"Ah, yes," said Maleficent as she observed the new princess’s uncomfortable mannerisms. "The rumour is that the crown prince has taken a member of the common throng for his bride." She tilted her head studiously.
"And he is quite right. There are all manner of dangerous people lurking about. Fortunately," she amended with a brief raise of her eyebrows, "most of them mean no harm to those who do not stand in their way."
Maleficent smiled. It wasn’t perhaps entirely genuine, but then again, it wasn’t entirely false. “Well then, Ella,” she said, “if you don’t mind my asking, I find it no wonder that the prince should have chosen such a lovely maid for his bride, and yet I cannot help but to wonder: how did your paths cross in the first place?”
The young princess looked down at her feet as she studied where glass slippers once were. She remembered the day that she had met the prince – she hadn’t expected it to go the way that it had. When her fairy godmother had been killed, she didn’t think she would get to go to the ball after all; but magic turned to her favour.
Very much so with a price --- a price that was going to be on her shoulders for as long as she lived; that was something Cinderella was sure of. “Yes, I would hope that I would be safe.” It was something that she had to deal with. She understood Thomas’ adamant determination to keep her safe. Especially with what could happen if the wrong person came along and she was to be harmed, or worse. There was only so many people lately that she knew she could trust.
Many could easily hold her at ransom if not for who she was then the child that she was carrying. “We met at a ball.” She replied, there was so much more to it than that – but she wasn’t sure she wanted Maleficent to know about Rumpelstiltskin’s involvement in that special day. His magic always had deals. Even if Maleficent knew or not. “My stepmother and my stepsisters were there too.” She lied, just to make it seem like she had tagged along with them.







