Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

"Come on Rikki," Jack said quietly, putting his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him in disbelief.
"We're not going to just give up!" I hissed back, appalled. "Not after everything-"
"For now, yes we are," Jack cut me off, his voice firm. "Later we can think of something, but right now, we're out of options." He gave me a sharp look, and propelled me forwards. Without bothering to try to hide my displeasure with the situation, I stalked out the door as well, with Jack at my heels, and the two remaining guards falling into step behind him.
Despite the fact that this felt like giving up, resigning ourselves to a lifetime of servitude for trying to save a silly, ungrateful girl, I knew Jack was right. Our escape would have to wait.

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This wasn't just bitter sweet. This was candy flavored cyanide.
With every step we took down the narrow, winding staircase of the tower, my heart sank lower, and my steps became more dragging. Ezu, on the other hand, was practically skipping.
Well, not really- I doubted Ezu would ever actually skip, even if his life was at stake- but he certainly didn't share the same melancholy attitude towards our current predicament that I had.
I didn't get a chance to ask him what he was so happy about; every time any of us tried to speak, one of the guards would grunt warningly, and sometimes even prod us gently in the backs with their sword. I decided to hope that his good mood was because he had thought of an escape plan- because I certainly hadn't, and judging by the shuffling footsteps of Jack behind me, neither had he.

