boxes back.
"Go." She hissed at Derrick. "We'll be fine."
Even though Derrick doubted that, he knew he had to get help and hurried back to his horse.
To my intense relief, all they did was move us upstairs and lock us in the attic before the Prince arrived. However, before returning downstairs, Stepmother had another little chat with us.
"I'm warning you." I said "Let us out or I'll-"
"Or you'll what? Talk me to death? Face it Chrystal darling. You are all talk and no action." She said smugly.
"Stop imitating your spoiled little pooch's expressions. I'm not afraid of you!"
"Really? Then why are you still here and not half way across the kingdom?" Here's the embarrassing bit. I opened my mouth to come up with a snappy retort, but couldn't come up with one! Don't you just hate it when the Bad Guy makes a valid point? Why HAD we stayed here for so darn long? She gloated at my rare speechlessness and left locking to door behind her.
I paced inside our little attic prison trying to think of a way out. Slamming to door didn't work, it was far too strong and I just didn't have enough weight to put into it due to my size. Has it been mentioned in this yet how much I absolutely HATE being cooped up? I really am much more of an out-doorsey person. Attics are just not in this girl's style! However, while I was fuming and thinking out loud (okay and cursing the hags too) Ella came up with a good idea.
"Chrys, do you have a hairpin?" she asked me
"A what?"
"A hairpin." Ella replied, eyeing the lock on the door. For a moment I was confused, and then a smile slowly spread across my face.
"Ellie, you are a GENIUS!"
As soon as we were free I ran ahead down the flights of stairs. We had to move fast if we were to stop Madame and Ruby from accomplishing their scheme! (Which, to be perfectly honest I wasn't sure how they were going to accomplish as Ruby's feet are about 3 sizes larger than Ella's) It was then that I remembered the crazy things some people would do to make themselves more beautiful and "eligible" and felt a wave of nausea at the thought of what Ruby might do to herself in order to cram her foot into that slipper! Suddenly a thought popped into my head.
"Ella, why are we wasting our time with THIS slipper?" This time it was Ella who smiled slowly.
"Meet me down there, go!" I told her. Now my job was clear, run interference...
Prince Derrick burst in through the doors first, much to the Grand Duke's dismay as he cradled the precious slipper for fear of breaking it. While Conrad was on his way, who knew how long it would take for him to get there.
"Where is she-they! I mean them!"
"My Lord, what are you talking about?" One of Madame Laea's daughters asked sweetly. She was plump rather than chubby and had auburn hair that had been forced into thick ringlets. He was pretty sure her name was Rhubarb...or was it Ruth?
"You know EXACTLY who I am talking about!" he snapped.
"My Liege," The Lady Laea purred "We are simply awaiting the Duke to fit the slipper to one of my daughters. Why don't you accompany us to the drawing room? My Eldest, Annelise shall be down shortly."
"That would be-" Derrick started
"-A marvelous idea." The Duke finished for him, shooting the Prince a dark look as they followed the two women into the drawing room.
"But mother!" Rita, Rhonda (what WAS her name?) exclaimed sweetly. Why not right here in the front hall on the chair there?"
It was like they had rehearsed it (Which they probably had) Annelise entered and stood demurely, eyes downcast an all collected-looking. However, Prince Derrick thought he saw a tear slip down her cheek but couldn't be sure. She sat down first and slipped one of her feet out of one of her own shoes and extended it. The Duke placed it on delicately but it would not fit, nor would she let it. The girl spread out her toes and made every effort to make her foot bigger. Finally the Duke gave up and the pale sister rose to her feet and stood in a corner defiantly.
Now I was r-...the other sister's turn. She limped a little over to the chair and sat down awkwardly ready to place her foot in when suddenly... ...
Anyway, here we go...
The news of the "grand slipper" spread through the kingdom faster than water through a river. By the time I even got home the whole house was abuzz with the news. The moment I got in Ella intercepted me and yanked me into the cellar with her.
"Chrysie, Chrys this is it! When he comes here I can try the slipper on! It's mine! It will fit!" she hissed excitedly.
