So, for Ella Enchanted fans unfamiliar with Persuasion, there's nothing in particular you need to know – this is going to follow the story pretty faithfully, just molded to fit Ella's circumstances. For Persuasion fans unfamiliar with Ella Enchanted (If you're out there), the abridged version of what you missed: It's basically Cinderella. Ella is under a curse, such that she has to obey any direct order she hears. She's in love with Prince Charmont, but she knows that if she were to marry him, any enemy of the kingdom would be able to control him through her, so she wrote a letter pretending she'd married someone else. When our story begins, he'd just discovered her at his ball. There will be a little bit of direct repetition from the book, just to get into the swing of things. Which brings us to the…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ella Enchanted, and I definitely don't own anything up until "He glared at Hattie" - that part is DIRECTLY FROM THE BOOK. I don't own Persuasion, either, although that's not such a big deal in this prologue. Basically, everything belongs to either Gale Carson Levine or Jane Austen, and I'm just playing with combining their geniuses. Don't sue me.

Prologue: The End

"Ella!" Hattie shrieked.

Char gasped. "Ella?"

I broke away from him and began to run as the clock struck midnight. Char would have caught me in a moment, but Hattie must have held him somehow.

Outside, a huge pumpkin stood uselessly in the line of carriages. I continued to flee. A white rat skittered across my path. Somewhere I lost one of my slippers. I ran on, listening for pursuers.

At home, maybe Mandy would know what to do. Or I'd hide in the cellar, in the stable – somewhere. How could I have gone to the balls? To put Char and Kyrria in such danger!

"Mandy!" I shouted as soon as I reached the manor. A servant stared at me. I ran into the kitchen. "I've endangered Char again, and Kyrria! What can I do?"

"Pack your things," Mandy said as soon as she understood my rushed explanation.

"Where shall I go?"

"I'll come with you. We'll find work as cooks. Hurry."

"Can't you pack for us by magic?" She'd done it before. It was just small magic.

"Nothing is small magic in a moment like this. Go!"

Fairies! I raced to my room and began to throw things into my carpetbag. I had little; it would be the work of a minute. I heard the door open downstairs.

There were voices. We'd never manage to leave. I tore off my ball gown and donned my tattered servant's wear, rubbing the sooty skirt across my face. Over my hair I tied a ragged length of linen.

Nancy appeared at my door. "It's the prince! He wants to see everyone." I didn't move.

She giggled nervously. "He won't eat us, at least I hope not. Come."

I followed her, my heart drumming loud enough to drown out all thought.

He stood in the hall with his knights and our entire household. In the midst of all that was more important, I hated him to see me covered in rags and cinders.

I stationed myself behind the tallest manservant, but Char and the knights walked among us. Straining for a new disguise of servant and simpleton, I sucked on my fist and stared about vacantly.

Sir Stephan found me. "Here's a maid," he said. "Come, lass." He took my hand and pulled me to Char.

"Ella! Ella? Why are you dressed so?"

"Your Majesty, I'm..." I was about to deny my name, but Hattie spoke for me.

"That's only Cinders, the scullery maid," she said. "Sire, would you care for a refreshment now you're here?"

"She's a scullery maid?"

"A scullery maid. Of no account. But our cook, Mandy, has cakes fit for a prince."

The door wasn't far. Sir Stephan still held my hand. I pulled, but couldn't break away.

"Lass," Char said to me. "I won't hurt you, no matter what." He cupped his hand under my chin and tilted my face up to his. I wanted to catch his hand and kiss it.

As soon as we touched, I knew he recognized me. He brought my slipper out from his cloak. "It belonged to Ella, and will fit her alone, whether she is a scullery maid or a duchess."

A chair was brought. I wished for normal-sized feet.

"That's my slipper," Hattie said. "It's been missing for years."

"Your feet are too big," Olive blurted.

"Try it," Char told Hattie.

"I lost it because it kept falling off " She sat and removed her own slipper. I caught the familiar smell of her feet. She couldn't wedge her toes in.

"I'm younger than Hattie," Olive said. "So my feet are smaller. Probably."

They were bigger.

Now it was my turn. Char knelt, holding the slipper. I extended my foot and he guided it. The slipper fit perfectly, of course. What was I going to do?

His face was close to mine. He must have seen my terror. "You needn't be Ella if you don't want to be," he said softly.

He was so good.

"I'm not," I said. But in spite of myself, tears streamed down my cheeks.

I saw hope spread across his face. "That letter was rubbish. A trick." He glared at Hattie, but still, something lingered in his eyes, an uncertainty. "Wasn't it?" I said nothing, only stared at him miserably. "Ella, please. Just tell me, are you married?"

Even without the order, there was no point in trying to keep up the charade now. "No," I managed to choke out.

His face cleared. "I still love you, Ella. Even when I tried to stop. Will you marry me?"

I looked up at me, some small part of me dizzy with relief that it was a request, even as my heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Nothing had changed. I was still cursed, and I still couldn't marry him, but now I had to stand here and tell him so to his face. What could I say? How could I hurt him this way again? How was I going to give him up again?

My thoughts were interrupted by Hattie's screech. "Marry you? She can't marry you. Don't marry him, Ella."

