Before Midnight: a Retelling of "Cinderella" -- Cameron Dokey

The day Cendrillon was born was the same day her mother died. Cendrillon's father, Etienne de Brabant, blames Cendrillon for the death of his beloved -- he wasn't even able to be present at her death, becasue he was on an errand for the king. When he returns two weeks after his daughter's birth and his wife's death, he brings with him a two-week old baby boy - a boy about whom he refuses to give any information. In fury and grief, he leaves the boy and his daughter to be raised by Old Mathilde, wishing never to see his daughter again until peace is in his heart.

So for fifteen years, Old Mathilde rasies Cendrillon and Raoul - the name she gave the baby boy. Together they, with the other workers on the de Brabant lands, keep the lands and home running and productive. One day, a soldier, young, weary, and hurt, arrives suddenly at their doorstep. He is a messenger from the land at war with their country, and he brings a message for the queen. Once the young messenger, whose name is Niccolo, has been nursed back to health, and after becoming well-acquainted with the members of the de Brabant household, Niccolo goes to court to deliver his message.

A few months pass before Niccolo's return, but when he does return, he brings with him surprising news: Etienne de Brabant has remarried according to orders from the king, and Cendrillon now has a step-mother and two step-sisters who are en route to their new home. At first, Cendrillon is treated as a servant by her new family, for that is what her stepmother and stepsisters believe her to be. Etienne de Brabant never divulged the existence of his daughter, so nobody from the city knew about her. But when the truth comes out, Cendrillon's life egins to change, and before long -- with a summons by the king to a ball for all elligible young ladies; and a summons by Etienne himself for Raoul to come to court, everyon's lives will be changed as secrets are revealed, betrayals are discovered, and love overcomes all.