Title: A Fractured Fairytale

Authors: Butterfly Cyanide and Sandy-sama (Mai)

Summary: When you're a devious, somewhat irregular slave for your slightly evil stepmother, there's only one solution: Crossdressing. BoyxBoy. A twist on the fairytale 'Cinderella'. Because not all endings are happy ones.

By the way… This is a work of fiction; all characters and plot belong to Cyanide and Sandy-sama, who aren't making any money out of it. Do not plagiarize or claim anything found here as your own work in any way, please.

Short note This story is actually an edited roleplay between Cyanide (who played Kian, his stepmother and stepsisters) and Sandy-sama (Who is Yuan, along with every other character you'll see), which started in 2005. It has been stretched, edited, updated sporadically and ignored multiple times, but the version you see now is the one that finally stuck. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

- Change in point of view/time lapse

'Thoughts'

"Spoken"

Dedicated to Tsuki.

A Fractured Fairytale

Chapter Two – A Monstrous Shade of Pink

Prince Yuan was going out of his mind.

It had only been an hour or so, but he was already wishing that it was midnight and he could retire to his rooms.

That wasn't to say he didn't enjoy the attention; he did, of course. What noble-born person wouldn't? No, it was just that every minute, it seemed, brought with it a new girl or woman, each eagerly vying for the Prince's attention.

Oh, Gods... The dancing would begin soon.

The source of Yuan's irritation and discomfort was very simple; the Prince, eldest son of King Rupei, wasn't interested in women. Period.

Unfortunately for him, no-one knew this. He hadn't quite dared to tell his father; his younger brother, Jace, everyone knew to be bisexual, and that had been fine because he still enjoyed the company of women and was second-born. But for the eldest Prince to be known as completely homosexual... That just wouldn't do at all. The likelihood was he'd be forced into a marriage even sooner, which was absolutely the very last thing that Yuan wanted.

But what could he do, after all? He had duties to fulfill, a throne to manage after his father died. Though, with any luck, that wouldn't be the case for a good couple of decades yet; the King had been a young father, and was now only forty years of age. Although rumor had it that dissent had been spoken of by a few of their liege Lords, neither the King nor Yuan had been too worried. They were popular among the citizens, and any with treachery on their mind would have to be very sure of themselves indeed to even think of trying anything drastic.

Yuan sighed quietly and tried his best not to give in to the urge to twirl the ends of his pale blonde hair. He had just become eighteen years of age, and should refrain from childish habits like that. But damn it, it was getting hard when he was so damned bored.

Suddenly, in his peripheral vision, Yuan spotted a late arrival enter through the huge double doors.

Not in the center of them as nearly every other young lady had been want to do that evening. No, this one stole into the hall, staying close to the edge of the right hand door almost as if they wanted to avoid notice. Yuan gave the arrival a brief look, and then dismissed her. Yes, it was a her; wearing a fetching dress that gleamed prettily in the soft lamplight.

Yuan sighed again. No doubt that the girl would be coming over soon to try and make his acquaintance. Absently, he noticed she was alone. Odd as it was, it became unimportant as soon as yet another young female was swept before him, an overly saccharine smile painted on her lipstick red mouth. It was going to be a very long night…

Dresses were evil.

A conclusion Kian had reached long before that moment, as he inched along the edge of the ball room. The strange feeling of the long material swishing around his legs was both annoying and sort of nice, satiny and silky and weirdly clingy. The bodice was another story altogether. The corset itched against his bare chest, constricted so tightly around him that it felt as though his ribs crossed over one another. It forced him to breathe shallowly, which was difficult after having run all the way through town before arriving at the castle. Not the most intelligent thing he'd ever done, but at least he had made it on time.

The sensation of being watched shivered down the youth's spine.

Glancing up, he noticed the cold eyes of women from around the room glaring at his small figure. Snobbish noses turned up, they whispered behind delicate hands about the as of yet unknown female in their midst. Her dress was not from any well known tailor, and not a pearl or jewel to be seen on her person at all.

Kian glared right back.

Females, his mind muttered bitterly, should learn to mind their own business.

Turning away, he gazed up at the very royal, very bored looking figure of Prince Yuan. Surrounded by masses of fawning girls, he looked horribly revolted by all the attention he was receiving. Poor little Prince, how terrible it must be to be loved.

To be honest, the sight disgusted the teen slightly. Every last one of the girls seemed to have a mixed look of dreamy lust directed towards their 'Prince' along with a bitter jealousy that they weren't the subject of Yuan's direct attention. Kian was disturbed to be reminded of a group of pigs he had seen once, squabbling over the last scrap of food left in the trough.

Then he remembered that he had to pose as one of those pigs, and the idea wasn't quite as amusing.

