The Next Cinderella

Chapter 7--Royal Bachelor Auditions

Cinderella worked so hard while her evil stepsisters bullied her.

Cinderella's wicked stepmother never let her out of the house.

Cinderella languished in poverty while they fed off her father's fortune.

But despite it all...Cinderella found a way to win Prince Charming's heart.

Such was the grandiose tale all the kingdoms had been fed, but if Fairy Godmother's powers were a made-up detail for the purpose of selling books, how much of the rest of it was made up too?

For the bright-eyed girls of the Enraptured Kingdom, none of it seemed to matter, because yesterday they'd been drinking flavored water posing as stew, and today they had a chance to become the prince's bride.

After the announcement the citizens returned to the center of the square, and a scene of juvenile chaos was soon underway.

Girls were spinning around like psychos high on bath salts, all for the chance to change their lives with a royal marriage. Trying to contain them was no small task, so the knights were forced to corral them like unruly cattle. For most of these knights, their daydreams had comprised of: conquering foreign lands, leading men into battle and earning the respect of the kingdom. These noble dreams had certainly not included separating crazy-eyed peasant girls from the rogue under-agers who were trying to sneak in.

A knight spotted a ten-year-old girl and dragged her out of the queue.

"But the prince and I can go on pony rides in the valley!" she whined. He nodded dismissively and led her away.

As Rose watched the scene unfold she pulled Myrielle aside. "Should we go?"

Myrielle stared at her mother like she was speaking another language. "Go? Go where? We have to stay here and you need to help me."

Rose was at a loss. "Help you with what?"

Myrielle gestured to her food-packed skirt. "Have you forgotten what's underneath here?" she whispered. "I can't very well become the next Cinderella with ten pounds of food up my dress!"

Rose slowly realized. "So you're entering the competition..." She made no effort to hide her look of concern.

Myrielle avoided her mother's gaze. "Entering the contest is the best thing for the family," she declared. "Just think of how our lives would change if I became a royal...you and father would never have to worry again!" Her eyes glistened as the fantasy expanded. "And maybe once I'm officially a princess...I can get them to re-open the academy..."

Rose was struggling to believe in her daughter's vision. "I admit it's a nice idea, but the competition will be very stiff."

Myrielle nodded as she sized up the other girls. She knew she wasn't the prettiest of the bunch, at least not in terms of the idealized "sultry milkmaid" look. But was that the only thing that mattered? She also knew she wasn't the youngest, with her twentieth birthday around the corner and death by a random fever all but certain in the next twenty years. But wasn't age just a number anyway? It clearly wasn't, and beauty was indeed the most important thing, which was exactly what the tiny voice inside her kept repeating. The voice's tiny vocal chords also decided to let her know that a 'marriage via contest' was a sham. It made her think of all those nights falling asleep against the backdrop of loneliness; what were the odds of a marriage contest filling that void?

Myrielle had no answers to the logical inner voice, but luckily it was weak enough to muzzle in the quest for victory.

As Myrielle readied to enter this uncharted competition, Rose could only helplessly watch. "I'm afraid you'll encounter unkindness along the way."