Cinderella awoke with a start. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She was on the couch in the living room, as it had been too hot to sleep in the attic. She looked down at her feet to see them in ordinary socks. She was wearing her regular night clothes.
It was all a dream! she realized sadly. Of course it was. In real life, there are no fairy godmothers. Pumpkins don't become coaches and mice don't make dresses. Cinderella sighed. It may have been a dream, but what a dream!
Her stepfamily, on the other hand, was not a dream. They were all too real. And they would be arriving home soon. She sighed again and went down to the kitchen.
Breakfast was all ready when her stepmother and stepsisters arrived. Cinderella sat at the table, drinking a cup of tea. More water boiled on the stove.
"How was it?" she asked as soon as they came in.
"Wonderful!" Anastasia said as she twirled around./span/p
"You can't imagine!" Druisela said as she squeezed Cinderella's arm.
She could imagine in it. But she didn't say anything. She sipped her tea and smiled.
"I expect a proposal soon!" Anastasia said.
"Bah!" Lady Tremaine huffed as she came in and sat down. "He didn't even speak to you. Girls, you may think the Prince can marry whoever he wants but he can't. He has to marry royalty."
Cinderella thought the looks on her stepsisters faces was the funniest thing she had ever seen. She choked back a giggle as she turned around to get the teakettle.
Her stepmother was tired and grouchy this morning, so Cinderella decided not to tell them about her dream. She was only too glad when her stepmother stalked off to her bedroom.
"Cinderella!" she barked. "Come help me out of this gown!"
"Yes, Madame," Cinderella answered and scampered after her.
"Damn ball!" Lady Tremaine snapped as Cinderella began to unlace her shoes. "Damn Prince! Damn...love!"
"Damn love?" Cinderella blurted out before she could stop herself. She looked up into her Stepmother's annoyed blue eyes.
"If I teach you nothing else," her stepmother said, "remember this. Love has a terrible cost."
Cinderella didn't dare reply. She could feel her stepmother's icy blue stare on her neck. She got up and walked around her to unbutton the gown.
Her stepmother watched her in the mirror, amused. She knew the foolish notions Cinderella had about love. All young girls had them.
"You're awfully quiet," her stepmother mused as Cinderella lowered the gown and she stepped out of it.
Cinderella began unlacing her corset with trembling fingers. "You seem tired from being up all night. I didn't think you wanted to talk."
Her stepmother smirked. "Well, aren't you the considerate one.
Cinderella wasn't sure if her stepmother was kidding or not but she didn't want to push her luck. "I try," she replied simply. She pulled the corset off Stepmother and held up her robe.
"Hmmm," her stepmother said as she slipped into the robe. "Well, tell the girls to go to bed too. They have been up all night. And do quiet chores today!"
"Yes, ma'am," Cinderella answered and practically ran out the door. She knew what her stepmother was like when she was tired. Even more cruel than usual.
After Cinderella shooed her stepsisters off to bed, she stood in the empty kitchen. What to do… she pondered. Yesterday had been spent getting everyone ready for the ball. She had a set routine, but nothing was really in desperate need of cleaning.
She washed the dishes and the stove and went outside. It seemed like a good day for outside chores. Cinderella did the laundry and hung it up around the basement to dry. The rest of the house was pretty clean, though. Everyone was too busy yesterday to make much of a mess.
Later, everyone emerged for dinner. They told her more about the ball but Ella only sighed. If only dreams came true! She would be out of this misery.
All during the meal, she kept thinking of what her stepmother said about love. That it came at a terrible cost. There was something she needed to understand about that, something important her stepmother was trying to tell her but she couldn't quite grasp what.
After dinner, her stepmother and stepsisters went into the salon and Ella went down to the basement to get the dried clothes. She folded and sorted them by who they belonged to.
While she was in the basement, rain began to fall. Cinderella was grateful she did the laundry in the morning. Wind began to whip the rain sideways and lightning flashed.
She set her own clothes on the attic stairs to take up later. Then she went and put the stepsisters clothes away.
Her stepmother's had to be hung up a certain way or she would make her wash them again. Cinderella carefully laid the chemises on the bed, then the dresses. She sang a song to herself as she slipped a garnet onto each hanger. The fierce rain made her think of it:
"Upon one summer's morning, I carelessly did stray,
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,
Conversing with a young lass
Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne'er return again.
She carefully hung up Stepmother's dresses and began to put the chemises on the hangers.
