-The Prince-
The playground was a battlefield. The game of cat and mouse evolved into a full-fledged game of tag and the children were all at war with each other. It became obvious to the children that Charles and Cinderella would only tag one another once they were 'it', and as a result, the children abandoned them on a grassy hill at the end of the yard.
"I think they are not playing with us anymore."
Charles said, joining Cinderella as she sat on the ground, watching their game unfold. His heart was still racing, full of adrenaline. He had not had this much fun in years.
"That's all well with me. If I'm asked to run anymore, I might expire right here."
"Well, we can't have that. We'll just have to stay up here indefinitely."
Here, where it did not matter that he was the Prince. Here, where he could finally relax. Over the tops of the trees, he could see the turrets of the castle. It seemed harmless in the distance, but it didn't matter how far away he was. He could be on the other side of the country and he would still feel the dragging weight of responsibility.
"I'm not a Lady." Cinderella said suddenly, taking him out of his thoughts. He turned away from the castle and she was looking at him, her knees tucked to her chest.
"I didn't-"
"I did not outright tell you last time, but I am now. I did not mean to give you any ideas based on my attendance at the ball. I was trying to enjoy myself. I did not mean to mislead anyone."
She picked at the burrs caught in her dress as she spoke. Her words sounded monotone and flat. She was delivering them as if they were some sort of foreign goodbye.
"Please do not apologize to me again." He asked. "You are too good for me, and hearing you apologize makes me disgusted with my own behavior."
Her head jerked up and she frowned. "You have nothing to be disgusted about."
"That's where you're wrong. It is abhorrent to me that you should be the one to try and justify yourself to me. I should be the one at your feet telling you of my insignificance. Pleading with you to take me in any way that you will have me."
"You are a Lord." She said.
I am a Prince, but that doesn't matter. I am still insignificant. That is what he needed to say to her. She had trusted him with her honesty. She had been vulnerable enough to open herself to his criticisms, and he needed to do the same, but he was not as brave as her.
"Is it as bidding as all that?" He asked.
"Were you hoping your title would entice me?" She asked.
He laughed, but it was hallowed from his lies. "I did not think it would hurt my chances."
"Not all women fawn over Lords and royalty like they are shining stars." She said, rolling her eyes.
Charles shook his head, that was one of the reasons he loved her.
"You have something against our fair king?" He asked dramatically, trying to get up courage to just blurt out the truth.
"Of course not. The King works very hard. He visits the orphanage several times a year. I've heard nothing but good things."
"Ah, you dislike the Queen then?"
Cinderella laughed, "No, I guess not. She regularly makes clothes with the Princess and donates them to the orphanage. You should see how happy the children are when they get a dress or a shirt made by the Queen herself."
"You dislike the prince then."
She smiled, "Well, he does seem silly. All the ladies of society gush over him like he walks on water, and out of the hundreds of stories I have heard from his many adoring fans, not one of them actually involve anything you can actually respect a man for. It is all just posturing and gossip. I hope he is nothing like his reputation."
Charles was not smiling anymore. All the humor had dried up and gone and now he was left trying to keep his offense from showing on his face.
"You are not far off the mark. I know the man well." He said.
"Can I tell you the truth?" she asked.
He winced. He did not deserve any more of her truths while he still held back from her.
"You have no idea how much I want the truth."
"All of it," She waved her hand around, completely encompassing him. "It overwhelms me."
"The title?" He asked.
She nodded, "Lords have responsibilities. They are more than themselves. I know how easy it is to lose people in the responsibilities and I am afraid of getting lost. Besides, I know how this all works. Lords do not marry women who run around in fields in their secondhand dresses. They marry women in the social sphere."
Her words possessed him. They floated around in his head until they drove him mad. She had promised him the truth and delivered it. She thought beyond herself and her feelings and found the heart of the matter. She spoke the uncomfortable truth. The truth he had not faced yet.
"You are right." He said. He thought about how he must look to her, pursuing her. Secluded away from society.
Her smile was tight and warped.
"We all have our own duties. Even I have my own responsibilities that I must fulfill. It is what makes the world turn. We just have two very different destinies."
Her words were right, but they felt so wrong. He was born to rule the Kingdom. He had a list of prospective wives the day his parents picked out his name. He did have people to answer and people to protect. She was right, but the truth would kill him.
It would kill him to agree, apologize to her, and ride home, never to venture out again. It would kill him to leave Cinderella here and never look back. She would haunt him and those few moments where her ghost visited him would be the best moments he would have. Everything else would be arranged into the drudgery of his title. He realized that she was the light he saw in his future.
