Cinderella: There's No Happy Ending

The Letter

Throwing open the door, Alice immediately strips out of her work dress and begins running around the room grabbing what she needs. Ella tries to help but Alice shoos her away, telling her to write a letter to Kit and that she will deliver it to him tonight. Slipping her corset on, Alice reaches around and pulls it as tight as she can with the angle she has. Ella comes behind her and quickly tightens it more before she ties off the ends and goes to write her letter.

Immensely glad that she made the dress without buttons, Alice slips it on over her head and pulls the satin strings gently. The dress is a deep purple satin with a fitted torso and wide ball gown skirt. Most of the skirt is made of lightly tinted Toole, eliminating the need for a dress cage. A separate layer on top of the skirt is made of more satin, adding elegance to the dress that would have otherwise been missing. The skirt had multiple tiny gems sewn into it, just enough to catch the eye without appearing overdone. They were sewn into the shapes of stars and littered the waist and bust of the dress as well. Alice pulled on a small cover she had made as well to help cover her shoulders and grabbed a small bag of the same material.

The bag was filled with small cuts of cloth, a quill, ink, and a few scraps of paper. When she collected the seeds and bulbs, Alice would tie them in the cloth along with the soil they were growing in. She would take record of how wet the soil was, the plant's placement in the ground, and whether they were to receive full or partial sunlight. Running to grab her best pair of shoes, Alice took the note from Ella and hid it in a small pocket in her shoulder cover. Grabbing a handful of pins, Alice began attempting to tame her curly hair into a nice up do as she ran down the stairs. "Ella, what does the letter say? I won't hand him something that's going to insult him." Ella giggled and shook her head as she trailed behind Alice, adding more pins to her friend's hair.

"It's simply a letter explaining how I feel about him and who I really am. I was never able to give him my name; I was too upset when he asked me."

Alice nodded, earning a short scold from Ella, before they reached the bottom of the stairs. Lady Tremaine and her daughters were waiting for the carriage outside and turned around the moment Alice stepped outside. Lady Tremaine looked the young woman up and down before turning and facing her daughters. Anastasia immediately agreed to Alice going and after comparing dresses with Alice, Drisella agreed as well.

They all step into the carriage, Alice helping to set their skirts right so they could get out easily. Lady Tremaine tells the driver to go and the carriage begins a brisk pace toward the castle. Turning to Alice, Lady Tremaine looked the girl over again before clicking her tongue and taking out the many pins in Alice's hair.

"Your hair is a mess Alice. I'll not allow you to be seen like this, especially not when your hair could be so pretty." Stunned into silence, Alice sat as still as possible and allowed the Lady to re-pin her hair. The result ended up in a much better look with a couple loose tendrils allowed to hang down and frame her face. Thanking her softly, Alice looked at the three women who were in the carriage with her. They were cruel, vain, and easily jealous but they still knew how to love. Selective though it may be, their love was still something to be cherished and Alice sincerely hoped Anastasia and Drisella would find and marry men that made them happy.

Moments later, they arrived at the castle and a look of hunger covered Lady Tremaine's face. One of her daughters must snag the Prince; it would be the prize to beat all prizes. Anastasia and Drisella stared at the palace with wonder and Alice was craning her neck to try to catch a glimpse of the gardens. Once the carriage came to a stop Lady Tremaine exited first, followed by her daughters and finally Alice. There were so many people there, mostly young women accompanied by their parents or a male escort.

Walking just behind Lady Tremaine, Alice began telling her the different types of gossip she had heard about the other ladies of the land. This one slept scandalously without clothing, another never slept alone though her mother tried to have the world believe she was still pure, a woman from town had made a habit of sleeping with married men, and another was rumored to have been kicked out of a Holy House. Soaking up the gossip, Lady Tremaine stored it all up to use as possible ammunition for later. Every girl here would be attempting to steal the Prince's hand and they would try to project only the best things about themselves.

Drisella complained softly about the number of steps but was silenced when she noticed Alice wasn't even struggling. If a servant could handle this many steps, then so could she. Once they were inside the palace, as promised Alice slipped away from the group without being noticed. At least that is what she hoped. What she didn't notice was one of the guards from the forest watching her. He saw her slip away and instead of giving chase, he turned and made his way to the Captain. This girl had captured the man's attention and everyone knew the Captain would be delighted to see her again.