Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

As we stepped out into the still bustling kitchen, no one spared us a second glance.
"Come on," I muttered, and began weaving my way through the crowd of bustling servants.
First of all, we needed an excuse to get out of the kitchen.
"Here, I'll take that," I lunged at an unsuspecting servant girl, snatching the huge basket of what appeared to be laundry she was holding. She seemed momentarily stunned, but recovered herself enough to try to grab the basket back from me. I shuffled backwards, just out of her reach.
"Now wait just a minute!" She said angrily.
"Sorry," I apologized, spinning in a circle as she grasped for the basket.
"I need this more than you do. Go take the day off."
The girl gave up with an exasperated huff.
"Fine." She muttered under her breath, turning away. "It's none of my business if you want extra work..." She began to march off, indignantly.
"Hey, wait!
I called after her, a thought occurring to me.
"What?" She snapped, turning back with a glower.
"Where exactly is the laundry room?" I dead panned.

~***~

[REDACTED (nothing much happens, they just walk down a hall)]

At that moment, Ezu gave a groan of frustration, and in so doing, he inadvertently breath a warm breath of air right down my neck. Something deep inside of me twinged and I jumped, just a little, but it was enough. My fingers brushed across the nape of his neck, and in that moment, something happened that was most likely, the beginning of the end.
I couldn't be exactly sure what had happened, it was all so fast- but at that moment, I could have sworn that when our skin came into contact, a a shock like a jolt of electricity shot between us. And judging by Ezu's sudden intake of breath, he must have felt it too.
I suddenly realized how very close we were- practically embracing. A shiver ran involuntarily through me, even though the heat radiating from Ezu could had fried and egg. I pulled back sharply, suppressing my sigh of relief. If I hadn't known better, I might have thought Ezu was blushing.
"What was that?" He breathed, his multi-colored eyes unsure. I was already shaking my head.
"Nothing. Just static- I shocked you is all. Must have been from the clothes." I jerked my thumb at the pile of laundry, trying to keep my voice even.

Sure, that was it. Just static.
That's what I told myself, anyways.
It couldn't have been anything else!
It didn't feel like a static shock.
Then what did it feel like, huh?
It felt like... it felt like the moment you always here about in stories, when the boy and girl touch and feel the "magic moment". Only more painful.
Well too bad, this is no fairy tale.
Wait...

Damn.

I looked at Ezu again, harder and fuller than I ever had before. I mean, I really looked at him- at his sandy, choppily cut hair (obviously done by himself, and not well either) that fell carelessly and feather-light around his face; his eyes, one of which usually gleamed a flawless blue like a gemstone while the other hinted at buried gold somewhere in it's depths- though both were now glazed over with bemusement; his almost fey-face, with it's angular features, which whispered that there was something feral in his blood-- the same blood that ran through his life-hardened body which loomed with effortless elegance above me...

...Nope. It was that same old Ezu as always-- obnoxious, pig-headed, chauvinistic, rude, and a hundred other things I won't mention for fear of scaring you away. Whatever that fleeting instant had been, it had passed; leaving only a tiny, nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that warned me I had missed something very, very important somewhere along getting swept up in the moment.

But since when have I ever listened to anyone, let alone myself?

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.
"Come on, we don't have time for this." I said, bending down and picking my laundry basket back up.
"Time for what?" Jack asked, looking from me to Ezu and back again, completely nonplussed.
He, evidently, had noticed nothing. Not that I'm complaining. Since, you know, nothing had happened.
"Exactly." I said ambiguously. I hoisted the basket onto my hip and snapped my fingers imperiously. "Alright, we have an exit to find, and I very much doubt they'll be labeled with red, neon signs, so let's get going." I said, refusing to take another look at Ezu in case it turned out I had been wrong before.
"And where exactly do you propose those exits will be, Miss It's-Okay-I'll-Think-Of-Something?" Ezu replied tartly- though somehow it sounded less condescending than usual.
I pushed that thought from my mind.
"Easy." I replied, closed my eyes, and eenie-meenie-miney-mo'd it.

Not my best idea ever, as it happens.

An hour and a half later, we were still wandering the halls, in half-panic mode, with absolutely no idea where we were, let alone where we were going.
Twice we'd somehow ended up back at the kitchen door, but by now I doubted we were even in the same castle anymore.
"Come on Rikki!" Jack moaned, stopping and dropping his basket with leaden arms. "We're not getting anywhere! Can't we find some other servant and ask for directions or something?" I turned around to glare at him.
"No." I spat.
"Why?" He whined, sounding about ten years younger than he actually was.
"Because, it might blow our cover." I told him tersely. In truth, I think it had more to do with my blatant, unforgiving pride than our comparative safety, but I sure wasn't going to tell him that.
While I let Jack have a moment to rub his aching feet- I ignored the growing pain in my own for reasons pertaining to the afore mentioned pride- I glanced in what I hoped was a surreptitious way at Ezu, who had been curiously quiet during our rather depressing trek though the labyrinthine castle halls. He had set his basket down as well and was leaning against the wall, his head down, his hair falling over his eyes like a blonde curtain. But as I looked at him ,he seemed to sense my gaze, and his head abruptly jerked up. His eyes met mine before I could look away, and for that split second, it was as though a curtain had been raised. His eyes were so open, so raw and unguarded, so undeniably Ezu that I couldn't suppress the small gasp that forced it's way up my throat.
But the next instant the moment of weakness was gone, replaced by what I know realized was the usual unbreakable wall that separated Ezu from the rest of the world. His mask once again back in place, he rolled his eyes carelessly and looked away, ignoring me again.

