Roses and Black Glass: a dark Cinderella tale by Lani Lenore

name caught her by surprise.  The wind brought the young man’s
voice to her ears, and she looked back behind her through the fog, expecting to
find someone there.  Only one person came to her mind as to whom the voice
might have belonged to, but she knew it was only wishful thinking.
    “Christian?”
she whispered back anyway, listening to her voice drift away from her and back
toward the house.
    There was no
one there.
     
    5
     
    Within her
room, Isabella had fallen asleep.  No one came to awaken her that night.

Chapter
Five
    1
    Cindy lifted
her head from the flattened pillow.  There were no drapes across her windows in
order for her to see the first rays of light from the sun that told her it was
time to rise.  On this morning, she lifted her head to see that it was
daylight, yet it was on into the morning.  Nine o’clock, she guessed, which was
much later than her normal waking hour.
    Shooting up
from the bed in shock for her lateness, she wondered why she had not awoken. 
She hated herself for fearing punishment, but she had acknowledged long ago
that she was beaten down by her new family.  She’d once forgotten to empty the
apple bin, where the fruit had rotted and produced a horrible stench.  Anna had
slapped her and pressed a hot poker to her thigh to make her remember her
lesson.  Cindy had tried to run away after that, but she’d been caught. 
Considered as a fleeing child by those who had caught her and did not know her,
they took her home where she had been locked in her room for two weeks.  She’d
been trained after that.  The girl had behaved herself.
    But now she feared
what would happen to her since she was rising so late.  She’d never risen
late. 
    Looking
towards the window, her eyes fell upon a large shadow in the way of the sun. 
There had been drapes across the window this morning, now drawn apart to let
the light in.  What?  Had someone not wanted her to awaken?
    “Hello,
Cinderella,” came a voice from the side.  “My, what a heavy sleeper she is,
isn’t she, Charlotte?”
    Turning her
flustered head, Cindy looked towards the door to see Isabella and Charlotte
both standing there with their hair pulled up neatly and their forms dressed in
cloaks.
    “What are you
two doing?” she asked, wondering why on earth they were in her room.  Normally,
they took care to pretend it didn’t exist.
    “Today is the
day,” Isabella said. “We are going out of town to pick up our dresses for the Charming
party.”
    “Yes,” agreed
Charlotte, “and since you are getting such an early start, there will be
no minute for you to waste today.”
    “Correct,”
Isabella confirmed.
    Looking at
Isabella’s face, Cindy saw something different about the young woman.  She
seemed so much harsher than usual, as if something hadn’t gone quite right with
her.  Cindy didn’t know what it was.  She didn’t care.
    “We are about
to leave,” Isabella said with an expressionless look, “but before we do, we
wanted to inform you of your duties.”
    “I know my
duties,” Cindy assured them flatly.  What were they up to?
    “There is a
large sack of beans in the kitchen,” said Isabella, ignoring the servant girl.
    “Fifty
pounds,” Charlotte chimed in.
    “You are to go
through the entire bag and sort the bad beans from the good.  We don’t want to
see any dirt, or pebbles, or anything of that sort either.  Plus your usual duties. 
When we get home, you are to help us dress for tonight.  Then you will go back
to what you didn’t finish,” explained Isabella.
    “And we want
our shoes shined,” added Charlotte.
    “Yes.  Also,
you will be responsible for the house guest.  If anything comes up missing, you will take the blame.”
    Cindy thought
for a moment about all of this, scowling. Of course, she was not falling for
it.
    “And all of
this is meaningless busy-work so that I will have time for nothing else today. 
Do you two think that I could honestly get out of the