Cinderella

3.The Duke

I ended up crying for awhile before I started cooking breakfast. I couldn't afford to break down into a sobbing mess unable to do anything. If I did, then breakfast would be late and without food my stepmother would be in a horrid mood.

I soon ran out of tears. I tried to forget about the past because all it seemed to do was bring more tears. I finally finished breakfast and glanced at the clock. I still had ten minutes before I had to get dinner on the table. I was about to sit down when I realized that it would be better to get breakfast served early.

I grabbed a tray filled with breakfast in each hand and balanced the third atop the other two trays. Doing something like balancing a trey on my head seemed like a waste. It would also end with the tray on the ground and me wondering what had gone wrong. I got to the kitchen door and realized I couldn't open it. I put the trays down, ran over, opened the door, ran back, and barely managed to catch the door with my foot before it closed. I finally made it into the hallway and started off towards the dining room.

I was almost to the dining room and so far, I had managed to not drop anything. I didn't know how I had managed to keep a hold of all three trays. Most days I would drop at least one tray each meal. I would always have to give up any food I made for myself in order to prepare another tray for my stepfamily.

Due to this, whenever I dropped a tray, I would go hungry until I had a chance to cook again which normally wasn't until the next meal. Most days, I would only be able to eat the scraps that my stepfamily left on their plates.

I was about to step inside the dining room, when I heard a shriek. Startled, I jumped and dropped the top tray. I sighed. I wouldn't be getting breakfast today. I entered the dining room and found it was empty. I set down the food and started to go back to the kitchen.

"Cinderella!" My stepmother yelled from somewhere within the house. From the sound of it, she was in the entry hall. That must have been where the shriek came from.

"Come here!" She screamed. I quickly started running to the entry hall. She was nowhere to be seen. I started running through the house again. This time I went to the drawing room. I took a moment to compose myself, because my stepmother hated it when I arrived panting. She always said that my panting reminded her of a mutt. My breathing finally evened out and I stepped into the drawing room. It was there that I found my stepmother sitting holding a letter. Her grip on the letter was so tight that I was worried the paper would be ripped in half. My stepsisters looked as though they were about to faint. I suspected their reasons for looking that way were different.

"Yes, ma'am?" I asked. I started staring at the ground again. I was a bit sick of having to avert my gaze each time I saw my stepfamily.

"The prince is visiting tomorrow. You will have the house spotless before he arrives. I don't care if you have to stay up all night preparing, you will have the house ready" my stepmother announced.

"The prince is coming?" I asked my gaze snapping up to my stepmother's in surprise. I watched as anger flashed across her face. I quickly dropped my gaze again trying to avoid her wrath.That must have been Leonora's reason for being on the verge of fainting.

"Yes. The prince has decided to visit tomorrow. Apparently, he is joining the duke in his visit" my stepmother said choosing to ignore that my gaze had met hers. I held in my sigh of relief and then began to worry. Now, Delaney looking as though she may faint made sense. The prince visiting one day had been inevitable, since from months now the Duke would visit my stepfamily. To be more specific, each month the duke would visit Delaney.

The Duke was the cousin of the prince. His name to all commoners was Duke Alexander. To Delaney, he was Alexander, the man that was courting her. They met by chance in the marketplace one day. Delaney had joined me on my trip and she had proceeded to trip. The duke had caught her and from then on, he came to visit her each week. They were such a lovely couple, but the duke seemed to become more wary each time he visited. I would assume that the cause was Leonora. Ever since the first visit, her jealousy towards Delaney had been clear and the fact that she wanted to the duke had been transparent.

If the prince was visiting along with the duke, then the duke must have finally made up his mind about Delaney. Tomorrow, he may purpose to Delaney. I was happy for her. She had dreamed of marrying the duke since she first met him in the marketplace. It wasn't due to his tittle, but because of his kindness. For that, I was happy. Delaney had found someone that she truly enjoyed being around. She had found someone that she was truly in love with.

"I expect you to clean the house and be sure that not a single speak of dust is present by the time they arrive" my stepmother said to me snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yes stepmother. I will get started right away. Also, breakfast is now ready and waiting in the dinning room" I said.

"Good. You are dismissed" my stepmother said. I left the room and raced towards the kitchen. I grabbed the extra tray and sprinted to the dining room, setting it down before my stepfamily arrived. I quickly left before my stepfamily came into the dining room and went to start cleaning the entire house.

Author's Note
Hey everyone! So another chapter down. I hope you all liked it. Please comment and vote. Thank you retro_wonderwoman for the new cover. The cover of the book was made by her and the cover I made is shown above. I figured I'd keep it around because I put so much effort into making it (Please read this with a lot of sarcasm. I spent three minutes at most on it). The new cover is a lot more effortful and I think it looks a lot better. Anyways, I still have absolutely no update schedule. So sorry to anyone reading this book and wondering when I'll update. Thanks!
-Panda12panda12
P.S. Anyone else love that a panda is included on the new cover?