Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

I AM SO SORRY!!!!! Christmas has been really hectic, and it took a long time for my editors to get this back to me. I would have posted it sooner, but my internet has also been on the fritz. In short, please understand that not updating for this long is certainly not a habit of mine. I finally got it out though, so enjoy this chapter! And I hope everyone had a nice holiday!

I was kneeling on the ground, scrubbing eggs out of the carpet. How my stepsisters could manage to get so little food all over so large a room was beyond me. There was tea on the walls, eggs on the floor, toast in the bed sheets, the list seemed to go on and on.

My conversation with my stepmother repeated in my head. After Jessica and Lauren stopped whining and yelling at me, she dismissed them from her room and looked me in the eye with a horrible smug smile on her face.

"Now, Isabella, why would you specifically go against my instructions and give your sisters the wrong breakfast?"

"I can assure you that I did not do it on purpose. I must have mixed up the trays when I dropped them off in their rooms." I said quietly, looking her in the eye, but wishing with all my heart to drop my eyes to the floor. 'If only I could look anywhere else', I thought, but then my punishment would be so much worse.

"Isabella, how are you ever going to pay back all of your debts if you are making a mess when you should be cleaning up?" I let my eyes fall to the floor. I didn't answer her; there was no reason in responding. This was her greatest weapon in her never-ending quest to humiliate me, reminding me of my debts.

These debts were the sole reason I returned to my father. After my mother's death, God rest her soul, I amounted a large quantity of bills. Doctor's bills, food bills, house payments, medicine, the list went on and on. I had no other choice than to return to my father or be thrown into prison. Victoria told me that all of the debts had not been paid off, so when my father passed, God rest his soul, I went into servitude, hoping that someday I would be free of her and her daughters.

"Look at me," I heard Victoria hiss. So I lifted my eyes and gazed at her. Her face was angered for a moment, and then returned to her normal façade of malicious happiness. "For this transgression of your, I am adding to your list of chores for today. In addition to your already specified list of tasks, you must also clean your stepsister's rooms, mop the grand hall and dust the stairs. Your stepsisters also need a new breakfast."

"But I just did cleaned the grand hall last week!" I protested, but then, with dread, realized my mistake. Another rule to remember, never argue with Victoria, because she is always right. She could say that the world was banana shaped and that it orbited around a large lemon, and you would just nod your head and say 'Oh really? How intriguing!' It didn't matter, because you never, under any circumstances, argued with her. I almost clasped my hand over my mouth at my little remark. Victoria's eyebrows rose.

"Last week you say? Well then it should be plenty dirty by now." In fact it was not, we never had any guests. Honestly, who would be friends with my stepsisters or Victoria of their own free will? "You should give it a more thorough cleaning if that is the case. A hand cleaning will do nicely." I nodded slowly, and her evil smile grew more pronounced. "You are dismissed now."

I curtsied slowly, then backed out of the room and slowly and quietly closed the door. I walked a few steps down the hall before letting out the breath I hadn't even known I was holding. I practically ran back to the kitchen and made a new batch of eggs, along with all the sides. I quickly delivered it to their rooms, enduring their hurtful rants about my incompetence. Grabbing the laundry, I quickly took the dirty pile of clothes I had gathered to the laundry room. Jacob was quickly on my heels, following me to the small room attached to the house.

"I'm surprised that that woman hasn't given you shores to do yet, Jacob. Be grateful you're a dog." He gave a small huff, and then lay down on the mat sitting near the door. I separated the lights and darks, and felt a few stray tears fall from my eyes. I quickly rubbed them off, and splashed some cold water on my face. I heard Jacob whine behind me. When I turned he had his big puppy dog eyes on.

"You know tears don't solve anything. What's the point in wasting time crying like that? It's better to use that time to try and find a solution, not wallow in your own sorrow." I laughed and said to him.

So I went back upstairs and helped Jessica and Lauren get dressed. Neither of the girls were what you would call petite. They weren't obese by any means, simply a little round in spots. Or a lot of spots. They constantly picked on me because I was so small and skinny. I managed to tie their corsets and slip them into their dresses. When they were done with their makeup and hair, they went into the music room for voice lessons with their mother. From what I could tell, it wasn't doing them any good.

I returned downstairs and completed all the chores on my list in a very short amount of time. I even managed to complete some of my afternoon chores. But resting now was not an option. I went and quickly made lunch for the girls, and brought it into the dinning room. I swiftly avoided them as they came downstairs, and cleaned their rooms while they were eating.

