A Twisted Fairy Tale by DreChan

Not as Cinderella

I am called Sora. But no one has called me by that name in many years. I used to be happily married with seven daughters. But that was a long time ago.

My husband, Kano Higurashi, was the king of the kingdom of Mirales. I met him during a ball. I was the princess of a neighboring kingdom and we had never met before that day. He stood out to me, with his long blond hair and beautiful sapphire eyes. They were mesmerizing. I couldn't help but fall for him when he approached me. We began to see each other more and more often after that and soon we were engaged to be married. Kano's father, the then current king of Mirales had taken ill and died soon after that, making Kano king since he had no mother and no siblings. After he was crowned, he took me for his wife and I became queen. It wasn't until I had birthed my first child that I realized what a monster he was. Kano became violent and angry and would lash out at me over what seemed like nothing. Six daughters later, he showed how cruel he could really be.

But this story is not about Kano. It is not about me either. There once was a girl. Her name was Kagome, but most people called her Cinderella. She was very beautiful. And of all of my daughters, she, the third, was the one I loved most. She was also the only one that my husband hated. The reason that he hated her was because a year or so before she was born, I entered into a friendship with one of the palace guards. Kano thought that we were having an affair and killed him. When Kagome was born, Kano assumed that she was not his daughter. I pled with him not to kill her so he made her live in the servants quarters instead to live out her life as a maid.

Now the land of Hinrea, where the kingdom of Mirales was, a land unlike many that most people have seen. In our kingdom, there were faeries, sprites, giants, demons, and, of course, mortals. Our kingdom was very close to the kingdom of the wolf demons and that is where our story begins.

"Kagome!" yelled Kaoru, my youngest daughter. "Father is calling you! You must hurry!"

Kagome stuck her head out from the fireplace that she was cleaning.

"Is he very angry?" she asked, starting to climb out. "Do I have time to change?"

"He said to tell you that if you don't get there within five minutes, he'll be very angry," Kaoru said before running off.

Kagome got completely out of the fireplace and made her way to her father's office. As she walked, she tried to wipe her soot-covered hands on her already filthy apron and untangled her raven hair from its braid. When she came to the door she wanted, she knocked lightly. The door opened revealing her eldest sister, Kikyo.

"Kagome! You're a mess!" the girl whispered harshly. "Father won't like you coming before him like that!"

"It couldn't be avoided, Kikyo," Kagome sighed.

Kikyo opened the door and Kagome stepped into the room. Kano was sitting at his desk, fiddling with some paperwork and hadn't yet acknowledged her. It took him quite a while before he said anything. When he looked up at her, an angry scowl made its way across his face.

"Leave, Kikyo," he ordered, not even looking at her.

The girl jumped at the sound of her father's furious voice and ran out of the room as fast as she could. Kano got up from his seat and walked over to Kagome who had her head bowed.

"I call you to come into my presence and you come like this?" Kano growled.

"I was told to make haste and had no time to make myself presentable," Kagome said calmly, though she knew what was coming next.

Lord Kano lifted Kagome's chin up with his fingertips before striking her cheek with his other hand, making her fall to the ground.

"How dare you talk back to your lord?" Kano growled.

Kagome rubbed her abused cheek and once again stood at her full height.

"I am sorry father," she said, looking down. "Kaoru said that you needed me."

"Yes," Kano said, sitting back down at his desk. "We will be having some guests soon. The prince of the wolf demons and his underlings will be coming to see us soon. This castle is to be spotless and from now on I won't have you running around looking like Cinderella."

"Yes, father," Kagome said. "May I ask, when is the prince to arrive?"

"In three days," Kano answered. "And should you not have the castle cleaned by then, you will be punished far worse than you have been before."

Kagome nodded and left Kano's presence. As she was returning to her quarters to get cleaned up, she ran into me.

"Kagome-dear," I sighed. "You look more like Cinderella than ever. Come to my chambers and get cleaned up."

"Thank you mother," she said to me. "But father will become angry with us again if he finds out that you helped me. He has given me orders to clean the castle in the next three days. I must get to work soon."

I was surprised to see my daughter's eyes light up when she spoke of her orders. I guess that no matter what, that girl would always love her father.

Kagome walked to her room, washed her hands, feet, and face free of soot, and put on some clean clothes before heading to tell the rest of the castle staff about the soon to arrive prince.

I walked to Kano's office and walked in without knocking.

