Fairy Tales: Analella

Ella painfully worked her way through the first hours of her morning, increasingly ready to make an escape of some kind. She didn't have a way ready to get to the castle, unfortunately, but she was sure she could figure out something if she just got out of the house. She could walk, if nothing else presented itself, though it would be a long journey.

"I shall have to pop out to the market for some items for lunch," Ella said when she judged it as safe as it was going to get. "I won't be long."

"No, no," Francesca said, waving her hand in irritated fashion. "You've got too much to do. The girls will go."

"Us?" Anne asked, surprised at having been drawn into any conversation that involved work.

"Yes," Francesca said. "You still haven't got a husband, have you? Probably best you learn how to take care of yourself at this rate."

"But Mother," Dru simpered, "Ella is far more used to carrying things and--"

"Oh for heaven's sake," Francesca said. "There's an art to carrying only a few things and looking elegant about it. And should there be a likely man around, act weak and pathetic and he'll probably carry everything for you. Honestly, do I have to explain everything? It will be good practice for the both of you, who are so much worse at attracting male attention that you should be."

Ella was as stunned as her stepsisters by the treatment. Usually they were so very favourited they could act however they wanted and still be praised. She almost felt sorry for them, the way they'd been chastised and clearly didn't know how to emotionally handle it. But then it was someone else being abused for once, and she couldn't bring herself to be too upset by it.

Francesca waited until her daughters, whining and all, had left the premises. She then turned a glare on Ella.

"You're up to something."

Ella paused mid-task. "I don't think so."

"You are. You were up to something last night, and you're up to something now. I won't have it."

"I was locked in my room last night, and you haven't let me out of your sight today."

Francesca turned her glare into a sneer. "Don't talk back to me. You've had it too easy. I want this whole house cleaned and shining like new. You'd better get started."

It was all Ella could do to hold her tongue. So maybe it had been obvious she was up to something, but logically speaking there was no reason to accuse her of it. Still, logic wasn't a governing force at the house. Besides, it was simply all the more reason to find an escape route sooner than later.

****

Rather tragically, an opportunity to escape did not present itself. Ella fretted about it the whole day, right up until she was locked in her room for the night.

"This is quite a frustrating situation, Gus Gus," Ella said, lying on her bed and feeling even more tired than the day before. "I think I shouldn't have come back at all."

"Squeak."

"Well, it will be ok, I suppose. I'll leave tomorrow, or the next day. Stepmother won't want to keep an eye on me all the time."

"Squeak."

"That's true, she seems particularly vindictive in this instance. I may need more of a plan than that. Only I haven't got one." Ella groaned and rolled on her side. "I haven't worked so hard in years. And that's saying something, since I've always done all the work around the house."

"Squeak?"

"I haven't got the energy to run away right now, let alone trying to get to the palace at night, in the dark." Ella sighed thoughtfully. "We'll leave that as our backup plan, shall we? If need be, I'll slip out the window in the night, and... and...."

"Squeak."

"No, I'm not sure what to do after that. That's part of the problem. Probably have to go see Wanda. She'll know what to do." Ella closed her tired eyes. "Tomorrow, though," she mumbled. "Or the next day."

****

Tomorrow and the next day were not, in fact, any better. Francesca continued to be irritable and petty, and Ella was given many, many tasks to complete, most of which were pointless other than to tire and frustrate her.

Her one saving grace, and the only thing that kept Ella from climbing out her window in the middle of the night, was some news inadvertently shared by her stepsisters.

"You're sure he's out looking for a wife?" Anne asked.

"He's out looking for that slutty girl from the ball," Dru said. "I don't know anything about a wife."

Ella, busy scrubbing the floor, did her best to move closer to the conversation without being obvious about it. She'd been ignoring her stepsisters' typically inane gossip until she realized there might be something relevant to her interests in this case.

"Everyone knows princes need to marry," Anne said. "And it only stands to reason that if he's looking for her, she doesn't want to marry him. She'd be all over him already otherwise. That would be only sensible."

"You might be right," Dru agreed. "I wouldn't make him come looking for me. I'd be ready for the wedding as soon as he asked me."

