On this twist of the classic Cinderella, Cinder is your average step child: ignored, mistreated, and left in the dark. But when the chance of a lifetime arrives to sneak out to the Prince's ball Cinder leaves his past behind - even if only for a few...
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It's been nearly a week since the ball, since the incident with Cassandra and since Cinder has been even more of a slave than before. His hands bear the injuries of overwork, blood speckled bandages wrapped around each finger though he's forced to continue. To carry on with design after design, pattern after pattern, and dress after dress as the night fades into day and back again.
Today's the first day he's been allowed from his bedroom since the incident. Though he knows it's only because he was running out of space in the cramped bedroom and not because his mother felt sympathetic about her actions. Truly, she couldn't care less.
They sit feet apart from one another, Cassandra sat at her desk as Cinder works beneath the tree. Yet there's no words exchanged, no sneaking glances or hints of apologies. Only silence as Cinder stitches another bead under watchful eyes, all the more aware of the warden's gaze beating into his soul.
Within a stitch a knock arrives at the door, an excited pounding that repeats too quickly and with too much force. Cinder knows better than to advert his gaze from his work, the boy tucking his head as his mother answers the impatient knock. The sound is followed by the click of heels on wood before the quick slam of a door, Cinder's head shooting up at the blast.
"Cassandra, where are your girls?"
Mrs. van der Woodson seems different now. Her appearance brighter, more hopeful as she grabs at the woman beside her. She's dressed in a yellow suit that matches her improved mood, brown hair cascading down her shoulder and brushing against the large emeralds hanging around her neck.
"My girls?"
"Yes, your girls!" The woman nearly jumps in excitement as she pushes away from Cassandra, yelling for the sister's names with a shrill. "The girls!" Mrs. van der Woodson repeats herself with the clap of a hand, spinning on her heels to face a confused Cassandra. "I found a bracelet in my son's room after the party and when I asked him about it he said it belonged to the one. Unfortunately, that's all he would give me, you know teenagers." She huffs, sympathetically plopping her hand on Cassandra's shoulder. "Thankfully, I decided to look at the bracelet, because it had your family's name engraved inside of it. It must be Cameron or Campbell but he's too nervous to say!"
Though Cinder remains on the floor he has long since stopped working, fingers frozen around his needle as he listens to the wild woman's speech.
The bracelet. The engraved bracelet.
How could he forget that that bracelet was gifted to him when he was first adopted as a Tremaine? That he had thrown it into the farthest recess of his closet because it wasn't a bracelet, it was a collar and a slave chain. A band that solidified that he's Cassandra's property. A band that only he was given.
"Oh Cameron, Campbell you're here!" Mrs. van der Woodson claps excitedly, sprinting to the girls as fast as her stilettos will allow. "Now, which one of you had on a silver bracelet at the ball?"
His sister's may be annoying, but they aren't stupid.
There's no hesitation, the two girls glancing at one another before turning to Mrs. van der Woodson excitedly. "I was!" They both shout in unison, brown eyes big and smiles bigger as they lie through sparkling teeth.
"It matched perfectly with my dress, I definitely remember wearing a silver bracelet." Campbell smiles, head cocked as she rocks on her heels.
"No, Campbell, I think you're confused. I was the one with the silver bracelet, your bracelet was gold." Cameron lies, a wicked grin creeping across her features that will surely make her mother proud.
"No, Cameron, don't you remember? We switched bracelets before the ball! Cinder said the silver would look better with my dress, isn't that right Cinder?"
There's no avoiding the situation, his sisters bickering among each other as they both beg for his false statement. The singular lie that would make one of them Adam's wife. Just the thought of it makes him sick, stomach dropping as he releases the dress in his grip and looks towards his mother for guidance.
Yet the woman is paying him no mind, rather doting on her two daughters as she wraps her arms around them both. "Does it really matter which one it was? They're both wonderful Tremaine women I'm sure Adam would be happy with either."
Mrs. van der Woodson hesitates, eyes dancing from one girl to the next until she ultimately takes a step back. Calmly, she removes a cell phone from her yellow blazer, typing a few words before placing the item back into her jacket with a satisfactory pat. The woman doesn't speak as she crosses the room to the cream couch, taking a seat before patting the spot beside her.
"Cassandra, come sit." She demands. "Believe it or not I actually want my son to be happy and be with the correct girl. That's why I messaged my husband, they're on their way here now with the bracelet. Whoever the bracelet fits is obviously the correct sister."
Silence fills the studio before an explosion of clicking heels and clamoring girls, Cameron and Campbell rushing around the room in panic. From the sides of his eyes, Cinder can make out the girls grabbing at one another's wrists, pushing and pulling at the skin in a futile attempt to swell the bone to the width of their brother's.
Minutes drag into what feels like hours. Just the mindless drone of clattering and arguing in the background as Cinder stares into the floor.
Adam is on his way here. He's on his way here with the bracelet that only fits one Tremaine.
The knock on the door comes too soon, Cinder withdrawing into himself with the noise. Everything is a blur, the symphony of heels on wood, the thump of a fist against the door, the shrill click of nails on pure silver. He refuses to remove his eyes from his work, to acknowledge Adam and his father now standing in the living room alongside damning evidence.
"Here, sweetie, try it on Cameron."
Cinder can't help himself, eyes drawing themselves to the sparkling silver bracelet that slides onto Campbell's wrist. His stomach is in knots, a pain taking over him as the bracelet slides from her small bone and drops to the floor with a body shaking clank.
"My turn! I told you it was my bracelet!" Campbell shrieks, arm outstretched impatiently as Mrs. van der Woodson slips the silver band over her wrist.
The bracelet falls to the floor, dragging Cinder's stomach with it as he watches it rattle against the wood before coming to a still.
Mrs. van der Woodson picks the jewelry from the ground, holding the band to her face with confusion before turning to Cassandra. "Maybe it was the other one? Your niece might have borrowed it from her cous- hey!"
Adam snatches the bracelet from his mother's grip, a shockwave of silence overcoming the room as he walks towards the tree, towards Cinder. There's a determination in his eyes, an anger as he squats in front of the terrified boy and grabs at his wrist. Without hesitation, Adam slips the silver band on, holding up the shaking limb for all to see. For all to witness the perfect fit of the silver bracelet now chained to Cinder's wrist.