"I know I know." I replied, looking through the crack in the old wooden door at Madame lecturing at the piglets on putting their best foot forward (preferably the left of course, since that was the slipper they had.).
"Lucinda said everything would end happily! And it will!"
"I know, but I can think of two problems: the Old hag and her little apprentice."
"Don't you mean apprentices?"
"Somehow I'm not worried about twig girl. I have a feeling she doesn't have eyes for the prince."
"What are you talking about?" Ella asked in a suspicious tone (still whispering of course)
"I didn't do anything to her if that's what you think." I hissed defensively. "Anyway, we have to come up with something to get them to let you try it on..." just then there was a small squeak as a mouse ran out from the larder and a small thump. Putting my finger to my lips in a gesture of silence, I peered around the corner. I didn't see anyone, but I was still suspicious. I would have checked it out further, except that Stepmother screeched for us at that second and we had to leave.
All through the day as we started running around doing extra chores to be ready for some Grand Count or Duke or something's arrival with "the slipper" that scene at the top of the cellar kept running through my mind, especially the suspicious end to it. The more I thought about it the more nervous and irritable I became, and all the more sure someone had over-heard us.
Much to Madame and Ruby's disappointment (Annelise seemed most relieved) the Crown official didn't reach our house that day. Nor the next in fact, but I am not going to skip over the time that elapsed on that second very long and difficult day as several things occurred then.
As I started to head into the garden to fix and beautify the fountain I stopped short just at the door when I heard Stepmother's furious screech. While cautiously approaching the drawing room the conversation became quite easy to make out.
"How dare you! You...you insolent little chit! How dare you! How dare you eve think of even looking at that-that great dirty oaf!"
"You don't even know him!" Annelise trilled
"You will not go near him again!"
"I will marry him!"
"No daughter of mine will EVER fraternize with a lowly servant! I am ashamed of you." Madame hissed. Looking through the keyhole I noticed her nose in the air. Typical.
"Try and stop me! How did you find out anyway?" Stepmother smiled evilly and stroked that little devil beside her.
"Lucious alerted me last night and I saw you...with that-that-"
"Don't say it!"
"Leave her alone!" Someone piped up. But before you say anything, it wasn't me! It was...
ELLA??!!???????
Yeah. It surprised me too.
Apparently she had been cleaning and had hid behind the curtain. She couldn't take Stepmother's cruelty anymore and had stood up to her. *Sniff I was so proud!
Ella stepped out from behind the curtain, standing straight with her head held high in a defiant position (not as good as mine, but she's had a lot less practice, cut her some slack!) Stepmother was flabbergasted. Ella had NEVER stood up to her!
"Stay out of this wench!" Madame snarled. Hmm. That seemed to be my queue.
"Why the heck should she?" I asked as I threw open the door. "Like it or not when you married our father you thrust you and your daughters on us insisting that you were 'family'" (I did air quotes with my fingers and made a face for that last word. Just in case you want to know)
"You!" Stepmother shrieked as she whipped around to face me. I had to bite back a chuckle. You had to hand it to Annelise. She'd managed to make the witch loose it way more than I ever had, and I'd been trying for years! It's just not fair the amount of talent some people had...
Anyway, back to what was going on.
To make the 'feel-good family moment' (you guys had BETTER pick up the sarcasm there!) complete, Ruby walked in with a smug grin on her face that looked to much like mine to not make me suspicious.
"Oh Mamma..." she said in that irritatingly high-pitched sing-song voice of hers, "You'll never guess what I found out."
"Don't say it Ruby!" Annelise snapped. Her sister ignored her.
"You know that mysterious girl the Prince is looking for? I know who it is." My blood ran cold and Ella visibly paled.
"It seems our dear little Cinders has a taste for MY future husband!" For a moment there was stunned silence, which yours truly decided to break.
"Yeah." I scoffed then drawled mockingly "right...Hey there Madame, you might want to watch your kid's obsessive/compulsive-uh-Paranoia!" Unfortunately, my efforts were wasted and not paid any heed. Stepmother advanced on Ella who was quivering in terror.
