Chapter 9 – Silk Rags

"She can't go to the dance. She can't, she can't go" Said Daphne right after Cinderella came out, between her teeth. But extremely low, so her hald-sister wouldn't listen.

"Yes, mother!" Cordelia agreed with her sister, turning to her mother in a weeping tone. "Cinderella can't go to the royal ball at all! What if..."

"Don't worry, my girls. She'll never go to the ball. I would never allow that!"

"But, mom, you didn't just ask her to get ready?!" Cordelia almost screamed in frustration.

Ursula threw a reprehensible glaze at her daughter. Although those two didn't have they mother's same intelligence and cunning, the younger one sometimes lost her patience and proved to be extremely stupid. Maybe it happened because they were created isolated from everyone, so they never had to protect themselves from anything, even getting used to having a witch at home. They'd be at most scarred at times like that. As one of their's main strategies to control Cinderella was to repress her, sometimes even Ursula forgot the danger she was taking and express her angry.

At least the eldest had some sense of self-preservation. Her mother hoped that this would never happen, but if there was a situation in which she was pressed, Daphne could develop a certain cunning.

But not yet. And Ursula wanted it never happen.

Daphne and Cordelia would make perfect weddings with great families, and they would never have problems for the rest of their lives. That's what she expected. That's what she's been planning for her daughter's whole life.

But a little common sense would be good, always!

"Cordelia! What tone is that?" Then she lowered his voice. "What if that dirty girl listens to you? What will become of us?! What will happen to us? You should wait for Cinderella to leave before you shout things like that!"

"She doesn't know that she's not going to the royal ball!" Completed Daphne, still between the teeth and low. "Cinderella doesn't need to know that she won't go!"

"Oh, my God! I didn't realize I was talking loud! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But what I said is still true. She managed to finish her own clothes to go to the dance. How will we stop her from going now, without making Cinderella suspicious of anything? And if she gets nervous and..."

"Yes, it's true, Mom!" Agreed Daphne. "If she gets angry, maybe she'll finally cast a spell on us!"

"I told you before, girls, don't worry. I've thought about that possibility. She's a witch, she can do things that we, people blessed with normalcy, couldn't do. I've always had two plans. Let's wait for Cinderella shows us what she did to herself before decide which plan we should use!"

After explaining what they should do, making the two girls laugh maliciously, they went down to the mansion's entrance to wait for Cinderella.

Fulfilling her promise, Cinderella just took a few minutes to get ready. And showing for those three that the first alternative– the safest – wouldn't be possible.

Originally, they intended to say that the clothes that Cinderella made for herself weren't good enough for the royal ball. They made it very clear that Cinderella shouldn't embarrass them, but this request was vague. Beauty was something subjective, so no matter how Cinderella's dress could be pretty and elegant, they could always say that it wasn't, point to one or other imperfection. Since this girl always listened and cared about these three's opinions, she would accept it well. She might become a little sad, but she wouldn't grow rage that would become a vengeance.

But that wouldn't be possible at the moment. To say that the clothes that Cinderella made for herself were ugly was the same as saying that the clothes that Daphne and Cordelia wore were hideous. If Cinderella couldn't be seen in public with those garments, Daphne and Cordelia shouldn't even dare to touch what they wore!

Cinderella became even more powerful in those days, that was the only explanation! It was humanly impossible to make a dress as beautiful as that, and in such a short time!

Her dress was dazzling. Pink with some white lace details, full of bows placed in strategic places. A little tight in her body, highlighting her delicate forms, with breasts, waist and hips in the measurements that were admired at that time, without being too big as Daphne, or too small as Cordelia. She had reddish lips without the need for makeup, light hair without needing powder. She didn't even need to use that emerald necklace to create an image of a noble young lady!

She was like a fairy, a maiden of those old tales, a legitimate princess.

It was impossible to say she wasn't good enough for a royal ball. Even the naïve Cinderella wouldn't believe that.

So they could not use the first plan. Which would force them to use the second, the one Ursula wanted to avoid at any cost. The one that could be dangerous.

Confront a witch.

"How dare you!" She cried, her eyes burning in fury and her face deformed due to her expression of hatred.

"What's the problem?" Asked Cinderella, without understanding what was happening.

"The necklace!" Said the matriarch. "How dare you use that emerald necklace! And, by chance, would that necklace be the one that had been missing for years? Is this the emerald necklace which is the symbol of the Viscountess of Farey? You... You're the one who stole the necklace!"

"What! The necklace? That necklace?" She seemed confused by the wrath she saw in Ursula, and then also appeared in her sisters. She was used to their irritation, but she'd never seen them so furious. "But... that necklace is mine! My father gave it to me! He said it was my mother's, that she wanted me to have it."

With a determination she joined from the moment she saw Cinderella dressed so stunning, Daphne advanced towards her. "Your mother left this for you? How dare you say that! This is a jewel of the Farey's family, could only be used by family members! You're not the family's daughter anymore, since the day you tried to kill my brother! You, Cinderella, are just living under that roof because of my mother's pity, and you still dare to steal from our family!" And then she pulled the collar until it broke and came out of the girl's neck. The force was so much that it made several emerald beads fall on the ground.

"Don't!" Screamed Cinderella, starting to whine. "My mom's necklace!"

"That's not your mommy's necklace! Since the day you dared to harm a child of this family, you are no longer a part of it! You have no more right to be the daughter of any woman who married in our family!"

Then Cordelia stepped forward and pulled the sleeve of Cinderella's dress. When she did that, she started afraid, but when she saw the sleeve tearing and then that the witch did nothing to her, it sparked something inside Cordelia. Animalistic, she began to destroy her clothes.

"Your... Your thief! Those were my laces! We let you use our fabrics, but you... you greedy servant! Dared to steal my lances to make this filthy rag! You stinking thief!"

"You are nothing but a piggy servant and you still dare to steal from your masters" Daphne threw the broken necklace to one side and joined her sister. "You're nothing but a child killer since you were young. A fake kind, and sweet, and elegant, and educated, and good, and... Our mother should never have allowed you to stay in this house!"

"Cinderella, you're not good enough to have these things!"

They both continued their attack. Every inch of tissue they could touch, they took and pulled. It didn't matter if it was lace, silk, if they were tearing Cinderella's underwear, the two sisters seemed to be in a trance.

There were so many things! So many years of isolation for fear of someone discovering they new sister was actually a witch. So many years of failure in her mother's teachings, while Cinderella was naturally polished. See that damn bastard all scratched and tattered with lace and silk, and yet be more beautiful than Daphne and Cordelia in that state...

"Stop!" Said Ursula, firm and solemn. The very image of an authoritarian noblewoman.

And as they woke up, they both stopped, leaving a shocked Cinderella, on the verge of tears, still didn't understand what just happened.

"Cinderella," said the lady "when your actions almost resulted in the death of my son, I forgave you. Punish you, but not as severely as I should have done. As opposed to sending you away as many would, instead of killing you, I let you stay here. Under our roof and eating our food. But how did you repay our kindness? Robbing us! Fooling us! I... I don't even have words to show how disappointed I am!"

"Mrs. Ursula..."

"Shut up! Don't even say a word! There's nothing you can say to defend yourself. You're not going to the royal ball. This place isn't for you! Stay here, clean up this mess. When we get back, we'll decide your fate. And I do not want to see this mess when we get back! Girls, come on!"

Then the three of them left for the carriage. Only when they entered it, they really allow themselves to demonstrate how they really felt at that moment.

Terrified.

Scarred.

They just stepped on a path with no back. To a place they didn't know what it would be.