Cinderella: The Cinder from the Ash

Chapter Five

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Celina stood at the entrance to the storage shed, peering into the dim interior. "There are chores to finish."

"I've finished all my chores," Ella added bits of rotten meat to the basket at her feet. "I'm taking these bits to the river. Before they can contaminate the meat in the cellar."

"Along with string, hooks, and two of our precious bottles, I see." She tapped her foot against the dirt.

"I was going to catch some fish." Stay calm. She won't kill you. She can't.

"We do not eat raw fish," Celina retorted. She sighed. "However, in light of Esmae's bad behavior yesterday, I suppose it would not be amiss for you to catch fish for your own use."

"Thank you." I won't respond, I won't respond. She's just used to being what she is. She can't help it.

"Provided you continue to perform your daily household duties, and do not..." Celina paused, staring at Ella for a long moment. "Do not forget your place in the household I have created, I will permit you to continue living under my generosity."

And here is the truth of the matter. Ella's cheeks underneath her makeup flushed. She rose, meeting her stepmother's gaze. "Permit me? To live in my own home? I remember my place, and yours as well."

Her stepmother paled and began to tremble. "Go to the river," she hissed. "Go before I strangle you where you stand."

"And there's the truth of things, Mama," Ella spat back. "You can't stand the fact that you can't strangle me. Not without losing everything, because I own that house, I own this shed, I own the ground you're standing on. And none of it becomes yours upon my death. This is my place. Not yours. Mine."

The shed wall vibrated with the force of Celina's fist smashing into it. "I am an Adler, and we will never bow to such a being as you."

Unbidden, the words rose in Ella's throat. "Adler isn't your given name!"

There was a shocked silence. Ella waited for a blow from a closed fist, but it never came. Stalking over to Ella on heels so high she almost tottered over, Celina leaned forward until she was nearly spitting in her face. "I became an Adler the day I married your father. I am an aristocrat. Your father was nothing more than a merchant. We elevated you."

"You enslaved me," Ella said flatly. "You could have loved me; you chose not to. You could have had another daughter, instead, you turned me into a servant, someone you referred to as an 'it' instead of what I am. Breathing. Alive. You've made me doubt myself, made me feel unsafe, unloved, and unwanted. The king himself, undead or not, wouldn't blame me if I threw you and Esmae onto the streets for how you've treated me. But I won't. I'll let you live here, and stay in the house. I'll even run your errands for you and do everything within my power to help you. But you had best remember that you're here on my sufferance. Not the other way around."

Celina's jaw tightened so hard that Ella was sure it would fall off. "This war between us is just beginning."

"Any 'war' between us is your choice," Ella replied. "I'll keep the peace if you do."

"That will never happen. I had thought differently, but I can see the burden of your humanity makes it impossible." Without waiting for a reply, Celina turned and walked away, back stiff.

Ella released a shuddering breath, closed her eyes, then reopened them, blinking tears away. I don't know why I keep wasting my time trying to live up to her standards. Carefully wiping below her eyelashes, she bent down, lifted the basket, and closed the shed door behind her before glancing up at the sky. The sun had just passed overhead. I hope Impossible hasn't left already. Hurrying toward the river, Ella tried to quiet her pounding heart. You've seen him before. This anticipation is ridiculous, she chided herself. Mama would never approve...but I'm eighteen now. Mama doesn't need to approve. She smiled at the last thought and pushed through the trees lining the river's edge. She heard the water wheel before she saw it, the swoosh, swoosh, swoosh of the river water cascading from one surface to the next in a never-ending cycle. A second later, she saw him, sitting cross-legged on the riverbank, staring out at the blue-green water.