Here's chapter ten now.

I shall try to make this a long one!

This is also where the plot completely abandons the Cinderella theme, as it had been traveling from it for some time. I did mean it for it to be Cinderella-esque, but I decided this story would take some effort to mold it as such.

Ten

-Ama-

I sat on my bed, carefully braiding Keri's hair. "Ouch!" she cried, and turned around to look at me. "You're hurting me."

I pat her head and apologized. "I'm sorry, Keri. Turn back around, I promise to be more careful." She obeyed and I went back to doing her hair, this time not letting my mind wander. Soon I was done and dismissed her for breakfast. I quickly did my own hair and went into the kitchen.

"Ama!" I cringed. Kiev. He approached me and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. I pushed him back a little, not in the mood for the annoying man. He looked at me questioningly, but I moved past him and began work on my breakfast. I pretended to be engrossed in making my eggs and soon became aware of his missing presence in the room. I looked up, double checking, and sighed deeply in relief.

Phil glanced at me, slightly bemused. "You are quite amusing, child."

I quickly looked at him, then back to my food, asking, "What do you mean?"

"You seemed so eager to please that young Kiev when you first came, but now you shove him away as if he were the plague itself," the cook explained.

"Things change."

"Of course they do," he agreed, sensing that it was not a place to venture with me, and quickly changed the subject. "How's the reading coming along?"

My eyes immediately flew to the man in frustration, but just as quickly went back to my eggs. "Just fine."

Phil was inexplicably good at knowing things about me, he always knew my moods. His gaze swept the kitchen and I knew he was making sure nobody was around, then said, "You're not telling me something." He put down his spatula and leaned against the counter. "Amethyst, tell me what's on your mind."

I took great care and time in putting my eggs onto my plate, not answering him. After another similar prodding, I gave in. "The prince aims to teach me himself."

It was a good thing Phil didn't have anything in his hand, he probably would have dropped it. "What?" he asked in a shocked tone.

"You heard me," I mumbled and stuffed my mouth with eggs. He gave me a look and I continued, after swallowing the mass of food, "I was in the library last night trying to read and he came up out of nowhere and told me he thought I needed help. I couldn't argue with him, he's the prince. So I agreed. That's that."

He shook his head in disbelief and said, "That boy never showed compassion for any servant before, I can't believe he's changed so much as to teach one himself… It's preposterous. He had such disdain for us…"

I shrugged, and kept eating. I shoved the plate towards Phil once I was done and said, "Sorry, I've got to get working now."

He grunted, took the plate, and waved me away.

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Shaking, I opened the door to the prince's quarters. It was Sunday and nobody else was working, leaving me the only one working. I resented the fact, but stood proudly as I stepped into the luxurious quarters. Sighing, I put down my cleaning supplies and began to dust when I saw that the prince was not there. I hummed lightly to myself as I dusted, and soon forgot about the prince, that is, until I heard clapping behind me. I spun around and the prince sat at his desk, looking bored. "Lovely music." I curtsied. He held his hand up before I could say anything. He took the duster from me and tossed it back with my other supplies. He then rolled up a rug and pulled a piece of chalk from his desk.

"You need to learn the alphabet first." He drew a symbol on the wood where the rug had laid. "This is an 'a.' It's the first letter of the alphabet." He motioned for me to kneel next to him. "Now you draw it." I did and he studied my work. "Nice. Now this is a 'b.'" and such went the rest of the lesson. He taught me half of the alphabet and the sounds each letter made, and I was quite immersed with learning. It had been quite some time when I realized I still needed to clean.

"Highness… I need to continue cleaning. I cannot neglect my duties so." I stood and went towards my supplies. The prince stood also, and rolled the rug over the chalk marks. "Now, you do realize these are my quarters, and if I really wanted them clean I would have told you so, no? And the king is really the only one who could punish you, but would not because it is too trivial for him. Now we will not continue anymore today, but tomorrow I will dismiss you, understood?"

I nodded and said, "I'm sorry, Highness. I was not meaning disrespect, I only felt obligated to the duties I was given."

"You have new obligations, and your lessons are them. Have your little daughter review you tonight, now get to work," he ordered and strode from the room. I stared at the closed door, amazed at his reaction. I sighed, again wondering why he knew so much of me, and went into a frenzy cleaning.

-Eli-

The young woman had been making incredible progress the past two weeks, and I was stupefied. She claims to have no previous knowledge, but she seemed to grasp things easily and moved quickly, and once I heard her mumble about going too slow.

I shut the book. "You learn quickly." She looked angry that I had stopped the lesson so abruptly, but quickly masked it. I looked at her sternly in return. "If you think we need to move on, go ahead and tell me. I will not be offended or whatever you think. I need your input. I am leaving back for the castle in a few days, and you still have a couple things to learn if you want to learn to write, also. If you want to continue mumbling, though, I think I can go ahead and leave you to finish your lessons on your own. You know enough."

She stared at me blankly, then looked down at her fingers, which she was twiddling. "I think we need to move on. I understand all of this," she finally admitted.

"Alright," I said. "Now I'm not feeling the best, so I think it would be best we stop for today." I tossed her a book. "Read this for a while here, I'll be back later. I need to finish a few things before I decide I'm too sick for those things."

I stood up, and left her before she could stand and curtsy. I strode through the halls, snipping at servants in my way and found my uncle doing archery. I tried not to laugh as he missed the bull's eye every time. When he was finished, I approached him. "You said we need still need to talk?"

He put down his bow and nodded. "Ah, yes. We do. You see, your father is holding a farewell banquet and ball for us tomorrow night at his other estate."

I raised my eyebrow. "Really now? Who is to be there?"

"Oh, nearly all the nobles in the area, and some visiting nobles as well," he replied and rubbed his eyes. "I only wish you had a young lady to escort."

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter."

The king laughed. "I suppose not."

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The last major ball I attended, my cousin was declared to be sent to his unknown death. This one made me a little nervous, and I did not like the feeling in the air.

When my uncle said all the nobles in the area, I think he meant all the eligible ladies in the country. It seemed as if every single girl that was ever born in my country was there. I knew there was another reason for this stupid ball. They were trying to marry me off. I rolled my eyes and danced with the girls who asked and spoke to the right people, but gave nobody ideas.

The night was slow and dull, and when I got back to the manor, it was very early in the morning and I was too tired to function, not to mention the effect few drinks I consumed had upon me. I was heading up to my rooms when I bumped into somebody. It was that girl, Amethyst. I smiled and said, "Hello there, Amethyst!"

She looked at me surprised, but curtsied. "Your Highness," she acknowledged.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't call me that anymore, please. Call me Eli!" I leaned over and kissed her cheek. I then sauntered up the stairs, and turned back around to her. "Oh, cancel lessons and please don't have anybody come and clean. I need lots of sleep."

I then went to my rooms and collapsed in bed.