Ella

Chapter 3.

Chapter 3

"Cinderella, my sheets need to be changed."

"I changed them yesterday!" I sighed. They'd been treating me as a maid for a month now. The kingdom was still in mourning so no new laws were made, and no criminals were sentenced. All law and all order seemed to be gone. My step mother wasn't around. She was off in the kingdom of Villareall until the mourning was over. It was custom for the queen to go there to sign papers, and get over her husband. She was to be there for a month and a half after his death. I'd been there once when Mother died, and Father was to go there, but he didn't want to be alone, and he didn't want me to be alone, so he brought me with.

While at home, Sariya and Sapphire were treating me as if I was the only maid in the entire castle. While I often had help from the other servants, the two of them kept all of us busier than ever.

My hands were turning calloused and dry. I probably became stronger and I learned many ways of cleaning up after people. I knew I had never been this mean to the servants. When I was young, and when I was still a princess, I'd always tried to clean up after myself. The way my stepsisters were treating me was no way that a princess would be treated, so they'd pretty much robbed me of my title as Princess Ella from the kingdom of Kucera.

I didn't realize how lucky I was though, being their servant until Rosalind returned from Villareall.

***

She sent me to the dungeon. Again. She'd returned to a bunch of laws to make, laws to sign, and criminals in the dungeon to deal with. Max, the cell guard dog sat outside my cell all the time. He would steal scraps of food for me to eat, all of which weren't eatable. Once he brought me a mouse. I gagged and he ran away with it, seeing how it somehow had harmed me to look at it.

Finally after three weeks in the dungeon, Rosalind revealed my punishment to the kingdom.

Banishment.

I was banned from the kingdom of Kucera, and this time, my father wasn't here to defend me.

Rosalind gave me no time to pack at all. She kicked me, literally, kicked me, out of the castle telling me that her daughters deserved to be prettier than me and my father deserved to die, and thank goodness he did, because now she could be queen. There was no procession, just me being walked by a guard, loyal to Rosalind, to the border. Erica saw me and her eyes widened and she gasped, her face awestruck.

"Ella!" She cried.

"Take care of Molly!" Was all I yelled back. Then I turned away, ashamed. Ashamed that I'd let them take me away. Ashamed that I could no longer do anything to overpower evil Rosalind and her evil daughters. Ashamed that I was a princess being kicked out of her own kingdom.

***

I ripped away fabric from the inside of my skirt, making it easier to get around in the woods.

I felt so alone. I wandered around aimlessly for two days with hardly anything to eat but berries, then I decided I'd better go into a new kingdom and find a job or something. Because now, this was my life. I was banished from Kucera.

I arrived in the kingdom of Makris the next morning. My legs hurt, my hair was a mess and I really needed to take a shower.

I went to a community well and lowered in the public bucket then gulped down a ton of water.

"Umm... excuse me?" A girl's voice said.

I looked up from the bucket to where a village girl stood waiting with a bucket. "Have I seen you here before?" She asked.

I swallowed, then set the bucket down on the side of the well. "No. Sorry for being rude... I didn't know you were here." I said motioning towards the bucket.

"No problem." She said a little surprised by my apology.

Inwardly I groaned. She wouldn't accept me as the banned princess. I had to drop the princess act. Can't be super polite.

"My name is Kaia. What's your name? And where are you from?"

"I'm..." I paused. I couldn't be Ella anymore. I had to be... "Indie." I decided. It was just a quick idea from the nickname Sariya and Sapphire had given me. Cinderella. Indie. It was better than Cindy. Indie made me sound... somehow strong. Like nothing in the world was wrong.

"Where are you from? Kucera?" Asked Kaia.

"No." I answered immediately. I had to leave my entire past behind, though the memories still haunted me. "I'm from far away... a kingdom called Cavalli."

"If you don't mind my asking, what brings you to Makris?"

"Nothing. I needed to get away." I answered.

"Ahh." Kaia said. "I understand."

"You do?" I asked, curious.

"Well, sorta. I'm adopted. I was adopted when I was eleven and here I am, working for them. Sorta like a daughter... I have my own room and stuff, but also a slave."

I nodded. "I'm sorry."

Kaia sat down on a log. "What's your story?" She asked.

"Oh, um, I don't really want to talk about it right now." I pushed my hair behind my ear, and Kaia squinted at me.

"Your name isn't Indie, is it?" She whispered.

I looked at her eyes, I read that deep down, she thought she knew who I was.

"What do you mean? No, it's not Indie. But my name isn't for you to know."

"Really? Because you're afraid I'd tell King Derrick you're here and he'd kick you so far out of this kingdom that you'd never find your way back even if you tried, right Ella?"

"Who's Ella?" I asked, my voice hollow.

"Seriously, Princess you can't go running around Makris with that dress, even if all the color is gone and it's now dirt. I mean! Look at my clothing! Let me bring you something to wear, Indie, and then I can bring you to my parents and then you and I can work together!" Kaia said.

"No. I can't go with you. I don't want work anyway. I can manage on my own." I stood up from the log. Who did she think she was? Just barging in and giving me work! I was a princess! Or... well... I was.

"Please Indie? At least let me give you a dress, and then we can run away from here. I'll go with you." Kaia said. That was more agreeable, but did I really want her along? She knew who I was, so she could at any point along our escape turn me in, probably for loads of cash. I did appreciate though, the fact that she was calling me my undercover name.

"Fine." I answered. "Could I also take a shower with that offer too?" I asked carefully.

"Of course!" Kaia grinned. When she smiled it made her look really pretty. Kaia's short red hair shone in the sunlight as she walked towards her home into the village. "Be back soon!"

I turned and sat back down on the log. Then I started to laugh and cry and my emotions were so messed up just then that it was probably bad.

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Chapter 4 is almost done!  Please comment on this chapter on things I can do better on, or how I might be able to make this story of Ella better.