By the time they were done and I had cleaned up the dining room, I went outside and filled a large container with water. Adding some soap and a towel, I carried it slowly to the grand hall, being very careful not to spill any.

The grand hall was not a ballroom or fancy place in any sense. It was simply the large circular room that held the grand staircase. My family had made this house many years ago, in my great great great grandfather's time. It was passed down throughout the family for generations, and no expense had been spared on its creation. It was not overly large and pompous, but no less grand. The front door led into a beautiful hallway that once held pictures and heirlooms from my family. However, when Victoria took over the house, she had ordered the pictures removed, and the objects were now held in boxes in the attic.

After walking through the hallway, one would find themselves in the grand hall, a gigantic winding staircase that led to the second story taking up much of the room to their right. The floor was a stunning blue and green marble that, when very clean, would show a reflection of the room. Since the room was not regularly used except for walking through, it did not get very dirty. I only usually had to clean it only once a month. This is where my outburst to Victoria came from, since I had cleaned it no more than a week ago. I looked down at the floor after setting down the pail of water. I could still see my reflection on its surface-but Victoria's word was law, so I got down on my knees and began to scrub.

When I was about one quarter done with the grand hall, my bucket had run out of water. I got up, wiped my hands on my apron, then picked up the pail and went to refill it. Outside, Jacob was lying in the grass with all the chickens running around him pecking the grass.

"Keeping watch my faithful friend?" I asked him as I pumped water from the well. He let out a bark and I went over to pet his head, scratching between his ears. "You always were such a softie. If a burglar came in I don't think you would attack him, you'd probably just love him to death." He let out another bark, and I laughed as I picked up my water pail and walked back inside.

I almost dropped it in shock when I returned to the grand hall.

There was mud every where, paw prints littered the entire floor. Everything I had just cleaned was ruined. I stood there in complete amazement, my mouth hanging open. I only moved when I noticed that I was about to drop the water pail, and I set it on the floor. I had only been outside for a few minutes, how could this have happened? It was then that I saw Jane walk by. Her feet and most of her legs were covered in mud. It hadn't rained recently, though, so how could-

I heard snickering come from upstairs. Quickly looking up, I could see the faces of Jessica and Laruen before they pulled themselves always from the stair rail. Their laughter and footsteps could be heard as they ran down the hall back to their rooms. They had gotten Jane dirty and then let her loose on my newly cleaned floor. I tried to breathe normally, but I couldn't seem to find the air. It was going to take the rest of my day to clean this again. I felt my eyes start to water, but I shook my head from side to side willing the tears to leave. 'Tears don't solve anything'. I repeated this in my head like a mantra.

So I started again. When I had to fill up the water pail , I made sure Jane was no where to be seen and went outside as quickly as possible. By the time half of the hall was done, I was feeling a little better. I even started to hum a bit. When I heard the knock on the door, I had actually begun to quietly sing my mothers lullaby. I could never remember all the words, but it was soothing all the same.

When the knock came I stopped my song and looked toward the door. When the knocking commenced again, louder than before, I sighed and stood up. I wiped my hands on my apron as I walked to the front door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I yelled as the knocks continued. When I opened the door, I was not prepared for a large horn to be shoved in my face. The trumpeter blew some sort of tune out, but I couldn't recognize it. By the first note I had practically gone deaf, my eardrums felt like they were going to burst out of my head. When the song was done, a very short and fat man stepped forward, held out a letter, and shouted at me-

"FORMAL INVITATION FROM THE ROYAL FAMILY!"

I closed my eyes from the volume of the noise and, when he yelled, leaned back unintentionally. After he had finished, I opened my eyes again. I reached out hesitantly and took the invitation, gave him a small curtsy and a thank you, then closed the door. I stood looking at the letter while listening to his footsteps leave the entrance and get back into the carriage. I hadn't noticed the carriage because I had been highly distracted by the fat man and the horn.

I walked over to the window by the door and peeked out. There was a carriage, and boy was it something. It was a blinding white color, but gold framed the doors and windows. Intricate royal blue patterns graced the sides, and large feathers were attached to the top at all four corners. If this was a carriage for the messengers, what did the royal family's carriage look like?

I closed the curtains and walked back inside. Looking at the envelope, I climbed the stairs to the library. The seal on the letter was blood red, and the royal insignia was stamped on it. What would the royal family be inviting Victoria and my stepsisters to? They were not well known, and even if they were, they were not well liked.

