I'm No Cinderella

Before

**This is a rewrite of a story by the same name that was left unfinished several years ago. I appreciate each and every person who takes the time to read, I put so many long nights into writing this and I am absolutely floored by the response I have received. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

(Edit 12/1/21): While I am currently hard at work rewriting INC to add some much needed tweaks and improvements, this story is still in its FIRST DRAFT phase. That said, this chapter (and only this chapter) has been updated to my second draft edition starting today. Apologies for any minor continuity issues this may create, the rest of the second draft will be uploaded all at once to avoid any larger continuity issues.

Thanks again for reading, love you all!

Xx Ren

Before

The girl never knew life before, but her father would tell her stories of it. They were wild tales of a day when machines crowded the streets and waters— even the skies. A time when humans ruled the earth and no other species could challenge them. In those days, her kind prospered. They expanded their civilizations, invented new technologies and cured diseases, but humanity was far from perfect. Ten years prior to her birth, they fell into war, the likes of which the world had never seen. Whole cities were wiped from the planet, millions died. For years the devastation continued, but as the population dwindled and the human race weakened, opportunity arose.

The Awakening came— a period that began with the discovery that humans were not alone at the top of the food chain as they had allowed themselves to believe. Other species came to light, each more horrifying than the last, beings that had once been dismissed as nothing more than legend, who appeared mostly human but could sprout wings, turn into great beasts, or cast spells with the flick of a finger. The humans no longer fought for greed or envy, but for survival, for the right to live at all. The others— as they had come to be known— were stronger and faster. Less fragile. Four kingdoms arose on the Continent from the ashes of the fallen human civilization, one for each of the earth's new ruling species. The remaining humans could do nothing but submit to their control. Dominion over humans was not enough; the others turned on each other, each eager for a larger share of the Continent.

For twenty-three years war raged on, this time between the Four Kingdoms. The others fought to win land, but it was humanity that lost. In the Wolf Kingdom of Lupia, most had been forced to leave their homes to join human settlements, many near the borders. War was at their back, with nowhere to flee. Towns were pillaged, both by garrisons of enemy soldiers and their own non-human neighbors, houses were razed to the ground. Taxes were raised, poverty grew and so did petty theft. Desperate, with no other option, people stole what they needed to survive— and were punished severely for it. Whipping posts and gallows became a common sight in town centers and their new king granted his shape-shifting subjects the freedom to utilize them as they saw fit.

At the worst of times, the executions became almost daily spectacles.

The girl was lucky, or so her mother would say. To them the war was no more than a distant worry, rumors flitting past the lips of old gossips, the occasional troop of soldiers marching through or demanding quarter, the always growing rise of beggars and thieves. Her father had been a politician once, back in a time when such careers could still exist, they'd had wealth to fall back on, jewelry to sell when old currencies lost value. And her father knew how to adapt to the ever-changing world, was quick to find new sources of income, new ways to support his family. At one point he even managed a year so prosperous he could afford a horse for his eldest daughter. For a few years this was enough, her family lived in happy ignorance, separated from the real toll the war took from the rest of their kind. They had each other and they were alive, that was all that mattered.

But luck was fickle, it never remained with one man— or family— for long.

The girl was only ten when their luck soured. The war had taken a turn for the worst, and with yet another rise in taxes, thievery was higher than ever. One day, her father didn't return home. She had waited for him at the window by the door as she had every other evening, not knowing that particular evening was not like any other that she had ever experienced. By the time they reached the town square, the others had already been at it for some time. There was her father, chained to the ugly pole protruding from the center of a crowd of people, his bloody back bared to the winter air. He was accused of stealing from a stall at the local market, never mind the truth that they found no sign of the missing items on his person or later when they ransacked their family home in search of it. Young as she was, the girl knew that her father had only been guilty of one thing: existing while human. They took turns beating and whipping him for what felt like hours. All the while, she screamed and thrashed in the arms of her twin as he held her back from putting herself between their father and the monsters causing him so much pain. "Shh, Rosie," he whispered, "don't look." Even he knew that there was nothing that could be done.

But how could she not look? The image would be seared into her brain forever, yet she couldn't tear her gaze away. How could anyone be so cruel to her father? Her father had never done anything wrong.

When they finished their work, her father was a bloody mess. A medical team rushed to save his life, but medical supplies had been in too high demand since the others took over, and his wounds were too extensive, his blood loss too great. He died within the hour as the girl cried into his chest.

It struck her then how unfair her father's death had been, taken from her on the whim of a bloodthirsty beast and the cruel king that had deemed her kind, less-than.

On that day, she saw the world in a way she never had before, as if a film had been lifted and she could see clearly for the very first time. There was no more truth to the world, no fairness or justice. There was only an us and a them. There were the humans, and the beasts. Never again would the world return to how it was in her father's stories.

And there was only one thing that mattered now in this new post-Awakening world: survival. Of both her family and her kind.