"Shouldn't you be a little more respectful to your lord husband?" he asked without looking up from his paperwork.

"Shouldn't you treat all of your daughters equally, milord husband?" I snapped back.

"I do treat all of my daughters equally," he said, still not looking up. "I spent time with Annalise, Koharu, and Lily this morning. Kaoru and Kikyo helped me with my work just a little while ago. I'm spending time with Ruri and Rina later today. What is not equal about that?"

"What about Kagome?" I asked him.

"Who?" he sighed, finally looking at me.

"You call her Cinderella," I scowled.

"That is your bastard child," Kano snapped at me. "She would not even have been here if you had not betrayed me."

"I did not betray you!" I yelled. "You misunderstood!"

"How dare you raise your voice at me! Your lord!" Kano shouted back.

"Just forget it! I'm leaving!" I growled, stomping over to the door. "One day you will realize how wrong you really are."

Kagome had already gotten to work cleaning the castle with the rest of the staff. I supposed that Kano had told her about the visiting prince. She hummed happily as she scrubbed the floor of the ballroom. I decided to go into the music room next door and practice me vocal solo for the prince's arrival dinner.

Days go by

I want to cry

My tears will not dry fast

Seeing you

Being you

I cannot imagine that

I know that times are tough

Your life is rough

I know it is all my fault

I know that though you smile

You still cry

Inside

Days go by

I want to cry

I just cannot dry my tears.

You stand there

Doing your share

I want to help you this year

As I stepped out of the room, I noticed Kagome standing there waiting for me. There were tears in her eyes. Without saying anything, she embraced me. I couldn't make myself break the silence so I just stood there holding her. After a few minutes she pulled away from me and went back to scrubbing the floor. I regarded her for a moment before heading back to my chambers. I knew why she was crying. She had heard my song. She knew that I knew how sad she must be. Just thinking of this brought a tear to my eye but I stopped myself from crying for it was time of me to do my wifely duties for my husband. I couldn't be late.

It was finally the day when the wolf prince was to arrive. Kagome and all of the other servants had succeeded in making the castle spotless and had already prepared a wonderful meal for the court. Kagome and I were in my chambers getting ready. As my daughter had no fancy dresses of her own, she borrowed one of her sisters and, having no experience in these matters, need my help to put it on. As she donned the beautiful magenta kimono, a smile spread across my face. Now she looked like one of my daughters.

"Why does father want me dressed like everyone else?" she asked me as I brushed her hair.

"He doesn't want to be embarrassed," I answered. "Everyone knows that the lord has seven daughters and if you were serving them, it would embarrass our family."

"I see," she whispered. "So that means that while the prince is here, I won't have to work?"

"It seems that way," I replied.

I was happy to see her so cheerful but I was not fool. I had known Kano for many years and even that excuse he gave me for having her dress up couldn't fool me. He was up to something. I didn't know what, but it was something indeed. As Kagome and I went to go meet the rest of the family, the prince was just arriving. Kano would be angry for our tardiness but I would take responsibility for it.

Now the wolf demons were very strange beings. Every one of them wore fur even though they were in human form and had tails that would swish back and forth as they stood. They were also always accompanied by a pack of mortal wolves. Now the prince of the wolf demons, Kouga, was only a prince because he needed a wife before he could be crowned. His parents had died many years prior but, since he had a very rotten personality, he had yet to find a suitable bride.

That is when it dawned on me. He needed a bride. Despite our kingdom having had dealings with the wolf demons for years, Kano hated them. He found their very existences a nuisance to him. And that is the same way he felt about Kagome. I finally realized what Kano's plans were, but I dared not say anything about them. He'd beaten me for questioning him me before and I couldn't handle it again.

After Prince Kouga had been greeted and invited in, we made our way to the dining room. I could already see the deep smirk that Kano had on his face that confirmed my suspicions and I could tell that Prince Kouga was in on it as well. Kagome sat next to me, still quite happy about not having to work and didn't notice this.

"Welcome to our humble abode, my prince," Kano said as we sat down to eat. "It shall be a grand celebration."

"What are we celebrating, father?" asked Koharu, my fourth daughter.

"What indeed, my dear," I said, scowling as I stared him down.

"Well," Kano started. "As the prince already knows. Our kingdoms have been very close for many years and it has come time for us to become true family at last."

I saw several of my daughters go pale at this.

"Prince Kouga has shown interesting in marrying one of our princesses," Kano continued. "It was a close call but I have decided to let him marry Cinder—Kagome."

