- 2 -

 

        "Cinder! Cinder! Wake up!" Someone kept calling Cinder's name near her ear. She gradually became conscious and remembered that she was caught by the women. She squinted her eyes and found herself lying on the ground with her waists tied tightly by a rope behind her back. A torch lit up the room, but its light was so weak that Cinder could only see vague outlines of items. On her left, there was a wooden shelf with a couple of books and bottles on it, and two skeletons lying on the ground on the other side of the shelf. An iron chain through a hole on the ceiling hung a bucket hung, and a well was under the bucket. It seemed that the chain went through floors and could carry water from the well to rooms on the top. On the other side of the ceiling, there was a door which must be locked and a ladder under it. Two large porcelain pots lay on the right. Besides her, there was no human being in the room. She sat up.

        "Cinder! Hey! I'm here!"

        And a rabbit named Jaq right in front of her. Cinder lowered her head and laughed. "Hey, Jaq. It's nice to see you again. How are the others?"

        "They are fine. Birds and Gus are trying to steal the key to the door, just as they did when you tried to escape from your home at the age of seventeen." Jaq blinked proudly, "And I take another big job! To stay in the basement with you and keep you safe!"

        "How brave you are! Thank you so much, my friends. Do you know what happened after I lost my consciousness?"

        "Yes. The women carried you here, locked the door and left. She even didn't know who are you! She ought to ask you." The rabbit said angrily. Then he stuttered, "We... We are sorry that we came too late."

        "Don't worry. I made my way escaping from my stepmother and stepsisters when I was a teenager, and I succeeded in declining the marriage with the prince and escaping from the palace. I have the same blood as my mother, who opposed and escaped from the life she did not want, and I won't be defeated by the tower and the witch, or the prince." Cinder shook her head. "By the way do you know who is the women? She said she is a prince, but that's slightly weird. She looks more like a witch."

        "At least she is not a soldier form the palace to take you back for the wedding."

        Footsteps sounded above their heads. "True. She's coming." Cinder lowered her voice. "Hide on the shelf!"

        Jaq climbed on the shelf. Cinder could hear that the key was inserted in the door, and then holding a lamp, the women climbed down. She looked at Cinder greedily.

        "My bride. The princess. You are mine." The women who called herself a prince giggled, "Are you willing to marry me? I'm giving you a choice. Are you satisfied now?"

        "You don't actually give me the choice. You just design my future and ask me to follow your plan." Cinder quietly and slowly moved to the shelf and kept herself calm. "What if I refuse to do so?"

        "You will starve to death just as these ugly skeletons!" The women tried to touch her face, "Why not accept me? We will be happy ever after!"

        "I would rather die!" Cinder stepped left to avoid her hand and shouted. She kicked the shelf when Jaq pushed an empty bottle high on it. The bottle fell, broke into sharp glass pieces and made a huge and brisk sound.

        The woman was stunned and took her hands back. After a while, she murmured, "I won't let you die so simply."

        She picked up sharp pieces and put them into her pocket. Turning to Cinder, she sneered. "I will come back after three days. I will see after three days whether you are still so stubborn."

        The door smashed with a huge sound like a clap of thunder. Then were the footsteps, from heavy to light.