Chapter 6 The Royal Invitation

Back at CinderSydney's house, Margaret was in the music room with Veruca and Violet, giving her two daughters music lessons.

Margaret was now wearing a navy blue long-sleeved dress with big leaves, a white collar with a sapphire in the middle, and her golden cross necklace.

Violet was now wearing a cerulean-blue dress with big, red round sleeves, red lacing, blue heels, and a yellow headpiece in the back of her hair, which was worn in thick curls.

Veruca was now wearing a red dress with big black sleeves, black lacing, red heels, and a big red ribbon in her hair shaped like a bow sitting on top of her head.

Margaret was at the piano, giving a few notes to play a melody for her daughters. Violet was preparing to play a flute while Veruca was in charge of the main vocals.

Margaret: The pear-shaped tool!

As Margaret started playing the piano, Veruca gave a long, high pitched note before Violet started playing an awful, off-key melody from her flute. As Margaret and Violet played the melody, Veruca started to sing in a loud, awful British singing voice.

"Oh, sing, sweet nightingale,
Sing, sweet nightingale,
High above me!"

As Veruca sang in her obnoxious and loud voice, Felicia was sitting on a sofa close by. When she heard Veruca's singing, Felicia tried blocking out the noise in annoyance and disgust with the pillow next to her. But not even pillows could do the trick.

As Veruca continued to sing and Violet sputtered notes on her flute, Felicia decided she had enough of listening to the music, and walked out to leave the room.

As she closed the door, she suddenly began to hear CinderSydney's voice from downstairs, singing along to the song in a much more quiet and beautiful voice.

Veruca: Oh, sing, sweet nightingale,
Sing, sweet nightingale!

CinderSydney's Voice: High above,

As Felicia left the music room, she slowly went down towards the steps to find CinderSydney singing while doing her chores. Noticing how distracted the girl was, Felicia gave a smirk to herself, since she knew she could cause some more trouble for CinderSydney.

In the middle of the floor downstairs, CinderSydney was scrubbing the floor of the living room and vestibule with a scrubbing brush and bucket of soapy water nearby.

Felicia sneakily crept down the stairs, soon taking notice of a broom and dustpan full of dirt on one of the steps. The cat took a handful of dirt, giving an evil grin at CinderSydney from behind, who was too busy cleaning and singing to take notice.

"Oh, sing, sweet nightingale,
Sing, sweet nightingale high,"

As she sang to herself while scrubbing the floor, a bubble floated towards CinderSydney, who took it and looked at her smiling reflection from inside it.

"Oh, sing, sweet nightingale,
Sing, sweet...nightingale,"

As she made the bubble float away while blowing a kiss, CinderSydney then placed her brush inside the bucket, causing more bubbles to float out and show the singing girl's reflection.

As multiple bubbles floated about, with each of them having a reflection of the brunette diligently scrubbing the floor, she continued to sing to her song.

"Oh, sing, sweet nightingale,
Sing, sweet,
Oh, sing sweet nightingale,
Sing,

Oh, sing, sweet nightingale,
Oh, sing sweet,
Oh, sing..."

Suddenly, CinderSydney stopped singing and scrubbing the floor when she saw that Felicia was naughtily playing with the dirty dustpan. "Oh, Felicia!" The girl cried.

Just then, she looked around to see the whole floor had been covered with Felicia's footprints, right where she had cleaned earlier.

"You mean old thing!" CinderSydney cursed as she got on her feet.

Felicia only knocked the dustpan over, and made more dirty footprints on the floor, donning a naughty grin.

CinderSydney then took the broom, and scolded the cat. "I'm just gonna have to teach you a…" But her sentence was cut off when she heard a knock at the door.

CinderSydney went to the front door, and opened it to see an anthropomorphic rabbit named Roger Rabbit carrying a stack full of mail.

"Open in the name of the king!" The rabbit called.

The girl opened the door to greet him, noticing the stack full of mail he was carrying.

"An urgent message from his royal majesty." Roger said with a grin as he handed CinderSydney an invitation.

Back inside the house, Basil and Dawson had snuck out from a hole in the wall to see what was going on, as they overheard what was going on outside.

CinderSydney thanked the messenger before closing the door and going back inside.

"From the king!" Basil exclaimed with delight, as he and Dawson ran up to the brunette. "What's it say, CinderSydnie?"

"Yeah, what does it say?" Dawson also wondered.

"I don't know," CinderSydney said as she looked at the envelope. "He said it's urgent." She then heard Veruca's singing and Violet making awful music as she looked upstairs towards Margaret's study room. "Maybe I should interrupt the music lesson?" CinderSydney asked herself before going upstairs.

