A/N this story was written and created by me and all the characters are mine. The characters are all patented. The other copy I put out of the story was wrong. Enjy and don't forget to Review

Lena of Cinders

Once upon a time there was Helena.

In any normal story she would be beautiful, kind and soft spoken, but… well… Helena was something else. She was gorgeous when forced to be in a dress (which hardly ever happened because she would get back the person who forced her to), smart and cunning (how else would she create the ways to get them back?), adventurous and tough (as every girl should be!). Not your typical Cinderella, that's for sure. Helena was the daughter of a Duke and a Duchess, the two kindest and most loving people in the kingdom (save for the royal family). They loved and cared for their daughter very much as Helena did for them. But there was one thing Helena didn't know about her parents past, that she would soon wish she was never involved in.

Helena was an only child. She loved going out into the wild and preferred to shoot arrows and play with the boys than sit around and embroider. Her parents loved her like this and often joined into her games, but that didn't stop the other noble ladies from gossiping. To them it must have been odd, seeing one of the most prominent families in the kingdom play around in the mud with the villagers, but to all the commoners the Duke, Duchess and Helena were favored above the other nobles because of their benevolence.

On the third day of May, Helena was in her favorite spot, her little dwelling place in the forest. She often went there to ponder the day or to practice her new sword fighting moves. This was her secret place, her palace, where nothing bad could ever happen. Only her and her parents knew about the place, so it was a perfect spot for Helena to run away to in order to escape reality, or so she thought.

That day when Helena was practicing her latest moves that she learnt from sword fighting in the barracks, something bad happened. A man wearing armor jumped out from the trees and snatched Helena away. She was caught off guard, so she didn't even put up a fight until she was on the horse, when she regained her senses. There were two guards on horses, one to which Helena and her horse were connected to and the other which was walking beside her. Helena's only thoughts were on her escape.

Two days had passed and Helena had not figured how to escape from the guards. She was not allowed off her horse for any reason (Someone had to watch her when she went to the bathroom!). Helena found all this to be preposterous, first of all she was taken away for a reason that was unbeknownst to her, was tied up on a horse so tightly that she had red marks on her hands, forced to listen to two guards who talked about different ways to milk a cow and was hungry and not allowed to go to the bathroom without an escort. Helena got to the very end of her patience when the perfect moment arose. She was able to struggle the ropes loose that held her to the horse and led the horses to some poison ivy. After wrapping her hands in a strip of material, she plucked some ivy from a nearby bush. Hiding it underneath some fabric on the saddle she waited for the opportune moment. With a clump of ivy in each hand she smashed it into her captor's face and sprinted off as fast as she possibly could. Not realizing that there was a river coming, Helena tripped and fell into the ice cold of the river, allowing the guards to grab her and continue on the journey.

Another day passed without much ado, until they were finally at the destination. When Helena arrived, she felt a sudden longing to be stuck back with the guards again, listening to their mundane discussions. Even that was better compared to the three people behind the capture: Olga, Amanda and Miranda, who she later called "the Evils". Olga was the girls' mother, she was about six feet tall and very… well… plump. She had greasy brown curly hair that was tied tightly in a knot above her head, accenting her rat like features. Amanda and Miranda were twin sisters that were eleven years old, just Helena's age. Amanda being born three minutes before Miranda was the bossy one, always in control of every situation. She was also deemed the pretty one of the family, although Helena never saw it. Miranda, well… one could say that she took after her mother's looks. She was a good three inches taller than her sister and had frizzy brown hair. She was a pushover and enjoyed eating pastries rather than primping herself up.

They stood there looking menacingly at Helena, (well besides Miranda she was more focused on the croissant that she was busily stuffing in her mouth) and she knew from that moment on life would never be the same.

Everyday was the same for the beaten Helena, rising at the crack of dawn to begin her chores and going to bed after dusk, falling asleep before her head hit the pillow. It had been five years since the day of Helena's kidnapping, and Helena somehow grew to be even more beautiful than she was when she arrived at the manor. Sixteen year old Helena started to get more attention when she would go into town to pick up the vegetables. When the Evils realized this Helena was forbidden to ever go into town in fear of all of the villagers realizing who she was. The daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Astitine, Helena Isabelle Christina Emmaline Soron, was forgotten to all those who once knew her. When the Evils noticed all the attention Helena got, they grew even more jealous and made her do more mundane chores and abbreviated her name to simply Lena to hinder all those people who were still looking for Helena after all these years.