Scowling, the disguised male edged along the boundary of the dance floor, hiding himself in the corner of the room. He'd made it into the castle, now he just had to figure out what to do exactly. How was he to approach the Prince? His train of though was interrupted when the soft, almost unheard background music stopped suddenly. The first, much smaller group of musicians left the tiny stage situated on the other side of the room, and a larger band announced themselves.

The conductor approached the stand, paused for a moment as silence fell over the ballroom, before bringing the music in. Almost on cue, couples fell onto the floor in a sea of brightly colored skirts and black coattails as the dancing began.

Kian stared at the churning torrent as the dance floor came alive with couples moving across the room. He had learnt the basics of the main dances from watching his stepsister's lessons back at the mansion. He had yet to spot the two girls (or his stepmother, for that matter), but he had no doubt they'd be floating around somewhere, most likely clinging to the Prince.

Oh, Your Majesty, you jest!"

'Honestly,' Yuan thought, valiantly hiding a cringe. 'If you're going to make such a stupid comment, then at least address me properly! I'm Highness, not Majesty. That would be my father. Gods, please tell me I'm not being mistaken for my father...'

The high-pitched, overly husky voice belonged to a horrific pink apparition that went by the name of Amelia Westard. Her sister, Jessica (or something like that; the names were all starting to roll into a big blur by this point), was giggling madly by his side, flourishing a fan with girlish drama.

It wouldn't be so bad, Yuan reflected, if the girls were merely affecting their pretentiousness. But no; it was real. This was how they genuinely were.

It made Yuan pity whoever they lived with, really.

By a stroke of great fortune, however, the band suddenly struck up with ballroom music, and a large proportion of the girls were taken off to the dance floor where they twirled and pranced with vigor. Yuan was spared having to dance by one of the guards, Huart, who asked Yuan if he could, "Have a quick word with Your Royal Highness." Yuan made a mental note to promote the guard after tonight, and excused himself from the gaggle of woman to be left with Huart.

"Prince Yuan, there's a young lady that entered about five, ten minutes ago," The guard reported. "I had a look over the guest list, but she does not appear to be on it. Shall we escort her outside the Palace?"

Yuan glanced over to where the guard was indicating, and instantly recognized the figure in the corner.

"Oh, yes... I saw her come in. It's rather odd that she isn't accompanied by anyone."

"Precisely, Your Highness," Huart nodded. "Should we escort her out?"

Yuan gave a small shrug. "Well, my father did invite 'every female in the land', after all..." he said, trying to keep the sarcasm in his voice to a bare minimum. "I don't see the harm in letting her stay."

"As Your Royal Highness wishes." the guard responded, looking uncertain.

The pale-haired Prince gave a sigh. "I'll talk to her," he said, dismissing the guard and striding over to the corner where the girl stood, gazing out at the timed movements of the dancing couples.

"Ooh! Just look at him, isn't he dreamy?"

"I know! His hair is so lovely; I wish mine would to that…"

"Pfft, never. The only person with hair as beautiful as the Prince would have to be myself."

"HA! You're obviously delusional!"

"I'M delusional! Which one of us told the other they were the Prince's date for the evening?"

"And I will be, soon. He's just shy…"

Kian held back the impulse to be violently sick on the floor. Honestly, he was surprised those holding the conversation even knew the meaning of the word 'delusional'. Clearly the two female specimens' he had been eavesdropping on were slightly more intelligent then his own stepsisters, if only by a degree or two.

In an attempt to staunch the nausea that roiled in his stomach, Kian stared absently across the room, watching a tiny stick of a boy attempt to dance with what resembled a huge yellow cream puff with legs without being squashed. A smirk quirked at the corner of Kian's mouth as he pictured the offspring the two would produce. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) that thought was never quite finished, as a particularly loud squeal from one of the previously arguing girls (who Kian had affectionately nicknamed 'Pink Monstrosity One' and 'Pink Monstrosity Two') shook the youth from his daydream.

"Look! LOOK! He's coming over this way!"

"I told you! See, he will be my date, after all!"

"Don't be stupid…"

As the two bickered in the background, Kian looked up to see that for once Pink Monstrosity One was right, the Prince was currently striding towards Kian's secluded little corner. Panic rose in his throat. What was he supposed to do now? Run? No, that was a coward's way out, and he was here for a reason after all, and that reason included Yuan.

Raising his eyes, Kian stared directly into the face of the oncoming Royal, not bothering with the customary curtsy. As of yet, he had not idea why Yuan would be coming towards him (of all people, this almost seemed a little too easy…) in the first place. The slight suspicion residing in the pit of his stomach lurched with a horrible realization for the reason anyone would be coming towards him.

He'd been caught.

-Chapter Two-