"His hair it hangs in ringlets hang, his eyes as black as coal/
May happiness attend him wherever he may go
From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I will wander, weep and moan,
"All for my jolly sailor bold, until he does return.
"Well, I am glad someone in the house can carry a tune," said an icy voice of behind her.
Cinderella jumped about two feet and whirled around. "Step-Madame! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bother you!"
She looked at her stepmother in wide-eyed terror. She didn't know it, but Lady Tremaine hated that look.
"I didn't say you were bothering me, child," Stepmother smirked. "Sing some more." She sat down on the bed and crossed her arms, smirking even more.
Cinderella was confused but knew she had no choice. So she sang:
My father is a merchant—the truth I now will tell,
And in great London City in opulence doth dwell,
His fortune doth exceed £300,000 gold,
And he frowns upon his daughter, who loves a sailor bold.
"Her stepmother's eyes narrowed dangerously. Cinderella stopped singing.
"Did I tell you to stop?" Lady Tremaine snapped. "Sing!"
Cinderella blushed. She sang:
"My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,
My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,
There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold.
"She stopped and looked fearfully at her stepmother. "I don't remember any more."
Lady Tremaine's blue eyes focused on her like laser beams. "You father was not a merchant, young lady. He did not leave us enough to live on. Do not disdain all glittering gold. Men die young. Both my husbands did."
An epiphany hit Cinderella like the lightning outside. Lady Tremaine was widowed twice. She didn't ask for a stepdaughter with no husband. Maybe Lady Tremaine's grief was came out as anger, mostly at her stepdaughter.
"My second husband," Stepmother continued, "your father, died without leaving much besides you. I have been forced to look and care for his beloved child as punishment for his idiocy!"
Her stepmother glared at her while Cinderella looked at her in terror. A million thoughts whirled in her brain.
"Beloved?" she said softly. "No. My father didn't really love me. He loved the fact I looked like my mother. Before he married you, that is all he would say to me. How much I looked like her."
Lady Tremaine's expression softened just a little.
Cinderella pursed her lips. "There was one night, when he was drunk and he kept saying how much I looked like my mother in the dress I was wearing. He actually thought I was my mother and tried to…." She looked away and blinked back tears. Her stepmother looked at her in disbelief.
"Then why were you so devastated when he died?" she asked suspiciously.
Cinderella looked up. "I had to act like that or else everyone would be suspicious. I was so happy when he married you, but he still compared me to my mother all the time and I knew that hurt you. I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn't listen. I was actually relieved when he died!"
Her stepmother looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. Cinderella looked right back, shaking like a leaf.
Lady Tremaine held out her foot and Cinderella sank to her knees. She unlaced the shoe with trembling fingers.
"Why do you tremble so much around me? Still afraid of me?" her stepmother mocked.
Cinderella dared to flick here eyes up. "No, Madame."
She pulled off her stepmother's shoes. She shyly began to rub her stepmother's sore feet. "Do you want me to rub your feet? You were on them all night in heels."
Her stepmother smirked. "All right."
Cinderella pulled of the stockings and began to gently massage her stepmother's feet. They were crunchy, popping and cracking.
"I'm sorry!" Cinderella cried. "I don't want to hurt you!"
"Lady Tremaine snorted. "Why? I have hurt you plenty."
Cinderella shrugged. "I just don't want to hurt you."
"Sing the last line in that song you were singing, Cinderella," Lady Tremaine ordered.
Cinderella looked up with scared dark eyes into her stepmother's smirking face. She sighed, as she had no choice and began to sing:
"My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,
My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,
There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold.
;"Has your heart been pierced by Cupid?" Stepmother asked.
Cinderella looked down. "Yes," she answered, so quietly her stepmother almost didn't hear her.
"Really. By whom? The prince?" Venom dripped from her stepmother's voice.
"No," Cinderella said quietly.
"By a village boy? The boy that works in the bookstore?"
"No," Cinderella said even quieter, nearly a whisper.
She focused on her stepmother's feet. She could feel her stepmother's eyes zeroing in on her.
"The baker's apprentice?" her stepmother asked. "Anastasia likes him, you know."
Cinderella shook her head. She still didn't look up. Her stepmother reached down and cupped her face. She held her stepdaughter's face between her hands, forcing her to look at her. She looked into her stepmother's blue eyes.
"Tell me who has pierced your heart. Now, young lady," Lady Tremaine ordered.
Cinderella looked into her stepmother's eyes, terrified. She was trapped. "You," she whispered.
Her stepmother's eyes narrowed. "Me? How can you love me after the way I've treated you?"
