Hey! This is my third fanfic on here, the first being Loving the Prince
(which, I promise, will be updated soon!) and the second A Wolf's Crush.
This is based on Cinderella, with different versions tied in here and
there. Please read and review, good and bad, no flames though please.
Enjoy!
**NOTE: This chapter has been updated with spelling errors fixed and a few wordings corrected. Thank you!**
Chapter 1: Duchess Starina
Katherine Margaret Eleanor yawned as she woke. A breeze was coming in from the only window in the little room. Katie rolled over onto her stomach and looked out the window. Far, far off in the distance was a beautiful white castle. The towers were topped with blue cones and the windows in the towers were long slits. Down below were huge windows with many panes of glass. It was beautiful.
Katie stood and dressed in the dress she wore every day, a simple brown dress with airy sleeves and flowing, tattered, ankle-length skirt. She hurriedly plaited her long, light brown hair and tied her apron on in the kitchen. She scooped the apron up like a big pocket and filled the pocket with corn. Grabbing a cloth-lined basket, sneaking a carrot into her apron, and greeting her mother with a "Morning," she hurried outside to the chicken coop and scattered the corn. Twelve chickens came running out and started pecking at the corn. While they were eating, Katie entered the coop and collected twelve eggs, one from each nest. She took the eggs inside to Margaret, her mother, and ran outside to her horse.
"Morning, Brownie," she said to the chestnut-brown horse. The horse whinnied and trotted over to the scoop Katie had filled with hay.
"Morning, Katie," Brownie replied. That was the one odd thing about Katie -- she could talk to animals. No one knew why, no one in Katie's family had ever been magic, not fairy, witch, or troll. It was strange, but Katie didn't care. She liked talking to Brownie, he was her best, and only, friend. Brownie's eyes lit up as Katie brought out the carrot. "Your father and mother were in here last night, feeding the dogs. I hear you're going to the royal city?"
Katie grinned. "Yup, we are! It's about a week's walk, but Papa and Mother want to go by carriage and that'll take two and a half days. Of course, they said if I wanted to ride you, I could. I'd be there a day earlier. But I told them no, I couldn't possibly ride you. I can't even ride you in the field. It feels so rude, riding on the back of your best friend."
Brownie gave his laughing neigh. "I don't mind."
"Yes, but I do. I'm going in the carriage. You can come if you want, but I will not ride you." Brownie bobbed his head up and down, meaning yes.
"I understand. And thank you, but no, I don't think I'll go to the royal city. It's too busy there, I like it out here in the country." Brownie turned and started to eat. Katie left the stable and went inside where Mother had fried four eggs, one for each of them and two for Timothy, Katie's papa, who was outside, probably milking cows.
"Katherine, have you packed all of you bags? We'll be staying a week, you know, and you don't want to forget anything. And you can't wear that brown one, you can only wear your nice ones... oh dear, you only have the green satin and the pink silk, don't you? We'll buy you a few new gowns in Jekk. Katherine? Katherine, pay attention, don't just sit there eating!"
"Mother, if you called me Katie, I might learn to pay attention."
"Sorry, Katie."
"And yes, Mother, I'm all packed." Katie stood, cleared her place from the table, and started to exit the kitchen. She paused. "The royal city will be wonderful, won't it?" Katie sighed and ran off to her room.
Once there, Katie gazed out her room at the towers of the far-off palace. She turned her head and could see the driveway of the little white house she lived in and the small carriage her family owned. It was once painted but the paint had peeled and what had remained of the paint faded so the color, whatever it had been, was no longer visible. The two horses that would be taking them to Jonda, the royal city, were Eloise and Bolt, Mother and Papa's horses. They were both younger and stronger than Brownie, so it made more sense for them to take the family to the royal city.
Up the road, Katie could see a big black coach rolling down the rode, led by four prancing white horses. Hardly ever did someone come down the dusty road, except to see Katie and her family. Indeed, the black coach rolled into the driveway and Katie got a better look -- painted all over the black coach, in tiny, detailed work were green vines with red blooms. The driver got down from his perch and opened the door -- out stepped the recently widowed Duchess Starina, followed by six girls. All seven of them had the same black curls framing their pale-white faces and bright, green eyes. Duchess Starina straightened her red dress.