"Well he'd ask me first, but--"

"He would not!"

"He would. I'm prettier, you know."

"How very dare you!"

Ella rolled her eyes and tuned them out for a few minutes while they bickered, swearing under her breath at them to just carry on and give her more information.

"Anyway, yes, he's asked for information about this girl," Dru said. "I can't imagine what happened. I mean how could he have misplaced her?"

"It doesn't make any sense at all," Anne agreed. "What's even the point of seducing him like that if she was just going to run off again?"

"It's all been handled rather horribly," Dru said sagely. "I shall certainly run a tighter ship when I am queen."

This set off another round of bickering between the sisters, though they compromised on deciding maybe they'd share the prince after all and both be queens.

"He's in need of a wife at any rate," Anne said. "So we've got a chance."

"And two of us working together give us such a tremendous advantage," Dru said. "Should we go make ourselves beautiful and wait for him to come by?"

"It seems like a good idea to me. Maybe in the village square. He's sure to be by there at some point."

Ella was left one her own again, but with new thoughts and ideas running through her head. Kit was looking for her, bless him, though he was probably terribly confused as to why she hadn't returned on her own. She could explain that away if she could get to him. He knew about her situation, after all.

The question was how to reach him. Even if he was out looking, he couldn't very well be checking every house. That would take far too long. Surprisingly Ella's stepsisters might have the right idea about waiting at the village square. He probably would go through there sooner or later.

Her best chance might be to make a break for it at the right time. As soon as she reached Kit, she wouldn't have to worry about any consequences from her stepmother. Francesca was scary, but had no power when it came to the prince of the kingdom. The problem was a plan like that was risky. It either worked, or she'd get herself in big trouble. Possibly leading to even more restrictions of her movements than she was dealing with already.

Unfortunately her plans didn't come to much for a few more days. Opportunities were few and far between, and even if she managed to get out of the house, Ella felt like everyone was watching her and would tell Francesca if she made a break for it. Some of that was paranoia most likely, but it was founded in some truth. Certain neighbours were terrible gossips, at the very least.

In the end the best compromise Ella could manage was to sneak out one day once her stepmother's vigilance had waned. She wore a cloak that was as concealing as she could manage without looking altogether suspicious, and did her best to avoid large crowds of people. She headed straight for Kismet, feeling that speaking to Wanda was by far her best bet with the limited freedom she had.

Curiously, and somewhat frustratingly, Kismet had customers. Not just customers, but a crowd. It was the exact opposite of what Ella hoped for and expected, and she had a moment of sheer panic wherein she wondered if Wanda had abandoned the shop and someone else had moved in already. It didn't seem likely, but nor did a torrent of people suddenly deciding sex toys were both proper and needed.

Despite her reservations, Ella wasn't prepared to turn around and go home. She needed help and advice, and this might be her only chance to get any of either for a while. She couldn't quite make herself brave the crowd at the front of the store, but she could at least circle around and see if there might be a secondary entrance.

"Oh there you are."

Ella started, being so lost in her own thoughts that she jumped back and nearly fell on her ass. Wanda, standing out behind her shoppe and smoking something that continued to not smell like tobacco, smirked gently and waved Ella closer.

"I kind of expected to see you again before now," Wanda said.

"Stepmother has been absolutely horrid," Ella said, smoothing out her skirts. "And keeping an eye on me practically all the time. I haven't been able to get out of the house the way I usually could."

Wanda nodded sagely. "Bit of an old bitch, isn't she?"

Ella tittered at the rude language, but couldn't help herself nodding in agreement. "She is, rather."

"No matter. We'll sort you out somehow. The prince is still making the rounds, after all."

"Well thank goodness for that," Ella said. "But how am I to get out and find him? Or get found by him? Either way."

"I'd say your best bet is to sneak out while your step-family is trying to get the prince's attention. They will be trying, I assume?"

"Constantly," Ella said. "Any time he might be nearby. But they have better information than I do and even they don't particularly know what the schedule is. The more times I sneak out, the more chance I get caught."

"Fortunately, we only need one to stick," Wanda said. "If nothing crops up naturally, I'll make something happen, don't worry about that."