Cinderella blinked away tears. "You've been widowed twice. Left with three girls to take care of and no money. You didn't have to keep me with you, but you did. I think all your grief came out as anger, at me."
Lady Tremaine was speechless. Cinderella hit the nail on the head.
Cinderella smiled weakly and took her stepmother's hands in her own. She brought them to her lips and kissed her each of her goddess 's fingers.
"Your hands are like ice," Stepmother informed her.
"It's cold," Cinderella answered.
Lady Tremaine got up and laid down at the head of the bed. She held her arms out to her shaking, bewildered stepdaughter. "Come lay down with me," she said. Her blue eyes flashed: I dare you to say no.
Seeing no other choice, Cinderella slipped into bed and into her stepmother's arms. She rested her head on her stepmother's chest and tried to stop trembling so much.
"You're shaking too much, Ella," her stepmother commented. "Relax."
Cinderella looked up, stunned. Nobody called her by her real name anymore.
"Let's get you more comfortable," Stepmother said and began to untie Ella's apron She unbuttoned the blue dress Cinderella always wore and slipped it off her. Cinderella shivered in just her chemise.
She sat up and Cinderella began to unbutton her stepmother's dress. Her hands shook so much she could barely work the buttons through the holes. Finally, she got the dress unbuttoned and off. She unlaced her stepmother's corset. Impulsively, she kissed her stepmother's bare shoulder. Finding no resistance, she brushed her lips against her stepmother's pale neck. She kissed her neck up to the jawline.
Her stepmother leaned back and kissed her. Cinderella was so surprised she nearly fell over.
Cinderella slid down her stepmother's tall body. She shyly kissed her stepmother's exposed breast. Long fingers entwined in her hair as she sucked on the nipple. She swished her tongue around the nipple, bringing it to a peak. Then she did the same to the other.
Cinderella looked up into her stepmother's aroused blue eyes and slid down further. She pulled down her stepmother's underwear and kissed her stepmother between her legs.
Stepmother grasped the bed sheets. Cinderella entwined her fingers with her stepmother's and began to trace patterns on Lady Tremaine's clitoris. Up and down, side to side, faster and tighter as her stepmother moaned and gasped. Cinderella sucked on her stepmother's clitoris. Lady Tremaine held her hair up and held her head as she sucked harder and harder. All the time, she kept her eyes glue to her stepmother's face. Her stepmother began to buck and shake but Cinderella kept her mouth going until she was done.
"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" her stepmother panted.
Cinderella smiled shyly and shrugged.
Her stepmother lay on top of her. Cinderella wasn't sure what to do with her hands. She wrapped her arms around Stepmother as Stepmother grazed her neck with her teeth.
"You're so wet," Stepmother commented as her fingers fluttered between Cinderella's legs.
Cinderella blushed. "I love you. That's what you do to me."
"Lady Tremaine pulled Cinderella's underwear off and rubbed her clitoris. Cinderella moaned. Stepmother slid a finger inside her. Cinderella let out a sound between a whimper and a groan. Lady Treamaine slipped another finger in and rubbed the rock-hard clitoris with her thumb.
Cinderella let out a yelp but her stepmother didn't stop. She pumped harder and faster, until Cinderella thought she would break in two from the pain. Lady Tremaine withdrew her fingers and put her knee between Cinderella's legs. She moved herself up and down Cinderella's leg, hitting her clitoris with her hip. Cinderella dug her fingernails into her stepmother's back. Her stepmother came and collapsed on top of her.
"I love you," Cinderella whispered.
"Lady Tremaine wiped off her fingers. Cinderella blushed when she saw how wet Stepmother's fingers were. And how bloody.
"You can't love me," her stepmother said, somewhat sadly Cinderella thought. "You feel sorry for me."
Cinderella clung to Lady Tremaine. Tears streamed down her face. "I love you. So, so much. I love you enough to give you my-" She stopped, blushing bright red.
Her stepmother smirked. "Your virginity?" she asked, more gently this time. She stroked Cinderella's back.
"We are like Ruth and Naomi in the Bible," Cinderella said. "May God strike me down if anything but death takes me from you."
That wasn't quite the quote, but her stepmother didn't correct her. She knew what Cinderella meant. The look in her stepdaughter's eyes was open and loving. The walls around Lady Tremaine finally crumbled.
"Long fingers lifted Cinderella's face up and her stepmother kissed her. "I love you too, Ella. I always have and always will."
Cinderella hung on to Stepmother a little tighter and smiled./span/p