-The Fairy Godmother-
She had left the door wide open, but the cat stayed curled in a ball on the rug.
"Out you go then!" The Fairy Godmother hissed, waving her arms furiously. She would have to do a lot of talking to explain herself if Ella caught her trying to abduct the cat.
Lucifer just stretched his back and turned around.
"We'll play it that way then!"
She hiked up her sleeves and walked straight towards the cat. She picked him up and his claws brought the rug with him.
She shook him a few times until he let go of the rug and then he began mewling loudly. She didn't need Ella running to his rescue. Not yet anyways.
The Fairy Godmother rapped him on the head with her wand and he instantly fell silent. The door was left open, and she carried the cat, scratching and squirming all the way down the drive near the road.
She walked until she found the perfect tree.
She set Lucifer down and before he could sprint away, she magicked him up. He was immobile as he floated in the air. His eyes were wide and he was breathing hard.
She moved him just above a tall branch when she dropped him and he clung to the tree with all the strength he had.
The second magic no longer had a hold over him, he began howling. It was a panicked strangled cry that would attract predators if Ella didn't hurry.
The Prince was en route, the cat was trapped, and Ella would be out soon. She loved it when a plan worked out perfectly.
-Cinderella-
After beating the rugs outside, Ella had an armful of them and was heading back inside. She was halfway up the front steps when she realized the door was open and her heart dropped.
The rugs fell at her feet and she ran through the door. Lucifer had been sitting in front of the door when she walked out earlier. He wouldn't have left, would he? Her head jerked towards the door when desperate animal screams came from outside.
Picturing the worst, she ran out the door, and looked for any sign of black fur. She looked around the yard, but the screams were coming from towards the road. She ran.
Her hair fell out of the knot and the bottom hem of her dress became coated with dew from the tall grass, but she didn't even notice. If anything happened to that cat it would be her head.
She finally came upon the scene of the crime and saw Lucifer clinging to a high branch, howling for his life.
The lowest branch of the tree was barely out of her reach, much less the tallest. The only thing she could do was desperately call to him. He probably couldn't even hear her voice over his mangled cries.
Minutes passed and her plans crashed down around her as she called for the stupid cat. Lucifer had given up howling, and he was now huddled in on himself and shaking.
She was dirty, hot, and completely exhausted. It was easier to think without Lucifer's cries, but the threat still loomed that if she didn't manage to get the cat back into the house before her stepfamily returned home, she would be punished.
A single rider with two horses passed by on the road and she realized how ridiculous she looked when he stared at her in passing. She tried to focus on the matter at hand, but she realized that no matter how hard she called to him, Lucifer would not be coming down. She paced with her hands on her hips. There had to be something she could do.
The silence of her thoughts was interrupted by boots against the road. She looked up briefly and saw that a man was walking down the road towards her. She stopped pacing. The road wasn't usually so busy. It was odd to get any traffic at all, much less two men in the span of five minutes. She turned her back to the road hoping that the passerby would just walk by her without a single word.
As she heard his footsteps draw nearer and goosebumps traveled up her arm. Her heart began to thud differently in her chest. She couldn't help but turn and look as the man approached, but the second she met his eyes afar off, her head jerked back forwards.
It was him. The man who had danced with her twice at the ball. Her back was turned to him, and her eyes were shut tightly. It couldn't possibly be him. She hadn't had a good view of his face through his mask and she hadn't been around him enough to know him just by a passing glance, but somehow she knew.
"Please let him pass." those were the words she repeated over and over in her mind. Standing on the side of the road in her worn dress and her wild hair made her feel vulnerable. If he stopped and spoke to her it wouldn't be some mask he was talking to.
His boots stopped behind her and her heart pounded in her chest. For a moment he said nothing and Cinderella realized how stupid she must look refusing to turn around and face him.
"Excuse me, miss?" He asked.
Ella agonized with herself, but at long last, she turned around slowly. Her breath hitched in her chest and her hands clasped together awkwardly.
She was supposed to say something back to him, but she couldn't. Instead, they both inspected each other for a minute.
"Do you need- help with anything?" He asked slowly.
