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I present: Cinderella
Ships: Ameisra
Israel-Hadassah
Long ago in the land of Cards, the Kingdom of Spades, there lived a man and his wife with their child Hadassah. The man and his wife love their daughter very much and they were a happy family. Now, death and destruction was causing a tempest with a dark Plague. Thankfully, not all died but for this family, the dear wife died leaving behind a grieving man and child.
The man, not wanting his daughter to grow without a mother's loving hand remarried soon after and brought in a lady with two children of her own, both vile and black of heart. The woman hated her stepchild because Hadassah reminded her father of his dead wife.
So the new wife plotted and schemed and when the man died, she reduced Hadassah to rags and forced her to live as a servant to her stepmother and stepsisters. Hadassah was to sleep in the attic of the house and it was at times so cold that she slept at the base of the fire place and was dusty in the mornings that she was called "Cindersah". Obviously these people were not the brightest people in the world because that nickname is horrible.
Years past and little Hadassah grew to be a lovely young lady despite her circumstances but someone who grew also was the young Prince of Spades. Prince Alfred grew up with everything he could ever want but he often felt alone in the large castle. His mother Queen Freya had died and no one could find the replacement Queen of Spades. King Tino was dying and Alfred knew he was to be the King of Spades. He didn't wish to marry a stranger he did not love so he persuaded the Spadian Royals to put on a ball in the hopes of Alfred finding the Queen.
The Jack went to every house in the Kingdom of Spades with an invitation for every eligible lady to attend. If they got desperate then they would look in the other Kingdoms. As fate or the Jokers would have it, the invitation went to the house where Hadassah lived.
The step family were appalled to learn that technically Hadassah was also invited to the Ball. That didn't mean they could prevent her from going. Sneaky loopholes.
They made her clean until her fingers bled and then some, they destroyed the one dress that she would have worn, and beat her before they left. Heartbroken that she would never be able to be free of this life she ran out of the house in rags and ran. She was at the edge of the backyard when she tripped over a tree root and fell face first on the ground. She couldn't muster the will to get up. Hadassah laid on the ground and cried.
Then, as she cried, the second star to the right shone brighter than it had been and flew down to comfort his godchild. His green eyes showed concern and blond hair had a tiara in it because those are fabulous. He wore a pink tunic because those are manly as hell.
"Koteczek, don't cry." He petted her hair to smooth it out. "You'll make your eyes puffy and red and you can't go to the ball and have fun if you are sad."
"I'm not going." Hadassah muttered.
"You're not going to the ball? Well then I am not your fairy godfather then. Of course you can't go looking like that." the stranger pointed to her rags. "You need a dress to bring out the brown in your eyes."
The fairy godfather wiped the tears away from her cheeks. "The prince's favorite color is blue. So how about a light blue? Tak?"
"I like blue." Hadassah sniffed.
"Can I see a smile, koteczek? You're going to look like a princess."
Hadassah gave him a small smile as he took out his wand.
"Now, I want you to spin in a circle."
Hadassah stood and spun in a circle and all around her, magic transformed her rags into a beautiful cornflower blue dress with a fitted bodice and an a-line skirt. Her dark brown hair floated up and braided itself into a messy bun and some magic solidified into a silver flower headband. She looked like the princess that Feliks knew she could be.
Hadassah looked at her reflection in the pond. "I'm speechless." And she had every right to be. His magic was able to temporarily hide her bruises and scars that her step-family had given her.
"You're welcome. Now, lift up your skirts so I can give you your shoes."
Hadassah lifted her skirt just above her ankles and felt herself grow two inches.
"They're glass but you'll find they're really comfortable. Now, I need a squash and some animals." He thought out loud.
One pumpkin, the house cat, three mice, and seven lizards later, Hadassah was off to the ball when she heard a cry.
"Wait! You have to leave before midnight! That is when the magic ends!"
Midnight. That shouldn't be to hard to remember.
...
Meanwhile, Prince Alfred was doing all he could do to not fall asleep standing up. He was secretly jealous how his brother had the ability to sleep with his eyes open but tonight would be a very bad night to start a war. He glanced at the clock, 10:30 at night. And this was to last until four in the morning. He was introduced to three more desperate women, a very desperate man, mothers who wanted their children picked, a father pulling a rather reluctant daughter, and a Joker who asked where Matthew was.
Alfred yawned and looked at the clock again. 10:36! This was not going wel-
It was as if all time had stopped and everyone was gone except Alfred and the Princess whom had just entered his line of vision. With a sudden spring in his step, Alfred made his way over to the mysterious lady.
"Excuse me miss, but may I have this dance?"
When he turned around, oh Cards her eyes! They were amber and onyx, melted chocolate and gold. Her eyes were the rich soil of the fields of Spades and held many secrets that Alfred wished to learn. Alfred could have spent all night gazing into the abyss of her brown eyes but he heard a faint "Yes." come from her lips.
Alfred and the lady danced and he didn't know about her but he felt as if they were dancing on air. He was in heaven. It wasn't until he heard the clock in the Great Hall chime that she tore her brown eyes from his and fled for the door.