Some of the tension left Ella's shoulders at the reassurance. "Thank you."

Wanda grinned. "That's what I'm here for, my sweet Analella. We'll get you your loverboy, or your money back."

"... I rather infamously have never given you any money."

Wanda's grin only widened.

"Well I'm glad you can still find this amusing," Ella said with a sigh.

"In fact I can," Wanda said. "Business is finally booming. The long con is paying off at last."

"What?"

"Oh, right, so you might not have heard, but the prince has taken--out of desperation, presumably--to trying to return an item left by his mysterious dance partner at the ball."

Ella cocked her head. "So?"

"So you left your glass butt plug, my dear. And since he hasn't been able to find you, he's gadding about the land testing every young woman to see who fits the toy. Or vice versa."

"That... what? That's silly. He knows what I look like."

"But he hasn't found you, has he?" Wanda said. "I think it was really just an attempt at being thorough. And perhaps he thought rumours of your butt plug would drag you out of hiding. In any case, it's all working out wonderfully."

"Is it?" Ella asked a little faintly.

Wanda nodded happily and cracked open the back door to her shop. Ella peered in and, though the activity was somewhat obscured from this angle, she was easily able to discern a bustling crowd of activity inside.

"I got those two lovely young men to help out again," Wanda said. "From your carriage that night. Fine lads. Easy on the eyes too."

"Are people... buying your products?" Ella asked.

"By the cartload! Well, I mean mostly they're only buying a handful of things each, but there are an awful lot of them."

"Why?"

"Because everyone's heard that the young lady who can fit a large glass plug up her lovely bum gets the hand of the prince. And there are a lot of young ladies with parents who wouldn't mind seeing such a match." Wanda shrugged. "And the occasional young lady or mother who, just perhaps, is intrigued by the experience whether it leads to matrimony or not. It's become a suddenly acceptable thing in society, you see."

"... butt plugs?"

"And such like, yes."

Ella shook her head wearily. "You're always two steps ahead of everyone, aren't you Wanda?"

"I do my level best, my dear, that's all."

"You're the only shoppe anywhere around that sells this stuff."

"The only one in the kingdom," Wanda added happily. "That's so." She grinned at Ella. "Cheer up. Your proclivities are all the fashion now."

"It's an odd thought," Ella said. "And I'm afraid it doesn't immediately help me."

"Not immediately, perhaps, but in the long term it's fantastic news. Just think, instead of the shunned anal princess, you might be celebrated and usher in new trends for young ladies far and wide. You could be a role model without changing anything about what you enjoy doing with your body."

"I have to become a princess first, don't forget." Ella felt herself tense again. "Oh, and not only do I have to get back to Kit, but there is all that marriage complexity to figure out. Is it terrible that I didn't want to talk about those details with him the other night? Now I'm afraid I don't know if things could even work out in that regard. In terms of... of marriage and the like."

"You're panicking for nothing, dear Ella," Wanda said. "Just you worry about getting back to Kit. The rest can wait, and probably will sort itself out, for that matter."

"You may be right. Though I still am not confident about even that."

"Wait for him to be nearby. He's stopping all over the place for the test of the plug. No one can manage it, of course, that was the brilliance of the extra large plug in the first place. But lots of girls are trying."

"It feels like that may backfire," Ella said. "If so many of them are practicing with toys they're purchasing from you, maybe someone will--"

"Ella, darling, when you first started, let's say after a few days or a week, could you have taken that glass monster?"

Ella blushed. "Well no. That was after years of... oh, I see."

"Too right. You've got such a head start on anal training over every single person in the kingdom. No one can touch your skill."

"That actually does offer some relief, I admit," Ella said.

"Good. Now get home before you are caught, and wait until the time is right."

Wanda punctuated her words by physically turning Ella about and smacking her bottom to get her moving.

"What if I don't--"

"Don't think too much! And I'm always here if you need me, Ella. I'm still watching out for you, even if just at the moment I'm watching out for my suddenly overflowing back account."

Ella laughed softly and watched over her shoulder as Wanda headed back into the store to help her two hirelings sell sex toys. Anal sex toys, mostly, it seemed. It was surreal to think about, after so long feeling alone with that kind of desire.

