Chapter 1: Dreams and Nightmares

"Cinderellaaaaaaa!" Ella heard her stepsisters' voices coming from upstairs, and they did not sound happy.

She had woken up in the basement where she did most of the cleaning and washing, beside the fireplace and realized it was morning. She looked by the sink and saw a mountain of laundry still left to do. Below it were a dozen of shoes to polish and clean. The fire next to her died so she had to start a new one for their breakfast.

After she made breakfast and brought it out to the table, she saw that all three members of her unloving family were sitting there, giving her the meanest stare she had ever seen.

"Senseless girl!" her step-mother roared. She felt a slap to the side of her face. "What do you think you are doing?!" her step-mother yelled as she slapped the opposite side of her face. "You are the most worthless and unpleasant child! You shall not go to the ball!" The insults and slaps kept coming one after another.

It was hit after hit, and then a strike with something that felt like a whip. Ella could feel where she would have bruises and scars for the rest of her life. She heard her stepmother's words over and over. "Now mark my words, you shall not go to the ball!" It was an endless cycle of pain, suffering, and hopelessness that she could not escape. She curled into a little ball and hoped that it would end, but she knew it wouldn't for a long time. She could never leave or be free.

She woke and sat straight up, finding herself startled and shaking. She reassured herself it was only a dream. No, a nightmare. She lay back down on the bed that she and Kit shared at the castle and tried to calm down. She looked to her left to see a peaceful Kit sleeping. His even breaths gave some proof to Ella that this was real, and she hadn't just imagined it. It had been a month after Kit and Ella's wedding and she was so happy, happier than she had been in a long time.

But she couldn't shake the fear and anxiety that her nightmare had given her. She touched her cheek and saw that it was wet from fresh tears. She didn't know how to stop crying or relax. She had these realizations and fears before, that if she did something wrong or that Kit would realize he didn't love her anymore or that he had gotten the wrong person, she would be forced to go back to her step-family.

They were banished, along with the Grand Duke, because they kept their knowledge that Ella was the mystery maiden a party, a secret .Not to mention that her step-family had abused and belittled her in her own home. She knew that she never could or would to go back to them, even if she was kicked out of the palace.

Kit heard the sound of a muffled and quiet sob and looked over and saw his wife facing away from him, trembling that could only indicate that she was the source of the crying. He put his hand on her shoulder and asked, "Ella, my love, what is the matter? Did you have a bad dream?"

Ella rolled over and started crying in Kit's arms. He held her close and she knew that she was safer and happier when she was with him. "Oh Kit, it was awful! I was back with my step-mother and step-sisters and I couldn't get away," Ella kept sobbing and couldn't seem to stop. "They started hitting me and I couldn't see you ever again or go to the ball, and I couldn't get away." Ella hugged closer to Kit.

"Ssshhh, ssshh, Ella, it was only a dream." Kit was slowly rocking her back and forth, which always seemed to calm her down if she was ever upset. "You are here with me and we are married, and we are going to have kids and live happily ever after. You will never have to see those people again." Ella's cries seemed to be growing quieter. He looked at her and held her face in his hands while wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "No one is ever going to hurt you again. You've already had enough pain and troubles in your life that you deserve nothing but happiness for the rest of it. I'm going to make sure of that. You always amaze me with your courage and kindness, every day. You see the world as what it could be and are the most amazing and beautiful woman I have ever met. I love you so much." He kissed her forehead and then a soft but loving kiss on her lips.

Ella replied with a heartfelt "I love you too," and her crying had stopped. She realized that all would be well as long as she remembered her mother's words of wisdom; have courage and be kind. The memory of her mother and father and the hope of her and Kit's future put her at ease, letting her know that the bad part of her life is over. As she rested her head on Kit's chest, his rhythmic heart beat was the song that lulled her to sleep.