Once upon a time, there lived a prince. He set out to look for a blooming young princess for himself. He met her at a ball his father gave in his honour. All the ladies, pretty or ugly, homely or vagabond, old or young, maiden or married attended the ball. Dressed in gowns of rich silks, the most expensive they could afford, they all came in, in obesiance to the king. The prince looked around, smiled, took part in small conversations, all smilingly. The ladies, they put on their best behavior. Most hushed conversations were rebukes from ambitious mothers to their daughters, instructing in low hissing voices, to put the one hair out of place back to where it belonged or to keep looking and wait for being looked back. Among all of these women there stood a girl dressed in a borrowed gown, glass slippers from the dumpyard of the castle, and a brooch, her only inheritance. They called her ugly, because she was plain, they called her a vagabond because she never loved the home and was always at the stables, she was a maiden because no man would marry a girl who slept at the stables and lived off stolen food. Her name they said was Cinderella.
She hated her step mother because she was cruel, she even tried to burn her gown by ironing not-so-attentively. Her father died when she was four and she never saw what her mother looked like. She loved her step sister elizabeth because she was her only friend. She was her partner -in-stealing ham off the larder or running away to play with the horses. But as they grew, Elizabeth grew into a fair young lady, sought after by many men of honour and Cinderella became a vagabond in search of love.
She found love. The boy at the stables who gave her a ride on his horse. They fell in love, they made love,they fell out of love. He married a girl who waited for him all day to serve him his soup, who asked him what each of the horses did. She still asks, he still answers, they make love for nothing at all and they retire.
She found love in many more, the innkeeper's son who kept her fed on steaks, the circus clown who traded his tricks for her love, the milkman whom she helped to milk his cows. She fell in love, they made love and the men fell out of love.
The evening was a glittery affair. Among all those women who put on their best attire she only came for the sake of her obesiance to the king. She stood in a corber, hiding away. Smiling at strangers hoping someone would smile at her. No one except one man did.
The prince, he smiled, looking into her eyes. He walked among the sea of women thronging about him and waded past them, to come to her. He asked her for a dance. She refused, she'd never learnt how to dance. This earned her looks of reproach and angry buzzing from the whole room. But he, simply smiled and walked on. That night he danced with many women but he had eyes only for One woman. The girl in the corner, hiding away. Her eyes hid her secrets, her laziness hid her beauty, her hard gaze hid her soft nature.
All the king's men set out in search of that nameless girl who disappeared a little after midnight. She left her brooch behind. The king's orders were to keep the brooch well guarded. The owner of the brooch was to come, appear before the prince and the Prince would decide if it belonged to her or not. Various women of the land came hopeful about being noticed but Cinderella stayed away with the King's butler. She fell in love, they made love, he fell out of love, this time She let him Die.
She set out for another life, she left behind her old self. She tried to be a lady for once. Dressed in a silk gown she stole from the butler's wardrobe that belonged to his wife who passed away long before, she set out to reclaim her brooch. She met the Prince, He fell in love, They got married.
She sent spies to set her step mother's house on fire, and finally when she was well avenged she took on the role of the Princess. She rode horses, she spoke to men. She met her lovers in secret. She made love to her Prince.
He kept his quiet all along. He suffered Everyday. He saw her with the other men, he saw her slipping out of the castle with other men. He saw her smile that she never meant. He saw her lies staring into his eyes.
Above all, he saw her soul waiting to be freed. So that night, he asked for wine to be kept in the room. He raised the glass to her lips, she sipped on. He kept the glass away and kissed her goodybye.
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