Cinderella: There's No Happy Ending

Ceremony

"..if she be willing, he will forthwith, marry her with all due ceremony." The royal crier finished reading his message then rolled up the paper and walked away. The people of town were talking excitedly and Ella was secretly smiling to herself. Fetching her horse, she left Anastasia and Drisella by themselves and raced back home to tell Alice. Rushing around the house, she couldn't find any sign of the woman and decided that Alice must have gone upstairs to the attic. Rushing inside and dropping to her knees, Ella pulled up the floorboards then went to grab her glass slipper. Only to find it missing. Alice wouldn't take it, would she?

"Are you looking for this?" Ella looked up to find Lady Tremaine sitting in the shadows with Alice kneeling beside her, long dark hair hiding her face. "There must be quite a story go with it, won't you tell me? Alice certainly wasn't willing to give me any details." Once her name was called the poor servant girl looked up at her friend with sad eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks. However, what really caught Ella's attention were the dark bruises and cuts covering Alice's face. Lady Tremaine had obviously gotten rough when questioning Alice and slapped her when she wouldn't answer, the many rings Lady Tremaine wore leaving their marks on Ella's best friend.

Lady Tremaine continued talking but Ella was only half listening, staring at Alice with horror and anger in her eyes. Lady Tremaine had wanted to know how Ella had gotten the slipper and instead of instantly giving Ella away, Alice had taken a beating and still kept her silence. Well Ella wasn't going to let Alice's loyalty be for nothing.

"My story would appear to be ended. Now, tell me yours. Did you steal it?" Lady Tremaine's voice was suspicious and angry at the same time. Ella shook her head quickly and said that it was given to her. "Given to you? Given to you? Nothing is ever given, for everything you must pay, pay." Again Ella shook her head, telling her stepmother that kindness and love were free. Her opinions were again shot down and Lady Tremaine stood up and began walking toward Ella, tossing the glass shoe between her hands.

"Now, here is how you will pay me, if you are to have what you desire." Alice fell forward as she reached out toward Ella, shaking her head no frantically but she seemed to be unable to speak. "No one will believe you, a dirty servant girl without a family if you lay claim to the Prince's heart. But with a respectable gentle woman to put you forward, you will not be ignored. When you are married you will make me the head of the royal household, Anastasia and Drisella we will pair off with wealthy lords and I shall manage that boy." While she was speaking, Alice had managed to stand up and stumbled over to Ella who held her friend to keep her from falling over. At Lady Tremaine's words however, Ella turned around and frowned at the woman.

"But he's not a boy!" Her voice was angry but Lady Tremaine paid it no mind and ridiculed Ella further, asking how she would manage a kingdom. Once she said it would be better to leave it to her, Alice tugged hard at Ella's dress and shook her head viciously. Nodding, Ella straightened her spine and stomped her foot a bit. Lady Tremaine turned around at the noise and stared hard at Ella.

"I was not able to protect my father or Alice from you, but I will protect the Prince and the kingdom, no matter what becomes of me." At her words, Lady Tremaine told Ella that was a mistake as she smashed the slipper against the wall and shattered it. They had another bout of words but Alice couldn't stand up any longer to listen to it. She sat against the wall and slid down until she sat on the floor. Her head was pounding and she thought she might vomit at any moment.

"No! No!" Ella screamed as the door was locked and pulled at it in vain but it was closed tightly and wouldn't be opening any time soon. Once she turned around, Ella immediately ran over to Alice and held her friend's face between her hands. There were quite a few bruises and it looked like even more would bloom over the next few days. Luckily the cuts were shallow and didn't look like they would scar but, like all head wounds, they were bleeding profusely. Ella tugged at her skirt to try to make small bandages but the material was too strong. Suddenly Alice ripped a large part of her own skirt off and began tearing it into small strips.

"You've always been terrible at doing the heavy lifting Ella." Alice giggled but Ella looked horrified at the sound of her friend's voice. It was scratchy and she sounded as if she had swallowed glass. Alice simply shrugged and began explaining what happened while Ella dabbed at her face.

"I was going to fix those dresses, like I told you. When I passed the staircase I heard some stomping around so I came to check it out. Lady Tremaine was up here and she had found the slipper. She confronted me about it and if I knew anything about where you had gotten it. I told her it was given to you and she demanded I give her more information. I refused and she got angry. I suppose she thought that she could slap it out of me. Either way, it didn't work so she eventually gave up. We sat on that side of the room for only a few minutes when we heard you running through the house. Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a herd of cattle when you get excited and run around?" Ella scoffed playfully and rolled her eyes but secretly she was thankful that Alice was feeling well enough to make jokes and sarcastic remarks.

Ella apologized over and over to her friend but Alice wouldn't have any of it. Both girls knew that Alice had just as much to do with this as Ella did. Lady Tremaine would have locked them both up when she had found out even if Alice had told her everything. With the King's proclamation of marriage, Alice would have run to the palace immediately and told Kit where Ella was being hidden. Now they were both stuck in this tower for an indeterminable amount of time and all they could do to wait. Wait to see if Ella's prince was going to be a knight in shining armor or simply a fool who would allow himself to be lead blindly.