Not saying that Helena was the perfect little girl all the time, she had her moments and pulled many cunning pranks on the Evils. Creating a more malicious and vexatious household. Helena was treated like a slave, beaten and starved, but she never gave up, she continued to learn and practice the art of fighting and she learnt many languages to keep herself up with the culture. In her free time (which was often very hard to find) Helena became an excellent warrior, even through her loneliness.

She had a few friends since she came to the manor but had to end the friendships in fear of harm occurring to one of them.

It was the third of March when the big news was announced. Posted on many buildings was a sign that announced a large occasion that would put the whole kingdom into an uproar. Screeches, squeals and hollers could be heard all over the kingdom, disrupting Lena's chores and waking everybody up in the manor.

Amanda ran down the stairs with curlers still in her hair, "LLEEEEENNNAA! What is happening? Go outside and find a reason for the disturbance of my beauty rest!" she demanded with her voice squeaking slightly when she finished her sentence.

Scrambling out of the house, Helena walked to the village, seeing how much everything had grown since she had last been there. In midst of the confusion the Evils must have forgot about the whole 'don't go outside!' thing, not like that Lena minded she needed to escape from that godforsaken manor.

When she arrived in the village she saw what created all the hassle, there on one of the buildings was the announcement of the Prince's masquerades. Ripping one of the notices off the wall of a store she decided to have a look around the village, suspecting that she should enjoy the experience while it lasted. A young boy was all alone trying to find his mother, seeing this Lena went over to help.

"Is there a problem?" Lena asked in the sweetest voice she could muster (Hey! It's hard for someone to be really kind when they were in a situation like Lena's, even if they wanted to!)

The little boy's eyes widened at the thought of someone talking to him and his big blue eyes began to water.

Looking quite frightened Lena tried to calm him down, "No, no! Sorry! Don't cry! Please! I didn't mean to!" taking his hand she began to look for someone who knew him. "What is your name?" seeming desperate the boy started to talk.

"Brad." big tears slipped further down his cheeks, "I want momma!"

Pulling him through the crowd she heard a woman yelling Brad's name, searching for him. When he saw his mother he ran to her and jumped into her awaiting arms. Never had Lena seen such a joyous face.

She was so thankful that Lena had been there and they became good friends fast. Lisa, Brad's mom, was a single mother who had two children, twins, Brand and a girl, Bethany. Realizing how much time had gone by, Lena said goodbye and hurried up to the manor.

When scurrying to the manor she remembered about the Prince's ball. "What kind of egotistical idiot would want to choose a bride at a ball? Whatever happened to good old fashioned love?" Lena mused, coming to the conclusion that the Prince was attention seeking and arrogant. "How could anyone want that? What kind of person is the Prince?"

"LLEEEENNNAAA! WHERE ARE YOU?" Amanda was yelling, since they have been waiting all morning for the news and the Evils tended not to be the most patient people. Panting heavily, Lena ran into the house giving the Evils the notice she took off one of the buildings. Amanda and Miranda gave an excited squeak (which sounded more like a horrific scream).

"Oh mother! A ball, to celebrate the Prince's birthday! And he will choose a wife! We need to prepare; I want to have the best dress out of everyone. Mother he has to choose ME!" Amanda began ranting while grimacing (or was that a smile?). Miranda, who wasn't paying attention to the notice (because of the pastry in her hand), looked up and smiled with her sister.

To Prince Derrick the ball had an opposite reaction. "Mother! Father! How could you do this to me? Now all the girls will think that I want a wife and I will never have a moment's peace! How could you?" he ranted then stormed off (well, how would you feel if your chance to find true love had been thrown away and you were forced into choosing a spouse?). Derrick was so mad at his parents. How could they do that to him? He wanted to love his wife and there was no way he could find a true love in the span of three balls. There was absolutely, positively no way. His life couldn't get any worse. His parents just didn't understand him. He sat in the menagerie and realized that there was no chance he could stop or even postpone this event. He was doomed!