Katie dashed from the window and threw her brown dress over her head. Throwing her trunk open, she grabbed the pink silk dress and stepped into it. She tied a white silk sash round her waist and made an attempt to tuck the wisps of hair that had escaped back into her braid. She dashed to the kitchen and warned her papa and mother of Duchess Starina's arrival just before there was a rap at the door.
"Quick, Katie!" cried Papa, standing and running towards his room. "Answer the door!"
Mother rose and left too, saying, "Stall her, we'll change as fast as we can!"
"Yes, of course!" Katie ran for the door as Duchess Starina knocked again. She took a deep breath and swung the door open. Duchess Starina's face changed from impatience to sweet and glad-to-see-you. That smile was fake, Katie knew it was. And there was something evil about her, something Mother and Papa couldn't see, only Katie saw it.
"Katherine!" squealed Duchess Starina. Katie winced at her full name. "So good to see you. We're leaving today, correct?" Duchess Starina made an attempt to get inside, but Katie stepped in her way.
"What do you mean we're leaving?" asked Katie. "Mother, Papa, and I are leaving for Jonda today, yes. But you and your daughters aren't going with us."
"Au contraire!" cried Duchess Starina, smiling and lifting her shoulders as though that was the funniest joke in the world. "We're coming! Your mother invited us!"
"She WHAT?"
"Yes, Katherine, I did." Katie felt her mother's hands on her shoulders. "Duchess Starina, so good to see you. I'm sorry, we were caught unaware of your arrival. Thank you, Katherine, for entertaining Duchess Starina. Go change, you can't travel in that." Katie rolled her eyes and stomped off towards her room.
So that was why Mother kept calling her Katherine. Duchess Starina always insisted everyone be called by his or her full name, and she couldn't very well be an exception. Katie stepped out of the silk dress and back into the brown one, though she brushed off some of the dust and dirt and cleaned off the apron first. She carefully folded the pink dress and put it back in the trunk. Wondering if they'd all be going in the old carriage, she dragged the trunk out to the small parlor, where Duchess Starina, Papa, Mother, and the two eldest of Duchess Starina's daughters, Arena and Brenda, sat.
"Oh, darling," said Papa, standing. "Let me help you take that to the carriage. We're doing luggage in carriage, people in coach." Katie nodded, biting her tongue until she and Papa were outside.
"D'you mind if I ride with the luggage?" complained Katie, once they were out of the house. Duchess Starina's four younger daughters were milling about on the other side of the road, out of earshot. "I don't want the company of Duchess Starina and Arena and Brenda and Callista and Fayre and Gale and Loreen."
"Wouldn't you be lonesome with just luggage to talk to?"
"Papa." Katie and Papa threw the trunk onto the pile of luggage. "This is me you're talking to. I'll talk to Eloise and Bolt, to those stuffy white horses over there who are talking about all the dust on the road. I'll get a squirrel or a bird to ride along with me. Just please, please, PLEASE don't make me ride with Duchess Starina and her daughters!"
Papa sighed. "Ask your mother."
"Oh great," Katie muttered under her breath. "That's a flat out no." Papa laughed and they went inside.
***
Katie looked into the coach. It was lined with red velvet trimmed with green cord. There were two benches facing each other. Arena, Brenda, Papa, Mother, and Callista were facing the way they were going and Katie, Fayre, Gale, Loreen, and Duchess Starina were riding backwards.
Katie ignored the girls' chat about the Prince of the kingdom and didn't care about her parents' conversation with Duchess Starina about how much longer the King would live. She stared out the window and listened to the horses.
"Winnie," came a male horse voice that must've belonged to a white horse since Bolt's voice could be heard in the distance, "the dust on this road is positively ridiculous."