She couldn't help but look up at Lucifer who was just relaxing in the tree as if he didn't have anywhere else to be for the rest of the day. The man followed her gaze and found the cat. He let out a breathy laugh and folded his arms.
"You're trying to get that cat down?"
"Yes. I was." She wanted Lucifer to come down from the tree, but the thing she wanted most was to be struck down by lightning. She felt so small next to him. He was still the same, composed, care-free, and charming. She could only imagine how he saw her now. There was no magic to save her this time. She was just Ella.
"I can get him down." He offered.
"No, you really don't have to. I wouldn't want to interrupt your afternoon."
Hopefully she would be able to convince him to continue on before her feelings became casualties. She had hardened herself against her stepmother and her stepsisters, but he could grind her feelings into dust.
To her absolute horror, he walked past her and stood at the base of the tree and looked up into its branches.
"Nonsense, there is nothing more important than saving a cat in distress." He said.
He jumped up, grabbed a branch, and effortlessly pulled himself up into the tree. Cinderella's eyes widened at the ease of his movements. He looked as steady as a trapeze artist in the tree.
"Come on My Lord Cat." He said, crawling carefully to Lucifer. "Your mistress is worried about you."
Lucifer retreated to the end of a sturdy branch, but the man just reached out and grabbed him up by handfuls of fur. He pulled Lucifer up and cradled him in one hand. His other hand lowered them both safely to the ground and at the bottom, he held up Lucifer triumphantly. A feat that would have taken Cinderella all day took him about five minutes.
He held out the cat to her, but Lucifer hissed and batted at her with his claws.
"Now now Lord Cat, that isn't any way to treat your mistress." The man scolded.
"Thank you." She said softly, still in wonder.
"It was nothing." He said with an easy smile. He tried to pass her the cat once more, but Lucifer lunged away from her and buried himself deeper in Charles' arms.
"I am sorry. It seems as though your cat has taken a liking to me." Lucifer was curled in his arms and was purring and somehow managed to look smug all at once.
"It's not my cat. It's my stepmothers cat, and a bear is more friendly than that thing. It's amazing that he's taken to you." Ella said.
It was true. It was almost as if her stepmother had trained the cat to have more barbs than a cactus.
"Well, I wouldn't want to leave you alone with such a fearsome beast then." He said happily, "Perhaps I could accompany you home?"
Him accompany her home? She let out a short hysteric laugh. Maybe once he accompanied her home, he could also help her with her chores. The thought made her burn with embarrassment. No.
He was a Lord. It wasn't superiority or obvious wealth that gave him away like it was with most Lords. He had a quiet confidence and brilliant smile like he could solve the world's problems. What could she offer him? Mice and rags.
Her dowry was long gone, her title now belonged to her stepmother. Ella owned nothing, and she was reminded often who she had to thank for room and board.
"No thank you." She said firmly. She stepped forward and took Lucifer out of his arms. It was a bit of a struggle, but eventually the cat stopped trying to shred her skin.
His grin fell, but he nodded in understanding.
"I apologize. It was presumptuous of me to invite myself over, and you are right to turn me down. What kind of lunatic tries to follow you to your house when you barely know each other?" He said, almost as if he was talking to himself.
He held out his arm suddenly, stopping his monologue.
"Please don't let us part again as strangers."
His hand crossed a dangerous barrier in the space between them. A pit rose in her stomach, and she didn't know if it was from him or from her stepmothers threat in the back of her mind. more than anything, this was something that Lady Tremaine would disapprove of.
"I am Cinderella."
She grabbed his hand, thinking of the night they spent dancing together. He brought her hand to his lips as if he was meeting a real Lady and not some wilting house maid.
"Well Cinderella, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Charles." He said, letting go of her hand and giving her half a bow.
"Finally?"
"Of course, I have been looking everywhere for you."
"You were looking for me?"
Everything was quickly falling out of control. She had hoped to smile nod and leave, but nothing was that simple.
"I was going door to door. I told you at the ball that I intended to call upon you, and I'm not the sort of man who makes an empty threat. You can't run from me."
His smile never left his face. Her eyes were trapped in his, and what she saw there terrified her. Her heart raced and she took an involuntary step back.
"I'm need to apologize." She said stiffly.