After what seemed like an eternity of winding down the circular staircase of the tower, we finally emerged on a landing in a cold, dark passage way. The soldiers dutifully escorted up down the narrow, tunnel like hall, our footsteps echoing strangely loudly against the blackened stone floor. We slipped through a heavy, barred wooden door, then down another passage, and another, through two more identical doors, into a hole in the all concealed by a moth eaten tapestry- this place was a labyrinth. By the time we finally halted before a square, rather lopsided door, I was so confused and disoriented I couldn't even have sworn we were in the same castle anymore. So much for the whole "sneak back the way we came and climb back out the window" plan I had been sketchily plotting.
"Here's the servant's quarters." The head guard growled sourly. "The head maid, Donkeyskin, will give you your duties."
"Donkeyskin?" Jack muttered behind me. The Guard glared at him.
"Now get. I don't have time to be baby sitting three stupid servants." He pulled the door open roughly, and Ezu, Jack and I were unceremoniously pushed through. I stumbled, Ezu caught me by my arm, and the door slammed shut behind us.
"You know, it would be nice if we could actually be appreciated for once," I spat, pulling away from Ezu. I looked around the room, and saw we were in a large, bustling kitchen. It was filled with a dozen servants or every shape, size, and age, who all paused for a second when we appeared, but seeing it wasn't anyone important, went back to their work.
The kitchen was uncomfortably hot, thanks to the huge iron stove in one corner of the room, which was belching out dense clouds of black smoke and hot air. It also smelled strongly of food- spiced meats, hot, boiling soup, fresh potatoes, and countless things I couldn't even identify, and I realized how hungry I was. We had run out of stale bread and cheese the day before, and even if we hadn't, I didn't think I could stomach the stuff another day.
I was contemplating whether I could get away with snatching some choice eatables while no one was looking when a young woman suddenly came bustling over to us, eying us suspiciously.
I eyed her back, though my look was one of surprise rather than suspicion. She was pretty enough, but she was wearing the ugliest dress I had ever seen in my life. It was short sleeved and only came to the middle of her shins, and was made of fur. It wasn't a lush, soft fur like rabbit or mink, but rather a short, coarse, grey fur, like that of a... well, a donkey. Which led me to believe that this girl was the Donkeyskin the guard had mentioned.
After I got over my initial shock, realization dawned on me. I remembered this story- or one similar to it, anyways. There were so many different versions, but the story is always the same; A king makes a vow to only marry someone as beautiful as his late wife, but only his daughter fills that requirement. She tells him to give her three dresses, made of sunshine and moonlight and things like that, hoping he won't be able to, but when he does, she runs away, disguised in an ugly dress or cape or costume. She shows up at a castle and works as a maid, eventually wooing the king or prince when she puts of her beautiful dresses, and lives happily ever after.
Cap O' Rushes, Little Cat Skin, The She-Bear, Tattercoats, Rabbitskin, take your pick. I wondered if the king had a son already, or if the miller's daughter was going to find herself shunted aside for this new princess, and a pang of sympathy for the poor girl flared up inside of me. Then I remembered how willing she was to throw herself at Ezu and Jack, and the feeling died. She'd find someone else if the King dumped her without too much trouble.
I glanced over at Ezu. To my faint surprise, he was looking at the Donkeyskin girl with a curious expression. It looked as if he wanted to be excited, but was trying very hard to pretend to be indifferent.
"Ezu? Is that you?" The girl asked, coming closer and looking very hard at Ezu, her lips pursed.
"Hey, Danielle," He said, the corner of his mouth lifting into a crooked smile. The girl gave a sudden, tinkling laugh and threw herself at him, pulling him into a tight embrace.
"What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in ages!" She squeaked joyfully, then abruptly pushed him away and slapped him across the face. Ezu winced and rubbed his cheek, gingerly.
"That seems to be happening to me a lot lately," He tried to smile weakly at the girl, who was glaring fiercely at him.
"That was for stealing my wishing cap, you dirty thief," She snapped, and then slapped him again, on the other cheek. "And that was for leaving without so much as a goodbye!"
I think I was beginning to like this girl.
"Look, Danielle, I'm sorry about that, I really am! But I had a run in with some giants, and they wanted a wishing cap, and-"
"More giants?" I cut in, exasperated. "Do you ever learn from your past mistakes, or do you just not care?"
"More giants?"DonkeyskinDanielle repeated, raising a disapproving eyebrow.
"Yes," I said to her, copying her frown. "They showed up at his house a while back and tried to kill us."
Danielle gave Ezu a horrified look.
"What's wrong with you? Most people try to avoid getting themselves killed!" Danielle exclaimed.
"It isn't my fault!" Ezu protested hotly. "She's a jinx!" He pointed accusingly at me.
"Hey!" I shot back, defensively.
"Who exactly are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Danielle asked me, curiously. "And you," She added, turning to Jack. "In fact, what on earth are you all doing here anyways?"
Ezu glowered. "She got us taken hostage and enlisted as servants." He said, jerking his thumb in my direction.
"Excuse me?" I demanded, heatedly. "I was the one who saved us from being beheaded!"
"Actually, that was me," Jack cut in, rather timidly.
"You're the one that got us into that situation in the first place!" Ezu accused, ignoring Jack.
"Only because you deserted me in the forest!" I pointed out.
"I was fighting a giant, trying to save you miserable life! How was I supposed to help?" He snapped back.
"Not getting involved with murderous giants would be a good place to start!"
"It's none of your business what I do in my spare time!"
"It is when it almost gets me killed!"
"Are they always like this?" Danielle asked Jack, her forehead wrunkled in bemusement.
"Yeah, pretty much." Jack replied, shrugging.
"Look, it doesn't matter who's fault it is we got stuck in this mess," I said quickly, before the argument could escalate any further. "The point is we're here now, and we need to find a way to get away."
"Get away?" Danielle asked curiously.
"We don't much fancy the lives of servants, Danielle- no offense, of course." Ezu said, grimly. "I was actually supposed to take care of a rogue witch that has been causing problems a few towns over. This little escapade," Here he shot me a look, "Has made me late. There's no telling what sort of havoc she's wreaked since then."
"And truth be told, I need to be getting home. My farm can barely grow a weed when I'm there to take care of it; I hate to think what it looks like now." Jack added, frowning.
"I don't know what I'm doing after this, but I most certainly don't want to spend my life scrubbing the privies of an obnoxious princess." I said sourly.
"What princess?" Danielle asked quickly, looking worried.
"The girl the King is marrying." I answered. "The one who was supposed to spin straw into gold."
Danielle visibly relaxed. "Oh, her. I remember now."
"What did you think I meant?" I asked, with a sneaking suspicion. Danielle blushed, and looked down at her nails.
"Oh, I don't know. I thought maybe the Prince had..." She trailed off, still pink in the cheeks.
"What prince?" Ezu cut in quickly, in the exact same tone and with the exact same expression Danielle had just had. Something in my stomach flipped over.
"The king's son," Danielle replied, not looking at him. "It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does!" Ezu insisted, angrily. "A Prince? Does he even know your name?"
"No, but that's because I never told him!" Danielle shot back, her eyes flashing. "Besides, what do you expect? You run off without so much as a goodbye, and except me to wait for you like some princess in a tower?"
Ezu looked as if she had slapped him again. He fumbled for a reply.
"But... but for God's sake, Danielle, a Prince wouldn't even give you the time of day if you weren't beautiful! They are shallow and stupid and pompous and-"
"For your information," Danielle cut him off, her voice as cold as ice, "He saw me at the feast in my lovely dress and has fallen in love with me. He doesn't care that I am a servant, or how ugly I am in my donkey skin. He doesn't even know my name, and yet he has still fallen ill with longing. That's a lot more than can be said of you."
Ezu's eyebrows knit together, and he clenched his jaw.
"Danielle, you can't-"
"I can do whatever I want, Ezu. Besides, it isn't like you don't have a replacement. What about Mary, huh? Or Jezebel? Francesca? At least the prince will remain faithful."
And with that said, Danielle spun on her heel and dashed from the room, leaving Ezu standing motionless, alone.
Ezu's face was stony, but his eyes betrayed him. He looked as if he wanted to cry.
He wasn't the only one.
"Wh-what the hell was that?" I managed to stutter, trying not to let my voice shake. Ezu barely seemed to register me. I grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face me. "What the hell was that?" I repeated, my voice stronger.
"Nothing, Rikki. Just- it doesn't matter." He said quietly, not looking at me.
"Like hell it doesn't matter! I thought you said you couldn't love anybody? That that wasn't your story?" I demanded, my heart pounding so loudly I almost had to shout to hear myself above the noise of it.
"I don't love her! W-well, I didn't mean to!" Ezu shouted back, sounding unsure, confused, angry.
"You didn't mean to." I snarled scathingly.
"No, I didn't! She wasn't supposed to mean anything!" He insisted, his face pale.
"You mean just like Mary? And what about this Jezebel, and Francesca? Do they not mean anything as well?" I demanded, holding back the tears I had no reason to cry.
"Rikki, just listen to me!" Ezu implored, reaching out for me. I took a step backwards, almost running into Jack, who seemed to be dumbstruck by the turn of events.
"Listen to what? You know what, you're right. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many girls you string along. It's not my problem if you can't do anything but use them."
"I can't... They don't..." He was flustered, lost for words; for the first time the situation was spiraling out of his control.
"I'm going home." I said, my voice so quite the words were almost inaudible. I wanted to throw up. "We did what we set out to do. Now I'm going back home. I'll find a way."
"No!" Ezu half shouted the word, clinging to it like a drowning man to a raft. "You can't leave! Not like them, you're not like them! They always leave! My mother-" He faltered, his voice cut off by his sudden, sharp, intake of breath.
I couldn't keep back the tears any longer. Without another word, I spun around and shoved past Jack, and ran back through the door we came through, into the dark, echoing hallway. Tears clouded my vision, but it wasn't until I had run so far that I was utterly lost that I let myself sink down to the floor, my back against the wall, and let the tears flow freely.