Mornings at the chateau were normally quiet affairs. The sisters slept in till mid-morning and their mother, though awake earlier, took advantage of the empty house to read in the library or attempt to stabilize their financial standing. She was there when Ella answered the door for the well dressed man. The crisp envelope nearly sliced Ella's hand in her stepmother's eagerness to take it from her.

As light filtered in from the back windows to flood the room, the marchioness's face squealed its brightness. In her excitement she even spared a smile for Ella. "It's from the palace. The prince is searching for the woman he danced with at the ball last night."

"Surely he can just summon her from her home," Ella said, nose scrunching. Imagine losing your bride before you could even learn her name. Ella thought the prince must be very scatterbrained to have done that.

"Obviously he would if he could. They say she never gave her name. All he has to identify her by is a glass slipped left behind at the ball," Lady Tremaine said as she read the letter again and again. The woman was oblivious to Ella's wide eyes. Even when she looked up to shoo her off to wake the girls she didn't have a word to say about Ella's sudden clumsiness.

"A glass slipper. Who would wear shoes like that?" Annie huffed.

After the news, Ella had spent the entire morning cleaning every nook and cranny she could find and even a few her stepmother had insisted existed. There wouldn't be a speck of dust left in the house by the time she was done with the third and fourth passes she made on the areas. It wouldn't have taken nearly as long if Ella had been able to focus for more than a minute at a time.

The kitchen was the worst place. Ella couldn't take her eyes off the chimney where she'd tucked her one remaining glass slipper. Maybe another girl had been gifted with shoes that only looked like glass. Her Ricky couldn't possibly be the prince. A giddy laugh left her before she could contain it.

At the ball she'd been offered an olive branch, a way out of her miserable situation. Living a simple life with a man who worked hard for them was the best she'd hoped for and more than she had ever dreamed possible. At that very moment, a prince was searching the kingdom for her, an orphan girl with only a handful of coins to her name. All she needed to do now was fit her foot into the shoe made just for her.

Ella looked around at the home she'd suffered in for so long, the same home she'd grown up in under her parents' loving gazes. There wasn't much for her to pack after selling off her possessions for years at a time. The wet cloth dangling from her finger dripped slowly onto the scuffed kitchen floor.

"I'll have to find somewhere for the animals, or course," she mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Lady Tremaine asked. Her thin silhouette took up the middle of the entryway to the kitchen.

Just her presence was normally enough to send Ella careening back to whatever chore she'd stopped in the middle of to daydream. Now she looked small, frail. "Just thinking aloud to myself. Nonsense really."

Lady Tremaine looked her stepdaughter up and down and shook a pouch of coins at her. "We are going into town to fetch the girls new dresses. Clean yourself up. I won't be seen in public with someone so... filthy." She scowled and nodded her head towards the stains on Ella's dress.

"Yes, stepmother," Ella said quickly. It had been years since her stepmother had gone into town with Ella. They both went separately on several occasions but the last time they'd gone together was when Ella had been swindled out of a large portion of their money. Tremaine cleared that up quickly enough and even made sure to show Ella how to barter properly.

While some girls were learning the finer points of high society, Ella learned to judge everything from food to fabric at first sight. Now that she was faced with becoming a princess, and one day queen even, she wished she'd learned even a little bit about socializing with nobles. It was the first time she'd truly regretted not finding ways to sit in on Annie and Drizella's lessons. No matter, she'd pick it up at the palace soon enough.

Traveling by carriage was a huge improvement from walking to town. That wasn't terribly surprising given the temperamental weather. Earlier that day it had sprinkled everything with rain. It was just enough to make the roads muddy messes. Horse and carriage sailed through it while its passengers waited warm and dry inside.

There was always one downside to that mode of travel of course, Lady Tremaine herself. The Marchioness was actively ignoring her but Ella could feel her eyes every time she looked out the window. It unnerved her but she felt comforted by the fact that she wouldn't have to deal with it for much longer.

The announcement had clearly made it to more than just the chateau. Every dressmaker in town had long lines pouring out of their front doors. Women dragged their daughters by the arm to look at this dress or that dress and to decide which hairpiece would suit them best.

All of it was almost enough to make Ella laugh. The seamstress would make a fortune from all the business and in the end it wouldn't matter for any of them, The prince's bride hadn't even been offered a new dress.

Madame Coffey eagerly ushered them in after Ella caught her attention from the back of the line, If her greetings to Ella were warm they were practically an inferno when she spotted the family's head. "Madame Tremaine, it is so good to see you looking so well. What brings you to my humble shop in person after all this time?"

Lady Tremaine draped herself over the low backed couch in the dress shop. Her eyes stayed locked on the seamstress as if to intimidate her. Anyone would have seen the sour look on her face when she saw one of Annie's old dresses in the window for half the price it had cost. "You've heard of the prince's search I assume," she said coldly.

"Who hasn't?" Madame Coffey fanned herself delicately. "My shop's been packed to the rafters with women who swear they danced with the prince that night. Never mind that no one even knows who he was under all the masks, No they all have wild tales of the promises he made them."

That time Ella had to hide a laugh inside a strong cough.

"I can't say my daughters did or did not dance with him, but this fantasy of a girl with glass slippers presents a perfect opportunity to throw them into the public's eye," Tremaine began. After another sideways glance at Ella, she continued. "Everyone knows how desperate the prince is to avoid marriage. Who's to say he didn't concoct the whole thing in his mind so he could stretch the search out for all time?"

"What a dastardly clever plan indeed. Surely our prince is not so wicked as this," Madame Coffey sputtered in disbelief.

"But if he is, he'll need an equally clever wife," Tremaine pointed out. "I know my daughters are not perfect, but I like to think I've taught them well enough to handle themselves even in a place such as the palace."

Madame Coffeey snapped her fan shut against her palm. "Why with my dresses they'll at least get the chance to try. It's a shame you didn't bring them. I always work better when I can take my measurements surrounded by the possibilities the fabrics present."

"Ella is about Drizella's size, she'll suffice as a stand-in," Tremaine gestured to her stepdaughter who stood in the corner nearby. "Though its been so long since I've seen Ella in a proper dress I might have trouble believing what I'm seeing."

"You might not even recognize her." Madame Coffey tittered and left to gather her supplies, muttering about colors and fabrics.

"Oh, I think I will," Tremaine whispered, examining the jewel set in her walking cane.