The Next Cinderella

Chapter 11--Far From Home

Twelve curious girls in a special transport made their way up the curving hill towards the castle. They were making the journey in a rickety wagon pulled along by anorexic-looking horses. It would hardly be considered the royal treatment, but the dirty peasant girls were a far cry from being princess candidates worthy of a carriage.

The wagon made its last unsteady turn towards the castle gate, and as the barrier slowly opened, the scene was unlike anything the girls had ever experienced.

The broad stone walkways were accented by fruit trees, rosebushes, too many fountains to count, and a multitude of semi-naked sculptures. It was excess upon excess and frankly a bit tacky, but for a king who was a terrible binge-eater and a queen who loved to drape herself in gold, the flashy decor symbolized the royals to a tee.

Most of the girls were struck by their fancy surroundings, but Myrielle could only focus on the mental math of what it would've cost to have these sculptures commissioned, and the irrigation required to keep every fountain flowing. It all just seemed so wasteful, especially when the peasants relied on water from a single well. It was times like these that Myrielle almost wished she hadn't studied mathematics or kingdom planning, as it was evident from the other girls' gaping smiles that ignorance was bliss.

The golden doors of the main castle entrance were close enough to see in detail now, and the bombshell Bella had one foot out the wagon to make sure she'd get there first.

But the wagon rolled on.

Past the golden doors...past the sprawling castle façade...and even past the far less glamorous residence of the noblemen. These anorexic horses had something else in mind, as the wagon rolled along towards the dark and looming tower up the hill...

***

Inside the castle--in the prince's lavatory equipped with the finest medieval plumbing of the time--Fredrick and the prince were busy with his crucial weekly hair treatment. The prince sat comfortably with his head tipped backwards into a marble washbasin, happily ogling his erotic drawings while Fredrick rinsed the castor oil out of his hair. Fredrick seemed to struggle with the filmy layer of oil, so he did what any hair-treatment person would do; he scrubbed harder.

"Too rough!" cried the prince, cringing in pain like the little baby boy bitch that he was.

Fredrick rolled his eyes safely out of the prince's view. "If I don't rinse it all your hair won't achieve the desired bouncy softness, and can a royal bachelor really afford to have greasy hair?"

"Hush now!" the prince said worriedly. "Let's not even joke about such things."

Once the rinsing was done, Fredrick towel-dried the prince's hair, eager to get going for his one personal break of the day. His break would only last a total of twenty minutes, but he cherished every minute of his precious alone time.

"If that's everything then..." said Fredrick, inching towards the door.

"Yes Fredrick, that will be all."

Fredrick scurried through the prince's chamber and was practically out in the hall when he heard the most annoying words a servant can ever hear:

"One more thing!" cried the prince.

Fredrick glared and clenched his teeth before returning to his regular 'servant face' and rushing back into the chamber.

"Your highness?" he said, smiling through intense annoyance. "How can I be of service?"

The prince went over to his desk to retrieve a scroll. He opened it for the first time and scanned it quickly. "Well...it appears I should've handed you this sooner."