The town was in a neurotic state. Girls were seen everywhere and the dress shops had lines all throughout the town. Lena, having been sent out to get the dresses, was in a state of distress. How could she, a simple scullery maid (who was a former duchess), get this done within the hour? She had to get the shoes, the dresses, the masks and, of course, the ribbons and bows that would be splashed onto the girls ridiculously over adorned outfits. Gosh, could this day get any worse?

As soon as this thought ran through her head, a large carriage knocked into Lena, making he fall into a pile of mud, further ruining her appearance and stalling her from her tasks (she even lost her place in the line!). How was she going to last through this? Realizing that waiting in the line was futile; Lena headed off in another direction to get the shoes.

When Lena finally got home, instead of the rest that she most definitely needed, she got bossed around into doing chores again and again. She had to do her regular chores (basically cleaning the whole house) and extra chores to prepare for the ball (did the Prince think at all about the havoc he created by announcing a ball, that allows, and I quote "every eligible maiden to attend"?). By 3 o'clock Lena stumbled into bed, falling asleep before her head hit the pillow.

The next day was even worse, being that it was the day of the first ball. The Evils had to be "specially prepared" all day long. The day was excruciating for Lena, why would anyone want to go to this ball anyway? It's just to meet a spoiled Prince.

"By the way Lena, there is no way that you are going to the ball!" Amanda screeched while Lena was trying (as in not succeeding) to make her look nice.

"What makes you think that I would want to go anyway?" she replied with a smirk.

"What do you mean? Who wouldn't want to go? You are crazy!"

"No reason to disagree with you darling, but you are way more, how did you put it, 'Crazy' for wanting to go!"

"Hmph! Finish my hair!" she growled out. Lena just rolled her eyes.

Five hours later (which was still three hours early) the coach arrived to take the girls to the ball. Their dresses were worse than she could have imagined. If they were not embellished will all those ornamentation's then they would be half-decent but the girls could never give up that (they would rather die). Lena didn't even pretend to like the dresses, she just left to do her chores, figuring that the faster she got them don't the more relaxing time she would get.

Lena finished her chores in record time. When she got to her room to get the rest she deserved, there was a surprise awaiting her. In her room was the biggest mess she had ever seen (and trust me Lena had seen many messes). It was as if someone was looking for something in her room. What could they have taken? The only thing that was even remotely valuable was her mother's necklace, which was fastened around her neck.

Suddenly realisation dawned on her, "Oh no! Not this!" with a panic Lena looked under her mattress, only to find nothing there, "They took my journal!". Lena would write in this journal all her feelings on the evils, she would write about her many plans to escape, but that was not the most embarrassing part. Lena would write about her parents and what they would be like. Lena knew that this was nothing to be embarrassed about but she didn't want her private thoughts about her mother and father to be made a spectacle about.

How could she get them back for this? How could she make them pay for taking one of the most important things from her? Suddenly Lena had a brilliant idea. The one thing they didn't want her to do was go to that ball and show them up. It doesn't matter that Lena herself didn't want to go, she would do almost anything to get them back and she knew that this was perfect. When Lena would wear a dress voluntarily then you know the best pranks are to come. The corners of Lena's mouth twitched up. This was going to be so much fun.

Lena went searching around the manor for a dress, shoes and a mask. Searching through the many closets of Amanda and Miranda, Lena found a dress that she could alter perfectly. The dress would be beautiful, or as beautiful as any dress could be. She also figured that she could make a mask out of the excess fabric and beads. The shoes were a harder thing to find because Lena had itty-bitty feet and the girls had feet the size of a walrus. Finally she found some shoes in a small chest (she believed that they were from the girls' younger years because they were quite small). These shoes were perfect but would have to be fixed a little to match her dress. She sat down to begin the gruelling process of preparing for the ball.

Three hours later she was finally ready to start the hour-long walk to the ball. Putting on some more comfortable shoes and a jacket before she left she started the tedious journey of heading to the ball. After five minutes of walking a carriage pulled up next to Lena. The door opened to reveal an elderly lady, Ellis Gerrard; she welcomed Lena into the carriage to go to and from the ball. Upon arriving Lena thanked the lady and promised that she would meet up with her after the ball.

