CINDERELLA: The Glass Crown

Cinderella remembers when her home was still a happy one. Then her father remarried. After his death, the house that once belonged to her family falls under the control of her stepmother, and Cinderella is reduced to little more than a servant in her own home. Her only escape comes at night. Whenever she can, Cinderella slips away into the forest, where she finds strange new friends, a few hours of freedom, and eventually an unexpected friendship with a general who discovers that the quiet girl in worn clothes understands far more about armies, taxes, and government than anyone expects. Meanwhile, the kingdom itself is falling apart. Corruption spreads through the royal court, ordinary people are struggling, and the prince seems far more interested in his own pleasures than the country he may one day rule. Then comes the royal ball. With a little help from the creatures of the forest, Cinderella is given one night inside the world that has always been closed to her. She meets the prince, sees the royal court for herself—and runs before midnight, leaving behind only a glass slipper. The prince begins searching for its owner. But Cinderella is no longer waiting at home to be found. For the first time, she has begun building a life of her own.