A Cinderella Story

Chapter 6

Lucy snarled quietly as a thorn pricked her finger. She withdrew her hand from the rose brush, licking the bead of bright red blood off the side of her finger. She was currently in Magnolia Forest, the largest in Magnolia. Her stepmother had decided that she wanted freshly picked roses, not bought ones, so Lucy was sent to pick some in the forest. Her wicker basket lay to her side, almost filled with the beautiful red flowers.

Lucy continued to cut the long green stems and lay them gently in her basket. For once, there was something else on her mind besides chores, shopping, books and Natsu. They got a letter from the Royal Messenger this morning. In honour of the Prince's 20th birthday tomorrow, a ball was beginning held in the Fairy Tail Castle tonight and all the eligible maidens in the kingdom were to attend. That meant Lucy could go. Of course, her stepmother would NEVER let her go. Lucy asked anyway.

She couldn't miss out on this opportunity. She couldn't care less about the Prince. Natsu was far better than any stuck up prince. But she would love to see what the inside of the castle looked like. It was said to be incredible. And she had never been to a ball before. If Natsu was there then maybe she could dance with him. That would be nice... So she asked her stepmother, as by all rights she was an eligible maiden, so she could go. Surprisingly, instead of just taunting her, her stepmother told her she could go if she finished her chores, and if she found a decent dress to wear. Lucy was working on it.

Once she had enough roses, Lucy started to make her way back home. She whistled loudly, happily skipping along as the birds chattered in the trees. Suddenly she heard a branch crack loudly to her left. Her head whipped around. She carefully looked around the trees but she couldn't see anyone. She turned back around and started walking when someone grabbed her arm and dragged her harshly backwards. She tried to shout out but a rough masculine hand clamped firmly over her mouth.

Her back was shoved up against the hard bark of a tree. The basket of roses flew from her hand and tumbled to the ground. Lucy's heart raced with fear. She looked up at her captor. It was a large man with huge broad shoulders, thick muscular arms and legs. His face was dirty and his brown hair was unkempt and messy. His eyes were dark and he had a crooked nose with cracked lips, matching his cracked yellow teeth. He was wearing ripped black shirt, ripped back trousers and scruffy black boots. A short sword was sheathed in a black leather scabbard at his waist.

His vile breath puffed in his face and she grimaced. He leered at her. "What have we here..." he said. "Does little princess want to play?" he asked, his hand trailing up her arm to caress her cheek sickeningly. "Get your filthy hands off me" Lucy snarled viciously at him. He grabbed both her wrists and harshly pinned them above her head with one hand. "Tut tut" he said. "I should punish you for that". He slowly trailed his fingers up her bare leg, and up her thigh under her dress.

Lucy hissed in outrage. How dare that filthy bastard touch her like that! She started to squirm, trying to get her hands free before he could do anything else. If she could just free one hand then she could reach her keys and teach this sicko a lesson. Keys you ask? Well, Lucy is a mage. A celestial spirit mage to be exact. (Ha! You didn't think I would make her a mage, did you?)

Her keys were gate keys that opened gates to celestial spirits that came and helped her when she needed help. Her keys were kept in a brown leather case that she kept strapped to her upper thigh. She only took them off when she was having a bath. They were always covered by her dresses, but Lucy had cut out a small hole in every dress she owned right above the keys. She had sewn a flap of fabric above the hole, so no one would see it. That meant she just had to reach under the flap and she could reach through the hole and easily get her keys. Unless she couldn't use her hands of course.

Lucy was furiously wriggling to get a hand free. The man started to move towards her face, grinning. Oh god was he going to kiss her? Hell no! She was NOT going to lose her first kiss to this brute! That was for Natsu! Lucy twisted her face away and pressed her lips tightly together. Then a loud voice called out "LET. HER. GO."