Alfred stood on the dance floor stunned. The lady was running from him and he didn't know why. He noticed that when she turned to run, there was a dark sapphire Q at the base of her neck.
His Queen!
"Wait!" Guest parted to let their Prince through. The mysterious woman continued to run.
Hadassah nearly tripped on her decent on the steps of the palace and lost one of the glass slippers. She didn't dare return for it because she didn't want to be seen in rags. She leaped into her carriage and didn't get to sit down before the horses started to take off.
Alfred ran as fast as he could and nearly tripped and fell as well. He looked down to see what he had tripped over and saw that it was a glass slipper. Suddenly he didn't feel as helpless as he watched his Queen run off into the night. He caressed the slipper and with newfound hope, he turned back to the palace of Spades. If he was going to every house to find a brown eyed brunette that could fit in the slipper, then he had to get to bed.
...
Hadassah slept once she hid her slipper where her step-family would never find it. She feared it was a dream and she'd wake up and the slipper would be gone. Oh well, she'll check in the morning.
She woke 6 hours later to her step mother screaming about how they were going to get married and her name being repeated over and over. She pulled her hair back with a bandanna and got to work.
Oh, she realized, they wanted her to make breakfast.
She was still tired from last night so she made something simple and carried it to the dinning room where her step mother was in a good mood for once.
"And he said that he will marry the girl who fits the slipper!" The step mother stressed.
Her two daughters looked like they didn't understand. Then again, they were dragged out of bed two minutes ago.
"Who is marrying who?"
"Prince Alfred was crowned King of Spades earlier this day and he declared that he would marry the one who fit the slipper." Okay, she was stretching the truth. King Alfred said that he was looking for a brown eyed brunette. Though, neither of her children had brown eyes or brown hair. Hadassah however...
She glared at her step daughter. Was that a hint of a smile? And was there hope in her eyes? That wasn't there yesterday!
"Hadassah, may I speak to you alone please?" She waltzed out of the dining room while her eldest child fell face first into her porridge.
Hadassah followed after the woman unaware of what was to come.
The step mother watched as Hadassah followed her into the pantry. Hadassah didn't see as her stepmother picked of the flour container. She fell with a yelp and was out cold. Covered in flour, the future Queen of Spades lay knocked out in a pantry.
The stepmother brushed her hands of flour and left to make her children more presentable.
King Alfred was getting frustrated with everything. He knew that his bride to be was a brunette with brown eyes, so why did everyone have to dye their hair dark as soon as word got out? Thank the Deck that he was at the last house in the Kingdom.
He was at the last house in his Kingdom...
Oh he did not want to go into another Kingdom for his bride because that would be more trouble with international relations between the Four Kingdoms and stuff.
He could hear bickering behind the closed doors and he wasn't on the front porch yet.
There was something off about the way the lady of the house smiled. She unnerved Alfred more so than King Ivan of Clubs. To Alfred, her children were obviously not his bride to be.
Olivia was a ginger and Marianne was blonde and looked like she was high.
"I am terribly sorry Madame, but your daughters are not the woman I am looking for."
The lady of the house looked livid.
"I am certain that you must be mistaken your highness. One of my daughters has to be the one you have been looking for." She tried to convince an unmoving King.
"Miss, the woman I am looking for has brown hair and the most beautiful brown eyes that I have ever seen in the world."
"Cindersah has brown hair." Olivia piped up.
Alfred raised an eyebrow as he watched her mother try to silence her. Not getting the hint, she continued on. "And she also has brown eyes."
"And where could I find her?" Alfred dared to hope this girl was his runaway princess.
"Mother talked to her and there was a yelp. We haven't seen her since." Olivia hoped this put her in the good graces of the King. She just sealed their fate.
"Matthew," Alfred looked to his Ace and brother. "Follow me."
They searched the basement, the second floor, and were finally searching the kitchen when Alfred heard a sneeze. It was coming from the pantry. Alfred rushed to the door to fined it locked.
Matthew took out his gun.
"What are you doing?!"
"I'm going to shoot the lock." Matthew explained.
"You might shoot her!" Alfred cried and shoved his brother out of the way and kicked the door open.
"That was awesome." Matthew said impressed.
"Will you tell my future Queen that?" He said with a smile.
Alfred shoved the door open to find a beautiful brunette laying sprawled on the floor covered in flower. He put his arms under her knees and back and lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the pantry. Wow, she was really light.
"Hey can you put the slipper on her foot?" Alfred asked.
Matthew slipped the sleeping girl's worn shoe off and placed the glass one on. It fit like a glove.
"Hello Darlin', let's go home." He smiled at his bride and were those freckles on her nose? Cute.
"I refuse to let you take her!" The so called mother stood in front of the door.
"You were never my mother." A soft croak from the brunette tore Alfred's eyes from the woman.
Her brown eyes were glowing in the daylight. She wrapped her arms around Alfred's neck and sneezed with flour creating a halo around her and the King.
And Matthew watched with a smile as he watched his brother carry his future wife to their new life.
Request are appreciated.
Koteczek-Polish for Kitty
Next: The Seven Ravens-Prucan