"Agreed, Marray," said a very high, annoying, female voice. "The cobble-stoned roads are so much nicer!"
"I don't think so," said another female voice. "I like these country roads better. Much more fresh air."
"You don't know anything, Fairy," said Marray. "Which roads do you prefer, Sort?"
"I like the city roads," came a very deep male voice.
"Three to one," said Winnie. "You lose, Fairy."
Katie lost interest in the white horses and listened to the birds gossiping about her family traveling with Lady Starina and daughters.
There was a loud crash and a great jolt but the coach kept going. The birds were screaming in horror. "Stop!" screamed Katie. "Stop the coach!" After a minute, the drivers, one for the carriage and one for the coach, obliged and Katie rushed from the carriage, followed by Papa.
Outside, about three yards back, lying in the track formed by the coach wheels, was a squirrel. Katie closed her eyes, listening, trying to make out words. But there were no words, which was strange for a squirrel, who was usually chattier than the birds. After a moment, Katie lifted the squirrel and placed him behind a tree. "Is he...?" asked Papa.
Tears forming in her eyes, Katie nodded. She couldn't bear to see an animal die. Papa and Katie started heading back to the coach when they heard a girlish scream. They looked at each other and dashed back.
"We didn't do anything!" screamed Loreen, tumbling out of the coach. "She just dropped with blood streaming from her head!"
Katie, realizing what and whom Loreen must have been talking about, yanked at Fayre and Arena's hands because they were blocking the door, pulling them out. She threw herself into the carriage and saw Brenda, Callista, and Gale standing on the benches, bent over as to keep their heads from bumping the ceiling, their faces fixed in expressions of horror. Duchess Starina was tumbling out the door on the other side. And on the floor of the coach, lying in a small pool of blood, was Mother. Katie screamed and her father pulled her back so he could see. He broke into tears. "No!" they both screamed together. "This can't be happening!" "Papa!" "Katie!" "She can't be gone, she can't!"
Katie thought saw a smug look on Duchess Starina's face before she disappeared behind the coach.
END CHAPTER ONE
So, what did you think? Good? Tell me in a review! Bad? Tell me in a review! (No flames though, please.) Thanks for reading!
**NOTE: This chapter has been updated with spelling errors fixed and a few wordings corrected. Thank you!**
Chapter 1: Duchess Starina
Katherine Margaret Eleanor yawned as she woke. A breeze was coming in from the only window in the little room. Katie rolled over onto her stomach and looked out the window. Far, far off in the distance was a beautiful white castle. The towers were topped with blue cones and the windows in the towers were long slits. Down below were huge windows with many panes of glass. It was beautiful.
Katie stood and dressed in the dress she wore every day, a simple brown dress with airy sleeves and flowing, tattered, ankle-length skirt. She hurriedly plaited her long, light brown hair and tied her apron on in the kitchen. She scooped the apron up like a big pocket and filled the pocket with corn. Grabbing a cloth-lined basket, sneaking a carrot into her apron, and greeting her mother with a "Morning," she hurried outside to the chicken coop and scattered the corn. Twelve chickens came running out and started pecking at the corn. While they were eating, Katie entered the coop and collected twelve eggs, one from each nest. She took the eggs inside to Margaret, her mother, and ran outside to her horse.
"Morning, Brownie," she said to the chestnut-brown horse. The horse whinnied and trotted over to the scoop Katie had filled with hay.
"Morning, Katie," Brownie replied. That was the one odd thing about Katie -- she could talk to animals. No one knew why, no one in Katie's family had ever been magic, not fairy, witch, or troll. It was strange, but Katie didn't care. She liked talking to Brownie, he was her best, and only, friend. Brownie's eyes lit up as Katie brought out the carrot. "Your father and mother were in here last night, feeding the dogs. I hear you're going to the royal city?"
Katie grinned. "Yup, we are! It's about a week's walk, but Papa and Mother want to go by carriage and that'll take two and a half days. Of course, they said if I wanted to ride you, I could. I'd be there a day earlier. But I told them no, I couldn't possibly ride you. I can't even ride you in the field. It feels so rude, riding on the back of your best friend."
