Chapter 1
MIDNIGHT STRUCK AND NOTHING CHANGED.
Her extravagant ball gown had turned back into rags and all that Ella was left with as a reminder that this night even happened was a pair of glass slippers which she used to carry her mice friends as she walked in the rain back to her father’s Estate
Despite building up the night in her head, Ella found the ball to be underwhelming and somehow...Boring. Sure she got to dance with the prince but that was because of the magic that the fairy godmother put on her
Not because he was actually taken in by her
By twelve o’clock Ella was already ready to leave, she found the ballroom to be too stuffy and full of Princesses and Princes that were too out of touch with reality. Talking too much about the trivial things and things that didn’t seem to interest in at all
The only Princess she seemed to like was one called Kennedy, Kennedy seemed sweet and kind and seemed to know that Ella was not feeling herself and so would occasionally drag Ella into the conversation about random things but it wasn’t long before Kennedy got pulled away by someone and with an apologetic smile she left promising to be back
Although that never happened and Ella couldn’t help but feel the disappointment flash through her heart.
The rest of the ball continued with a dull sheen. For so long Ella had built up what the ball would be like in her head,
So when the bells rang out, Ella was eager to leave and practically fled the room, her heart soaring with the first adrenaline rush she had felt all night as she dashed down the stairs in a heavy ball gown which wasn’t as easy as it looked
But she managed it
She was on edge for a few minutes after she fled the castle gates, hoping from one foot on to the other in order to slip the shoes off her feet. Ella knew she would get blisters and some scratches
And so now Ella was walking in the rain back to the life she had before with nothing but distant memories and a disliking for all the politics that goes into the royal life
As she returned back to her life of drabness. Cooking and cleaning for her stepmother and stepsisters all of who ignored Ella and when the mood struck them acted as if Ella is some kind of pet they could order around and Ella has to bite her tongue because if she was to say anything, it could lead her to get in trouble and she had nowhere to run to in order to escape from it all
Nowhere to call home. Not anymore
And so with that thought, she set about coming up with a plan
IT WAS SURPRISINGLY EASY TO GET A JOB IN THE CASTLE.
See in all her years under the care of her wretched stepmother and equally nasty stepsisters, Ella had become quite the seamstress and had learned -- all on her own by trial and error how to run up a dress and as the years passed by in a haze of tears and hollowness Ella had managed to run up dresses in half the time it would usually take and with scraps from materials she had left over
Ella didn’t have a lot but what she did have, she made good use of it
So when she got the job in the castle as the Princesses very own seamstress Ella was ready to get the hell out of the house, she had felt prisoner and trapped in since her father died
What once was Ella’s safe haven had turned to dust in front of her very eyes and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Feeling helpless and very much a small child at the time, Ella trusted her stepmother to do what was best for her but that never happened
Instead, she had to learn that she was the only person that she could rely on. Fairy godmothers and glittery ball gowns weren’t going to change her fate, no Ella had to stop wishing for something to come along and pull her out of the dismal situation she found herself in and she had to work for that herself
And it was starting to come true, all it took was a midnight revelation
Working in the caste was the most free Ella had felt in a long time, despite how demanding her workload could be. She enjoyed the views from the room she worked in and best of all there was no annoying stepfamily pulling her in a hundred different directions, asking her to do a thousand impossible things before breakfast
It was peaceful and when she had done all her work for the day, Ella liked to stroll the corridors of the castle, in no rush to go back to her cramped attic space with a family that considered her less than human
If Ella had enough money she would have moved out already but with all the money she was making from the dresses that she was running up. She hoped it wouldn’t be too long before she had the money for she could hardly wait
On these strolls, it was unlikely that Ella would ever bump into someone as everyone in the castle was mostly stuck in their own worlds and no one passed a glance at the young blonde girl but today was different, it seemed through no fault of Ella
Perhaps Ella was wrong and fate would be useful this once, after all, she had done all the hard work and got out of the thumb of her stepfamily without the help of any magic or glass slippers this time!