I swallowed. Something very strange was going on.

But before I could change the subject with all the grace of a drunken elephant and start up our wandering search for freedom again, I was graced with a not-so-welcome distraction that only saved my social awkwardness level by half a point, and in the end probably did far more damage than that half a point would have.
The distraction came in the form of brisk, loud footsteps jauntily tripping down the passage that adjoined the very hallway we happened to be loitering in, and looking back on our past luck, I doubted it would be anyone who would gladly point out the way to escape.
Jack, Ezu, and I all looked at each other, then down the hall where the footsteps grew louder, then back at each other, wondering whether we had enough time to make a break for it.
Unfortunately for us, it was already too late. The man- for it was a young man who owned the footsteps, though I could have guessed that from the way his steps actually managed to sound egotistical- stepped out from the adjoining passage, and immediately stopped in surprise when he stopped us.

He was undoubtedly the Prince. And I didn't just gather that from his red velvet & silk and gold-embroidered outfit, which had all but the words "PRINCE" stitched onto the front.
Young, fair haired, blue-eyed, with a flawless skin an a cream-and-roses complexion, he was undoubtedly one of the most lovely men I had ever seen in my, albeit short, life.
I wasn't quite sure whether my initial reaction should be goo-goo eyed girlish ogling, or disgust and jealousy that he was actually prettier than me.
I decided to settle somewhere between the two.
He, however, seemed a lot less impressed by the sight of three rather grimy, road-worn people loitering in his father's halls.
"...What are you doing here?" He asked, his baby blue eyes wide and blinking. Yet somehow, despite his cherubic appearance, he still managed to make the word "you" sound like a derogatory term.
"Uh... servanting." I my mouth said before my brain could catch up with it. Three sets of male eyes cast me unsettlingly similar looks. "Er, I mean... laundry." I amended quickly.
The Prince didn't look convinced.
"The Laundry Room is in the Right Wing, in the servant's quarters, behind the Royal Carpet Storage Closet." He said blandly, pursing his rosy lips.
"Ah!" I tried to sound like I knew what he was talking about, and failed. "That would explain why... we're not there." I failed spectacularly again.
"We're terribly sorry, you're majesty," Jack cut in before I could do anymore damage. "We'll be out of your way immediately, sir." Jack cast Ezu and I, who were standing motionless with rather dumbstruck expression plastered over our faces, a deeply meaningful, slightly offensive look.
"Oh!" I caught on, and curtsied as well. "Your Majesty," I added, for completeness sake.
Ezu, however, still hadn't budged an inch. If fact, judging by the look on his face, if he so much as took a breath, he might actually explode.
"Ezu!" I hissed, glancing at the Prince, who was watching Ezu with oddly calculating eyes. "Bow, you idiot!" Except for his knuckles whitening as he clenched his fists even tighter, Ezu didn't make a move.
"Oh, God Damn it!" Jack breathed. I looked at him. "The Prince. Danielle."
"Oh no..." I looked back at Ezu, praying to whatever deity that seemed to get bizarre pleasure from watching us squirm would, for once, take pity upon our souls. Ezu, if you do anything now... I thought as hard as I could, trying to send the message telepathically to Ezu's thick head.
"Come on, servant," The Prince suddenly spoke up, his eyes on Ezu and Ezu alone. "Show some respect." He commanded, and I could hear the imperial note ring in his voice.
This was perhaps the worst thing he could have possibly said.
In response to the order, Ezu stood up even straighter, and actually seemed to somehow get bigger, like a dog raising its hackles. I could see he was using every once of self control he had in his entire body to keep form throwing himself at the Prince right then and there...

[REDACTED (Prince flirts with Ezu thinking he's a maid. It was cringy and insensitive)]

He shoved the Prince backwards, and before I could even comprehend what had just happened let alone protest, Ezu had reached out and spun me into a tight embrace.
And the next thing I knew, his mouth was pressed firmly to mine, in one of the most passionate kisses of my entire life.
As much to my shock as to Ezu's- who obviously had been expecting a violent reaction on my part if his braced stance and fearfully closed eyes were anything to judge by- I didn't exactly kiss back, but I definitely didn't pull away.