Brownie gave his laughing neigh. "I don't mind."
"Yes, but I do. I'm going in the carriage. You can come if you want, but I will not ride you." Brownie bobbed his head up and down, meaning yes.
"I understand. And thank you, but no, I don't think I'll go to the royal city. It's too busy there, I like it out here in the country." Brownie turned and started to eat. Katie left the stable and went inside where Mother had fried four eggs, one for each of them and two for Timothy, Katie's papa, who was outside, probably milking cows.
"Katherine, have you packed all of you bags? We'll be staying a week, you know, and you don't want to forget anything. And you can't wear that brown one, you can only wear your nice ones... oh dear, you only have the green satin and the pink silk, don't you? We'll buy you a few new gowns in Jekk. Katherine? Katherine, pay attention, don't just sit there eating!"
"Mother, if you called me Katie, I might learn to pay attention."
"Sorry, Katie."
"And yes, Mother, I'm all packed." Katie stood, cleared her place from the table, and started to exit the kitchen. She paused. "The royal city will be wonderful, won't it?" Katie sighed and ran off to her room.
Once there, Katie gazed out her room at the towers of the far-off palace. She turned her head and could see the driveway of the little white house she lived in and the small carriage her family owned. It was once painted but the paint had peeled and what had remained of the paint faded so the color, whatever it had been, was no longer visible. The two horses that would be taking them to Jonda, the royal city, were Eloise and Bolt, Mother and Papa's horses. They were both younger and stronger than Brownie, so it made more sense for them to take the family to the royal city.
Up the road, Katie could see a big black coach rolling down the rode, led by four prancing white horses. Hardly ever did someone come down the dusty road, except to see Katie and her family. Indeed, the black coach rolled into the driveway and Katie got a better look -- painted all over the black coach, in tiny, detailed work were green vines with red blooms. The driver got down from his perch and opened the door -- out stepped the recently widowed Duchess Starina, followed by six girls. All seven of them had the same black curls framing their pale-white faces and bright, green eyes. Duchess Starina straightened her red dress.
Katie dashed from the window and threw her brown dress over her head. Throwing her trunk open, she grabbed the pink silk dress and stepped into it. She tied a white silk sash round her waist and made an attempt to tuck the wisps of hair that had escaped back into her braid. She dashed to the kitchen and warned her papa and mother of Duchess Starina's arrival just before there was a rap at the door.
"Quick, Katie!" cried Papa, standing and running towards his room. "Answer the door!"
Mother rose and left too, saying, "Stall her, we'll change as fast as we can!"
"Yes, of course!" Katie ran for the door as Duchess Starina knocked again. She took a deep breath and swung the door open. Duchess Starina's face changed from impatience to sweet and glad-to-see-you. That smile was fake, Katie knew it was. And there was something evil about her, something Mother and Papa couldn't see, only Katie saw it.
"Katherine!" squealed Duchess Starina. Katie winced at her full name. "So good to see you. We're leaving today, correct?" Duchess Starina made an attempt to get inside, but Katie stepped in her way.
"What do you mean we're leaving?" asked Katie. "Mother, Papa, and I are leaving for Jonda today, yes. But you and your daughters aren't going with us."
"Au contraire!" cried Duchess Starina, smiling and lifting her shoulders as though that was the funniest joke in the world. "We're coming! Your mother invited us!"
"She WHAT?"
"Yes, Katherine, I did." Katie felt her mother's hands on her shoulders. "Duchess Starina, so good to see you. I'm sorry, we were caught unaware of your arrival. Thank you, Katherine, for entertaining Duchess Starina. Go change, you can't travel in that." Katie rolled her eyes and stomped off towards her room.