It all happened so fast, there was a flash of brown hair a step taken too quickly and then wrongly as the person tried to spin on their feet perhaps a little too fast and soon Ella was steadying the girl with arms encircled around the girl waist
“Woah...Are you okay? What happened?”
The girl flushed red “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to nearly fall and that was very unladylike of me...It’s just that you remind me of someone”
“Well I don’t get that a lot” Ella admitted in a rush. She wasn’t used to talking to people and this was definitely causing panic to rise in her chest like a flood “But I’m curious, who do I remind you of?”
“Err I probably shouldn’t be telling you this but what the hell from the looks of how you reacted when you caught me...You don’t even know how I am. So I suppose it’s safe to tell you” The girl said, her voice an octave higher with amusement “If you must know, you remind me of a girl I met a few months ago at a ball. She was so sweet and kind and probably the only person I could be myself around but I was pulled away on business I told her I’d be back and when I returned she was gone and I could not find her”
“You’re the Lady Kennedy?”
“What gave it away?”
“I’m sorry...Your Lady, I should have noticed sooner”
“It’s quite alright” The brunette chuckled, placing a hand over the heart “I quite like it when I’m not recognised. It means I’m less likely to get in trouble that way, by the way, you wouldn’t mind forgetting you saw me right?”
Ella was shocked by this strange request. This woman wanted Ella to forget how? How was she supposed to forget? This woman was beautiful, with long flowing dark locks that falls around her shoulders and equally, as striking blue eyes that seem to captivate Ella
“Why would I forget you?” Ella’s mouth moved faster than her brain and she only realised it when Kennedy’s musical chuckle met her ears
“Well you seemed to do a good job at it at the ball”
“That was you?”
“Yes,” Kennedy smiled, “That surprise you?”
* * *
KENNEDY AND ELLA KEPT RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER. Ella was surprised because she never saw Kennedy before they happened to run into each other in the grand hallway, and now they seemed to run into each other every other day
And so they started to hang out and get to know each other more. Spending Ella’s breaks roaming the lavish gardens, Ella was taken aback by the breath of the castle, and she found somewhat of a friendship with Kennedy
“Hey Ken, what are we doing today?”
“Hmm the same thing we do every day”
“Sounds good”
Ella’s giggle gets caught in the wind as she slipped her hand into Kennedy’s and they ran into the maze of gardens. Kennedy’s friendship has been a lifesaver during her time in the castle
As for Kennedy, Ella’s friendship was something of a breath of fresh air because Ella didn’t know or didn’t care where she was and that was nice for the Princess who hadn’t really had a proper friend in years due to her sheltered life and duties of royal life so to have Ella there was so super helpful
Feelings began to immerge for both of them, but they didn’t act on them not wanting to ruin something good. For they had finally found somewhere where they belonged and didn’t want to ruin it. It was during a hot afternoon when they finally confronted their feelings, Kennedy had Ella lying stretched across her lap, combing her hair through with her boney fingers and quietly humming to herself,
Ella let herself get lost in the world of the book and the feel of Kennedy’s hand stroking her hair. It was only when Kennedy broke the silence that Ella returned to the real world
"I like you" Kennedy whispered gently, her voice so soft that it almost got carried away in the wind
"I like you too of course you know I do" Ella's heart was beating so loud, she could hear the blood pumping in her ears
"No" Kennedy shook her head, whisps of dark brown hair getting caught up in her lips and Ella resists the urge to brush the off "I like you more than that and I think you know that too"
"Of course I do, but I'm scared"
"Well we can be scared together"
They weren't sure how it happened but suddenly they were kissing, lips moving over lips so slowly, it was like it wasn't even happening but it was and it was glorious. Ella's heart fluttered in her chest because she had never felt so wanted and so loved, it was everything she wanted and everything she was scared to lose
It wasn't glittery gowns and fairy godmothers that got Ella out of her situation after all, it was her all along. She was the one that had that midnight revelation that proved to her that Ella herself could be the one to get themselves out and change their fate
And now they had everything they could ever want
But this was the beginning of their happily ever after...
