The king and the prince

“I’d love for you to meet her father, she means a lot to me,” Henri said as they walked down the hall.

“It must be just like when I met your mother,” the king said as he followed his son.

Henri nodded and smiled. “I hope she’ll come to the ball. I want to see if she’s interested in becoming my…”

Henri halted in his tracks as his eyes widened. He saw Ella standing outside the room completely naked from head to toe yelling and almost in tears. He rushed over. “What’s the meaning of this? What is going on?”

Cinderella turned and her face burned red as she stammered. “Your majesty… sir… I’m sorry. I’ve been locked out,” she said looking at her feet as she saw the king.

“Locked out?” The king said confused. “Weren’t you having a wash? How did you get locked out?”

Cinderella opened her mouth but then fell silent. The last thing she wanted to do was make things worse. “I…. Uh… made a mistake,” Ella said. “I didn’t realize I wouldn’t be able to get back inside.”

The king approaches the door and attempted to open it, but the door didn’t open. “Why is this locked? Is someone inside?”

Ella looked away not wanting to say anything. Henri narrowed his eyes. He cleared his throat and then pounded on the door. “If someone is in there it is in your best interest to open the door, now! If you don’t, you will be evicted from the palace!” he yelled.

A sudden silence filled the air as there was a bunch of shuffling and yelling before the door finally opened revealing Beatrice standing on the other side. “Forgive me, sir, I didn’t realize this girl was using this room. I figured she’d be restricted to the servants’ chambers,” Beatrice said.

The prince straightened himself. “Ella is a guest of the palace. She is to be treated as if you were to treat me. No more of this, or there will be punishment to follow.”

Beatrice rolled her eyes.

“I think though, you can actually help Ella,” the prince said. “Ella needs some spare clothes to wear. And you are the same size as her. Let her wear your garments.”

“You can’t be serious. There’s a particular area where she’s lacking. She won’t be able to fit,” Beatrice said.

“I think quite the contrary,” the prince said. “I’ve heard all about your fraudulent practices, Beatrice.”

Beatrice’s eyes widened as her cheeks burned red. The other noblewomen raised there eyebrows. “What does he mean, Beatrice? What’s he talking about?”

“N-none of your business,” Beatrice said. “Fine, give Ella and myself privacy I will lend her my… clothes.”

The prince smiled. “Thank you. I’m glad to be of service.”

The prince walked away leaving Beatrice and Ella alone ushering the other ladies away.