I knocked on the door of the library. I heard a voice from inside say enter, but the door was so thick that I couldn't make out the speaker. I quietly opened the door and came into the brightly lit room. All the walls were completely filled with shelves of books of all shapes and sizes. I took a deep breath in; I loved the smell of books. I often came to the library to relax, mostly because the only time my sisters were ever in here was when Victoria forced them to. They thought reading was useless and that only dull, boring, stupid people would use free time to read. Which only made me question why they didn't do it more often.

Reading was my escape from the reality I was in. I often wished that I was the damsel in the fairytales, and that someday a handsome prince would come to save me from my enslavement to my evil captors. But just like my tears, I learned that wishing didn't solve anything. Ddreaming was about all that I had left, though, and I held on to it with all my heart.

"Would you like something? We are very busy right now." Victoria said to me in her sickly sweet voice. Judging by the fact that Jessica was asleep in her chair and Lauren was playing with her nails, I had to disagree with Victoria's statement.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but this letter just arrived from the royal family. The man said it was an invitation." I finished with a small curtsy. It was like I had shot a gun in the air. At the same time, Lauren and Jessica jumped from their chairs.

"Invitation!!" They yelled, rushing at me. Tearing the letter from my hand, they began to fight each other for the piece of paper. There was even a little hair-pulling and scratching and an exchange of some very unladylike phrases. I just stood there openmouthed watching the ordeal before me. I thought they were going to pull the letter apart. Victoria eventually stepped in.

"Girls, girls, that is no way for young ladies like yourselves to act." They pulled apart, but both kept one hand gripped to the letter. Victoria walked over and took it from both of them, then used her nail to swiftly open the letter. Her eyes grew wide as she read.

"What does it say, mother!?" Lauren asked, expectant.

"We have been invited to a royal ball!" She exclaimed, triumphant. My stepsisters squealed and clapped their hands. Victoria continued, "The letter states that the King and Queen are trying to find a wife for their son, the Royal Prince. They are inviting every eligible maiden in the kingdom to come to a ball and meet him. Each and every maiden must attend! Every girl will be presented to him, and from them he will choose his bride!"

Jessica continued to squeal, Lauren was spinning in a circle, and I stood there like a dolt. There was one phrase she had said that was running through my mind. Jessica and Lauren had joined hands and were dancing together, and Victoria continued to read.

"The ball will be held on three consecutive nights, so that the Prince has enough time to meet each girl. Everyone is invited to each night, and a carriage will be sent to each house on each night as well!" She dropped the letter to her side, and her eyes were still wide, "My daughters! You are going to become Queens!"

I had to ask now before anything else happened. So I cleared my throat and said quietly, "Excuse me?" Their laughter stopped. They simply stared at me, so I continued. "You said…that the letter stated…that every eligible maiden in the kingdom is to attend." Jessica and Lauren looked at me confused, but the knowledge suddenly dawned on Victoria's face.

"If every eligible maiden must attend, then I get to go too." I said, although it sounded more like a question. Still I couldn't help the feeling I had inside. I was going to be able to meet the Prince! I was going to get to go to a royal ball, where I could, if only for a moment, be some one else. Not the servant girl to her stepmother, but a normal girl.

"Yes, the letter does say that," Victoria stated in a very monotone voice, "I suppose you will have to come along." I couldn't stop the smile from filling my entire face. I suddenly felt like I was going to float up and touch the ceiling. I was allowed to go!

"But Mother! You can't be serious! Cinderbella can't come!!!" Jessica whined, and Lauren just stood there in shock. I didn't care, and it didn't matter what tricks they played on me for this. I could handle it, as long as I was allowed to go. But just as quickly as my hopes were built up, they came crumbling down as I heard the one word that could ruin everything.

"But," Victoria stated, and my heart felt like it was being ripped apart, "you still need to finish all your chores for today, along with the extra chores you have been given for you mistake this morning. And since the first night of the ball is tomorrow, all your chores tomorrow will need to be done as well. And then you may only go if- and only if you can find a suitable outfit to wear. Do you understand?"

I nodded my head vigorously, then curtsied and rushed out of the room. I heard the groans of protest from my stepsisters as I ran downstairs to finish the grand hall. It didn't matter, I was going to go to this ball, and for one night in my life, I was going to be some one else. I was going to be more than Cinderbella.

I hope that was enough to compensate for the extremely long wait. Again, sorry! In this chapter the small changes between the original Cinderella and my story start to appear, and I would like to know what people think! Review please! Pretty please!!!