Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away from here, lay a small village. This village, located at the edge of the woods at the edge of the kingdom at the edge of the civilized world, consisted of exactly seventeen buildings. Most of those buildings were small houses, small shops, small workshops, and small stables. There was one building, however, that was not small.
It was the only building that was not small, and it was at the very end of the main road that ran through the village. This particular building, simply referred to as 'the mansion' by the villagers, was a lot bigger than it needed to be. According to many, it was a lot bigger than it was supposed to be.
They had not always thought so, though. You see, a few years back, a kind couple lived in the mansion, letting the villagers make use of their spare rooms whenever there was a need for it. They would let the children organise sleepovers in the spacious bedrooms, jumping on and off the beds to their heart's content.
The couple was a happy couple. But happiness rarely lasts. The woman became pregnant, and the entire village was filled with joy. After a long, arduous pregnancy, she gave birth to a beautiful baby daughter. The woman, deadly exhausted, lived only long enough to see her once, and bestow upon her name: Anna.
Anna's father was heartbroken by the loss of his wife, as any good man, good husband, would be. He mourned her loss for years, but eventually, when his daughter reached the tender age of ten, they had both decided that it was time to pursue happiness again.
On one of his many travels, Anna's father met a woman - a lovely young widow with two daughters, only a year older than Anna. They moved to the small village, taking up residence inside the mansion, and everyone was happy once more.
But as stated before, happiness rarely lasts.
Anna's father passed away not a year later, when a ship that took him on one of his many travels was caught in a storm, never to be heard from again. Little Anna was devastated. Her stepmother was not.
Happiness was now gone from the mansion, where Anna continued to live with her stepmother and stepsisters, none of which cared particularly much about Anna. They did fancy the mansion, though, and believed that in such a building, the inhabitants ought to have a maid.
They believed little Anna to be the perfect candidate. And who was little Anna to object? She had no one in the world left for her, except for her stepmother.
And thus Anna became their maid. A slave in what had once been her happy childhood home, running chores while dressed in rags, while her stepsisters made fun of her, and her stepmother kept piling up the chores.
It was like that for eight long years. Little Anna had grown into a fine young woman, though still a maid. Some things never change, do they? Anna had grown used to her position. She rarely complained, and certainly not anytime she could be heard. However unfortunate her treatment was, she never mouthed back. Never disobeyed an order. For that was what she received: orders, veiled as requests.
It was during one such ordered request - cleaning out the fireplace - that Anna heard the bell hanging from the front door clinging, and her stepmother's shrieking voice, telling her to go and answer it.
Her attempts at tidying herself up only left her with more grey smudges on her face. But after years of having this issue, Anna did not really mind anymore. She was nearly always covered in some form of dirt or grime.
The man on the front porch was, clearly, not used to it though. As soon as he saw Anna, he took a discreet step backwards. The first few times, such a reaction had hurt the young redhead. But that had been many years ago, and at this point, she really did not care in the slightest.
"Is this the Barfont residence?" the man asked stiffly, noticeably raising his nose.
Anna had half a mind to reply in the negative, because, officially, it was still Anderson Manor. But her stepmother had made it clear that it should never be called such, because that would be very bad for Anna Anderson.
"Yes, good sir. Who can I say is calling?" Anna asked as politely as she could, for she was no fool and she recognized fine clothing when she saw it.
"Royal messenger," the man replied, clearly irritated with Anna's lack of foresight. "And make it snappy."
She gently closed the door, walked to the grand staircase, and raised her voice. "Stepmother! Royal messenger at the door!"
There were several high-pitched squeals, before Anna could make out the request to escort the kind sir to the tea-room, where they would welcome him.
The request being what it was, Anna did not hesitate to comply, kindly requesting the stiff old man follow her down the cold corridors to the tea-room, where her stepmother and stepsisters were waiting for him with smiles that did not suit their faces in the slightest.
"Welcome to our humble abode," her stepmother said warmly, waving the messenger in. "Whatever can we do for you?"
The man in his fine suit cleared his throat, bobbed his head up and down a few times, and then delivered his message. "Three weeks from now, Our Royal Majesties the King and Queen, as well as our Royal Highnesses the Princess and Prince, will visit your village. For lack of better accommodations available, the honour to house them will be bestowed upon you. Three bedrooms - a double and two single - will be needed for several nights, as well as three meals a day for every day they reside here. Will that be an issue?"
"Oh heaven's goodness, no! Of course that will not pose a problem," Anna's stepmother chimed immediately, all smiles and kindness and affection. "We will start the preparations immediately!"
The three of them saw the messenger out together, leaving Anna to linger in the hallway. As soon as the door closed, they turned around to face her, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Well, wench, you heard the man. Start the preparations!"
Three weeks Anna spent cleaning the house, tending to the garden, cleaning the house again, preparing the guest rooms, acquiring complicated recipes, and cleaning the house again. All the while, she had to listen to her stepsisters prattling on about how they would charm the prince, who would no doubt beg them both to marry him.
Their mother only encouraged them to make that their future, of course. They were not poor - not even by any stretch of the imagination - but marrying into the royal family would see them considerably better off than they were now. And it really didn't matter that the prince would probably never actually become the king, seeing as the princess was three years his senior.
When the King and Queen passed away, their firstborn child, their daughter, would take to the throne. Anna knew that, so that meant her step-relatives had to know too. But gold was gold, and silver was silver, whether you had a kingdom to rule or not.
But finally, the day was there, and the entire village was dressed their best. Anna thought her stepsisters to look ridiculous: their corsets too tight for them to breathe, and their skirts too wide for them to fit through the door. Her stepmother, while slightly more moderate, still looked like a frilly sort of bug.
