Knighterella

Chapter Six

"Cinderella, wake up!" I groan, rolling over and pulling my pillow over my head. "Cinderella!" I sit up, looking at my step-mother, Iris, and step-sisters, Scarlet and Jennifer. They're dressed in work clothes and their hair pinned up. "Come on, it's time for you to get scrubbed down until your polished." Iris says.

"Hurry or the water will be cold." Jennifer says, and I see the tub filled with steaming hot water. "Hurry up Cinderella." I sigh, and get off the bed and walk to the tube. I shed my clothes and slip in the hot bath. "Good, now let's scrub."

Jennifer takes my right arm, Scarlet my left, and they start scrubbing with the sponge. They scrub untl my skin is pink and throbbing, then start to file and clean under my nails and my hands. When they're done, I look at my hand and fingers, eyes wide when I see how clean they are. Iris washes my hair, lathering and rinsing it until all the sweat and dirt is all gone. Scarlet pulls my left leg out and Jennifer pulls my right leg out, then they scrub my legs until they're pink and throbbing as well. I close my eyes, not used to the pampering. Scarlet fetches a maid, and the maid starts to work on my feet, trying to make them soft and work on my toenails while they make me sit up and scrub my back. Iris helps the maid wax my legs, and I keep a scream in my throat as they pull it off. They make me stand up as they start to scrub and wax my body. I stay still and quiet as they do this. When they're done, I look down at my naked body to see it's all pink and hairless. I look at them as they pull on my arms and make me stand up out of the tub and dry me off. They give me a pair of knickers, and I slip them on to find they're made of silk.

"Okay, now it's time for the dress." Iris says. "Close your eyes Cinderella." I nod and close my eyes. I hear the rustle of the skirts, then hands lifting my arms up as they slip my petticoat on. It's soft and clings to my body. I run my hands over it to smooth it, not used to wearing a petticoat since I was wearing boys' clothes since I moved here. Next I feel them wrap the corset around my torso, tightening it until I'm small but can still breathe. "Okay Cinderella, lift your arms up and get ready to step into the dress when I say so you don't ruin it."

"Mother, why don't we just lift her leg so she doesn't step on the dress?" Scarlet asks.

"Good idea, Scarlet. You can lift her legs into the dress." I hear Scarlet sigh, but feel her hand on my leg. "Okay, now lift her right leg." My right leg gets lifted up and I feel some fabric scratch my skin slightly. "Left leg."

The same with my left. I feel them lift the dress up to my waist, then up my torso. Then they slip on my sleeves: my right sleeve goes up on my shoulder, then goes down to the crook of my elbow; my left sleeve hangs off of my shoulder and goes down to the crook of my elbow. The torso hugs my body, and I run my hand along the front to feel fringes that lead to a soft silk. The fabric above my belly is different, a little more rough with ribbon criss crossing. I touch the skirt then, it's soft too and very puffy. I touch the sleeves to find that the top of the sleeve is thicker and soft while the arms of the sleeves are thin and feel like they have an embrodiry on it. I feel the neckline then, it's not to low but not to high. It's a U shapped, not a V. It also has a fringe on it. They make me sit, Iris demanding me to sit like a lady, so I do. They start to do my hair, I feel them pulling and twisting it. I keep my eyes closed. When they're done with my hair, they start on my make up, something I've never worn before.

"Oh! What are these?" I hear Jennifer exclaim. I open my eyes and see she's found the braclet Adam got me, and the necklace I found last night. "Where did you get these?"

"They were birthday presents." I say simply.

"You have to wear them! They'll match wonderfully!" She comes over and slips the braclet on my wrist, then puts the necklace on me. "Are you going to look in the mirror? Your actually quite beautiful!"