"Unfortunately for you," she snarled, "My precious Ruby has only confirmed what I have long suspected. And now, you are going to pay the price of DISOBEYING ME!" her voice rose steadily as she first struck my sister extremely hard and then grabbed her hair and was pulling her around by it. As all of you should know already, I was heading for the evil old croon (with the intent of inflicting extreme bodily ~harm~ to her) the moment I saw her hand rise, unfortunately, her Butler(who was actually quite young, big and strong) grabbed hold of one arm while her monster of a cook grabbed the other. My anger rose to and past boiling point. She'd had this whole thing planned! Needless to say my captors had their hands full, but never-the-less, Madame was going to have her say.
"By the time I'm done with you two you'll wish you had never been born-" she was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Ruby rushed to the window.
"Mother! It's an envoy from the King!" she cried excitedly. Her mother joined her at the window
"You little fool. That isn't our seal! That's-Oh my." She turned to her staff that were rounding me and Ella up "Lock them away in one of the rooms or closets! I'll deal with them later." She exited the room with her head held high and proud to answer the door with Ruby trailing behind her...
Prince Derrick waited very IMpatiently at the door where that girl had been traced to. A middle-aged-to elderly woman answered it. He remembered her. The Countess de...something! She had been making several hints to him about one of her daughters whenever she could during his brief time in the ball room on the nights of those balls.
"Prince Derrick." She said in feigned breathlessness. "What an honor this is. Allow me to formally welcome you to my humble estate..." she prattled on but he didn't pay attention after that line. He was busy looking past her shoulder at the commotion down the long hall. There was that girl!
She was being pulled along by the hair off to somewhere crying and whimpering and clutching at her head from the pain her scalp was clearly in. That didn't seem like her though...going along so docilely...
Then he saw her. A second girl who looked almost identical to the first one only wearing breeches and a tunic was being dragged past him by two large servants struggling fiercely. Now that was more like it! But hold on a moment...two of them? His cousin's mystery girl! He had to tell Conrad-
"Your Highness?" Madame Laea said to get his attention, shifting over so that she blocked his view of the hall.
"Sorry." He said with a shake of his head as he snapped out of his thoughts "What?"
"I said, was there something you wanted?"
"Uh...no. Just to look in and see if you are ready for my cousin to arrive. I had nothing better to do so..."
"Ah." She said, he could almost see the gears churning in her head "Then he is coming soon?"
"The envoy will, yes. Whoever fits the slipper will be his bride. Good day Milady." The Prince said with a tip of his hat. However, instead of leaving once he passed through the gate Prince Derrick doubled back through the wood and began prowling around. When he didn't see anyone in the windows the resourceful young man took out a small shell. It was magic and could locate a sound within a short distance very accurately. His spirits lifted when he heard the whimpers of one of the two young women. The Prince followed the shell until he could hear it himself. There was a very small, barred window that clearly led to some sort of cellar.
"Oh Chrys are you alright?" One voice asked between soft sobs.
"I'm fine. Ouch! Its just a bruise...a bad bruise, but just a bruise. Ughhh. If I ever get my hands on the guy who built this cellar with STONE floors I'll kill him." Said a very familiar female voice.
"But Chrys, he died years ago."
"The I'll go the underworld and kill him again." The "spirited one" said jokingly. This managed to produce a soft giggle from the "quiet one"
"You okay Ella?" The Prince's friend asked her (well he assumed she was her) sister. He guessed she must have nodded or something, but chose that moment to make his presence known.
"What are you ladies doing down there?" he asked with genuine concern. The one in boy's clothes, Chrys, (the one he lo-really really liked) whipped around.
"What the-What are you doing here?" she sputtered as she pushed a small pile of crates over to the wall and climbed on top of them so that her face was pressed against the bars.
"Apparently I'm here to save you."
"What, just 'cause we're girls we have to be damsels in distress?" he shrugged at that
"Hey I'm not the one behind bars."
"Technically, we're in a cellar!"
"And technically you're still trapped." Derrick retorted Chrys rolled her eyes. Her next words were a clear struggle.