So that was why Mother kept calling her Katherine. Duchess Starina always insisted everyone be called by his or her full name, and she couldn't very well be an exception. Katie stepped out of the silk dress and back into the brown one, though she brushed off some of the dust and dirt and cleaned off the apron first. She carefully folded the pink dress and put it back in the trunk. Wondering if they'd all be going in the old carriage, she dragged the trunk out to the small parlor, where Duchess Starina, Papa, Mother, and the two eldest of Duchess Starina's daughters, Arena and Brenda, sat.
"Oh, darling," said Papa, standing. "Let me help you take that to the carriage. We're doing luggage in carriage, people in coach." Katie nodded, biting her tongue until she and Papa were outside.
"D'you mind if I ride with the luggage?" complained Katie, once they were out of the house. Duchess Starina's four younger daughters were milling about on the other side of the road, out of earshot. "I don't want the company of Duchess Starina and Arena and Brenda and Callista and Fayre and Gale and Loreen."
"Wouldn't you be lonesome with just luggage to talk to?"
"Papa." Katie and Papa threw the trunk onto the pile of luggage. "This is me you're talking to. I'll talk to Eloise and Bolt, to those stuffy white horses over there who are talking about all the dust on the road. I'll get a squirrel or a bird to ride along with me. Just please, please, PLEASE don't make me ride with Duchess Starina and her daughters!"
Papa sighed. "Ask your mother."
"Oh great," Katie muttered under her breath. "That's a flat out no." Papa laughed and they went inside.
***
Katie looked into the coach. It was lined with red velvet trimmed with green cord. There were two benches facing each other. Arena, Brenda, Papa, Mother, and Callista were facing the way they were going and Katie, Fayre, Gale, Loreen, and Duchess Starina were riding backwards.
Katie ignored the girls' chat about the Prince of the kingdom and didn't care about her parents' conversation with Duchess Starina about how much longer the King would live. She stared out the window and listened to the horses.
"Winnie," came a male horse voice that must've belonged to a white horse since Bolt's voice could be heard in the distance, "the dust on this road is positively ridiculous."
"Agreed, Marray," said a very high, annoying, female voice. "The cobble-stoned roads are so much nicer!"
"I don't think so," said another female voice. "I like these country roads better. Much more fresh air."
"You don't know anything, Fairy," said Marray. "Which roads do you prefer, Sort?"
"I like the city roads," came a very deep male voice.
"Three to one," said Winnie. "You lose, Fairy."
Katie lost interest in the white horses and listened to the birds gossiping about her family traveling with Lady Starina and daughters.
There was a loud crash and a great jolt but the coach kept going. The birds were screaming in horror. "Stop!" screamed Katie. "Stop the coach!" After a minute, the drivers, one for the carriage and one for the coach, obliged and Katie rushed from the carriage, followed by Papa.
Outside, about three yards back, lying in the track formed by the coach wheels, was a squirrel. Katie closed her eyes, listening, trying to make out words. But there were no words, which was strange for a squirrel, who was usually chattier than the birds. After a moment, Katie lifted the squirrel and placed him behind a tree. "Is he...?" asked Papa.
Tears forming in her eyes, Katie nodded. She couldn't bear to see an animal die. Papa and Katie started heading back to the coach when they heard a girlish scream. They looked at each other and dashed back.
"We didn't do anything!" screamed Loreen, tumbling out of the coach. "She just dropped with blood streaming from her head!"
Katie, realizing what and whom Loreen must have been talking about, yanked at Fayre and Arena's hands because they were blocking the door, pulling them out. She threw herself into the carriage and saw Brenda, Callista, and Gale standing on the benches, bent over as to keep their heads from bumping the ceiling, their faces fixed in expressions of horror. Duchess Starina was tumbling out the door on the other side. And on the floor of the coach, lying in a small pool of blood, was Mother. Katie screamed and her father pulled her back so he could see. He broke into tears. "No!" they both screamed together. "This can't be happening!" "Papa!" "Katie!" "She can't be gone, she can't!"
Katie thought saw a smug look on Duchess Starina's face before she disappeared behind the coach.
END CHAPTER ONE
So, what did you think? Good? Tell me in a review! Bad? Tell me in a review! (No flames though, please.) Thanks for reading!