Kagome's head flew up at the sound of her name.

"What?" she whispered.

"You will be married to prince Kouga," Kano clarified. "It has already been decided."

"But-!" Kagome choked out.

"You dare to question me?" Kano growled.

"Of course not, father," Kagome sighed. "I am very sorry for being so rude to you and the prince."

The prince was smirking the whole time. Kagome did not smile again through the whole meal. Kano looked quite pleased with himself. My other daughters looked very worried, for they had heard about how Kouga treated his women. I just sat there, angry with Kano, and not sure of what to say.

Near the end of the meal, Kano stated that the wedding would take place within a week and ordered Kagome to sew her own gown with furs that Kouga had brought with him. I was ordered to take care of all of the wedding plans and to write a new song to sing during the wedding. As happy as Kagome had been before the prince had arrived as just how depressed she was when she found out about her engagement. Her sisters tried to talk to her and cheer her up.

"He can't be as bad as the stories say," Kikyo said, trying to smile for her sister.

"Perhaps he'll really like you and he won't be mean to you like all of the other girls," said Rina, caressing her sister's shoulders.

"But I don't want to leave here," Kagome sobbed. "I love my home here."

"But you won't have to work anymore!" exclaimed Ruri. "You'll like that!"

"But I love my work," Kagome said, still sobbing. "I love doing things for father."

The other girls had nothing more to say. There was no stopping the girls' lamenting.

I decided to go to Kano and talk to him personally and to hell with the consequences. As I walked to Kano's office, I ran into the prince.

"Hello Lady Sora," prince Kouga said to me with his slimy high voice. "I hope that you are doing well."

"I am," I replied. "And I hope that you are enjoying your stay. May I ask you a question, my prince?"

"Of course," he answered.

"Did you ask for Kagome's hand or did my husband offer her to you?" I asked.

"To be honest," the prince started. "I was barely even aware that you had a seventh daughter until your Lord Kano mentioned her to me. I was keen on your eldest daughter Kikyo at the beginning before he told me what a beauty Kagome was."

"Thank you very much, my prince," I said before walking away.

I was angrier than I had ever been. That man was scum and now he had made a deal with slime. I would not stand for it. But while I was about to head into the lion's den, Kagome was being approached by a wolf.

Kagome was just putting the finished touches on her dress when the prince himself came into the room.

"Hello, princess Kagome, or should I call you Cinderella as you father does?" the prince said as he glided in.

"You may call me whatever you like, my prince," Kagome said, looking down.

The prince glided over to her and grabbed a strand of her long raven hair and put it up to his lips.

"You know, princess," the prince whispered, touching her neck with his fingertips. "When your father told me how beautiful you were, I was ecstatic. Because you are beautiful."

"What are you doing, my prince?" Kagome asked him as he turned her around and kissed a bare part of her chest. "This is not proper."

"What would you know about proper, little Cinderella?" the prince whispered against her skin. "Besides. Your father granted me permission to do whatever I wanted to you. And I will do whatever I want."

The prince reached behind her and began to untie her kimono.

"Stop!" Kagome exclaimed, trying to get out of the prince's arms.

The prince didn't listen and continued to undress her until her robe had slipped down her body, leaving her in her undergarments.

"You'd better do what I want, Princess Cinderella," the prince growled, holding her tighter. "Your father is on my side."

"No!" Kagome yelled, kicking the prince away with all of her strength and then running out of the room.

Kagome ran straight to Kano's office where I had been talking to him.

I walked into Kano's office without knocking again. This time, he looked up immediately.

"What are you doing here, Sora?" he asked me.

"How can you give that worm our daughter?" I growled, advancing on him.

"Your daughter," Kano growled back. "And it is to unite our kingdoms. It is for the good of the nation."

"Bullshit!" I cursed. "You know what he does to women! You know his reputation! And you know that Kagome is your daughter too."

"Your only role is to follow my orders!" Kano shouted back. "You dare to question anything I do? I should send you to the harem where whores belong!"

I was stunned to silence. He had never before been so harsh to me. Before I could respond, Kagome came running in. I was surprised at the state of her undress and the tears the streamed down her cheeks. She ran into me arms and sobbed.

"Kagome, dear," I cooed. "Please calm down and tell me what happened.

"The prince tried to take advantage of me," she sobbed. "He said that father gave him permission."