In a way, that made it all simpler. It was out of my hands now. I couldn't marry him, not now, not ever. I drew back a step, shaking my head, unable to see Char's face through my tears.

"Hattie-" Mum Olga cut in sharply. I could well imagine how she'd like to have her puppet stepdaughter as queen. But Char cut her off in turn.

"Ella." The pain in his voice was enough to make me stop breathing. "Ella, I can take you away from these people. They have nothing to do with us. But I need to know first, do you love me? Do you want to marry me?"

My throat froze. I knew what I needed to do, what I'd done once already. I needed to lie to him, and make him believe it, make him hate me. Again. But infinitely worse this time, face to face, and knowing full well that this would be the last time I saw him. No balls this time. No moments of weakness. But I didn't know how, didn't know if I even could.

And then, as if he knew what I needed, he spoke again, softly. "Ella, just tell me you don't love me. Tell me you don't love me, and I swear I'll go. Look me in the eye, and tell me."

My eyes rose against my will, locking on his. "I don't love you," I informed him dully.

It was as if I'd punched him. He sucked in a breath and turned away from me, and I wished there were a way to take it back, to smooth the lines from his face and kiss him and have the curse melt away like a bad dream. My little audience was shocked into silence, and into that silence Char uttered two words, utterly empty of emotion. "You don't?"

I couldn't take it anymore, this prince standing in front of me making me lie to him for his own good. Hysteria rose in me, and I found myself screaming. "No! I don't love you! I won't marry you! Please, just go! Get out!"

He staggered back a few steps, staring at me as if he'd never really seen me before. Even so desperately hurt and confused, he was the dearest thing in my world. I struggled to focus on his face for a last look, knowing that this time, it was really the end. I would never see him again.

He spun on his heels and left without a word. Sir Stephan followed, with one last bewildered glance in my direction. I stood stock-still, waiting until I heard his horse's hooves trotting away before I crumpled to the floor, sobbing. I could feel Mandy's warm arms around me as I wept myself out, pain slowly fading to blackness.

. . .

I woke slowly, disoriented. I was back in my bed, in the servants' quarters, and for a moment I entertained a crazy hope that this had all been a dream. Getting caught. The balls themselves. Hurting Char. Meeting Char. Everything, my whole cursed life, could be a dream. And when my mind caught up with me, the pain hit again in a rush, and I couldn't breathe, wanted to cry again, wanted to curl up in a ball and not feel anymore. But the time for crying was over now. I heard voices outside my door.

"What do you mean by this, Mandy? The wench is my servant, and I will have an explanation."

"With all due respect, mistress, you're not going in there. Ella's in enough pain as it is."

"And whose fault is that? So help me, Mandy, if you don't move out of my way…"

"Then what? You'll fire me?" She laughed harshly. "We both know that won't happen."

"Don't be so sure." Mum Olga's voice had lost all trace of its usual syrupy sweetness; it was pure ice. "Even your cooking isn't worth this… this insubordination!"

"I'll warn you right now, my lady, that Ella and I will probably be leaving this house anyway. I just want to talk to her, make sure that's what she wants."

There was a pause. "Leaving?"

"Mistress, even you must see that Ella almost certainly won't want to stay in the same city as Char. Not now." Even his name burned through me. Mandy was right – I wanted to be as far away from here as possible – away from this house, away from my stepfamily, and especially away from ever having to see Char's face again and know how much I'd hurt him. But I doubted Mum Olga would let me go – I would be trapped forever as her scullery maid, just as I'd known months ago, the day Lucinda told me she couldn't take back the curse. I realized I'd missed some of the conversation, and listened again.

"…Unfortunate, but I don't see why she couldn't just explain to him. To be queen–"

"Mistress, think about what you're saying. You know Ella's situation. Would you leave Kyrria open to any assassin who knew to give Ella a direct order?"

"Well, I suppose not, but–"

"But nothing. As long as she's cursed, Ella is a danger to herself and anyone who's close to her, but with the prince it's ten times worse, because he's so much in the public eye."

There was another pause. "I'd never thought of that. The dangers. Mandy, I want the girl out of my house. And surely you can see that the danger applies to you as well. There's no need for you to go with her. I'll keep you on."

Mandy sounded almost amused. "Of course. Nevertheless, I think I'll go with her. I owe her that. And I can take care of myself. Assuming that she wants to leave."

"I don't care if she wants to, she's going. I won't have her putting my girls in danger. Go with her if you must, but she's going, and good riddance. I'm sure her dear father will understand."

"I'm sure you're right," said Mandy slowly. After a moment, there was the sound of Dame Olga's heavy footsteps marching off down the hall, and my door swung gently open.

"Lady, you're awake," said Mandy. She didn't sound too surprised.

"I'm awake. How soon can we leave?"

"As soon as you're packed. If that's what you want. Oh, Lady, I don't know what you heard, but we needn't go if you don't want to. God knows this hasn't been much of a home for you, but if you'd rather stay in Frell, then don't worry about Dame Olga. Nor anything else. You did the right thing, there's no danger here anymore."

I didn't even really need to think about it. "No. There's nothing here for me. Not anymore."

Mandy sighed. "I thought you might feel that way. Well, I can get work anywhere. Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go?"

I thought. "It doesn't matter where, so long as it's far away from here."

We left the next day. We never came back to that house again.