He finally stopped smiling, and his eyes went wide in shock. He didn't move towards her, but his hands went up as if he was attempting to corner a wild animal. "No, you don't need to apologize. I really didn't mean to ambush you like this. I saw you from over there." He turned and pointed down the road, "and I to talk to you, and now I've done nothing but exhibit poor manners and make you feel bad. I am the one who should be apologizing."
"You also saved my life." Ella added, holding up the cat. "My stepmother would've-" she cut off, "well let's just say I'm happy you could get him down."
"Cinderella?" He said her name like it was a life raft. There was no joking or good humor in his eyes anymore.
Lucifer shifted in her arms and meowed loudly, but she stayed still.
"Yes?"
"Can I call on you?"
"No." The words left her lips before she even had to think them. It wasn't possible.
His face split into a humorless smile, he took a few steps back, and his hands curled up in rejection.
"I'm sorry to have bothered you." He said and he turned to leave.
Her heart dropped to her boots. She couldn't leave things this way. If this was truly going to be the last time, she ever saw him, he deserved more than that. She closed the gap between them and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Wait." He turned towards her and she slowly lowered her hand. "I don't mean to be so cold with my rejection. I feel I need to explain myself otherwise you would think me a tease-"
"I wouldn't." he interrupted
"Regardless, I am not in a situation to be courted by anyone, but especially not by a Lord."
His eyebrows rose and he opened his mouth to interrupt again, but she continued before he could.
"You do not need to placate me on my own circumstances, I am content. I am also well acquainted with the way society works, and even if we had the mind to forsake all social protocols, My own living situation is... unconventional and strained. I don't have the happy fortune of being subject to gentleman callers. Those are the reasons I have rejected you. If circumstances were different, I would have said yes."
-The Prince-
She could have let him leave without another word. Instead, she burned red with embarrassment while explaining her situation. She was saving his pride by destroying her own.
"You have asked me not to placate you on your circumstances and that is the only reason I will not tell you that your circumstances do not matter to me. You are of the mind not to receive gentleman callers which is good news for me, otherwise I would need to compete with nearly two dozen men."
She laughed, encouraging him onward.
"I have found that I no longer wish to be your gentleman caller." He announced.
"No?" Her eyebrows shot up.
"No. I believe that when a lady says no she means no, and I will respect your wishes. Coincidentally, on an unrelated note, this tree casts good shade, the weather is especially pleasant here."
He looked up at the tree and she was looking at him as though he were crazy.
"The weather is no different here than in town." she said.
"No, that's where you're wrong. In fact, I think I'll come by tomorrow and have lunch under this tree. If any young maiden were to be passing by at the same time I might offer her some company. It would be the polite thing to do."
When she caught on to what he was saying, she a real smile for the first time since he came up.
"You'll be sharing a lunch with any maiden who happens to pass by?" She asked.
"Well, if I'm being honest, I'll hide behind a tree until the right maiden passes by, but I wouldn't admit that to her. Hiding behind a tree sounds so undignified."
she laughed and he decided that he would do anything to keep her laughing.
"I wish you luck. That sounds very exciting, and I wish I could see you hiding behind a tree trying to find a woman, but alas, the only day I could possibly get away is next Friday."
"Friday it is." He promised.
-The Fairy Godmother-
Her back was killing her. Spending an hour in a tree is not a happy experience, and what did she have to show for it? There was no love declarations or proposals. Where was the romance?
The Fairy Godmother was in a poor position and every day it got more and more desperate. There were rules to being a fairy godmother and rule number one was to remain unseen. All that had gone to briars when she showed her hand and got Ellanore to the ball.
Now she was facing an enquiry at work, and that would be fine if she had matched Ellanore with her true love, but after the ball and a weeks' worth of legwork to get the two of them back together, there was still nothing.
When Ellanore turned the Prince down, the fairy godmother had to stop herself from jumping down and strangling her. She watched Ellanore leave, smiling to herself like she hadn't smiled in years, and she had still been willing to turn that happiness away.
Lady Tremaine had really done a number on that girl. If Fairy Godmothers could wield dark magic, Lady Tremaine would be among the first to be rightfully cursed.