The story of Cinderella has been retold many times, and changed each time in the retelling. But none of them come close to touching the truth. They say that Cinderella's father was a rich merchant, or perhaps a baron. They say that Cinderella was made servant in her own home by a mean stepmother, and downtrodden by two stepsisters, until a prince noticed her (with the help of a fairy godmother, of course). That would have taken a miracle. Most princes are far too sheltered from the masses to notice a servant girl (either one born to that station, or forced into it). And the sad thing is, most people believe the tall tales.

So, my sister Kate has put me up to telling the tale, as I am the better writer and storyteller, as she says. For starters, my name is Lucia. Kate, short for Kathryn, is my twin sister, and the older by nearly half an hour. We are supposedly identical, but that could hardly be further from the truth, although I suppose you'll see that later. Anyway, on with my story.

Kate and I were born in the city of Basel, capital city of Tel. Our father was none other than the king himself. Our mother was the younger daughter of the king of the neighboring country, Cadiffor. Our country, Tel, was not very big, in comparison to the other countries in the area, hence the myth that father was only a lord or a merchant that owned a good bit of land.

As kids we were relatively happy. As we were small, nobody was in any hurry to tell us to behave like ladies. Our father was always away, for maybe three months at a time. He did this to 'maintain good relations with our neighboring countries'. Our mother died when we were five, barely old enough to remember her. Our father had come back from the country of Girona only a short time before she died, and was scheduled to leave again, this time for Bandalong only a short time later.

The night after our mother died, he called us in to his study to talk to us.

'Girls,' He began.

'Yes father,' we said in unison.

'I´m sending you to live with your aunt Achren for a little while,' he said.

Achren was our mother´s older sister, and now queen of Cadiffor.

'But why father?' Kate asked.

'Because, I have to go away for a while,' Father replied. 'So you will live with your aunt until I come back.'

'We will come back soon won´t we?' I asked.

'Yes you will,' Father replied. 'You two leave in a week, and a few weeks later, you will be right back here with me.'

And so it was. We went to live with our aunt Achren. A week later, we were both seated in one of our father´s carriages, a servant between us, on the way to Lerida, the capital city of Cadiffor.

Our aunt was waiting for us on the steps to her castle. My first impression of her was that she must be a witch, though I was much to shy to say such a thing to her face. She was tall and slim, with sharp features, and waist length greying hair. I was surprised that she was so old, though life sometimes works that way, with many years between siblings.

'Hello Kate, hello Lucia,' she said to us. 'Welcome to Lerida.'