Cinderella the Bounty Hunter -- Writing Prompt (#3.5)

You can read Part 1 and what the whole prompt is about here. I'm about to change the story of Cinderella ^-^

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"Come out, Alexandra."


Outside, everything was still, a warm afternoon filled with blinding sunlight but a stifling atmosphere. It was too silent. Too still, too stationary. Cinderella felt like she was suffocating, even standing on the balcony, motionless. She stayed there for a few seconds, counting to five, her breathing slow and controlled. Then she frowned.


"Alexandra," she said. "Come out. I know you're here."


Once again, no one replied. Cinderella exhaled and rubbed her face, suddenly feeling considerably exhausted. A breeze stirred the top of her head and a moment later, a new voice interrupted the stillness of the afternoon.


"Upset, are you?"


Cinderella didn't even turn around. She only nodded her head, her fingers clenching and unclenching. "What gave it away?"


A shadow fell across the railings of the balcony and a new figure joined Cinderella. She wore a long robe of spun indigo, her face young and smooth, her gold hair twisted into a tidy bun. Her eyes were an eccentric color--ice blue, lighter than even Prince Charming's--her lips pink and full. Cinderella faced her Fairy Godmother with a dry smile. She did not know where such strength came from, such rebellion over submission. If it had been yesterday, Cinderella would never have spoken out like that if Theresa and her step sisters had been in the same room. And the Prince and Sir Matthew--no, she would never have spoken like that in front of them either.


"Cinderella," said her Fairy Godmother kindly. "I don't understand. You were able to get what you had wanted, weren't you? The ball, the dance with your Prince--it was everything we had bargained for. And yet," she said, "you're not happy."


"Of course I'm not. The Prince doesn't even recognize me, for one...and the slipper, Alexandra. The slipper fits Lucy."


"Lucy?" To Cinderella's immense surprise, Alexandra seemed amused. "Well," she said. "That is indeed unexpected."


"Is it?" Suspicion threaded through those two words. Cinderella eyed her Fairy Godmother, brows pulled into a straight line. "Do you know anything about this, Alexandra?"


The Fairy Godmother smiled and poised her hands on her hips, arching her back so that her gaze was on the sky. "Me?" she said softly, her eyes brighter than usual. "Of course I don't, of course I don't."


"Liar."


Alexandra snapped her head back to its original position. "So what if I am lying?" she said. Her voice was soft. Dangerous. "Your Prince has abandoned you. You will never have him, you will never leave this atrocious shack again. Everything has been lost. Nothing should matter anymore, Cinderella."


"But it does," she said calmly. "Everything still matters. There is a way, isn't there, Alexandra? A way to get him back? A way to change things?"


Alexandra studied her charge with a tight smile. "Tell me, Cinderella," she said. "This...resolve of yours. Is it truly genuine?"


"Genuine," Cinderella repeated. "As in...?"


"As in true. Pure. Without greed and malice."


"Well," said Cinderella, "why would it not be?"


It seemed that was all the Fairy Godmother needed. She reached inside the sleeve of her robe and pulled out a long stick. Her wand. "The Prince recognizes you," she said, twirling the instrument between two fingers, "but he cannot go back on his word of marriage. He said he would marry the woman whose foot fit in the single glass slipper, and the Queen took this oath as seriously as she could. Marriage is not a light discussion topic among the royal family, Cinderella. It's bound by a magic even the Prince cannot break."


"Then what will I do?"


"I will turn back time, give you one more chance. Go to the ball and make the Prince bind himself to you before he can make a silly mistake and give Lucinda the chance of trying on the slipper. He loves you, Cinderella." The Fairy Godmother laughed, shaking her head. "He loves you more than he does Lucinda at least."


Cinderella swallowed, keeping this piece of information close to her heart. "And if I fail?"


"You have until midnight. If you fail, then you will return to the position you are in right now, one day before Prince Charming marries your step sister. And then there will be nothing you can do to stop it." Alexandra raised one eyebrow. "Are you sure you're ready for this, Cinderella?"


She didn't even pause to think. She nodded right away, pressing her lips together.


Alexandra smiled, raising her wand. "Then let's begin. And this time, may I advise not to lose your slipper?"


- E