She herself wore simple and plain clothes - the only kind of clothes she had. An old, grey corset with a plain green skirt was the best she had been able to find, somewhere in the back of her closet.
Of course she was not allowed to wait outside and greet the royal family. She was, after all, nothing but a servant, resigned to watch everything from one of the upstairs windows. The two royal carriages, large golden boxes drawn by magnificent white horses, rattled down the main road, slowly coming to a stop before their front porch.
As the guards cleared the area of citizens, Anna mentally ran through her chores one more time. The entire house was clean, the beds were made, fireplaces lit, the garden was presentable, dinner was as good as done and only needed to be served when they rang for it.
All that remained to be done was... remaining out of sight.
The doors of the first carriage opened, and for the first time in her life, Anna caught sight of the king and queen. The king was a tall, fair man, his brown hair trimmed immaculately, modest sideburns and a distinguished beard framing his slightly-square shaped face, with a strong, prominent jawline.
The queen was nearly as tall, and at the very least equally as fair. Her long brown hair spilled down her back in a long braid, reached down to the height of her hips, gentle blue eyes, a serene smile and a slightly heart-shaped face.
From the second carriage, a young man emerged. To call him handsome would be an exaggeration, Anna supposed, though he wasn't nearly as poorly looking as some of the boys and men she had seen around the village. He had his charms, his face childlike and innocent, his grin slightly toothy and his hair black and slightly ruffled.
Finally, the princess also emerged from the second carriage, and Anna - as well as the rest of the village - was immediately awestruck. Whatever the prince lacked in appearances, the princess definitely had to spare, being as tall as her mother and carrying herself with dignity. Anna saw the entire village staring at the snow-white hair, carried in the same manner as her mother's, and the piercingly blue eyes that were sort of like her mother's, yet entirely different.
"Presenting, the Majesties, King Adgar and Queen Idunn, and their children, Princess Elsa and Prince Olaf!" one of the attendants announced loudly, as if anyone could have mistaken them for someone else. Like the butcher down the street, or the weird old woman that lived in the cottage in the woods.
The mansion being as old as it was, Anna could follow the royal company all throughout the house, simply by remaining one room above them, and hear every bit of the conversation. She smiled to herself as the prince remarked on the flowers in the garden, and she sighed with relief when she heard the queen saying that the rooms were to their liking, and nothing needed to be changed right now.
And just as soon as they had arrived, they all left again - this time with her stepmother and sisters, to take a tour of the village, and the surrounding patch of cultivated woods. Naturally, they did not leave before ringing the bell in the kitchen, though, summoning Anna to come downstairs.
"Make sure dinner is ready and waiting for us when we return. It will not do to keep us waiting, understood?"
"Yes ma'am," Anna nodded respectfully, feeling the curious gaze of the royals on her - which her stepmother dismissed with a small wave of her hand.
"She's just the maid, Your Majesty. No one of importance, really."
Almost two hours later, Anna had the entire dinner spread out over the dinner table, lit the candles, and made herself scarce again. It had been made clear to her a long time ago that she was not important enough to enjoy her dinner with the rest of the household, and had taken her dinner in her room ever since. Tonight would be no exception.
She had long since finished her meagre meal consisting of soup and a chunk of left-over bread, and was making her rounds past all the bedrooms to poke up the fireplaces, when the bell in the kitchen rang for her.
She entered the kitchen dutifully, eyeing the gathered household warily. The princess smiled at her - not the wicked smiles her stepsisters gave her, but an actual, sincere-looking smile - before bending over to her brother and whispering something in his ear.
"Anna, we're done with dinner. Our royal guests have decided to retire for the night. Are the rooms ready?"
"Yes, ma'am," Anna replied with a dip of her head.
"Good, you can go to bed after you've cleared the table. Now, Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, if you would follow me, I'll show you your rooms."
She started pilling plates upon one another and gathering cutlery, hurriedly carrying everything over to the counter. "Here, let me help you with that."
The redhead swiftly turned around, finding the princess in front of her, amused smile gracing her lips as she gathered up the goblets from the dining table. "Oh, Your Highness, no!" she objected. "I'm perfectly capable-"
"I have no doubt that you are," the princess countered good-naturedly. "Nonetheless, I'd like to help. We made this mess, so it is hardly fair you would have to clean it up all by yourself."
"If my stepmother finds out she will-"
"Do not worry, she's escorting my parents upstairs. Even if they do not retire straight away, my mother will probably talk them to sleep in the hallway."
The redhead smiled shyly as the princess turned around again, gathering the remaining silverware from the table and placing it with the rest.
"How about this, you wash, I dry?" the princess asked with an arched eyebrow. "I do want to help, but I'd rather not..." she trailed off.
"I insist you just let me do this, Your Highness," Anna tried again, more strongly this time.
The blonde sighed. "Fine, then we do this the hard way... As a citizen of this kingdom, I order you to accept my help."
Anna briefly wondered whether defying a ridiculous order like this one would still be considered treason, but soon opted not to try her luck, dipping her head silently as she started scrubbing the dishes.
As it turned out, Princess Elsa was remarkably adept at household chores, considering she'd probably never have had to do them for herself. With Anna cleaning them, and Elsa drying them and placing them on the now-cleaned dining table for Anna to put away later, the chore was finished swiftly.
"See? That wasn't so bad, now was it?" the princess smiled cheerfully.
"No, Your Highness. I suppose it was not."
When Anna turned to face her, the princess was still smiling, though slightly more mischievously now. "Well then, I'll be retiring for tonight as well." The blonde didn't step towards the door, though, but instead took a step closer towards Anna, ducked her head, and placed a firm but gentle kiss on her cheek.
"Goodnight."
Anna stood in place five more minutes after the princess had left the kitchen, the only thought going through her head being 'the princess just kissed my cheek,' over and over again.