A/N: So, this fic is based on Cinderella III. The scene where Cinderella steps into the ship has always wormed its self into my mind every now and then. What if she would have left? Nobody has ever written about it so I decided to write it if only to see where this would go from there. Now about the story's names. As I didn't find the name of the kingdom where Cinderella lived, I decided to pretend that it would be called Elethia. As for the Princes name I haven't yet to figure out if I should give him a proper name. Charming sounds pretty boring to me. If you got any ideas, please tell. If the story does as I say, the Prince doesn't appear until chapter two or three.
Prologue
Rella watched the horizon as the ship detached from the pier. She would have never thought of going back. It was strange, scary and at the same time she sort of wanted to know what had happened at her previous homeland. It had been six years ago when her stepmother Lady Tremaine had arranged her deportation from Elethia.
That day had been one of the most miserable ones in her life. It had been at an end of the summer and the weather had been chilly at nights and stormy. The several storms along the way had scared the hell out of her. She hadn't been in a ship since then and she was nervous. Her two escort's orders had been to leave her into the farthest kingdom where the ship would sail which happened to be the southern empire of Dherr'eshaan. It had been scary too, step into a foreign land she had only heard few times as a child and been left there to manage on her own. Her escorts had left her in the harbor where she had eventually left to find a place to sleep although she had been very uncertain how she could do that since she hadn't had any money with her. She had been very noticeable with her pale northern looks and different clothing. The southern people dressed almost all in colorful clothes and all women wore headwear, usually a pillbox hat with a scarf that covered their hair and necks. She had been very different. She had wandered around the city all day unable to find a place that would take her in, mostly because of her lack of knowledge of their language.
But someone in the high heavens must have pitied her since after darkness had fell she was saved from robbers by a dherr'eshaanian merchant who luckily knew how to speak her language. He took her in and as a part of his family and educated her. In the three first years in that country she had learned its language, customs and become a talented merchant herself and helped the Behren family as the best as she could. Then in the second year in her new homeland she had met Falad Ir'd'aran, a young merchant from a noble family. They had cooperated with each other when their families had made business and fell in love. The wedding had been kept a year ago.
The sails banged as the wind seized them and the ship started moving faster towards north. Rella turned to look the city of Hald'aan for the last time in a long time. This trip was going to take awhile she knew. Falad's family was fairly close to the empyreal family and they had gotten a very heavy request that they would deal some trading treaties with the elethians. And as the youngest of his family, Falad had been picked out for the task. Rella had been very shaken when Falad had told her about the task. Falad knew of her past and had been concerned if she would have wanted to come with him. But Rella had decided to travel with him. First of all because she knew Falad wanted her to come and she wanted to go with him and second of all, maybe it was time to face her past. So that she could close that part of her life into the past where it belonged, where it wouldn't haunt her every time she heard news from Elethia.
She felt someone coming behind her and wrapping warm, strong arms around her. "Is everything alright, my beloved?" the familiar voice of Falad saying worriedly.
Rella smiled and nodded. "Yes, for the moment at least."
"Good. But you must tell me at once if something is wrong, please?" Falad said and Rella shifted a bit to turn and look at him. He was a fairly handsome man with aristocratic features. He had the characteristic coloring of his people, dark coffee-colored skin, dark brown, almost black eyes and black hair that reached to his shoulders. He was also wearing a pillbox hat with a scarf, it was a custom for the men to wear headwear after they married. Women wore it all the time in public. Sometimes Rella felt herself like a ghost among these colorful people, but Falad always assured her that she was the most beautiful woman in Dherr'eshaan.
Rella smiled. "Don't worry, I will."
Falad smiled at her and hugged her tighter. "Come, we haven't eaten anything since breakfast."
He moved to untangle himself and took Rella's hand. They headed down to their cabin and talked about trivial things. Rella let herself relax, she wouldn't need to worry anything yet. Only when they would arrive to Elethia.