I think Cinderella is a French fairy tale. Since I am not French, or am I the people who made it up, I do not own. Though I don't know if anyone does. Disney, don't sue me. There we go. That was really bad grammar wasn't it? No matter, it's late.

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The first time it happened, he just brushed it off as nothing. A bowl of mints had spilled in the reception room and she was just cleaning them up, that was all. It was a completely natural thing that had just been bred out of people of his type. That was all.

When he found her scrubbing the toilet he had just thrown up in, he laughed. She was such a good wife. The servants would whisper if they knew that he had consumed too much ale the night before. She was just getting rid of the evidence. That was all.

He became a little ticked the next time it happened. They were at a very important banquet for some very important people. When the last course was served, she stood up, rolling up her sleeves. He had asked her what she was doing, and she said she was going to help clean up. He reminded her that she was queen now, and didn't need to worry her pretty little head about such things. He had quietly reprimanded her. And she had apologized. She just needed reminding. That was all.

He had been downright angry when he had walked in on her in servant's clothes, cleaning the bedchamber they shared. He admitted he raised his voice a little, and maybe threw a vase or two, not at her exactly, but… she cleaned it up. It was what she had been forced to do her entire life, she explained. That was all.

Finally he gave up trying to control her. She was a little bit of a neat freak anyway, nothing was ever clean enough. And he learned to live with it. It wasn't so bad; he began to appreciate it in ways that he never would have thought of before… wonderful ways. But he didn't let himself get caught up in that. It was her way, and he learned to enjoy it. That was all.

Ermmm… yeah. So this just sort of popped out while I was writing this other story I'm working on. The lady's pretending to be a servant to get out of an arranged marriage (better than it sounds…), and then I began wondering what would happen if a servant married a king, but she was still sort of cleany lady. Then Cinderella popped into my head and I was like 'Ohhhhh….' I don't know if I'm proud of it or not, but tell me what you think. It took me like 5 minutes to write so I don't mind if it sucks.

R&R please!

~mirror-child