A Cinderella Story | Dream x oc

Chapter 4

(this is gonna be short, but pretty important)

Dream POV

I missed her. I'd found her note, and hadn't talked to anyone for weeks. It was her birthday today, and I finally came up with an idea. I asked my brothers, and they agreed to help. Artemis was the only one besides them and our parents to have seen my face, so I would go from door to door in the kingdom, as she'd told me they wouldn't be leaving the kingdom. I would announce a competition for queen. The woman who could answer the questions from an advisor we sent to their house, would become queen. I began today.

Timeskip one year. Artemis' Stepmother has gotten worse, and they live far away from the palace. Clay's been searching for her the whole time.

Artemis POV

"An advisor from the castle is coming today, hurry up Artemis." Annabella snapped at me. In the year since we'd moved, she'd gotten worse and worse.

"Of course, Ma'am." I now had to call all of them those awful, flowery names.

"Now, rat, once he gets here, you will bring us out some tea, then curtsy and go back into the kitchen. You will only come back in if we call you, and we will only refer to you as 'maid'." Stepmother said, "You will never once take your eyes off of the floor, and you will not make any noise."

"Understood."

"Mother, the rat didn't address you correctly," Annalbella pointed out, a wicked grin on her face. I flinched as I realized my mistake.

"Indeed, daughter. Good of you to point it out. Get the whip. Rat, take off your shirt and lay down." She said. We both rushed to comply. I laid down on the cold, stone floor, only the flexible band around my chest remaining. A loud crack sounded, and a flash of pain. Something wet dripped down my back for a moment, then stopped. I bit my lip to keep from screaming. She'd whipped me before, and kaline was always added to the whip to make it scar. It didn't work so quickly that it prevented pain. The whip was crafted to slice through skin and muscle, and the kaline only healed the skin. The next slice landed right on a previous scar, slicing it back open. I couldn't hold back my scream this time. By the time she was done, I had ten new scars on my back, and a few that hadn't closed due to there not being enough kaline left on the whip. I was panting, almost blacking out from the pain, but I refused to give her the satisfaction. I lay there, voice nothing more than a small rasp from screaming. I wasn't strong enough to fight back, last time I tried they withheld most of my food. I no longer had enough energy to do anything other than what they wanted. I stood, knowing they'd only turn me on my shredded back and drag me out, ripping open what little parts of my back scabbed over, if I didn't get up fast enough. I curtsied, shaking, and left, grabbing my shirt on the way to my attic bedroom. I picked up the low quality bandages they provided me with, if only so their little toy didn't bleed out and ruin their fun. I bandaged my back, knowing the bloody slices would most likely get infected. My skin was still pale and fair, but my once purely raven hair now had a long streak of silver, most likely from stress.

"Hurry up, you useless rat!" Annabella banged on my door. I quickly put my shirt back on and hurried to the kitchen. I found a maid dress there, with a high collar to disguise the scars that remained on my neck. I changed, wincing as one of my bandages snagged on the scratchy fabric. I heard the front door open as I picked up the teapot, placing it on the tray.

"Maid, where is our tea?" Evalin's voice rang out. We had grown apart, but we still loved each other. She was the one who snuck me medicine to prevent infections after my whippings. I finished setting the tray, and hurried out to the living area, so focused on keeping the tray balanced in my shaking hands, I didn't even notice when I tripped over someone's foot, crashing into them. I quickly untangled myself before whispering apologetically to them. I looked up to see who I'd run into, and saw something that made me drop the teapot again, spilling the boiling water on my shoes. The heat was easily ignored as I silently stared into the man's eyes. They were just as I remembered. He looked at me for a moment, confusion clouding his gaze, but all I could focus on was his eyes.

Oh, how I'd missed those ever-changing eyes.