Cinder-Mari

Who are you?

A/N YESSS I AM BACK!!!!! Sorry it took so long for me to get this in, my laptop broke and it took a while for the new one to come. But oh my gosh, I love my new laptop so much!!!! It's so cool, and easy to use now that I've gotten the hang of it. 

"Hear ye, citizens of our beautiful Troyes!" Marinette was shopping for bakery supplies when the town crier began to speak, so she stopped to listen. "Last night, our beloved Prince Adrien Agreste found his true love before she mysteriously vanished. However, she left behind a shoe which is now held under protection by the prince himself. 

"If any maiden can come forward with the other slipper, and can recount some of the events of being in the prince's company, he will marry her." Prince Adrien...is trying to find me? Marinette had been happy with allowing the memory of the ball to become distant and beautiful, like the best kind of dream, but the only thing that seemed to matter at the moment was retrieving the shoe and getting to the palace.

She paid for the wares in her basket and ran home, hopping over uneven cobblestones and running into a person once or twice. Once unlocking the door and running inside, Marinette raced up to her bedroom and towards her box of treasures, where she'd put the slipper. Huh, where is it? She thought as she stared at the opened chest, not seeing it anywhere. I'm sure I put it in here.

"Are you looking for this?" Marinette whipped around when she heard this voice, seeing a person that she'd not seen before in her haste. The person in question was a girl, about Marinette's own age, with dark hair and cinnamon-colored skin. She had an evil smirk on her face, and held the slipper lazily in her hand.

"How did you get in here? Give that shoe back, it's mine!" Marinette cried, stumbling over to the stranger and grabbing for it. The girl however saw her coming, and try as Marinette might, the slipper never seemed to be within her reach. "It's a wonder what you can convince people to do if you give them enough money. Peasants really are pathetic, and specifically you are a liar. Someone like you could never deserve something so fine."

Marinette stared in unbelief at her, as tears poured out of her eyes and down her cheeks. "Why're you being so cruel? I've done nothing to deserve this!" The girl laughed, a laugh that was hard and cynical. "Really now? If I am correct, you are the so-called 'mystery princess' from the ball? Well guess what? My name is Princess Lila, and I was the one who was promised to the prince!"

Marinette wiped at her eyes as Princess Lila stood up and began circling her. "I'm so sorry, but I never asked for that attention from Prince Adrien. I never asked for him to make that proclamation today." Lila chuckled softly as she tossed the slipper from hand to hand. "Does it look like I care? Someone has to take the blame for this, and that someone is you. How about this? Did you steal it, along with the rest of that ridiculous ensemble you were wearing?"

"No, the dress and the shoes were given to me." Marinette said, fondly remembering the memory of the kind Asian man who visited her. Lila however, was not amused, but rather rolled her eyes. "Again with the lies, you simpering little girl. Nothing is free in this world." Upon hearing that, Marinette pushed her fists against the floor and stood up.

"That is not true, Princess Lila. Kindness is free, love is free, and I shudder to think of the situation that you live in to be taught such a notion. Even so, it's not an excuse for your actions. You are an angry, self absorbed, whiny little girl who does not deserve to be called noble. I promise, no matter what it takes, I will protect the prince from you." With that, a hand reached out from behind Marinette, and slapped a cloth over her mouth.

"Now, that's enough out of you, pretty little miss. We don't want to make the princess angry, do we?" Marinette heard a man's voice as she began to feel dizzy, something bitter entering her mouth. "Theodore, took you long enough." Lila said, apparently talking to whoever was holding Marinette upright, as her legs began to give way."My apologies, your imperial majesty. I had to pick up a few things, but it's all the same as long as I get this pretty lass for myself."

 The princess waved her hand submissively. "Yes, get her out of my sight. Hide her where she won't escape. Meanwhile, I'll make sure this is destroyed." Marinette watched in horror as Lila took the slipper, her slipper, and disappeared down the stairs. She heard the flames of the bakery oven roar for a few seconds before going back to the usual power, and cried silently at the thought of something so precious, burning into ash.

Marinette was growing more sleepy by the second, the last thing she remembered was being thrown into a carriage before she fully lost consciousness. Before she did though, she prayed desperately that this was all some terrible dream, and she'd wake up in the morning with her slipper safely tucked away. Marinette had no such luck.

Owww... Marinette groaned as she woke up on a stone floor, with a pounding headache and a bruised hip. She gagged at the bitter taste in her mouth, and when she tried to get up, she found out that her arms and legs were shackled together. As her blurry vision became clearer, Marinette saw that she was in the middle of a lavishly decorated room, lit only by torches and the occasional lantern. 

"So, you're finally awake." She jumped at a man's voice sounding, the same man who'd drugged her. She turned her head to look at him, seeing a man with long, brown hair pulled back with a ribbon. He was well dressed in a green tunic, black doublet and black breeches. "Where am I? Why did you kidnap me?"

He shook his head,  clicking his tongue at her. "Kidnap is a bit of a strong word, you really must agree. I am rescuing you from the hardship of living alone and running a bakery by yourself, Marinette. Instead, you may live here in my mansion. You'll find that much like me, this old house can be seen as standoffish at first, but sooner or later it becomes quite pleasing to the senses."

Shocked at what this man was saying, Marinette shook her head violently. "I'm not going anywhere! That bakery is my home, it's the only thing I have left of my mother and father! How do you know my name anyway, I've never met you before." The man chuckled, stooping to Marinette's level and cupping her chin in his hand.

"Oh, how rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Theodore Barbot, Grand Duke of His Majesty King Gabriel. One day a prince with eyes bigger than his own face, told of a girl with a striking beauty and a heart of gold, which I can only presume to be you. I have been watching you ever since, waiting for the right moment to bring you into my life. I have eyes everywhere, you see. Information comes to me faster than a snap of my fingers."

Marinette jerked her head back at what Theodore said, so disgusted now that the taste in her mouth was forgotten. "I will not let you speak of Adrien in such a cruel way. He has more nobility and compassion in one hair on his head, than you do in your whole being. You have no idea what tears he has shed, so don't you dare try to take away what little happiness he has in this life."

Theodore growled, there was love for the prince in what Marinette said, more love than what she'd ever feel for him. "Oh, and who's going to stop me? You?" Without a word, Marinette shoved her feet under her body and stood up, despite the weight of the metal shackles. "Yes, because you're trying to destroy someone's hope and happiness in order to guarantee your own, and that is something I will not stand by."