Walking up to two large doors to enter the ballroom, butterflies erupted in Lena's stomach. A perplexed Lena questioned herself, why was she nervous? It was just a stupid little ball. She forgot about the butterflies when the magnificent double doors opened to reveal a breathtaking room filled with beautiful ladies being swept across the dance floor. In her own amazement she did not realise how the room went surprisingly silent. She was halfway down the stairs when she caught on. All she could hear was her steady footfalls. Why are all these people staring at her? Now that she knew that they were staring the butterflies flew back and her footfalls were not so steady. What if she tripped in front of all of these people? She would be the laughing stock of the kingdom. She could never go out into public again! Wait… back up the gravy boat… this was the first time she has ever been in public and it likely will be the last so who cares what they think. Her steps grew steadier and the butterflies disappeared as she regained her confidence.

"Who is she?" Prince Derrick asked no one in particular. All her could see was this beauty floating down the stairs. Never before had he seen her, which was a surprise because he knew almost everyone in the kingdom, especially in the past few days. His body moved towards her without him knowing. He couldn't take his mind of her.

When Lena got down the stairs she walked right by a group of men that were quickly forming and headed to the table of refreshments. For the next hour Lena danced every song. When she had enough, she politely excused herself and sat down on one of the many chairs situated around the room. A man with slick black hair came up to Lena and asked her for a dance, which she refused because she was exhausted. Taking a firm grip on her arm he pulled her onto the dance floor. It took her a minute to realise what was happening (she had slow reflexes), but when she did she started to struggle.

"Please let go, I am awfully tired. I will dance with you when I catch my breath, I promise." But when he didn't listen to Lena's polite refusal she decided to take a different approach. "Let go of me! Get your hands off me, you arrogant imbecile! How dare you pull me away like that! You have no right to do that me! Is this how you woo the ladies? If it is, you definitely need to work on it!" yelling the last statement the people around ceased their dancing and saw that there was a problem.

When the Prince saw what was happening he abandoned the girl fastened on his arm and headed towards the man who currently had hold on Lena. He arrived just when Lena started to get violent.

"Unhand her sir. This is unacceptable behaviour in my ballroom and I hope that I will never cross it again or there will be very severe consequences." The man gave Derrick a dirty look and left the ballroom. The prince turned around, expecting a relieved and thankful girl, to receive a slap on the face and a very dirty look.

"How dare you! Why do you think you can just prance up here and solve my problems for me? You just ruined my reputation! Now everyone will think I need someone to save me. Gosh how inconsiderate are you?" Lena turned around and left the ball, leaving the Prince standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

The next day, Lena was in town getting more fabric for the girls and grabbing some vegetables. What she didn't know is that the Prince was in that very town, with his friend Compatriot (who was, surprisingly, a year elder to Derrick though he rarely acted it), to visit.

"So tell me again what happened, Derrick. I can't believe it! She just slapped you?" Compatriot asked his best friend, Prince Derrick

"Give it up! I told you eight times now, it is embarrassing enough without my best friend making fun of me!" with that said, Compatriot burst into laughter at his friends obvious embarrassment.

"Hey! Isn't that the girl?" Compatriot said looking out in the distance.

"Where? Oh, there. Yah, that's her."

"Maybe I can get her attention." He then called out to Lena "Hello! Miss.! Hi!"

Lena's head jerked up to see who was calling her. Then her eyes went wide and she looked back down at her task, ignoring them.

"Ha! She is embarrassed after her spectacle last night."

"Derrick, I think she doesn't like you, did you see her eyes they went really wide!"

"Nonsense, I just think she... probably…didn't even see us."

Compatriot flapped his arms around and yelled for her. Looking up once more Lena turned and ran off in the opposite direction.

"Nope, she definitely saw us" Compatriot replied.

"Gosh did you see how fast she ran? And why was she dressed like that? She was wearing breeches? Why?"

"Derrick, look at me! Get over her; she is just another girl, okay?" Compatriot said to the prince seriously. "But on a side note I really like her, she is the first girl to refuse you and that qualifies her as my best friend!" he finished with a smirk. Hitting his friend Derrick and Compatriot walked out of town.

A/N There is the first bit…. More is coming. Please R+R….