Once Upon A Time

Chapter 1

Cinder made her way past the trough, tossing bits of food to the chickens. She inhaled a deep breath, trying to remember what good smelled like. It was everything but this dung, rancid smell of animals. The horses snickered at her unfortunate situation and nudged her hand for more food. With a resigned sigh, she obliged. It'd been so long since her time to go to bed and she was aching to go back to bed.

She counted. Sixteen years. For sixteen freakin' years, she'd been here in the castles working with a low chin and downcast eyes and slouched shoulders. Why did it have to be so long? Whoever her parents were, they never came back for her. She'd been told by Cook that she came here as a wee little baby, fists pumping energetically in the air and screaming baby curses and devouring the world supply of sound. And today was her birthday but, of course, only Scarlet would know. And maybe Carswell, if he wasn't in his sullen days.

Four minutes until the next bell rings, Cinder reminded herself. She left the barns happily and shut the heavy doors behind her. She walked over to the small entrance that only servants used and to the kitchen. Immediately, Cinder saw Scarlet's fiery red hair in the mixture of dark haired and brown hair. Cinder offered a smile in Scarlet's direction and Scarlet turned around and saw her. Scarlet glanced over at Cook, spanking a wooden spoon on a servant's head and scolding on the top of her lungs. Slipping away to Cinder in the place behind the walls and up the winding staircase, Scarlet pulled Cinder closer into a hug. " Happy birthday, Cinder," Scarlet laughed as she pulled away.

Cinder felt a silly smile in her lips. Scarlet winked her vibrant green eyes at Cinder as she jerked out a package for her friend. Scarlet handed it to her. Cinder tucked her chin as she unraveled the mystery in the package. She almost squealed with delight. Cinder stuffed the macaroon into her mouth, trying to say, " Thank you."

Scarlet laughed her bright, cheerful laugh as her beautiful locks of velvet hair slipped around the cuffing of the band and to the sides of her face. " I had to sneak it from Prince Kaito's platter before he could notice it."

Cinder's heart almost dropped. Scarlet saw her expression and the girlish, mischievous look appeared in Scarlet's eyes. " You got this from P-prince K-kai's–"

" Yeah, I did. So be happy. Ten years of having a crush can be tiring, Cinder, seriously," Scarlet said indifferently as she crossed her arms and leaned on the wall. Cinder savored the taste of the already melted macaroon.

" Sixteen, actually. Since it's my sixteenth's birthday, I've liked him ever since I was born," Cinder argued. She licked her fingers from the sugar of the macaroon.

" I wish we could spend all day at that one shop," Scarlet sighed. " I wish I could get you something better than just that! Like a dress or something."

Cinder rolled her eyes as she shoved the wrapping into her pocket. " Sure, Scar. I won't know how to fix a dress when it rips."

" You're not fat, Cinder. You barely have any meat in those bones," Scarlet insisted. To make her point clearer, she pinched Cinder's cheek.

Cinder waved Scarlet's hand away. " Agh, whatever. Never in my life will I ever wear a dress, alright? And I wasn't talking about that. I'm so clumsy I might rip it while just walking!"

Scarlet nodded her head in agreement. " You do have a point. Oh, right. I heard Carswell's gonna be visiting us during cleaning hours. He told me that Commander Mira's giving him the day off early because of his, what did he say, outstanding improvement."

Cinder beamed. " That'll be great. Let's hope he comes at the right moment."

Scarlet was about to say something when Cook suddenly shrieked, " SCAR GIRL, WHERE IN THE WRETCHED WORLDS ARE YOU?"