Basil and Dawson both mischievously giggled at each other, before going back into their hole in the wall.

Back in Margaret's study, Veruca was still singing the nightingale song while Violet played along with her flute.

"Oh, sing, sweet nightingale,
Sing, sweet nightingale,
High..."

But as Veruca continued her obnoxious singing, Violet accidentally got her finger stuck in one of the flute holes. She moved her finger up and down to try to remove it, only accidentally whacking Veruca on the chin in the process.

Just as Violet finally got her finger free from the hole, Veruca gave her sister a glare, and snatched her flute away. "You clumsy oaf!" She shouted. She then whacked the brunette on the head with the flute.

Violet grabbed her flute back, also giving an angry look to her sister. "You did that on purpose!" She shouted back, whacking Veruca on the head with the flute this time.

The two sisters then started to fight and argue with each other.

Margaret took notice of her daughters fighting, and tried to stop their argument. "Girls, girls!"

"It's her fault, Mother!" Violet said, pointing at Veruca. She then stuck her tongue out at her sister.

"Above all," Margaret said, calmly. "Self-control." She was about to play the piano again, until she heard a knock come from the door. "YES?!" She shouted, furiously banging the piano keys in the process.

The door then opened up, revealing CinderSydney, who started to walk in slowly.

"CinderSydney!" Margaret exclaimed with anger. "I warned you never to interrupt my…"

"But this just arrived from the palace," The servant showed the invitation to the other women.

Veruca and Violet both turned towards CinderSydney, with their eyes widening on the mention of the palace. "From the palace?!" The two cried in excitement. They then ran over to CinderSydney and snatched the letter from her, but fought over who should read it.

As her daughters argued with each other, Margaret calmly took the letter from them to shut them up. "I'll read it!" She insisted. As she looked at the letter, she gasped. "Well!"

As Margaret read the letter, from the top of the shelf Basil and Dawson creeped out from a hole in the wall to eavesdrop on them.

"There's to be a ball!" Margaret told her family with excitement.

"A ball?!" Violet and Veruca asked with glee in union.

"In honor of his highness, Prince Dallas," Margaret continued.

"Oh, the prince!" The stepsisters exclaimed with delight.

"And by royal command," Margaret went back to reading as she finished. "Every eligible maiden is to attend."

"Why, that's us!" Veruca said with excitement.

"And I'm so eligible," Violet added as she fluttered her eyelashes.

Up on the shelf above, Basil and Dawson gave each other happy and excited grins, knowing that every eligible maiden attending must meant CinderSydney could attend as well.

"Why, that means I can go, too!" CinderSydney said to her stepfamily with glee.

Veruca and Violet both turned to CinderSydney in disgust and amusement.

"Oh, her?" Veruca scoffed. She then laughed in a mean way. "Dancing with the prince!"

Violet joined in the teasing. "I'd be honored, your highness," She mocked as she did a curtsey. "Would you mind holding my broom?"

The two stepsisters then danced around with each other as they laughed at the brunette, teasing her of going to the ball.

Back on the shelf, Basil and Dawson both frowned at the stepsisters, not liking their mean teasing.

Although she saw the two stepsisters teasing her in a mean way, CinderSydney was still determined to join her stepfamily at the ball.

"Well, why not?" CinderSydney calmly, but bravely asked Margaret. "After all, I'm still a member of the family. And it says, 'By royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend'."

Margaret looked back at the invitation. "Yes," She said with a little enthusiasm. "So it does." She looked back at CinderSydney with a seemingly understanding look. "Well, I see no reason why you can't go…if you get all your work done."

"Oh, I will! I promise!" CinderSydney beamed.

"And if you find something suitable to wear," Margaret added.

Up on the shelf, Basil and Dawson both gave happy grins before disappearing back into their hole in the wall.

"Oh, I'm sure I can!" CinderSydney happily told her stepmother. "Oh, thank you, stepmother!" She then left the room with a smile and closed the door behind her, now being full of hope that she would attend the prince's royal ball.

When CinderSydney left, Veruca and Violet both gave looks of shock and disgust.

"MOTHER?!" Veruca cried as she approached Margaret. "Have you any idea what you just said?!"

Violet, meanwhile, only gave her mother a scowling look.

"Of course," Margaret replied calmly. She then gave a small smirk. "I said 'if'."

"Oh," Veruca chuckled in realization. "If!" She and Violet each gave smirking chuckles, and Margaret soon did the same.

The evil stepmother wasn't really going to let CinderSydney go to the ball, after all!