Don't Call Me Cinderella

Chapter One: The Lord

Ella awkwardly sat between two men on the way to the Lord's manor. No one talked throughout the ride, but the messenger did hum a tune that Ella could remember from her childhood.

Ella quietly sang along to his hum until he stopped, apologizing. "I'm sorry. I forget whose company I'm in sometimes." Ella shook her head with a frown. 

"It's fine, that's my favorite lullaby after all."

The messenger looked at her before cracking the whip, motivating the horses to go faster. "I can't promise that the Lord will speak with you, but he'll get to you in due time." She nodded her head in understanding before turning her head and watching the trees go by.

"It'll be nice to be back in my childhood home." Nothing else needed to be said. The two men sitting on either side of her wouldn't remember when her father was the Lord, but the messenger was most certainly old enough and showed signs that he knew exactly who she was.

Or who she used to be.

Yes, Ella was once the most powerful little girl for miles and miles around, until her mother died and her father remarried. Her mother died when she was six, but her father remarried when she was eight, sadly joining his first wife after another two years.

It seemed that every two years something bad happened to poor little Ella. When she was twelve her step-mother had the family moved so the new Lord and his family could move in. When she was fourteen the servents were being dismissed one after another. When she turned sixteen she was forced into servitude.

When she turned eighteen, all of the gratefulness that her family showed her vanished. The taunting and torture started. Now she's twenty, but she's not sure if this is the bad thing to happen or not.

"We've arrived." Ella looked up as the grand home came into view from the front gates. She couldn't help but study her childhood home as it came closer and closer; it almost looked the same.

One man stepped down before her, helping her down himself, followed by the other. Before she could thank them they wandered off into the home, leaving her with the messenger. "My name's Eugene. Remember that if you ever need anything."

She nodded and followed after him with her bag in hand. "This way milady." He led her inside and through the halls, talking about nonsense that even she didn't care about.

"Wait here." She didn't even notice that he stopped in front of a large set of french doors. She nodded timidly, allowing him to knock. 

"Who is it?" She wasn't expecting a young man's voice to echo from inside.

Last she could recall the man they replaced her Father was the same age, there was no possible way for the voice to sound so young. "It's Eugene, sir."

There was a pause, followed by a sigh from inside. "Enter." Eugene looked back at her and nodded. 

"Come on in." Ella scurried in behind him, scared to death about what may happen.

The doors shut after they entered. Honestly, that was the scariest thing that could happen to her. "Who's this?" The man at the desk didn't even lift his eyes from what he was writing. 

"This is Lady-"

"Lady? Why on earth did you bring someone of title in to meet me like this?" He looked up with angry eyes, not even bothering to look at Ella. Eugene was lost for words, unable to come up with any solid reasoning.

"I chose not to be recognized by my title." It was then that his eyes shifted to Ella, who could barely breathe in the tense atmosphere. 

"Do I know you?" She shook her head and glanced down.

"No, I do not believe that we've ever had the pleasure of meeting." She curtsied slightly and bowed her head, not bothering to meet his eyes again. 

"Then why to pray to tell, do you look so familiar?" Ella silently sighed and bit her lip, not sure how he'd react to her telling the truth.  Her eyes skittishly glanced up at him briefly before falling back to the floor in front of her.

"My father was the previous Lord before your family took over." There was a pause from all parties present, all were unsure about what to say.

"Scarlet, Violet, or Amber?" She shook her head. 

"Not his step-daughters, I'm Ella, his biological daughter." She listened as the man stood and walked around the desk. 

"Ella." He seemed to be testing out her name, evening humming in acknowledgment afterward. "Well then Lady Ella, I assume you're here on business." 

Ella finally looked up to meet his intimidating figure. He was tall, with dark hair and eyes that matched the shadow that loomed over her. "Yes, well, my step-family is in debt so I came to"

"Pay it off. Yes, yes, I know that. I didn't ask for the background information. Why are you here?" She was most certainly intimidated enough, now she was mortified thinking that she did something wrong. 

"I-I was sent to... to work off the debt." To the two men, she was the equivalent to a mouse stuck in a crate with a lion; helpless and frightened.

The Lord hummed in thought before nodding his head. "If you wish to work it off then so be it." He walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a paper. She couldn't hear everything that he was saying, but she could pick up enough to know that he was calculating something.

"They make... times 365... the debt is... divide... You'll be working here as a maid for ten years." Ella couldn't help but swallow in fear. How much did they spend!

"This, of course, may change over time depending on how well you work and the economy. Good day." Eugene led the frozen stiff Ella out of the room and into the hallway. 

"That's great! You got the job!"

She nodded slightly and looked off in the distance. "What have they been spending money on? Ten years? What will I do for ten years of my life? I'm twenty, these next ten years are-"

"You'll figure it out. I promise that everything will be okay." Ella turned her gaze to the older man beside her. He reminded her so much of her father in so many ways, from his kind smile to his calming demeanor.

"If I ever need anything-"

"You can come to me."