Hello, hello! I’m excited to present the next part of Beauty from Ashes! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

If you’re new to the series, it’s basically a fairytale mash-up of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. (Thus the title. 😀 ) You can click here to read the previous chapters. Let me give you a little refresher from the last part before we begin:

“Come, Ella, my dear one. I have some explaining to do.”

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He led me to the mossy couch that I had built for him, was it only a few weeks ago? I remembered with astonishment how fiercely I had hated the Beast that day.

“Sit down,” he said, “and I will tell you everything.”

“I know you are wondering who I am – this man that appeared from a monster? That is a very good question, my dear. A very good question. And the answer is a very surprising one. Do you trust me, Ella?”

I nodded hesitantly, and he smiled in return.

“Very well. Ella, I am the Prince.”

I blinked, stunned. My gruff old friend, the Beast, had melted into a prince? How? Why?

“I see you are wondering how? Why? I’m getting to that… Months ago, my father began planning for this ball, my wedding ball. I did not want a wedding ball. I wanted to find a real princess, not a girl frozen by awe and oozing false politeness. I began to think, to dream. What would those hundreds of girls act like if I were not a Prince but some ugly creature of no benefit to them? I determined to find out. And I knew just who to turn to for help: my grandmother. Grandmother is very… unusual, you could say. You see, her mother was a fairy, and it was Grandmother’s fairy knowledge that turned me into a lumbering, shaggy Beast.”

“Every day I traveled the woods, meeting girls like you, Ella, but not like you. Oh, they performed the tasks I required of them, but they hated me with all their hearts. They were not true princesses.”

I squirmed a bit in my seat. “I hated you too, at first,” I whispered guiltily. “But of course I got over that.”

The Prince smiled. “Yes, you got over that. You alone of all the girls I met took the time to pierce through my dead shell and discern the living heart underneath. You were brave, humble, hardworking, patient, kind, and honest. You were a real princess. You are a real princess. And so, my dear, that is my story. But I have one more favor to ask of you.” The Prince looked kindly upon my doubtful face. “I am a hard master, am I? But this task I am sure you will like. Ella, I personally invite you to my ball tomorrow night.”

I gasped. Could it be that I, ash-covered Cinderella, would go to the ball at last? “B-but I don’t have a dress! How am I to get to the palace? Who will take me? And, oh!” My face crumpled in despair, “My mother will never believe me when I tell her who invited me.” I bit my lip against the threatening tears. I was so close, and yet so far!

But the Prince only smiled. “Don’t worry about the details. My grandmother has arranged all of that. She will meet you here tomorrow night, after your sisters have left. That is… if you want to go…” The Prince hesitated.

“Yes, oh yes! Of course I want to go! ”

The Prince smiled yet again, although he never really stopped smiling. His face was so brilliantly happy that I didn’t know if it was even capable of frowning. “I am glad, Ella dear. So glad. But before I leave, allow me to give you one last gift.” The Prince knelt and drew a gleaming box out from under the couch. I opened it carefully.

Inside were two shining, perfect slippers, made of clearest glass. My eyes widened in delight.

{image via zsazsabellagio.blogspot.com ]

“I thought perhaps you should have some new shoes… since a certain monster so cruelly took the only pair you had. Do you like them?”

I couldn’t even answer. I slid the shoes onto my stained feet. A perfect fit. “I love them,” I whispered.

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Huh, who knew that Cinderella’s glass slippers had a story like that? Not me. 😀 I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!

P. S. In my survey, some of you said you enjoy writing posts, and others… not so much. Although I know I can’t please everybody, I do love writing posts that you love to read! That’s part of the fun of blogging! So I’ll try not too post writing too often because although writing is delicious in small doses, I understand that it can get a little tiresome in big chunks (at least for me). 😉