She was lost in thought as she headed home, feeling more confident at least, but still unsure of herself. It was peculiar to think that Kit would have started an anal contest of sorts to find her, but she did begrudgingly have to admit that she hadn't made herself easy to locate, as yet. It would probably all work out for the best, somehow.

What very much didn't work out for the best was arriving home and finding that she wasn't the first to return. The glare of her stepmother and the smirks of her stepsisters were an incredibly poor welcoming home, in many respects.

"It seems I truly can't trust you to behave," Francesca snapped before Ella could get a word in. "Here I thought you had plenty to keep you busy, and still you have time to gallivant about the town."

"I only wanted to go to the market," Ella mumbled, knowing it was a lost cause.

"You didn't return with anything though, did you? Liar!"

"Liar!" Anne and Dru echoed, chortling nastily.

"Go to your room!" Francesca said firmly.

"Yeah, your room!" Anne said.

"Yeah-- wait no, what about dinner?" Dru said. "We need--"

"To your room this instant!" Francesca insisted.

Ella shrugged and went to her attic room, unsurprised to hear the door lock behind her. She didn't mind not having to cook for everyone that evening, but she had her suspicions she wouldn't be getting any food either.

****

If Ella had been mistreated before, it got even worse over the following days. Locked in her room any moment that she wasn't under close supervision, and berated if even the smallest chore wasn't completed, regardless of whether she'd been told to do it or not, or indeed whether she'd had the freedom to accomplish it.

All of that combined with less time to sleep or eat as Ella's stepmother in particular gave even less consideration to her than before, seemingly perfectly happy to run her ragged even if it meant her work suffered for it. Just more excuse to berate her, Ella felt.

For the first time Ella could remember, Anne and Dru actually started to fall on her side a little. Not to the point of true consideration and empathy, but something far closer than she was used to. They at least suggested easing up on Ella some when Francesca was being particularly harsh.

Partly Ella knew her stepsisters were only looking out for themselves. They complained about the quality of meals and snacks, and how they just weren't as tasty as usual. They didn't know that was largely because Ella hadn't had the energy or inclination to stick nearly so much food up her bum lately, which they always seemed to enjoy without realizing what was sneakily happening. Though admittedly Ella's cooking was significantly worse in more traditional ways too, again related to lack of energy and motivation.

All that aside, Ella did note how her stepsisters gave up on gloating or taunting her, perhaps just feeling the game was too easy these days. Or, perhaps, those occasional sympathetic looks she caught from them were real, and there were indeed limits to the cruelty their mother had taught them.

In any case, small mercies weren't enough to keep Ella's hopes up. She'd grown especially despondent one day when she'd realized her window, her one potential avenue of escape, had been nailed shut. Ella didn't know if Francesca had deliberately closed off her escape, or if she only wanted to add to her unnecessarily harsh punishment by closing off fresh air on top of everything else. Either way, it piled hopelessness on top of hopelessness.

"It's a sorry state of affairs, Gus Gus," Ella said, lying in bed one afternoon while she'd been left alone in the house again.

"Squeak?"

"At this rate I'll have to get better at napping when I have the chance. Stepmother hasn't let me have a solid night's sleep in a few days."

"Squeak."

"I just want to get back to Kit. I wish I'd never left him. It feels so silly now. Who cares how much more difficult it would have been? Better any number of trials than being cut off from him entirely."

"Squeeeak."

Ella sighed. "I know, I'm feeling too sorry for myself when I should be thinking of a cunning stratagem. I'm not beat yet. I could... I could break the window? I should probably injure myself climbing out, though. Perhaps...."

Something clattered against the window. Ella stopped short and stared at it, briefly convinced she'd affected it with her mind until she heard the noise again, and caught the smallest flash of movement.

"Was that... did someone just throw something?"

It happened again, and this time Ella was certain.

"Someone threw a rock!"

"Squeak?"

"Well a small one, anyway. Just a pebble really."

Ella moved to the window, peered out, and was quite relieved to see Wanda standing outside looking up.

"Wanda!"

Wanda tilted her head and motioned for Ella to lift the window.