Ever After: A Cinderello Story

Ever After: Part II - 1512 -

The location of Catalonia, as well as its walls made it invincible from the outside. However, it was now being breached from within. The tall figure made her way cautiously down the tower wall, refusing to glance at the far-away ground below her. She would not fall; his life depended upon the success of this escape. The rope she had made from sheets was fairly thick and she prayed that it would not give way until he was within safe distance of the ground. He stiffened as he heard loud voices from within.
"I signed the marriage treaty with the King of Spain and, by God, that girl will obey me or there will be hell to pay!"
"But she does not love him, my lord." That was her father and she silently thanked him for her spirited defense against her implacable mother. She had often commented that she inherited her own stubbornness from her mother, but she always chose to remind her that he was certainly not that bad.
"It's not about love."
"Well, perhaps it should be!" She certainly had far more sense than his father did. He knew him far better, to say the least.
"If she is to be queen, he must accept her responsibilities." She sighed and made his way down the wall, finally reaching the bottom as her father's voice floated down to her.

"The sapling cannot grow in the shade of the great oak, Francisca, he needs sunlight."
"She needs a good whipping! "They were probably in her room by now. That was her thought as she rode away from Catalonia.
Queen Francisca entered her daughter's room, furious at being woken up. "Henriqua!" It was then, that both she and King Mario noticed the rope tied to their daughter's bed and dangling out the window. He sighed.
"Oh, no. Not again."

Not too far from Catalonia, a rooster crowed. The light shined in through the scullery window and onto the young boy that slept by the fire. It turned his brown hair golden and reflected off the embossed letters on the book he read, an old, worn copy of Thomas More's Utopia. His eyes fluttered for a moment, then opened slowly. Daniel sighed as he rolled over and got up, stretching his arms. Another long day lay ahead of him, filled with chopping wood, feeding animals and watering the manor's once-fruitful gardens. Now, they lay withering since he was the only one who could care for them. Most of the servants had left, leaving him all alone to care for the entire manor. All he wanted was to peacefully bring it back to its former glory, but with his stepfather and stepbrothers, that would be impossible.

Daniel carried the buckets of apple cores out to the pigs, the first thing. He knew his stepfather and stepbrothers were easily still asleep by this time, but he was not allowed that luxury, since, according to them, she was no better than a servant. He threw the cores to the pigs and hurried off to pick more apples from the orchard. At least, that was one part of the manor that remained remotely fruitful, the apple trees filled with the red fruit. It was while he was picking apples that the royal guard rode by fast, as though searching for something or someone. Daniel was a little surprised, but not astonished. All of a sudden, he heard hoof beats from another direction. His mother's white horse was galloping toward a nearby field. On her back was a figure wearing a dark red cloak, whose face he could not see. His eyes narrowed.

"Oh, no you don't." He held the apples in his apron as he climbed the stairs to the field. The horsewoman rode toward him and he started pelting her with apples and angry words. "Thief! Who are you to steal my mother's horse?"
"My own has thrown her shoe; I had no choice!" He heard her voice, muffled, but he didn't care.
"And our choice is what? To let you?"
"I was just borrowing the horse!" He continued hitting her. "Wait! Ouch!"
Her cloak fell back from her face and Daniel's heart stopped. That face was one she had seen many times before, whether it was in parade or waving from Catalonia . . .
He fell to his knees in terror. "Forgive me, your Highness, I did not see you!"
His face was red and he was glad he could not see it. His thought before he realized who she was made him blush all the harder; he had been thinking how beautiful this woman was. High, chiseled features, long flowing turquoise hair and lavender eyes that he just couldn't ignore at that moment. She sighed. "Your aim would suggest otherwise."
"And for that, I know I must die!" He was panicked now and could not think Henriqua, for that was his name, realized a way to use this situation to his advantage.