"Can I tell you the truth?" He asked.
"Please."
"I don't need any stiff woman from society who wants me for my title. They can have it for all I care. I want a woman who can run circles around me and help me remember that the world is more than responsibilities. I want someone who reminds me why the responsibilities are worth it." She looked away from him, but he needed her to see the truth of his words in his eyes.
He moved to where he was sitting next to her, and she looked up at him once they made contact.
"All of this," He said, waving his hands back towards the castle, "It doesn't mean very much without someone to breathe life into it."
She was that for him. She had breathed life into his responsibilities. He had something to work for.
A carriage rumbled down the road and their shared moment was gone. They both looked at the carriage. Charles felt his heart thud in his chest. If the Duke had reported seeing him at the orphanage, everything would be over. He would get to see the betrayal in Cinderella's eyes when the Queen showed up to collect her son.
The second he saw it; he knew it was not the royal carriage and he let out a haggard breath. He had time to tell her the truth his way.
"I have to go!" Cinderella said, standing up suddenly.
She was on her feet instantly and moving. She was not heading back towards the orphanage; she was running towards the forest line as if she was fleeing from the carriage.
"Wait!" He called, but she was running. Refusing to be abandoned once again by her, he sprinted after her and caught up to her at the forest line. He grabbed her arm and turned her towards him.
"Please, I have to go. Now. Tell Mindy I am sorry!" She said, she was clearly panicked.
"What's wrong?" He asked, he knew fear when he saw it, and she was afraid.
"It's my responsibility. You need to let me go before it's too late."
He did not want to let her go. He wanted to keep her here until he learned exactly why she was so afraid, but he did not. He painfully let go of her.
She stayed for a moment.
"Are you familiar with Bellview?" She asked.
"Yes."
She looked over her shoulder to the forest and then quickly got up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Call on me next week at noon at Bellview." She said quickly and then she was gone, leaving him alone.
-Mindy-
"Cinderella asked me to offer her apologies." Charles said.
"Oh, don't even worry about it dear!" Mindy said.
Jim stepped forward and shook his hand, "It was a pleasure to meet you again. Thank you for all your help." He said.
They shut the gate behind him as mounted his horse and left. They smiled and waved until he was finally out of earshot.
"I told you it was the prince!" Mindy squealed.
Jim laughed at his wife's antics. She had busted upstairs and interrupted class time for the better part of an hour while peeking over the window to watch the prince and her friend.
"I have a class of children to get back to." He said, turning to go back inside.
"Fine! Suit yourself, but when a royal wedding invitation comes to our doorstep you will hear me say 'I told you so' for a month!"
-Cinderella-
She did not make it home in time. She saw her last stepsister walk through the door when she came out of the forest line.
Where have you been then?" Joe asked when she came running from the forest.
"I'll explain everything later!" She said taking the stairs two at a time.
She opened the doors to her stepmother yelling for her upstairs.
"Right here Lady Tremaine!" She said, out of breath once she was through the door.
Lady Tremaine poked over the banister on the second floor.
"Where have you been?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.
Ella evaluated the state she was in. What would her stepmother believe?
"I took a picnic out in the yard after my chores were finished."
Her stepmother loved controlling her every move. She expected to be reamed for her actions. She expected her stepmother to create new rules, but curiously, she did not.
"We have news from town." Lady Tremaine said, descending the staircase towards her.
Anastasia and Drisela laughed. Two odd things in a row. Her stepmother never had news for her.
"What is it?" What could it even possibly be?
"I've met with a merchant in town. He's coming by the house the day after tomorrow to inspect you, and if he agrees, you'll be married to him."
It was as if everything in the room suddenly flew up to the ceiling and crashed back to the ground. There was nothing that could have prepared her for that. She had nothing to say in response.
"You will spend the rest of the day preparing yourself. Draw a bath for yourself, pick something nice from the twins' wardrobe and alter it for you, cut your hair. If this does not go well, I will hold you personally responsible. Do you understand?"
Ella was still out of it, floating off in space, not touching the ground. Lady Tremaine stepped forward and grabbed the back of Ella's neck, bending it forward painfully.
"I don't need to tell you what will happen if this fails, right?"
Lady Tremaine put more and more pressure on her neck till Ella became present.
"Yes Lady Tremaine, I understand."
Lady Tremaine's punishments ranged from starvation to torture and if something as monumental as this were to go awry, it would be both.