I turned my head to my husband.

"Please tell me that you didn't promise him that," I said quietly. "Please tell me that you still have some form of humanity left in you."

Kano merely smirked at us and I knew his answer.

"Go be with your sisters, Kagome," I said to her, glaring at Kano.

Kagome did as I said, still sobbing as she left the room.

"How could you promise him that?" I growled. "She's just a young girl! He's a snake!"

"Does that matter?" Kano said, nonchalantly. "I wanted to be rid of her, he offered to take her off my hands. I don't need that girl here."

"Why can you not just believe me when I say that she is yours?" I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks. "My goddess! She has your eyes! She is raven-headed like your mother was! She adores you and you treat her like this!"

"How dare you raise your voice at me!" Kano yelled back, advancing on me.

"Why shouldn't I?!" I yelled, not backing down. "After all, I'm your whore, remember!"

Kano came up quickly and slapped me across the face, knocking me to the ground. He pulled me up by the collar of my kimono and whispered menacingly in my ear.

"That's right, you are my whore," he said. "And now I will treat you like a whore and you will learn to never go against me again."

Kano grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me into his private sitting room.

The day of the wedding came by very quickly. Prince Kouga made several more passes at Kagome but I couldn't do anything. A week later, I was still hurting from what Kano had done to me that night. I was afraid to do anything else. I'd done what Kano had ordered me to. I planned the entire wedding and had written my song. As I helped Kagome dress for her wedding, I realized that I couldn't let it end this way. She was my daughter and I wouldn't let her get hurt because of something that I caused. I came up with a plan. A plan to get her away from the castle.

As soon as I was done with helping Kagome, I went around the castle getting things ready for her. I bribed all of the guards, I prepared a horse and a guide, and I packed clothes and food. I wouldn't let her live that way. Not with that snake of a man. I would risk my own life to protect me daughter and I indeed would be risking my life with this plan.

Finally the time of the wedding came and it was almost time for me to put my plan into action. There were many guests present for this event which would make it worse when I did what I had to do. Kano hated embarrassment and this would definitely embarrass him. The ceremony started.

"Dearly beloved," started the priest. "We are gathered here in the sight of God and these witnesses to unite Prince Kouga Jamison and Princess Kagome Higurashi in holy matrimony to combine the two kingdoms."

As was tradition, Kagome stood with us until it was time to give her away. She grabbed my hand in fear and was visibly shaking.

"Doubly blessed is the couple which comes to the marriage altar with the approval and blessings of their families and friends," the priest continued. Who has the honor of presenting this woman to be married to this man?"

Kano took Kagome's hand and lifted it up. The priest motioned for her to come up for the next part of the service where she was to join the prince.

"On my signal, run Kagome," I whispered.

She looked at me a little puzzled but I didn't say anything more. As she slowly walked u to meet her smirking groom I yelled, "Now!"

Kagome then broke into a run. The entire church was in chaos.

"Cinderella!" Kano yelled. "Cinderella! What the hell have you done, Sora?!"

I merely smiled as Kagome disappeared. No one would stop her. She was safe. The prince was in shock and Kano looked like he was about to burst but I was smiling as if nothing else could be better.

"Everyone leave!" Kano yelled, causing everyone to jump as he grabbed my arm and dragged me back to the castle and to our bedroom.

I am surprised that I didn't die that night. I thought that I would. My wounds were so severe that the doctors thought I would die but I guess I still needed to be punished for what I had done. The treaty between Mirales and the wolf demons fell through and our kingdom was plunged into war. I knew that I needed to be punished for it but at least my daughter was safe.

Five years later, I was singing in church. Kano didn't know it but I was singing the song that I had written for my daughter's wedding.

Blessings to you

You who are more than you think

I'm watching over you

You know who I am

I'll always be with you

I'll keep you safe

My daughter

My love

My hope

As I sang, I looked out into the crowd. Someone caught my eyes. It was her brilliant red hair that caught my attention but her extremely familiar sapphire eyes that made me smile. Kagome was sitting there with a man with beautiful silver hair and a crescent moon upon his brow and she looked happy and I knew that she could see that I knew she was there. But I didn't dare let anyone know. Kano hadn't forgotten all that happen. If he knew that she was there, he would have her killed. So I kept my mouth shut. I didn't go to see her or to talk to her and I never saw her again after that. I was just happy to know that I had finally done right by her and that she was alive and well and happy. My little Cinderella.