"Wait...I'm...sorry okay? Maybe we could...use a hand." She grumbled, somehow managing to swallow her pride.
"What can I do?" he asked
"I don't know, tell your cousin or something." Just then there was a commotion coming from behind the cellar door.
"Chrys-they're coming back!" Ella cried. Chrys's eyes widened and she leapt from her perch and shoved the boxes back.
"Go." She hissed at Derrick. "We'll be fine."
Even though Derrick doubted that, he knew he had to get help and hurried back to his horse.
To my intense relief, all they did was move us upstairs and lock us in the attic before the Prince arrived. However, before returning downstairs, Stepmother had another little chat with us.
"I'm warning you." I said "Let us out or I'll-"
"Or you'll what? Talk me to death? Face it Chrystal darling. You are all talk and no action." She said smugly.
"Stop imitating your spoiled little pooch's expressions. I'm not afraid of you!"
"Really? Then why are you still here and not half way across the kingdom?" Here's the embarrassing bit. I opened my mouth to come up with a snappy retort, but couldn't come up with one! Don't you just hate it when the Bad Guy makes a valid point? Why HAD we stayed here for so darn long? She gloated at my rare speechlessness and left locking to door behind her.
I paced inside our little attic prison trying to think of a way out. Slamming to door didn't work, it was far too strong and I just didn't have enough weight to put into it due to my size. Has it been mentioned in this yet how much I absolutely HATE being cooped up? I really am much more of an out-doorsey person. Attics are just not in this girl's style! However, while I was fuming and thinking out loud (okay and cursing the hags too) Ella came up with a good idea.
"Chrys, do you have a hairpin?" she asked me
"A what?"
"A hairpin." Ella replied, eyeing the lock on the door. For a moment I was confused, and then a smile slowly spread across my face.
"Ellie, you are a GENIUS!"
As soon as we were free I ran ahead down the flights of stairs. We had to move fast if we were to stop Madame and Ruby from accomplishing their scheme! (Which, to be perfectly honest I wasn't sure how they were going to accomplish as Ruby's feet are about 3 sizes larger than Ella's) It was then that I remembered the crazy things some people would do to make themselves more beautiful and "eligible" and felt a wave of nausea at the thought of what Ruby might do to herself in order to cram her foot into that slipper! Suddenly a thought popped into my head.
"Ella, why are we wasting our time with THIS slipper?" This time it was Ella who smiled slowly.
"Meet me down there, go!" I told her. Now my job was clear, run interference...
Prince Derrick burst in through the doors first, much to the Grand Duke's dismay as he cradled the precious slipper for fear of breaking it. While Conrad was on his way, who knew how long it would take for him to get there.
"Where is she-they! I mean them!"
"My Lord, what are you talking about?" One of Madame Laea's daughters asked sweetly. She was plump rather than chubby and had auburn hair that had been forced into thick ringlets. He was pretty sure her name was Rhubarb...or was it Ruth?
"You know EXACTLY who I am talking about!" he snapped.
"My Liege," The Lady Laea purred "We are simply awaiting the Duke to fit the slipper to one of my daughters. Why don't you accompany us to the drawing room? My Eldest, Annelise shall be down shortly."
"That would be-" Derrick started
"-A marvelous idea." The Duke finished for him, shooting the Prince a dark look as they followed the two women into the drawing room.
"But mother!" Rita, Rhonda (what WAS her name?) exclaimed sweetly. Why not right here in the front hall on the chair there?"
It was like they had rehearsed it (Which they probably had) Annelise entered and stood demurely, eyes downcast an all collected-looking. However, Prince Derrick thought he saw a tear slip down her cheek but couldn't be sure. She sat down first and slipped one of her feet out of one of her own shoes and extended it. The Duke placed it on delicately but it would not fit, nor would she let it. The girl spread out her toes and made every effort to make her foot bigger. Finally the Duke gave up and the pale sister rose to her feet and stood in a corner defiantly.
Now I was r-...the other sister's turn. She limped a little over to the chair and sat down awkwardly ready to place her foot in when suddenly... ...
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